GCSEs and Study Leave

[Asabat]

Looking for a bit of clarity on what is normal practice accross different types of schools and also what is regarded as best practice/advisable.

DD's school has not yet announced what study leave will be allowed this year and it looks like they are not allowing any study leave for the whole of the year 11 cohort until after half term as apparently "core" subjects will be finished by then, but even then they may not grant it.

This means DD is expected to stay in school till end of day, after a morning exam and to be in school morning ahead of an afternoon exam. I am a bit surprised by this and it is causing my DD a bit of stress.

In a busy city secondary (think traditional comprehensive as was) there is a huge range of abilty, quite a lot of disruption and, the focus is on getting as many as kids though as possible with reasonable grades. None of which I have a problem with btw - it's been great on the whole. However DD is finding most of the classes a waste of time now and is desperate to get on with her own work and get focused revision done, this isn't really possible in class. I have mixed feelings and am keen she isn't missing anything crucial, but at the same time I am surprised they are expecting full attendence right up to examo period AND during it. She is doing great and working well, but finding a day dictated by class needs frustrating and is tired at the end of the day then trying to fit in her own revision timetable and needs.

School seems to be working on a majority need for support and structure for kids who either don't have that at home or need the extra push from school - but it simply isn't working for her.

I have writen to school to ask them to clarify what they are actually doing, no reply yet. Other parents have done so, but also the kids have asked and are getting a slightly different message (parent told no study leave at all, DD"s friend told poss of study leave after half term). Just to be clear there are two weeks of full exam timetable before half term at the end of May.

Any thoughts most welcome.

My Y11 DC goes on study leave on Weds 1st with exams starting in earnest on 8th May. Do you think your school has a party line but won't do anything if you do your own thing?

No study leave at DS school

Ime it varies by school. The state school where I invigilate does not offer any study leave and the focus is on getting everybody through the exam. Teachers will also collect pupils from home if they fail to turn up for exams. It is frustrating for those pupils who are managing their own revision and would prefer to work at home.

Study leave wasn't until after May half term however many students did not go in when they didn't have exams, harder to leave at lunchtime after a morning exam.

If your dd has good reason then they might be willing to discuss it on an individual level. That is what we ended up doing although not until the exams had started and had documented medical needs which were clearly apparent to the school too.

The lack of clarity is stressful and both a distraction and something to fret about. We have had issues with anxiety before and these have begun to surface again of late, despite the fact that she is doing well.

I am just looking at the timetable and the first week there are are all morning exams - it seems crazy to me for her to have to sit through an afternoon of other subjects though, when she has Maths the next day for example and could be doing focused exam questions at home(not last minute revision, but steady rehersal and prep).

I do think dictating pace and content of revision at that stage, so they are not free to prepare themselves as they wish is crazy.

Apologies for the repeat of this topic. - it looks like there are a couple of other threads on this around.

Same at our school. The usual is study leave after half term but they are so focused on (government targeted) attendance figures, I think they might not offer any this year. There is even an expectation of attending pshce and PE lessons before exams - absolute madness. I suspect my child will vote with her feet and I plan to support her to do so.

Many schools have been restricting study leave in recent years as the evidence seems to show that the students who most need to revise (pp, at risk of failing etc) don't.

Some schools now have no study leave at all.

Most have some kind of hybrid system. At my previous school, SEND students came in right up to the end of exams as we kept going with basic life skills even after exams were over. Other than that study leave was on a person by person basis so if your child was doing well in mocks and was on target they were likely to be given study leave. If not, not.

MY DS last year finished at the beginning of May. He then sat around at home doing no revision. I wish he had been in school. This is the problem - one size doesn't fit all. The schools can't win really.

I can't speak for other schools but again, at my school once exams had started year 11 all moved onto a personalised timetable.

So if they had eg maths on Monday morning followed by French on Tuesday morning, then the whole year group would be expected in for the maths exam, and the people doing French would be expected to stay for an afternoon pre-exam revision session of French,

The people granted study leave would go home, and the people who didn't have study leave but weren't doing French would have a classroom to sit in supervised by a teacher where they were expected to revise for their next exam.

My DS is also at a big inner city secondary. Study leave starts on the day of the first GCSE. They only go in for the exams. There is a small group of kids that do not get study leave and instead get guided revision in between exams at school led by teachers. But these are kids the school has decided would need extra help and this was agreed with their parents. My DS says he would actually prefer to stay in school. He says there are too many distractions at home and he doesn’t revise as much as he would in school.

Totally get it's horses for courses and reading accross Mumsnet on this topic there seem to be loads of ways of handling it. I guess I will make a case for study leave, but am also wary as @boysmuminhertssaid that the impetus for her to work will just go. There is also the balance of the social in the mix - winding each other up v just being normal with friends. And I can see a slippage into much online social time as a justification for not working....

I wish@Octavia64 the individual timetable were possible, but I just don't think it will be at our school, and those who need support and to be in + gov attendence figures will sway the decisions.

School is still LA so I am guessing there will be more flexibility in academies where they get to set the rules.

Argh. I will be so glad when these bloody exams are over.

I'm in Scotland where exams have already begun. Exam leave starts on Monday but only for those doing a certain amount of subjects. DS1 is doing 4 Highers, his first exam is 8th May and his last is the 21st.
Classes start again on 3rd June. At the moment he's doing revision in classes but I think he'll appreciate the time at home to study.

Dd did her GCSE's in 2018 and didn't get study leave. Ds's were cancelled but I think study leave only started when the exams themselves did.

No study leave at my Y11 DD’s school. They are expected to go to all lessons until they have finished exams in that subject (unless obvs they’ve got an exam on) but the time is used for revision in that subject. However it does vary as I know some other schools locally do have study leave.

These days most schools will expect full attendance up to at least half term.

They will usually construct a new timetable of revision sessions around exams instead of normal classes.

If your DD has morning exams I expect she will then be expected to attend afternoon revision for the exam the next day.

It is tricky because some children can be expected to revise on their own and don't need to be in school, but the ones who need to work won't, so I think FT school until May HT is the compromise most schools reach. Some of course don't allow study leave at all and will expect attendance up to their last exam.

DC's school adopted a hybrid method which is that they ran dedicated revision sessions in the morning/afternoon before an exam (so if you had a geography exam on Thursday afternoon, there was geography revision on Thursday morning). So the students had to be in school but at least they were revising the subject coming up and not just random subject. Although, tbh, most teachers just let the students do whatever they wanted in lessons, and it was more of a "supervised study period, but I'm here to talk to if you need anything".

I can see that it's beneficial for students struggling to revise at home, but it's not great for students that are very self motivated and would rather do their own thing.

I'd hope your school would send out something soon.

Our study leave starts on 6th May. DS has already done his art exam and sits his language speaking exam on the 3rd May.