Have the cohort starting 2020 been writen off by schools?

[stickygotstuck]

After yet another disappointment with DD's (supossedly well-regarded) secondary school, I can't help but wonder whether there are any/some/many schools out there which seem to have written off the cohort of kids that started Year 7 in 2020, mid pandemic? In a 'these are never going to catch up anyway, why waste time/resources on them' kind of way.

For the kids now in Year 9 there was no induction in y7 and no start of year, getting-to-know-you residential. Also no meeting the teachers in person. Ever. They have continued with the franky insufficient 4-minute online parent evenings for 3 years now, with not enough slots to speak to all teachers, and with no plans to go back to physical sessions.

Compare this with those currently in Year 8 - two weeks of 'summer school' in their new school before start of year 7, physical 'meet the teacher' event in school with drinks and nibbles during year 8, one extra residential in year 8.

Am I imagining things or does anyone have similar experiences?
The 'meet the teacher' even did piss me off, I must admit!

No.

I've found the same with the 2019 cohort. They missed Y7 and were expected to just crack on as Y8s. I think you'll find the same with all kids who were in secondary school during the pandemic tbh.
Lots of 2021 cohort didn't get anything too.

Same with 2017 cohort. They were year 9 in 2020 and when they eventually returned for a full year they were year 11. The school as good as washed their hands of them.
I moved my daughter sixth form and things are a million times better !

It’s nice that the Y8s had all those things to help their transition. But are you saying that your Y9 hasn’t settled - after 3 years - because they didn’t have them? It’s past history now. They don’t need nibbles at at a meet-the-teacher, they’ve known them 3 years! I think you need to let it go now.

Just to add, I think your anger is misplaced. The schools haven't given up. The government seems to have.
I don't know any teachers or headteachers that aren't trying. They're all up to their eyeballs with CAMHS referrals and trying to motivate the kids to do anything.
I don't know any schools that have the money to run meet the teacher with nibbles events! For any years.
It sounds like maybe you're a little jealous of what the year below is receiving in your child's school.

“I've found the same with the 2019 cohort. They missed Y7 and were expected to just crack on as Y8s.”

They had 2 full terms of Y7, surely?

Agree with this 100%. Schools and teachers are working super hard. The money isn't there to support the efforts of teachers. In my opinion the government has let schools down and it is not restricted to current year 9!

I think schools vary so much. It hasn’t been a great few years though; a lot of disruption. Unavoidable, but still.

One thing I've noticed abut covid:
So many people seem to think that their dc's age means they were worst effected by Covid. That's from babies ("oh they're a covid baby so are really shy") upwards.

“For the kids now in Year 9 there was no induction in y7 and no start of year, getting-to-know-you residential.”

That might be a contrast between your school’s current Y8 and Y9 cohorts, but not with most children. I’ve never heard of a secondary school doing a Y7 start of year getting to know you residential. There’s 300 kids in my childrens’ years! Just how small is your school?! Surely if a school is small enough to take them all away on a residential, it’s small enough that they get to know each other quickly anyway?

It’s a shame your Y9 didn’t get the same nice things… but it’s not life changing and it doesn’t mean the school has given up on them.

I agree with this. The people I know who teach secondary are working so incredibly hard, especially as there are fewer and fewer teachers left in their departments. They simply don't have enough money and are trying to do more with less

I'm not sure, maybe your kid is different. I don't think most Y7s settle until summer term tbh. Lockdown started half way into second term. They had a term and a half. It was still dark at home time when lockdown started.
I'm not saying they're the worst effected, I think the opposite actually, but my point is every year was effected in a specific way.
I get the impression schools are trying really hard, but kids are effected more than we expected. My DD is in Y10 and I'm in regular contact with pastoral lead at school. They've never had such an immature cohort and they're making CAMHS and safeguarding referrals nearly daily. Suspensions on a weekly basis for things that previously would be permanent exclusions.

As I've often explained to my children... different ages missed different experiences. Its effected all of them in different ways

Nope - my current year 9 seems well looked after and the school seem to have the same aspirations for her as they had for her older brother.

Definitely!

One of mine is Y9. Missed all the end of primary stuff (but hey - and SATs, so you win some you lose some 🤣).

