Help! How do you help Year 12s take A-levels seriously?

[EekArghEurgh]

DD is 16 and in Year12 and doing three A levels. She got great GCSE results and is predicted three A* - but as her teacher pointed out this is based on her GCSE results and while she could/should be getting around that, her recent exams and class work aren't really heading in that direction.

She is bright and articulate but the transfer from Year 11 to Year 12, and the difference in the work needed seems to be proving difficult for her. At parents evening they love her but kept saying she is unfocused and were begging her to take part in the discussion more as she makes great points when she does. We have tried to suggest that the more she puts in the more she will get out of classes.

Realistically she hasn't really been putting the hours in, nor does she really understand how to do self-guided work. She has the next round of exams coming up in April/May and is now very anxious with self-study and homework and revision to do.

It's hard to work out what is excuses (or even laziness), what is simply not getting it - yet (she is really struggling with Hamlet for example), what is a cycle of anxiety, overwhelm and fear of failure and what is maturity and needing to learn how to study. The thing is she is simply not doing the things that would make a difference like reading - regular fiction for English and fiction, radio, newspapers and magazines etc for French.

We are trying to encourage consistency and staying engaged, but she has that classic teen resistence and keeps saying she "can't focus" and she claims will definately do badly. These next exam results I guess will inform her predictions for her UCAS application, so looking at even ABB requirements is making me worried. She wouldn't do the EPQ and any thing that requires "extra" is roundly rejected.

Part of me feels this will all come as she grows up, but we have also read advice that if she doesn't nail the Year 12 work, there is not time to catch up in Year 13. But also this year is about learning how to study (again).

Any tips or magic to help her understand that waiting to be motivated is not going to work? I know what successful kids do and there are many accounts on here of mums whose kids do that, but how do you get there at this stage? And yes I suspect many things have come more easily to her, so making an effort feels uncomfortable - but she also had to work hard (in the end) for her GCSEs.

If she is not getting it and as a result is feeling anxiety, overwhelm and fear of failure (to the extent of brain-fog when she tries to force herself to address things head-on), then perhaps the issue isn't 'not taking it seriously'?

Not trying is a classic defence response to perfectionist fear of failure (as then you can tell yourself 'I could have done it if I had actually tried'). Perhaps she needs less pressure/fear-mongering, not more?

Does she want to go to uni? Even if she's not sure what she wants to do, looking at some unis, seeing what uni life might be like/opportunity to move away and be independent, etc might be attractive.
From there she can see what grades she'd need and that might be the motivation required.
DS is Y13. Many of his friends didn't really work for end of Y12 exams and got a nasty shock with results. It was the realisation that they wouldn't be able to apply to any of their first choice unis that spurred them on to work.

Does she want to go to university? I’m using the fear of low predicted grades for my ds.
We’ve looked at unis and what they want.
He’s managed to pull himself up as he wants the grades for his chosen universities.

So this is exactly what we are trying to manage and help with - more confidence and application without the fear and anxiety! How do you encourage healthy and productive study without piling on the pressure?

@ShriekingTrespasser & @YellowSunRays yes she really does want to go but seeing the required grades has triggered the current anxiety spiral - she then wants to give up and I don't know what to say other than you need to do the work.

She is getting clearer on what she wants to do and we have been looking at some great courses in socio-lingustics and Liberal Arts courses.

I thought the BCD she got in February would spur her on and the encouragement and clear direction she got at parents evening, but its only ever a temporary spur.

Ask her if she’d like you to help her manage her study. Sometimes someone else helping and managing can free up head space.
Or ask her what would help.

Is the lack of focus linked in anyway to prolonged or frequent digital use where the opportunity to flick from one item to another without settling and concentrating on one thing, a possibility. I think our DCs have butterfly brains and I’m sure it’s too much scrolling but am fighting the tide in changing it

@ShriekingTrespasser we have been. I have worked through a schedule with her and looked at the self study hours she needs to be doing - we looked up what is needed and the advise was one hour of self-study for every taught hour - but with a fair amount of flexibility within that.

I guess we need to go through together and look at how revision will fit in and what needs to be done in the holidays. The issue is more that she simply won't stick to it, insists she has done more than she has and then panic because she hasn't done as much as is needed.

The bottom line for me is that she needs to just sit down and do it, even if it's ten minute bursts.

Argh. I know people will say leave her to it - we have actually done that too. Both approaches result in late night wailing and despair and I don't know what to say.

