"Why should I revise? It's not fun."

[WelshMoth]

Dear God, I am at the end of my tether.
My best KS4 class, with 2 weeks to go before their GCSE exam. I can say with utter confidence that I have spent the last academic year wasting not a minute of lesson time, teaching them their exam curriculum, providing them with excellent resources, being really really proud of their books and content, ensuring that pupils are clear about exam dates, expectations etc. I have been in school at 6:15 every day so far this week, same tomorrow and not leaving until 5:00. Same for the run up to the exam.

Today, when starting my deep-revision sessions, I have pupils who have forgotten their books, didn't engage and when I became impatient and asked them about how much they've revised, I got told that they wouldn't probably bother because it wasn't "fun". They also told me that all teachers in our school haven't nagged them to revise (bollocks), that they didn't know how to revise (more bollocks), and that they couldn't be bothered. When I asked them how exactly they thought the work would be learnt without revision, they tried to blame teachers in general for not putting enough emphasis on the importance of revision. I asked them why they thought we set tests (because I really love marking extra pieces of work when I'm already buckling under the pressure of 380 books) and.... wait for it... I was told that "tests are more a thing for you teachers, because then you know what you haven't done". I asked them about personal responsibility, and they just shrugged. Not every pupil, but a vast majority.

I feel like a broken woman to be honest. I'm sleep-deprived and surviving on coffee to get me through the day. I am chasing KS4 pupils who do not give a shit and I can honestly say that I've delivered good lessons. Totally disillusioned and dreading results. They're my best class FFS and their attitude is frightening.

Sorry - I have to offload before I just cry.

[motherinferior]

But they're not all like this. My daughter and her mates at the local comp are working very hard; they do feel very under pressure to achieve as highly as possible. And a number of them will get outstanding results too.

Oh, and they all went to revision sessions in the holiday, off their own bat.

[BertieBotts]

And fidget toys... I'm a great fan of fidget toys but I firmly believe they should be used without distracting others, so silent toys only, including noise made by knocking the thing on the desk or chair and use to not be visually distracting or taking the user's eye focus away from the speaker. So under the desk preferably.

[BertieBotts]

Would you be able to recommend them a YouTube channel? There is a great one by a guy called Thomas Frank, it's designed for US college students, but really applies to any kind of studying. He's young and engaging and has videos like 'how to be lazy and still get work done' so appeals to this sort of mindset. I don't think I'd show any videos in class especially of that nature (the ones he does about study techniques will come across a bit more seriously and less like 'tragic teacher trying to be cool') but just mentioning him might be enough to get some students to look him up.

[Badbadbunny]

Life isn't all fun either! Kids need to realise that success in anything comes from hard work. Not all schoolwork/learning is fun - sometimes it's just a matter of sitting down and learning stuff. I really do think we've gone too far down the road of children expecting constant entertainment, whether at home (tablets, xboxs, ipads etc) or school with teachers expected to make all their lessons engaging and entertaining. Someone needs to sit them down and tell them in no uncertain terms that their future educational/career choices depend on their GCSE results. The sooner they are told this the better. If they're in year 11 and their exams are looming, it's too late - this should have been the first thing they were told when their GCSE courses started at the start of year 10 (or 9 in some schools), reinforced with regular progress tests, mock exams, etc.

[Allington]

I also think Yr 1 is too young for homework - lots of reading for fun and a few spellings is plenty, then a bit of structured but fun activities and lots of unstructured play. Her school loaded on the homework (half to an hour per day!) DD was in meltdown. I refused to do it, and was THAT parent.

Now in Yr 3 DD is doing about 20 spellings a week (including revising the easier ones), 10 sums a day of varying difficulties, and again, plenty of reading. Plus ballet, netball, art group and Scouts. Does her homework without a murmur and then gets on with the next thing, no stress because it's an appropriate amount for her level of maturity.

Piling on homework doesn't teach responsibility - I think the opposite as parents have to be so involved at that age. Now she can do it mostly independently (except for occasional questions and explanations) so she is taking responsibility.

[PhilODox]

I think part of the problem is "whizzy" lessons lower down the system (wow words?- I fucking hate that stuff) so, yes, if course revision is "boring" because there's this stupid idea that education is fun.
It isn't. It should be hard work from the start, pupils would learn how to work then, instead of expecting constant edutainment.
Re children from abroad being the successful ones, I see it all the time, mainly from systems where children are expected to work from a young age (not necessarily from 5).
My children are streets ahead of their classmates in terms of knowledge because I've always expected them to commit what they've covered to memory (they're young, I don't mean revising, I mean discussing at home and having knowledge and skills reinforced). It seems other parents rarely do this with their children, and I'm surprised as the parents of their peers are highly qualified professionals that had to spend years and years studying to get where they are.
Somehow the expectation has become that school will do that; children's education has become outsourced.

Regarding school's expectation of an A at GCSE, presumably the child arrived with 5s at KS2, so must get to A at GCSE? Of course, progress is a straight line curve, and no-one experiences any difficulties in their teenage years...

