English Literature - Working at Grade 1 in year 10 - is this ok?

[Lougle]

DD2 had her year 10 mocks in November. Her report came out last week. She's working at level 1 for English Literature (level 3 for English Language).

Nobody has told me (and the teacher is off sick so no email reply) whether this is ok because she'll improve over time and pass, or if it's worrying.

At this stage, all I care about is her getting a 4, so I suppose my question is whether a typical student would improve 3 grades by GCSE exam time from now?

The skills are exactly the same (as is the mark scheme) for the two novels. The difference is that J&H is a passage linked to text question and there's only one, not a choice.

The document also states a Form 8 is not necessary in this situation, therefore how can the SENCO be confident rest breaks instead of extra time is the right access arrangement when they have reached that decision by incorrectly assessing DD using the criteria for Form 8. Some schools incorrectly tell parents all pupils need to qualify under Form 8. It is possible to have rest breaks and extra time.

Given the chemistry mock this sounds like a wider difficulty than ‘just’ English.

Just thought I'd update this thread as you've all been so helpful.

DD2 hasn't done a full day in normal lessons since Christmas. She completely fell apart over the last few days of the holidays and couldn't face school, so they let her go to R&R (their SEN base) on the first day.

We had a meeting with the Asst. Head the next day and she decided that DD2 could use R&R for the rest of the week. We put lots of things in place and she started to attend some lessons but unfortunately, a breakdown in communication meant that some staff contradicted the Asst. Head's agreement with DD2, which meant that her safety net was taken away.

We've spent time building her back up, so she had been going to Photography, Food Tech and PE in person, geography as a live lesson, maths as a live lesson, and not attending science or English.

Now we've managed to get her to 30 minutes of Maths and Science (½ lessons). English is still off the timetable right now until they figure out what to do about it.

It does mean that she's missed a half-term of English lessons.

Today I got paperwork that I requested from school and it shows that she was assessed for the form 8 and that revealed that her phonological memory (working memory) is on the 1st percentile. It seems nobody thought to tell me and they've just added a line to her SEN plan that says that she has 'a lower working memory'.

I'm writing my EHCP needs assessment request.

I am sorry to hear DD2 is struggling so much. It makes school life so much harder for DC when they are told one thing and others renege of the arrangements, it breaks all trust. Could DD have a short 1:1 session with the English teacher? Probably not feasible as a long term solution but as a one off or a couple of sessions may get DD2 to a place where she feels able to try the English lessons. Or as an initial step would she listen to the introduction from outside the classroom one day?

A Form 8 doesn’t need to be completed for DD because she has ASD. It is worrying the school do not know this, especially on top of not raising the results of the assessment with you.

I have a student on a very reduced timetable. On the days they can't make it to the classroom, I pop along and talk to them either about the work or just for a chat so they know I've not forgotten them.
If someone asked me to do that, I'd definitely do that.

It's so nice to hear that teachers go the extra mile for their students. To be fair, the Asst Head is being really good. She's taken time to get to know DD2 and has had her sat in her office all day at times because that's all DD2 could cope with.

I just thought I'd update this thread to say that DD2 has really struggled over the last 3 months. I submitted an EHCP Needs Assessment request and that was accepted by the LA. They have to decide whether to issue an EHCP by early June.

DD2 hasn't attended school at all since Easter, bar a couple of chats with the teacher who has built a relationship with her. We have a meeting at the local Education Inclusion Centre next week.

The EP has written a very supportive report and has stated that DD2 needs 1:1 or small groups less than 4 for many of her provisions.

I was only thinking about your daughter the other day. I hope they get her the support she needs.

That phonological memory is on my dd's dyslexia assessment. I'd not be surprised if there is not more to this than asd...

I'm sure school have talked to you about this but if she has photography, food tech, PE is that a gcse or just a generic class? Maths and English lang could she ditch the science and English lit? Or just take her strongest single science? I'm thinking can she get 5 GCSEs grade 4 - which will give her a fighting chance to continue in education. Of that's not going to happen I think I would pull her out this year. Use the time to get all her issues properly assessed and get her into college next year to repeat yr11 with everything in place.

The working memory issues should also give her the extra time in exams that I can see she was previously refused.

This stuff is shit. I'm so sorry your dd is going through it all now at this point. I'm going through similar with dd though thankfully she's only yr8 and we can afford to get the assessments done - if we hadn't I know she'd still be bobbing along not having a clue what she was supposed to write! Really feel for this years cohort to as the last 2 years of schooling has largely been a write off for any child who was even vaguely struggling.

You don't need 5xgrade 4 to continue in education.
My DD got 4 x grade 3 (missed all y11) and in theory could have done a Level 2 course but actually is doing a level 1.
We prioritised maths & English (if DD hadn't been ill I think she would have passed them) but in some ways they could be considered less important as you can retake them in college.
English Language need less fact learning. DD has an electronic reader for EEng Lang which helps with her processing difficulties As well as extra time (for processing & writing issues) and rest breaks (for MH issues).

DD2 didn't qualify for extra time using form 8 because she only tested low in one main area. I've since learned that they shouldn't have been using form 8.

She has only been doing food tech and photography since February half term and she hasn't even done that since Easter.

I'm hoping the Education Inclusion Centre will sort things out for her in the short term, then the LA will have to decide who can meet her needs with the EHCP in June.

@MrsHamlet you were so helpful on this thread. DD2 was eventually offered an independent specialist school (3 in her class) and the LA have agreed to fund an extra year, so she's redoing year 10 now. She went to the theatre with her new school to watch 'An Inspector Calls' yesterday.

I would be very worried about that. You really need to talk to the school about what interventions they can provide and what you can do at home to help.

That's great news @Lougle
It sounds like things are looking up for her already :)