AIBU to think that Y10 & y12 kids are in the worst position?

[Notonetojudge]

I know, this isn’t aibu but I thought you lot might be more interested than the general public. Y9 and below haven’t started most of the GCSE work, Y11 And 13 are going to be ok, but Y10 and 12 are missing a huge chunk of learning time. To those who write/grade national exams, can this be taken into account in 2021?

On a side note I think GCSEs are a waste of time why? They are this one set of exams you talk about.

Yes I agree, I have a bright but very very lazy and unmotivated year 10. In an average state school. They are setting lots of work for them to do themselves with no teacher input. Mostly here's the right answers.

We have cajoled her over and over. Just not interested. She needs the structure of the classroom although even with that has been disinterested last 3/4months. I was hoping without the outside pressures she might settle and mature somewhat.
She must be so so behind. We have tried to sit with her, encourage her , help her and finally just leave her to it but nothing works. I wonder how she will ever clamber back from this?

We struggle to get her out of bed let alone do work. Snapchat and instagram have had their passwords changed and I allow a few hours per day only. She did a sport which required a lot of training. Lucky if she will go a 20min walk now. Mostly won't bother.

Her private school friends are just having their normal school day with virtual lessons. Learning new things.
She is slipping further and further behind. At start of year she was on point for top grades in everything and wanted to do medicine. Still thinks this is a possibility. Not with this work ethic. It has caused so much angst and stress in our household. When we have left her to it she does nothing.

Everyone else I talk to saying how hard their kids are working or even doing just a few hours per day I would be utterly delighted with.

I have a year 10 and a year 12.

To be honest the kids I feel sorriest for are those who tedn to do much better in exams than in mocks and will loose out, so a good chunk of the year 13 and 11.

I am not too worried for my own. They are at grammar school, good support and continue teaching on-line, they will cover enough. Year 12 had finished their year 12 syllabus and after summer exams were startign year 13 syllabus.
I feel very sorry for kids who are marginal for so many reasons, either due to ability or family support etc.

When it comes to exams, the whole cohort will be lower, so the grade boundaries will be in different places, but it won't be equal across the board, it will be that the good students who can self study will do better and the kids who are struggling will drop off more

My teens are 13, 14 and 16.
Living hell atm...

I don't quite see how the syllabuses can be changed - there has been (nearly) two terms of normal teaching, and not all schools will be covering content in the same order.

I suppose adjustment could be by grade boundary? Because raw scores might be down, but the distribution curve may well be essentially the same

I suppose adjustment could be by grade boundary? Because raw scores might be down, but the distribution curve may well be essentially the same

grades are always done using the distribution curve, it takes into account a difficult paper one year v. an easy one the next.

The trouble is, that kids with schools and familes who can support them will come out higher and kids with schools and families that can't will drop away. The best will do better and the worst will do worse
Good kids that rely on their teachers, are going to do much worse.

I have dd in year 11 and Ds in year 10 and I feel exactly the same. Dd will do well out of predicted grades (she worked her socks off for mocks and has 7+ for all her subjects as predicted grades). Ds however will have missed months of curriculum and will go back in September (if they do go back then), straight into mocks, he's still doing all his work from home but he's massively disadvantaged compared to his sister.

My kids don't seem too worried yet.
My year 11 thinks her predicted grades were probably a reasonable estimate of what she was going to get. She is doing as little as possible of any set work. I'm a bit worried that 6 months of idling might make the transition to A levels tricky, and her A levels will be the first set of external exams she experiences.
My year 12 is doing 4 A levels, but seems reasonably capable of working indepently and is getting on with the work her teachers have set her OK. Im not sure what they will do about Geography field work, they should have had a couple of beach trips this term. She will also have missed both the D of E expeditions, driving lessons, and the opportunity to go to uni open days. Could make for a busy autumn, at the same time as preparing for Oxford entrance tests.
I guess they are all in the same boat, and the grade boundaries might end up a bit lower for their year.

Welll next years grade boundaries will be on the floor so yes the current circumstances will be taken into account.

It's definitely year 11 and 13 who are worse affected. They have to go through life with grades they have never actually demonstrated. 'Oh so you got 3 A stars did you? Oh I see they were Corona virus A stars so were you the teachers pet then?' There'll always be that element of doubt.

I think this absence of school is going to affect some children much worse than others, and it's very unfair.

Children who are already able and self motivated will get on with learning and revising independently, where as those with out a laptop and parental support who aren't particularly able will be very disadvantaged.

My DD (severely dyslexic) has refused to read or write anything for herself while at home. I've spent hours reading a play to her for her drama GCSE, and we're now discussing it. If I didn't have the time or inclination she wouldn't cover the work set.

