GCSE Maths

[stressedparent21]

My daughter was tripped up at school on Thursday by a kid in her year and has broken her wrist on her right main hand.

Her exams started on Monday (you couldn't make it up) she has to do all of her exams on a computer which is far from ideal, but so far is coping.

However she has her Maths exam without a calculator on Friday, this is obviously impossible and the school have stated that she will need a scribe for this.

My daughter has no experience of working with a scribe, any help suggestions as what can be done to help her in this situation greatly appreciated.

Omg what a nightmare!

My DD uses a computer and/or scribe as a matter of course and is already concerned about exams (not this year thankfully!). It takes ages to get used to working with a scribe.... poor kid.

Practically though if she can't write then there is little she can do but try and work with it. Presumably they have also given her some extra time as scribing takes ages even when you are used to it.

If she can she could do with working through a past paper with her assigned scribe before hand - I appreciate time is now tight - but at least then she is not going in cold. If this can't happen at school can you/someone at home do this for her to practice- although and experienced scribe will be better but depends on what is available now as any disabled kids will already have their scribe assigned and practiced.

Make sure the school are putting in exceptional circumstances reports for her too... it won't make alot of difference but might tip a grade boundary.

She needs to state exactly what she wants the scribe to write. The scribe cannot assume spellings or add in grammar (less of an issue for maths).

For longer questions with workings out she can ask them to space the answer on different lines etc.

For drawings and and angles she will need to direct the scribe on exactly where she wants any equipment placed or lines drawn.

There should be two copies of the exam paper so the scribe writes on one copy and your dd uses the other to read the questions.

It should take place in a room away from the main exam hall so she can speak clearly and no one else can hear her answers.

It often takes a bit longer to complete the exam with a scribe so will she get any extra time? I think there could be a case for it.

I work in a secondary school and scribe for students in their exams. Maths can be a tricky one and a lot of the time when students have a scribe for reasons other than injury they choose to not use the scribe in Maths. But if your daughter is unable to write at all then basically it will be a case of her dictating exactly what she wants writing down and the scribe will then do so. She'll probably be in a room on her own with the scribe, or possibly with a few other students that also have special arrangements.

To add, she will be allowed 25% extra time.

If they can make time for her to practise with the scribe tomorrow, I'd strongly recommend it.

25% extra time is not the norm unless they have been assessed to need it for reasons other than use of a scribe. My DS did all his GCSEs (except maths, sorry) using a scribe and he wasn't entitled to 25% extra time.

Do you have access to private health insurance? I would get her seen by a hand consultant ASAP and ask for extra time ASAP as she will need to rest her hand during exams to avoid repetitive strain injury (so says the mother whose son also broke his writing hand wrist).

Download 'open office' and have a look at their 'math' or the word processor and inputting maths.

It's actually really easy to use as you type exactly what you would say. So if she types 6 times 3 what is put in the word processor is 6 x 2.

It really is better than a scribe - I have arthritis and I'm dyslexic and I'm taking an OU maths degree.

The pic is how it works, the box at the bottom pops up when you are inserting a function, what I have written in that box is what appears on the page.

@LittleOwl153 sorry to hijack the post, but can I ask which subjects your DD uses a computer for? My DS uses a laptop in year 6 for English (not for SATS though) but when he gets to secondary I am hoping he can use one for many more of his subjects. Also, is your DD an exception or do all the pupils use computers? I know some schools use them for all pupils in some lessons, and others only allow those needing special arrangements to use them.

@SuperSue77
So my DD has a laptop she can 'choose' to use whenever she wishes. Obviously it isn't that simple as it depends on the teacher. Some prefer just to give her handouts for 'copying from the board' type stuff. (Organisationally a nightmare!!)

She doesn't use it in maths (or design - as the design labs have their own computers with specialist software that all students use.)

In her case it is just her (and others with specialist needs) but at another school locally all students have ipads ... but then still have exercise books so I'm not sure how that works.

If he has a laptop now he should be allowed to use it wherever he needs it in secondary- but do make sure he has been flagged to the SENDCO at the secondary (by speaking to them yourself - don't rely on primary!)

Thanks @LittleOwl153 that's really helpful.
I also meant to say to @stressedparent21 that I'm really sorry to hear about what happened to your daughter and I hope that she is able to complete her GCSEs okay and isn't in too much pain. I hope they take it into account too when grading her papers.

Could she practice writing with her left hand? Given that maths largely uses 0-9 plus symbols, then it might be easier for her to write badly with her left hand than scribing.

I think writing left handed for some of the questions could be an option, but if she needs to draw a graph or similar she will need the scribe. It is very difficult, and she will need to explain very clearly to the scribe exactly what she needs to do. It is very time consuming, especially if you are not used to it, so do ask if she will have extra time as well.

What is happening for her science exams? These can involve things like drawing graphs and diagrams, which would be difficult with a laptop. She can use a combination of a scribe/laptop for some exams.