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!

Foxesandsquirrels , sorry to hear things have been so tough for your DD. It must have been pretty bad to retake the year. Fingers crossed the new school will be an improvement!

This really resonated with me - don't blame the school too much because by extension you're then blaming yourself. Why did I send them to this school. It's my fault. If I had sent them elsewhere it would've been better. The reality is, it might not have been

I'd love to take this advice. I have given it to other people myself, after the thoughtful choice of Primary turned up to have been another fuckup! But you are absolutely right. We'll never know if the other school would have been any better for her.

mirages08 , yes, the school has staffing issues, there is an exodus of teachers and other staff. This is a school where pre pandemic many would have given their right arm for a job in.
But that doesn't help DD.

Wrong time.

Bluevelvetsofa , sorry to hear your DS and DD struggled also.

It has been shit, hasn't it? I think it needs acknowledging every so often. This 'oh well it happened, get over it' approach can only get you so far. One can only hope the consequences are not as long lasting or as deep as they could have been.

ArseInTheCoOpWindow , very sorry to hear about your DD's struggles. It has been worse for some, hasn't it? Hope the future is looking up now.

I regret not sending DS to school straight after Easter, he was home too long alone. If he had been year 7 or 8 I'd have sent him for sure. So I agree it is hard not to think of what you could have done differently. When I did send him, posters on here were going on about teens not needing 'babysitting' when all he needed was company. Those first six weeks of lockdown was so damaging to him.

EmeraldFox , it boils down to not all children being the same, and it not being possible to know whether our choices were the correct ones, doesn't it?

I'm always amazed at people who are lucky to just 'know' that they did things right. And then they ask others how can you be so stupid that you don't! 😁

My current year 8 child had no transition days, bonding year 7 trips etc and missed out on all the normal year 6 experiences. I don't think any year group has had an easy time if it but it's not a race to the bottom.

@stickygotstuck I thought my child would cope but I was wrong. He had been letting himself in to a empty house after school from primary age, home for whole days in holidays, but lockdown was another level of isolation. I wish his school had encouraged children who would be home alone to attend from the start, unlike primaries there were hardly any in school so there was capacity. I thought I was doing the right thing.

@stickygotstuck Everything that could've gone wrong did this year. Genuinely. I dream of a week where I'm not on the phone to the DSL or Senco. In fact, I'd like 2 consecutive days of that. I'm sure they're sick of me. You know it's bad when the DSL knows how to spell your long foreign surname off by heart when she sees you! She's moving to an independent dyslexia school so hopefully it will be better, but transition has been bumpy. She's a summer born so retaking shouldn't be too rough, plus there's already kids in that school who retook so she won't be the oldest. I think she'll feel much better in the year below. She definitely acts like a Y9 not a Y10 so I think it'll work. I hope anyway. We're incredibly lucky. The LA has agreed to fund it and I didn't have to appeal.

I would give yourself 24 hours to feel angry and sad, but no more than that. It's very easy to spiral. Realistically I know DDs current school has done all they can, but I can also list lots and lots of things they didn't and they missed. I've let myself cry it out and be angry some weekends. It definitely helps. Hang in there.

They have been treated so badly.

But also many others too, what a mistake for dc

I see. Well, it felt like half way into the year for us. I went back to calculate and DD went into school for 21 weeks in Y7 which leaves 18 weeks of the school year. Maybe not half, but pretty close to half! Her last day of Y7 was 28th Feb 2020 as she came back from school ski trip to Italy and she wasn't allowed back. It was certainly still dark when she was coming back home. As I said, it may not be true for your child, but it was for mine. If you would like to share your experiences, you're welcome to, in your own post without quoting me and implying I'm lying.

@Foxesandsquirrels I just thought you were mistaken as state schools shut officially the Friday before lockdown. I was not implying lying. Could it have been because she was in a group returning from a ski trip in Italy, or was the whole school shut so early?

It was a huge mistake and did so much damage, they will never have that time back. DS missed out on his last Scout summer camp, the group wanted to take them and keep them in 'bubbles' but still weren't allowed. He desperately needed a week away with other children, he was so isolated. Lockdown made me so angry at the inequality, some families spending time together, others having to abandon preteen and young teenage children.

Of course they haven’t been written off by schools. Schools weren’t allowed to do all the lovely transition activities 3 years ago (not their choice) and weren’t able to run trips two years ago. Many schools are just about getting back to some sense of normal now but no school out there is writing off a year group. Equally, the crappiness of Covid times shouldn’t mean other years groups have to suffer the same, don’t begrudge those coming through now the chance to have what others missed out on.

I have a friend with a kid in year 9 and he was telling me the other day that a teacher had told him that they think this is the worst affected year. 🤷‍♀️. So we’re at home for the last half of year six and then started year 7 in lock down…….I can’t remember when the lock downs were but think he said his son spent quite a bit of year 7 with things still not normal…..maybe being at home a bit still.

but I agree it’s been shit for all kids. The current year 13s doing a levels who never did GCSEs are also affected. A level result day could be interesting this year.

Equally, the crappiness of Covid times shouldn’t mean other years groups have to suffer the same, don’t begrudge those coming through now the chance to have what others missed out on.

