Dyspraxic DS being let down by school in year 11

[Steggers123]

My DS is in year 11 and GCSE's are looming. He is dyspraxic and as a result his handwriting is illegible. He also has organisational issues and problems with his short term memory. Everything is in place for his GCSE's, laptop in exams, extra time and a scribe for maths.

He is really struggling with the pressures of controlled assessments, so many deadlines to meet and so much to it together. I have been in to see the head of SEN on numerous occasions to see if we can get some strategies for coping in place but nothing is forthcoming. Before Christmas he did his first set of mocks, when he does an exam on the laptop, learning support print off his papers and hand them to his teachers. They have not printed off his chemistry paper, part of his physics paper and his maths paper 3 was not given to his teacher. Even worse his physics ISA paper 2 which needs to go to the exam board has also been lost on the system. I'm trying my hardest to help my DS, build up his confidence and achieve his potential but school are messing up. What do I do next, head of SEN is lovely, but nothing is changing, what happens if they lose his actual GCSE papers in the summer? I am at my wits end with it all.

I agree it's hard to delete a file permanently from a laptop accidentally. I would ask questions like are they sure they are looking on the right laptop, have the checked the trash bin, do they have access to an IT expert who might be able to take a more sophisticated look for it. The only problem might be if some has had a purposeful clear out and decided it was not required and needed to be deleted permanently!

I would go ahead with your meeting with the head of SEN in terms of fact finding but if it turns out they have deleted/lost your DS exam course work I think you need to consider going down the formal complaint route. (This makes me worry a lot for my DS too!)

call the exterminations officer. I still can't make any sense of how your son is working, or why?

and he hasn't backed up his work or printed it off? I'm sorry, but that is entirely his responsibility, no one else's.

There are always a few who lose course work because they haven't backed it up or printed it off, I'm afraid there is no comeback from that.

It certainly isn't a SEN issue anyway, call the examinations officer.

He won't be the only one, there are always a few in every school -and the exams officer will be able to find out if it is retrievable, and what to do if it isn't.

No, don't ring the exam's board, they have no interest in candidates who haven't backed up their work, there are thousands across the country every year.

I went completely ballistic last year when my DS admitted not having backed up coursework, and he was grounded on the spot and not allowed to leave until everything was backed up.

Best thing you can do is make sure he has backed up every single piece of work right now. Hard lesson.

auto correct! I meant examinations officer! sorry

if it turns out they have deleted/lost your DS exam course work I think you need to consider going down the formal complaint route. (This makes me worry a lot for my DS too!)

there is nothing to complain about, it is absolutely the candidates responsibility to back up their work, every half an hour, or there abouts, if working intensively, certainly every day at the barest minimum.

User, because the high level controlled assessment is done in lessons under exam conditions, he cannot print the work off himself and can only work on it at designated times in accordance with the exam rules. So it absolutely not his responsibility to print it off. I don't know if they have the facility to back up files on the exam computers.

User, he saves his work every time he works on the assessement if that what you mean.

this isn't high level controlled assessment, this is geography course work.

User, no it's not geography course work, it's his high level geography controlled assessment. There is no course work anymore, just controlled assessments which have to be done in the classroom under exam conditions.

he is responsible for backing it up. He is responsible for having the resources to back it up, such as a usb, or an email address. Don't go in with all guns blazing, talking about formal complaints. He has messed up. Go in to ask for help resolving your son's massive mistake. You will be asking for a lot of extra time and input from staff, both to attempt to retrieve it, and possibly to redo it. Keep them on your side.

User, he has not messed up, he is not allowed to print it off or back it up on a USB stick, it is done in a strictly controlled environment, this link may help your understanding filestore.aqa.org.uk/subjects/AQA-9030-W-CA.PDF

Surely it is possible that ds hasn't been told or shown what he can and needs to do regarding saving and backing up though, given the lax attitude described. Worth checking.

anyway, I hope you get it resolved. You probably will, we get a few students doing this EVERY YEAR despite constant reminders to back it up.

Mostly they get it back, or have time to redo it. Although I end up sitting with a few of them after school, etc. It never takes as long to do it the second time.

Good luck.

this link may help your understanding

I understand perfectly thank you!

( the course work - not the way your son works)

You are not allowed to save a CA to a USB! You need a special exam login.

I was doing them today, and yesterday!

Coursework exists in very few GCSES now. Controlled Assessments are not coursework and if they are treated as such, the risk of malpractice is very high.

A Geography one?

User, you must be doing something different.

JCQ say that, 'A scribe must only be used where a candidate is not sufficiently competent or confident in using a word processor'

...so not because using a laptop is considered a pain in the arse by the teacher.

JCQ also say that ' a word processor cannot simply be granted to a candidate because he/she now wants to type rather than write in examinations or can work faster on a keyboard, or because he/she uses a laptop at home.
The use of a word processor must reflect the candidate’s normal way of working within the centre and be appropriate to the candidate’s needs. '

laptops are considered a pain in the arse by teachers when they hamper and hinder students.

Obviously OPs child is not severe enough to require scribe, from the handwriting sample she showed. However, many of my students are severe enough, and do use scribes.

I think most children do most course work on computers, just not short answer papers, or practicals, like science.

It isn't suitable for normal classroom use, as it impedes development and organisation ( and quite often the students who most want to use them are the ones with the greatest need for good development, and honing of organisational skills)

so in that sense, it is not really suitable to be anyone's "normal way of working" except a very few children with severe difficulties, such as no use of hands, etc.

User, as I mentioned before, as well as dyspraxia he has joint hypermobilty so his writing becomes illegible very quickly. He has been assessed by paediatric doctors and occupational therapists and he is deemed severe enough to have a scribe, he chooses not to have one as it interrupts his train of thought. Getting permission from the exam board to use a laptop is not an easy task and school had to prove our case. As well as a laptop, they gave permission for a scribe and extra time.

Hi Everyone, this thread has become a wee bit heated so just a quick plea for support and understanding for the OP please.

How did it go with the school examinations office?