Can I request GCSE targets for my Y10?

[christinarossetti19]

Just that really.

Dd's 'flight path' in secondary was set with no SATs data (whole year group results were annulled through no fault of their own) so was targeted to achieve bare minimum.

I thought that this had been adjusted (after many conversations and emails) but a conversation I had with her HoY yesterday made me realise that it doesn't seem to have been.

If I ask for her GCSE targets, will they be obliged to give them to me?

TIA

Having dinner tonight and dd explained the maths problem they'd have to solve today about pizza.

Her brother said, 'Why are you doing Y5 maths?'

I am so FUCKING ANGRY about this.

I appreciate that it will be time-tabling nightmare and they've just sorted out the Y10 time-tables, but I am so FUCKING ANGRY that she is being victimised like this because she was bullied.

You should be angry about your son bullying your daughter, not about your daughter being in the set that she is performing at the level at.

He wasn't 'bullying' her. He was asking a simple question.

Just received an email from HoY.

The months of bullying are being viewed as 'an incident'.

Gaslighting about her academics. Says they 'weren't in sets' last year (that isn't true), that she's setted accordingly for doing double science (that isn't true, there isn't one double science set), 'high quality teaching... learning at the forefront... yada yada yada'.

So yes she will be moving schools. I can't have her bored, not learning anything, under achieving in her GCSEs and watch her self-esteem plummet further while she's isolated from her friends during these vital years of adolescence.

She's been in a really chirpy mood this weekend, now that she feels that the bullying is finally being addressed and is sure that they'll move her sets when they've thought about it.

Feel so upset for her.

If she feels fine and is in the correct set based on her current academic performance, it reads like your ego is actually the problem.

I wouldn’t know if schools are obliged to share targets but I’ve never worked in one that wouldn’t - usually targets were on thrice yearly reports, stuck on exercise books and hammered into students, parents and teachers to an extremely harmful degree (the insane focus on data and targets being one of several reasons I left teaching). It’s baffling that a school wouldn’t share them.

Again, in my experience, students with low targets and high ability were a gift to teachers because it looks good on performance management to have a student exceeding those sacred numbers. Students with high targets always had to be in high sets even when they were completely incapable because apparently the data is never wrong (it often is) but we would also put students with lower targets but high performance in those upper sets as well. We tried to keep the lower sets as small as possible and were always looking too move students up whenever possible.

I never worked in schools that were effective on bullying - another reason I got out of the profession. They all have great anti-bullying policies but zero time or resources (most of it was taken up processing pointless data and completing spreadsheets!) to actually tackle it.

A fresh start sounds like a positive thing and I hope it works out well.

@EllieNBeeb

If she feels fine and is in the correct set based on her current academic performance, it reads like your ego is actually the problem.

Eh? She's been in a chirpy mood because she feel that the bullying is finally being addressed and is convinced that they'll put her in an appropriate set when they've reviewed the situation.

My ego? Yes, the one that wants my child to be safe at school and learn something.

Bursting out of my head, it is.

@NoOtherShadeOfBlue

I wouldn’t know if schools are obliged to share targets but I’ve never worked in one that wouldn’t - usually targets were on thrice yearly reports, stuck on exercise books and hammered into students, parents and teachers to an extremely harmful degree (the insane focus on data and targets being one of several reasons I left teaching). It’s baffling that a school wouldn’t share them.

Again, in my experience, students with low targets and high ability were a gift to teachers because it looks good on performance management to have a student exceeding those sacred numbers. Students with high targets always had to be in high sets even when they were completely incapable because apparently the data is never wrong (it often is) but we would also put students with lower targets but high performance in those upper sets as well. We tried to keep the lower sets as small as possible and were always looking too move students up whenever possible.

I never worked in schools that were effective on bullying - another reason I got out of the profession. They all have great anti-bullying policies but zero time or resources (most of it was taken up processing pointless data and completing spreadsheets!) to actually tackle it.

A fresh start sounds like a positive thing and I hope it works out well.