School are now going to try to do virtual classes for the Year 10s and 12s after Easter, I'm relieved, it will make a difference.

My Year 12 dd is worried. She’s just told me that the petition for special consideration for next years exam cohort has been rejected ☹️

It’s still early days @twosoups1972. Government are just getting their heads round what to do for Y11s and Y13s. If schools remain ‘closed’ until September and there are other periods of lockdown they will need to consider something.

Agree with a PP. When it was first announced that GCSEs wouldn't be taking place this year, my Year 11 child was gutted. Yes, he'd worked for his mocks and has worked hard for his whole time at school but would have put in even more effort for the actual exams in May/June.

However after thinking about it more clearly, it definitely affects the current Year 10 and Year 12 kids as how much teaching will they be 'missing' out on? I say 'missing' as I know most schools are sending plenty of schoolwork home but this isn't a substitute to being taught in class by an actual teacher.

Worrying times all round so I hope there is consideration taken when looking at next year's exams too.

But the children who attend schools which are able to er up virtual teaching are going to have an advantage over schools which can't do this, for what ever reason.

DDs teachers are sending over the lesson they would have taught, as in a power pony, and then some questions to answer. DD at one point three the questions is printed off on the floor and yelled she couldn't answer them. After I talked her through them, she could answer them. Basically I took on the teacher roll, but I was doing a pretty crap job compared to what would have happened in the classroom, or even over zoom by a teacher who knows the subject.

I really think Y10 and 12 will get a raw deal, and some much more than others.

However after thinking about it more clearly, it definitely affects the current Year 10 and Year 12 kids as how much teaching will they be 'missing' out on? Controversially my kids feel like they are learning more by themselves - shutting questions to the teachers when they don't understand something. They are doubting the impact the teacher have on their studies - siting the classes as boring and nothing more than reading through a powerpoint they can easily run through much quicker themselves! At least they will be well prepared for University,

The priority at the moment is rightly for the current GCSE and A'Level students, my daughter is in Yr10 but I expect the concerns for this year will be dealt with in due course.

have a year 9 started on GCSE course. She is working well. Not so much my autistic Y7. he is going to be so behind his peers as he can not work at home.

I agree it’s tough for Year 10 but also think it’s tough all round. I have DS in year 10, who finds it hard to work from home and I keep telling him he’s at a big disadvantage unless he finds ways to manage his time better.
I also have DD in year 6 and it’s crap for her because she misses her leavers residential, and concert, where a lot of primary school memories are usually made and she’s also misses transition evening for high school this week so she’ll probably just have to start in September or whenever without any prep.

I agree it's tough all round, and for some younger ones it will be tougher emotionally. But as far as I'm concerned the educational impact will be most on the y10 & y12s.

Mine are year 11 and 13 and they have it worse imho. No exams, no end of exams celebrations, holidays etc. The grading won’t be the same as if they’d done their exams esp for the year 11 as he was just really starting to work hard and I would’ve expected 7-9s for most subjects.
If schools do go back before end of year they won’t be going back and will still be mouldering around at home.
At least year 10s and 12s have online classes and work to do.

I imagine some very motivated teenagers with resources available will fare very well, but they will be a relative minority. In reality, most of them will be a mixed bag...

I think mine is a fairly typical year 10. Fairly bright, semi-motivated but disorganised. Needs waking up, reminding what to do and motivating. We had bad days and good days. Both me and my husband are working full time and have other children so can't help apart from motivating her.

She has her own room, a desk and an ipad so she is lucky but I know there are children who have parents sitting with them all day and other at the other end of the spectrum. So I am trying not to worry as we can only do our best...

I can kind of see where you are coming from that not only those in exam years will be affected. Ds is in S4 in Scotland and has both these issues.

He is impacted by the cancellation of the Nat5 exams he should have been sitting at the end of this month, but also by the loss of teaching time for the Highers he will be sitting exams for this time next year.

But really everyone is in the same position so just need to get on with it.

When I did my A levels I had two essay subjects and you had to choose 4 questions across the paper. What they could do is put a lot more questions on, so that you have plenty of choice and to accommodate the fact that people have not covered all the content and make the exams a lot more flexible. Difficulty would be the same but it would take into account that a lot of time was missed.
However, I don't know how that can work for sciences and languages which build on prior knowledge.

I said in AIBU that I was concerned that next year they'll just say they had plenty of time to catch up during the summer. And teacher assessment will deeply disadvantage those who are good at exams (like me, I was always rubbish at coursework).

There are no easy answers.

As for being a supportive parent, that = "always nagging" according to ds. Apparently I only speak to him to nag him about homework...