[CarrieBlue]

Bananacake - part of the problem is that the teacher may well not have a career or paid employment if the students' results don't meet the teacher's performance targets. The results matter far more to the teacher than to the (perception of) the student.

[roundtable]

About 10 years ago - I started saying we were going to have a generation of burn outs and poor mental health. In both children and teachers. They do much, starting in Primary, and now it's even worse in the last 5 years.

Something needs to change.

op. Everytime I consider going back to a permanent position in teaching I read these threads and change my mind.

[BoboChic]

WelshMoth - sure, the girl as an individual counts for nothing in your example. She is caught on a conveyor belt education system, which is going faster than she or her family wants/needs.

[WelshMoth]

Sorry

... she is being told that her B's aren't good enough. So they are pushing her even further, chasing results that, of course will benefit her, but will essentially show that the department are performing.

It's almost as if that education has forgotten about these children. This particular girl comes from a working class, no nonsense family who constantly tell her that she will be loved no matter what. Yet she is at crisis point.

[bananacake1]

As a mother, I'm appalled to read this. If it were my DC taking that attitude, I'd want to know. But I know some other parents might prefer to shoot the messenger than see that their children need an urgent injection of reality.
Would it get you in trouble if you were to say to them "I've got a career and I'm in paid employment. You have neither. If you don't bother to work, then I'll still have those things next year and you'll be wondering how you are going to get your life back on track.

[BoboChic]

The pressure is only going to get worse once the new GCSE regime is fully implemented with the 9-0 marking scheme. Each student will receive a total points score that will make them directly comparable to every other student.

[befuddledgardener]

I did lots of last minute revision (the week and morning of the exam) and that seemed enough to get me good grades. However I'm sure I would have got even better grades if I'd revised over months

[BlueChairs]

Didn't*

[BlueChairs]

I didn't revise once for GCSE and got all A*-B ( only 2 Bs out of 13) and I dint do it because every fucking teacher and my parents forcing it down my throats that I would fail without it made me so stressed out without even starting! You're too full on- too much pressure.

[WelshMoth]

MrsGuy I agree.
We do this, so much so that half an academic year in KS4 is spent scrutinising exam papers, analysing questions, condensing revision notes.
By the time the exam season arrives, I'm confident that they ready.

I spoke to a friend of mine earlier - her DD is losing weight fast, not sleeping, can't breathe at times with anxiety and suffering physical signs of stress. The DD is a worker. She cares about her future. She is a B grade student in most of her options. B's are excellent and will open many doors for her but the school have identified her as a pupil who could get A's. Therefore, they are setting extra classes, calling more meetings, giving her Evening and Saturday morning timetables. She is being told do that her B's aren't m

[gluteustothemaximus]

Too much homework. Too much pressure.

Looking at DS's revision and the amount he has to do, I don't blame him.

[BoboChic]

The more the teachers are made responsible for exam results, the more work they do to ensure them, thus relieving students of responsibility and the transformational experience of taking on new knowledge and skills in a deeply embedded way.

[MrsGuyOfGisbo]

My own DC did minimal revision that I saw, but they had done masses of work through the course - surely this is the point, not just simply cramming at the end. Why not build study skills into the fabric of lessons from the start and reinforce rather than just expecting to do it all at the last minute?

[SleepWhatSleep1]

But it 2 sides of the same coin. It's overly important to the school and teachers that the students get good grades. Depending on the prevailing youth culture in a year group that either causes rebellion/mental health issues Or complete disengagement as its not their problem - it's the teqchers'!

[Thegiantofillinois]

But those aren't the kids we're talking about-it's the ones who just give each other the side eye when you mention revision, or just outright admit they cba. Kids who you are worried won't even pass at this rate. Only one student in my yr 12 class is currently consistently Aor B. My yr 11, bar one or 2, are on 3s but think they will magically pull it out in 4 weeks even if they do fuck all.

They are a year with amazing ks2 results and the view that o n e or 2 'wow words' will get them a gcse and have been complacent ever since

[Iamastonished]

I agree about grades. DD did very well in her GCSEs and is currently working at As and Bs in year 12. She would be devastated to get less than those grades in her AS exams. I am more concerned about her mental health as is the GP who, having exhausted all other forms of therapy, has now put her on fluoxetine.

[SleepWhatSleep1]

Just to clarify about my good results comment - of course good results are important and set the students up for the next level of training or education - but not at all costs. Not at the cost of student and teacher mental health. Not at the cost of destroying resilience and self motivation. Etc

[BlossomCat]

As the mother of a girl predicted to get good grades this summer, I can see why her teachers want her to work and revise to achieve those grades.
I also see my lovely girl crying because she is so stressed about not achieving these grades. Wiping up the tears a couple of mornings a week as she goes off to school is our current normal, as all of her subject teachers are pushing hard for thier subject.
Yes, she is working, yes she is attending extra sessions, but the pressure to achieve is enormous.
Roll on July!

[elkegel]

The school is so invested in good results that they also pile huge pressure on the students - who respond by trying to ignore it or not care.

Indeed. My reaction would have been a massive fuck off to that and just to carry on in my own way.