Yes, I think it was just luck of the draw with things missed and they can't be made up for with all year groups such as a school running a residential for three year groups in one year to catch up.

DS had a year 7 residential as it was a state grammar so it was so they could get to know each other. Year 6 was cancelled due to finances. The next one will be year 13.

@HaveYouHeardOfARoadAtlas “So we’re at home for the last half of year six and then started year 7 in lock down……”

I really do not think that the current Y9 were at home for half of Y6 and they didn’t start Y7 in lockdown.

Lockdown started nationally on 23rd March, only a couple of weeks before Easter holidays. There is a poster whose child started school closure earlier following a ski trip but I think that’s rare. By the time of our first lockdown, the talk was all of, “mainland Europe is locked down, why aren’t we?”. All the schools I know re-opened before the end of summer term, too. Bubbles, yes - some on a part time timetable - but they were open for all.

And then they did not start Y7 in lockdown. There were bubbles, and quite stringent rules about sending children home if a bubble collapsed. But we weren’t in lockdown - remember Eat Out to Help Out? 🤨- and Y7s started school in person. After Xmas they went to online again, it was certainly an interrupted year - but they didn’t start in lockdown, and they didn’t miss half of Y6.

This might all sound pedantic but I think it’s important. Talking about half years - that didn’t happen - and lockdowns in Sep 2020 for schools that weren’t in place - fuels a victim mentality. It wasn’t easy, and some children were hugely affected - but we should focus on that, not on letting our poor memories exaggerate how long it was for most.

Every child will have missed some key school events/learning/opportunities that weren't fully made up for. Schools are already playing catch up educationally so can't make up for missed trips/events from previous years. Surely your child is getting full experience for year 9, which year 9s during covid won't have got?

My oldest has just completed his first year of uni and we are so grateful that he didn't go in earlier years during covid. Though being sent home in March 2020 and having no gcses, prom, contact or goodbye was tough at the time.

I think you need to look forward positively and be a bit proactive in trying to bridge any gaps you feel your child has experienced.

It was hard to see so many supporting it.

I hope they’ve realised by now.

@Testina Both my DC, at different schools, went from March to September without setting foot in school. Then had a term of bursting bubbles before the January/February lockdown.

It may not have been your experience, but it certainly happened for years that weren’t seen as a priority (our primary took about half the school back in the summer term, KS1 and Y6).

My DS is Year 9. He struggled massively during the second lock down but would have whatever age he was.

In terms of schooling he missed end of Year 6 activities which was a shame as the school planned so much. They did still do as much as possible for the children.

Secondary wise I think although yes he didn't enjoy being schooled via Teams the school have more then made up for it following and as Year 9 now they are being encouraged to work for results DC on target for 7s currently so I'm happy with that.

Parents Evenings we have now had two back in school plus a few careers events etc so I think our school is running as per pre covid times.

@HighRopes I haven’t said that everyone was in, I’ve mentioned group and bubbles and collapsed bubbles.

You say not set foot in school from March to September, but that’s hyperbole to me. It sounds like a huge stretch of time, but you’re including the summer holidays when they wouldn’t have been in anyway, and “March” when lockdown started on 23rd.

You can say that’s half a year of school, or you can say it’s just over a term.

The poster I quoted said that Y9’s started Y7 in lockdown. That’s not true. I don’t doubt that some poor kids went straight into collapsed bubbles - but not a majority.

I think accuracy is important. All the adults I know get confused when we talk about lockdown! Phones comes out to check dates and we say, “oh, that was lockdown 2 then!”
I think it’s important because it impacts the messages we give our children.

Some children were massively impacted, I’m never going to downplay that. But for most, it happened and now we move on. For that majority group, the message, “you started Easter early then missed a term, but that was 3 years ago” is more helpful than telling them, “you missed half a year, started the next year locked down, you were the worst impacted year!” - well, it’s just not helpful.

Some children were massively impacted, I’m never going to downplay that. But for most, it happened and now we move on. For that majority group, the message, “you started Easter early then missed a term, but that was 3 years ago” is more helpful than telling them, “you missed half a year, started the next year locked down, you were the worst impacted year!” - well, it’s just not helpful.
Agree with this.

I suspect some of the issues children are experiencing are exacerbated by the adults around them being creative with the time frames and hyperbole, and still banging on about how their DC is the COVID cohort/COVID year group/was the worst hit by COVID/how as an adult they still haven't come to terms with the fact their child didn't have a end of y6 party etc.

Children look to us for cues about how to respond to things. If we're still ruminating on how awful an exaggerated version of events is (the reality was difficult enough!) then they're going to feel upset and confused.

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.

Having done in person secondary school parent's evenings - from both sides - I'd have though the online version would be much better. In my experience in person weee the same length of time, but you then had the odd parent hogging the teacher for ages, which then pushed all other appointments back

I agree there should be enough slots for all who wants them, for each subject - but some teachers of key stage 3 are teaching so many children it's just not possible. It wasn't in person either ime.

If there is a proper issue it shouldn't be left until parents evening - on either side. Arrange a proper time elsewhere for those. 4 minutes has never been long enough to deal with much more than they're fine, just need to work a bit more on xyz.

This is likely wishful thinking from those who supported lockdown

People can post on here and not