We are really sypathetic and try to reassure when she is very anxious but then she does absolutely nothing to change her pattterns.

How does she learn best? Knowing what kind of learner you are is key to learning and revising effectively.

Will breaking the curriculum for each course down into chunks help? Focus on one part, then move onto another. It might seem more manageable. Teachers can probably advise on where to start.

If thinking about university is too overwhelming and anxiety provoking, park those discussions for now. If she’s not ready to think about the reality of grades needed, moving out etc then having a year out really isn’t the end of the world. She can focus on her A levels and doing her best, then apply based on what the grades that she achieves.

As an aside we have AS levels for year 12s in Wales which I think is immensely helpful - they know from starting their courses in September that there are mocks in January and full exams in May - in reality there’s only 8 months to cover everything so they know that there’s really no time to coast, or not deal with anything that they’re finding challenging.

The requirement to actually need to put extra study hours in is especially hard if she is someone who cruised through GCSE without too much difficulty. Help to schedule in 5 hours per subject per week of distraction free study time. Could be at home or school/college. Hopefully she'll get more focused soon. It'll be even worse at degree level if she doesn't.

You step in to help.

first off - detox for a week. During that time you (not her) get things prepared. She’s overwhelmed and unhappy so needs a hand hold.

I didn’t see what subjects she’s doing, but if there are languages - make vocab flashcards for her. If science - make or buy revision cards.

for English - go and see the plays (or get them on screen). Schedule family quiet reading time and turn off all screens for it.

help her sleep better by making her go out for walks with you. Shut off the WiFi and make everyone (including you) leave phones downstairs overnight.

use car journeys on trips to other places like a day out at a city, to chat about her books/subject side by side - so she doesn’t have to look at you. So plan a day out and use the time productively. Once you get her talking don’t butt in with your ideas, but instead ask open questions about her ideas. Never cast doubt on anything she says - this stage is to build confidence and happiness, not to fix problems.

if she won’t talk, find podcasts on topic/about the general topic and play those while in the car. Don’t let her hide in her phone.

sneak in learning everywhere you can, without it being too obvious.

She didn't cruise, we basically had the same pattern - she got a lot better in Year 11, but this time I really don't think you can leave it late and cram in Year 13.

These are all great suggestions and we have attempted a fair few, though I think we need to all focus on getting off screens more.

How much she will allow us to help varies greatly - so I have asked how she wants to do it and responded accordingly, helped with a time table and gathering relevant materials and resources. The only thing I haven't done is listen to French TV and radio - I will add it to my list of slightly irritating things that she will balk against!

I fear a lot of this is just teen brain development and she simply isn't there yet. I think GCSEs and A-levels come at the worst possible time for many teens.

For French - do you have Netflix? You can change the audio over. And add the French subtitles.

I’d suggest being very very mindful of her anxiety. Loads of kids find A levels extremely stressful and it’s normal to some extent but you want to watch out for it being a major issue. What about making sure that she knows there will be plenty of good options available to her even if her A levels don’t go to plan. She is clearly a bright girl. How about looking at a wider range of universities including some with low entry requirements. Maybe even visit some. If she ends up going to a lower ranked uni she may end up excelling and able to do a masters at a ‘better’ Uni. I’ve known kids do this.

A levels matter but sometimes you have to play the long game. As a parent to kids in their early 30’s it’s fascinating to see where all their friends have ended up in life.
My kids didn’t want and didn’t have any imput on revision from me but I put a lot of effort into making everything else in their lives easy. I gave them lifts when they wanted and cooked their favourite meals. I hated revision so they had my sympathy. Me interfering or stressing with their work wouldn’t have helped. However I had friends whose kids wanted their parents to be very involved, to the point of doing revision plans. Might your daughter want more practical help?

I’m having a similar problem with my child over their GCSEs. They got great mocks and think this is a sign that they can relax and not revise as much as they should be.

Just this morning I encouraged her to stay back after school for one of the art groups but she said she would rather be with her friends. At that point I walked away. I’ve lost count of the amount of times she’s promised to but her work above her friends and then never does.

I said to her think about how you’ll feel on results day if you didn’t get the grades you want.

@sSssssssssssssOOO thanks for this, yes there are lots of options and lots of paths in life - I have a large immediate family and no one has really done a linear academic route (I have two brothers who are now getting their degrees and further qualifications in there 40s!).