You're right.

No, they haven't/won't share her targets.

As noblegiraffe explained (thank you noble) she doesn't show up on the school's Progress 8 measures as she didn't receive her SATs results so the school has no interest in whether she progresses or not.

She has performed very well academically during her 10 years in school, the only exception being when she was being bullied during the summer term of Y9.

I can't understand how going from 6+ to 3+ in English can reflect her 'current academic performance'. I don't recall her forgetting to read or write, but I do recall her being extremely distressed by the bullying.

It could be a couple of weeks until the transfer comes through. I wish she could start tomorrow as it's heart-breaking to see her being treated so thoughtlessly.

If they hold data on her they have to share it on request under GDPR. Targets would come under that category.

I love children that got low sats scores as when they get a 9 inky subject it makes me look amazing (I’m aware it is only in a very tiny part down to me). The school will have this data and no reason not to share it. Please be aware though that we only set on current performance, not sats scores from 4 years ago. When I talk to kids about their targets I often try and make kids with lower targets feel they can do better-what is the point of telling kids they will get a 1? I also warn against complacency to those who are predicted higher grades. I treat my students as individuals, not just a target to meet but I don’t work for a multi academy trust…..

Dd's school isn't a multi-academy trust.

She didn't get low SATS scores - her whole year group's results were anunulled due to no fault of their own. Teacher assessment was 'exceeding expectations' across the board.

I'd be happy for them to set her on her current performance tbh, rather than assessments she did during the worse of the bullying in the summer term, in which she performed much worse than earlier in the year.

Someone up thread mentioned GCPR. Tbh, at the moment my focus is dd's well-being and education.

If the school isn't able/willing to have an open discussion about her targets etc and I have to resort to FOI requests, then our relationship has well and truly broken down.

Sorry, not FOI, but it amounts to the same thing.

As a parent of a DS who was bullied, I can feel your pain.

DS was excluded from his Year 7 friendship group very early on in High School, they followed him around, they called him stupid, they told him he was worthless. They tried very hard to ensure he didn't make other friends. He had his belongings broken and stolen, every day they emptied his bag on the way in and laughed at him, and so many other things I can't list because it makes me so mad (still).

He used to come home and cry and felt he was everything they said he was. He was so angry and scared and alone, they absolutely broke him, and he changed so much.

Whilst he wasn't ever back to fully being himself in High School, he did far better than I thought he would (as a person). He was genuinely happy BUT you can read some of my comments on other posts about his lack of effort (he was always worried about trying and failing and the bullies being right about him being stupid). Not trying and failing was so much better to him than trying and failing because the former meant he knew he could have done better ... he didn't quite do as well academically as he probably could have, but it's not the end of the world and he's now started college.

He did, however, have support from several teachers who went above and beyond for him, helped him and listened to him, put things in place even when the SLT were refusing to take action against the bullies. These teachers believed him and believed in him and did all they could to make sure he was alright, to boost his confidence, to ensure he felt safe.

I wanted him to change schools, he wanted to stay, he managed to make new friends and he has been happy, he has an amazing groups of friends now who helped him through the really hard times.

I thought DS was strong after coping with it all, but since his last day in May, he has found even more resilience. He is somehow brighter, funnier and more brilliant than ever. It was a journey he needed to make, he needed to see High School through and not run away, but now it's done, you can see it's like a weight lifted off his shoulders. I have second guessed whether I should have moved schools. But I didn't and he has made it, but I know he definitely couldn't have done it without that support network, and if your DD doesn't have one at school then she needs to be taken out of that situation. There is only so much you can do as a Mum when she has to walk back into the lions den alone.

I wish you and your DD all the best, and you do whatever you have to, to make sure she is OK and know that you will fight for her, no matter what xx

I'm sorry to hear what your ds went through Hellohah and I'm glad that he is now thriving.

This was the scenario that I had hoped for - that with support, dd would get through this and come out of the other side.

