Surgery in Y11. What support would you expect from school re exams and more?

[CrumblingMumbling]

DS is about to have an operation which will necessitate being off school for at least 6 weeks and then return will only be very gradual. Recovery varies a lot; some children cannot sit comfortably a year afterwards, some get better much more quickly. What can we expect the school to offer?

I think the school would ask if the op can be postponed till after the exams as it sounds like it will be a huge problem.

Is that a possibility?

No, the clinical advice is that it needs to be done now (or before ideally, thanks Covid).

Online lessons/resources, depending on the condition extra time / breaks / scribes in exams. Need to speak to the senco

For context, he is staying at the same school for Sixth Form. His average GCSE prediction is an 8.

Get in touch with the senco and exams officer to discuss extra provision

Each school will vary so you need to speak to them. It sounds like it will depend on his recovery too and way he’s able to do, at the very least they need to set him work and he needs to stay on top of it and revise all previous studied work so not to fall behind.

Depending on recovery there may be the possibility of a home tutor and /or support from hospital teachers as well.

It may also be suggested that the exams are postponed - it would depend on the recovery/health of DC.

First step would be to speak to the SENCo at school. They will have to seek medical guidance etc so may not be able to give you a plan immediately but the more time they have the better the plan can be. Funding etc can take a while unfortunately.

Give any doctors letters to school as they need evidence to apply for adjustments in exams. Send senco a list of things you think he will need modified . Can be anything from needing breaks to stand up and move to having a cushion , think of it from his point of view and ask him to figure out what will help him in practical terms if in school or not.
Dd has chronic health probs and school have been very responsive to me listing things that she needs as makes their job easier and avoids conflict

Ex exams officer here.

It’s impossible to say without knowing his specific needs. Could be simple as a special chair for comfort in the exam hall. Might be rest breaks where he can be escorted by an invigilator to an area where he walks around without disturbing others to get some movement. Might need his own room if excessive movement needed. Might need a scribe or laptop if writing is difficult.

You need to sit down with the school and have a chat about what he’s likely to need vs what they can provide.

Medical evidence to back up anything that needs to be applied for (some things can be given without but others have to be approved).

It needs to be a conversation with the schools exam officer but most things can be figured out.

I think this might be a question for the Local Authority rather than the school. School can probably send him resources that are used in lessons, but they may make little sense without the teacher’s input. LA should be able to provide an alternative (for some reason, I thought it was called ‘hospital at home’ but that makes little sense!)

If nothing else, I’d ask school for a list of exam boards / topics for each subject, and for copies of the revision books / text books to go with them, then work with DS on deciding his own ‘timetable’ once you know how he is after surgery.

I'm an office manager in a high school and manage the exams officer, and I used to be an exams officer.

As others have said, contact the school ASAP. Schools are far better prepared tech wise than they would have been 3 years ago so that puts you in a good position. They probably already use resources such as Google Classroom for setting work etc.

As for the actual exams, access arrangements can be put into place to try to make the exam conditions as comfortable as possible for your son. This may involve being in a private room and having rest breaks.
If there are symptoms affecting your son on the day of the exam, the exam officer could also apply for special consideration which could be an extra 2 or 3% of marks awarded.

Having said all that, please do not worry too much. If your son is currently on course for 8s, and his grades suffer a bit, it probably won't really matter. Think of the end goal as getting onto the A level course he wants rather than getting the highest grades, and I'm sure with predicted 8s he will have no trouble at all being accepted onto his courses especially with the extenuating circumstances.

I agree with aureus that you don't need to worry too much about the effect on his results. He's clearly up to A-level courses, and when applying for university, his application/reference can refer to why his GCSE results might not quite reflect his ability.
Having said that, he'll probably still want to do as well as he can.

Get his head of year to put something round his teachers asking them to provide what they can. Hopefully there will be materials used during lockdowns which can be utilised. And yes, talk to the exams officer, both now and when it becomes clearer what his needs will be.

Thanks. I can't imagine the LA would be of use? And hospital school doesn't have a reputation with being of use with older children I believe? Ultimately he may only sit some exams.

As he returns to school he might find a standing desk beneficial. A member of staff at my school uses one of these after their surgery, and my son used one after PC surgery - when he felt he needed a break from sitting he raised the desk to standing mode

It is the LA who have a duty to provide education for those unable to attend school full time, not the school, so do contact them. That could be home tuition, online or hospital school. In DS’s case the provision should begin as soon as medical suitable as the provision should start once it becomes clear 15 days will be missed.

For exams, access arrangements like rest breaks, extra time, scribe, home invigilation may be possible if necessary. Speak to the school about that.

Thought I would update to say that even though he was only able to attend 20% of the spring term and had a lot of pain and discomfort to deal with he got 7x9 and 3x8 today.

That's amazing, huge congratulations to him

Fantastic, you must be so proud! That grit and determination will bode well for the future ( and make sure it goes onto his UCAS form).

Thanks, yes we are. Helpfulness of teachers was, 'variable' shall we say, some excellent, some less so. Pleased to move on now.

Should say, move on to a new school now.

Oh, well done that young man. How resilient of him.

That's fantastic. Well done him!