But… my view is the then mid Y6 kids were just old enough to mostly have phones so they kept good contact and when we could meet outdoors were old enough to go for a walk with a friend without supervision. So that was good. And they were young enough that hadn’t started properly going out with friends alone (to time in the bus sort of thing) so lockdown didn’t take away a social life.

But that’s how people are in general isn’t it? Optimistic or pessimistic.

So your kid didn’t get a meet and greet residential. You can either still be complaining 3 years on, or just get over it. Or better still - be proud at how they settled in without them and see the positive that they managed that.

Some individual children have been massively impact, yes - but cohorts? No. For most people, they just need to move on.

Definitely. I think for both kids and adults, it's created a victim narrative which imo is making the whole situation worse. There's lots of issues kids would've had, COVID or not. There does need to be a return to the 'get a grip' attitude for some things imo.

Ds is in year 8 now, DNs 7 and 9 at the same school.

other than different transitions (school did as best as they could at the time) the offering to all three has been the same and all is well back to normal.

I don't know if school have given up but I do feel that this is the cohort that is the most damaged emotionally. They missed a massive key stage. And now they have the strikes, they don't know if they're coming or going.

(And I talk as a parent of a 2017 cohort too!)

I suspect anecdotally all parents will feel the same about the cohort their kids are in, esp if their kids are finding things difficult.
I don't know a single friend of my DDs, boys or girls, that aren't having difficulties with their mental health. This is across Y9, Y10 and Y11. These are family friends, so kids she's known since they were in infants and all in different schools. They don't mingle outside of family events and have very different interests so it spans a whole group of kids.
From conversations with DDs school DSL, the situation is really quite scary. Schools are being left in a precarious position having to look after high risk kids with no support from CAMHS.
However, the kids who were in Uni or going into Uni during lockdown are even worse.
What COVID did was increase the social media use by many young people, and I think that's had a more detrimental effect than COVID itself as it's carried on well past COVID.

My 2020 is I would say back to normal - but he’s a really bright kid . My 2021 isn’t ok - I think it depends on personality and ability . I don’t blame the school - I could see how hard they work and how many kids are in a worse place than mine

“I'm not sure, maybe your kid is different. I don't think most Y7s settle until summer term tbh. Lockdown started half way into second term. They had a term and a half. It was still dark at home time when lockdown started.”

I actually thought they just didn’t go back after Easter hols, but you made me think about it. I don’t remember school holiday dates, but lockdown was announced 23/03 and Easter was 12/04. So they missed 1-2 weeks max of the second term. I do agree that Y7 can sometimes start to be settled in the third term - but I don’t think it’s right to say they missed Y7 and went straight in as Y8. I also don’t think it was dark at home time late March - I think you’re mixing it up with the lockdown after Xmas when the 2019 cohort were in Y8 spring term.

I do agree with everything else you’ve said though! About CAMHS being overwhelmed and a prevailing victim narrative.

COVID was a unique experience for a whole generation.
I don't think there's any use in comparison - different ages were affected in different ways. Some years lost out more than others. It's what it is.
My observation (voluntary work with teens and slightly younger) is similar to Foxesandsquirrels in that the younger years are noticeably more immature than they would have been at the same age pre COVID.
I don't think schools have written off any cohorts but some missed opportunities just can't be made up.

@Foxesandsquirrels the state of mental health in our youth is very scary indeed.

“And now they have the strikes, they don't know if they're coming or going.”

Every Y9 I know thinks the strikes are great, excitedly make plans together for what they’re going to do on the extra days off, and pity the Y11s (and now Y10s) who are being prioritised to still go in.

The adults around them need to reassure them that missed days can be caught up (if they’re worried) - there’s no reason to not know if they’re coming or going.

@Testina Im not sure, my DD is in that cohort and I remember lockdown happening soon after they came back from the Feb half term ski trip. It's irrelevant anyway. My DD had a magical lockdown and spent it outside on her bike with local kids and playing with toys inside. She was a proper kid still. It almost made her and her friends regress. When she started back in Y7, she seemed younger than when lockdown started. None of the Y7s were old enough to really keep in touch with new secondary school friends and they all started fresh in a way. Then the second lockdown happened and that was bad. Her first proper year at school was Y9 and her school started GCSEs. It was a nightmare. I'm not surprised that year is the hardest the school is dealing with. This is completely anecdotal and obviously only relevant for my DDs school.