It's the lack of support from school which makes it untenable for her to stay really, not the bullying per se.

My ds had some issues at primary, including being bullied. Although there was room for improvement in how the school responded (isn't there always?), what made all the difference was that I could have a dialogue with some members of staff who didn't lie, gaslight, minimise or stonewall me.

And that I knew that the staff really did care about all of the children.

Dd has refused to go to school today. Very distressed saying that no-one in the school is doing anything about the bullying and that she's only being taught stuff that she already knows, so what's the point?

I did everything that I could to persuade her but I can't physically drag her there.

I said that if she didn't go into school she would have to do some school work at home. She was okay with this, got herself up, dressed and breakfasted and cracked on.

This is far from ideal, and the transfer confirmation can't come through quickly enough.

I hope you get good news on a transfer as soon as possible. Can your daughter work at home until this happens? I don't know what you'd need to say to her current school to facilitate this being seen in a legitimate way.

I need to get a sense of time frames, I think.

School to transfer to is always under-subscribed and they had places just before the summer break when I checked. The person who deals with admissions wasn't in today, but will be tomorrow so I'll call again then.

Fingers crossed very much indeed.

I said she was refusing to go to school in the email about her absence. No idea whether they're interested or not, but yes I'll continue making sure that she does some schoolwork if she won't go in.

Are you sure that the transfer will go through?

If you can get a timeline on it, then I would consider letting her stay at home until she changes school, for her mental health. There are so many online resources now that she could access to keep working while she waits that she may well end up learning more (maybe you could ask the new school for their schemes of work to catch up?).

Thanks noblegiraffe - see above!

That honestly looks like the best course of action.

Hopefully, I'll know more tomorrow when I can speak with admissions person.

Yeah sorry, I got distracted halfway through posting and cross posted!

Hope you get answers from the admissions person and that it's a quick move.

No problem!

Yes, I'm very much hoping that it will be actioned very quickly.

If there is a wait, then that's a very good idea about asking new school for schemes of work even if it's only core subjects (dd will have to fit in with options/time-tabling but knowing the school, I do have faith that they will do as well as they can by her).

Just in case anyone is still following this and specifically about the targets/progress/sets issues...

I had a meeting with two Assistant Heads on Wednesday which they approached as though dd had done something wrong, asked if I'd taken dd to the GP for her 'anxiety' and it was immediately apparent that the school hasn't got its story straight as to what (if anything) was recorded about the bullying.

In terms to why she was the only child moved down, it had nothing to do with her under-performance in the summer assessments but was because she doesn't show up in the school progress data (as no SATs results) so they have zero interest or motivation to provide her with an appropriate education.

They aren't able to/won't share any current data or her GCSE targets. The only possible explanations are either that they haven't altered her data to reflect her actual abilities (as they said that they would) so they're lower than the level that she was working at last year which would involve them actually having to think about her, or they haven't bothered setting any.

DD is third on the waiting list for other school. She still wants to go back to her current school if she is in suitable classes where she is learning something and is with at least one friend, if they validate the fact that she has been bullied and provide some support and there is a clear plan of action in case of further incidents.

I'm kicking myself for not moving her before the summer, but we hadn't seen her being put in classes where she's not learning anything and being separated from her friends/allies coming, or she would have been agreeable to move.

We're still waiting for current school to get back to us to a. get their story straight about their recording/intervention into the bullying b. whether they are prepared to move her to an appropriate class/set c. support that she will be offered in regard to the bullying and its effects d. a plan of action should there be further incidents.

It did seem that the prospect of possibly having to hand info/data over to another school has focused their attention somewhat.

I want her to move as she's been so badly treated. Dd wants to stay if they can support her academically and pastorally but has said a few times that 'they probably won't as they've never done anything before'.

I asked them to send her some work which they did and she finished in an hour.

Dd has told us lots more about the bullying this week. She said that she stopped telling anyone at the school because they weren't doing anything and thought that if she didn't tell anyone, somehow it was like it never happened.