We do the same as you - still trying to make life as easy as possible with food and support for leisure and interests as she wants/needs. I just wish she could make the connection between a bit more work focus and success in her studies (and less worry). Also we have set up counselling a few times, whcih she responds very well to.

Apologies to all that I keep saying we have tried that. i think possibly what I am seeing here is that we need to be more consistent too.

their NOT there!

@LollyLand aaaargh! So many conversations like this!

But then when she does do something extra she comes back woth how amazing and useful it was! Why can't they keep that cause and effect in their heads?!

I have to say I'm not sure the tanking in results as a lesson learned to spur them on actually works with mine - it finally happened in Feb (in some ways we had hoped it would) but there has been no material change in her efforts.

The only saving grace at the moment is that school are doing a lot of revision sessions and lessons are becoming all about catching up and helping them cram as much as possible in. They must know they aren’t all doing a lot at home.

I would imagine your child’s school will be doing similar.

@LollyLand but a-levels are quite different. They are expected to get on with it themselves and if any support is offered at this stage at least, it seems to be very optional. At GCSE attendence was pretty much mandatory for he intervention and support classes.

She did actually say last night that she wished she had chosen to go to a more academically focused/school style sixth form, as I think it's hard to work in school if your peers aren't that into it and she does seem to have a slightly bright- but-winging it and very social cohort atm
.

Our school offered lots of revision work, in lessons and extra sessions, for GCSE but there is none of that this year (AS levels here). The shift is huge.

Some good thoughts on here @EekArghEurgh and I’ll add mine. I don’t know so much about English, but MFL I do.

MFL A level is a big jump up, even if you got a high grade at GCSE. She needs to really try to target her revision on what is needed – and yes it is essential to do the Year 12 work in year 12. A-star is a challenge for any student IMHO so best of luck to her.

People always suggest (no doubt with good intentions) watching TV in French. Yes it’s lovely to watch Funding Nemo dubbed into French and it can’t do any harm, but it will not help you speak in French about strikes in France or racism or the way family life has changed. And I think the danger is that students think “well I've watched the news in french so that's OK”.

Similarly with the vague “reading French magazines”. DD took A level French a few years ago (current spec) and when I mentioned this to her she immediately responded as I would – what she needs to do is research on specific AS topics (the ones she has done) – so probably family, technology , Francophone music, French cinema (I am assuming AQA board btw but tbh other boards do similar topics). She will need to be able to quote in her speaking exam (in about 12 months’ time) stats about one of the topics (choice of 2 on the day) so she needs to have researched them now and be noting them down and learning them – as with year 13 will come six more topics that need the same treatment.

Actually listening to French radio is not a bad idea as she may hear some music she likes that she can then research and speak about. It might even become her IRP. If she hasn’t got a plan for that yet btw it would be good to be thinking about that too.

All of this work will also help in the reading and listening exam in terms of vocab. She should also make sure she has a good grasp of the topic-specific vocab; and that her grammar is spot on, so check any frequent errors (adjective agreement, wobbly irregular verbs) and learn those.

Finally I would imagine she has completed study of the book or the film – so it’s worth making notes, flashcards, whatever of appropriate vocab to talk about it and also notes of key themes and elements which illustrate them. The level of analysis for the writing is not as high as eng A level so don’t get too stuck on that.

All of these things can be broken down into 20-minute tasks which may really help her focus. Suggest she does a couple a day, or one and then spends 20 mins learning the detail. HTH

@clary thank you that is a fantastic breakdown of what's needed - reall helpful to undertstand what is actually useful and what isn't. I will try and encourage some of these.

The question remains how to get her to actually do any of it!

Just to say I sympathise. My DS is the same. His mocks werent good at all and yet he'd had good GCSEs. He does homework and nothing extra - and because the school doesnt mandate constant revision, reading etc it doesnt get done. He has ADHD which means he cant project in the future and only responds to urgency/extreme interest. Uni is a distant and theoretical future for him. Wants to go, but not working towards it yet. I think he will get low predicted grades, overperform, and apply to unit later (Dont think he will be ready to go at 18 TBH) I am anxious about it but I ve come to realise in most cases applying pressure doesnt help - we have to stay calm, offer help and go at their pace. Your DD may be anxious and so making her understand that there are different paths, that its not all or nothing, that many children aren't quite ready for the step change at 16 and that there will be different options at different points may help her keep things in perspective... The system just doesn't work for everyone...