"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.

In your shoes I'd chat to the head of key stage about it and the head.

Then for your subject, write to all the parents about the importance of revising from work covered in year 10/11. Give an estimate of the amount of time they should be revising weekly for your subject.

As a parent I'd want to know what the expectations were and if they are not being met.

I hated revision as well and hardly did any for GCSEs or A-Levels. I did well though because I concentrated and worked in class and had a good memory. Most kids today seem to work much harder than I did, but I can see where the ones who don't want to work are coming from as I remember how that felt. I'm sorry that there is so much pressure put on teachers.

They do have to be shown step by step how to revise though - in DD1's school this along with other study skills is taught from the start in Y7 and not at the last minute in Y11. We were never taught study skills at school and I didn't know where to start, so I think it's brilliant.

Having been to parents evening with my Y10 DD this week I can sympathise. Most of her teachers were so kind, helpful and offered all sorts of useful advice, I was really impressed.

DD is doing OK but it is a struggle to get her to take exams seriously - she says it's like a memory test and that's not fair but 'life isn't it fair' or 'you'll need to do stuff like this when you're in a job' just get an eye roll and dramatic teenage sigh. And this is from someone who does work reasonably hard and whose teachers are pleased with her attitude - God knows what others are like.

It worries me how we'll get her to do her best next year - we (and her teachers) can only help so much and we're fighting against social media, mates and an entitled (over-used on here but accurate in this case) attitude where they don't feel they should have to put in the effort to get the grades .

Thanks for what you're doing though OP, some of us do appreciate it.

I agree with the lack of responsibility.

I am also really bemused with the "have you got any revision notes,miss?" request. At the start of every year with Year 10, I go through the scheme of work. I tell them that their books are vital revision notes. I tell them that from February to April, my classes are consolidation sessions and we thoroughly scrutinise past papers. The final month before the exam, we deeply revise and I teach them how to by savvy by looking at the paper for help (I teach a MFL and the questions and some text in the paper are translated for them.

When pupils arrive at my door a week before the exam looking for notes, I truly despair. If they listened, they'd know that the only notes they need are what we've already covered.

At the moment, I have 4 out of approx 70 pupils who are saving my sanity: 1 MAT pupil and 3 others. The 3 others arrived in Year 8 with no English at all and they overtook their peers by Year 10. I don't even teach a classic European language yet these kids are working so hard. Why are they so different?

Welshmoth I used to be like you and put in those sort of hours and feel the heavy burden of it all being on my shoulders. Then I had my own kids and my priorities had to change. You need to take a step back or you will burn out.

I now openly have blessyourcottonsocks approach. I do the bare minimum school-scheduled intervention that I can get away with as I find those sessions a box-ticking joke, filled with pupils who are forced to be there by school/parents and do absolutely nothing and make it impossible to do meaningful work with the rest.

I then give up my time to those kids who want it. Mark work and past papers they bring to me, sit with them outside class time, reply to their email questions in the evenings and on my days off. I regularly remind all of my pupils that this is available to any of them. It's a small % who actually take me up on it but at least I feel I am making a difference for them. They are mostly over 16 and I am an approachable person, so if they can't make the effort to speak to me then I really don't know what more I can do.

I don't believe anyone is truly lazy or irresponsible and it's more of a reaction to pressure, lack of confidence or self-belief. You can only do so much as a teacher, but what I would say is I worked so much harder for teachers I liked and respected, and who cared about us as individuals. There were some who seemed to hate their job and dislike children, and no matter how much you were trying it made no difference, so I stopped trying.

Welsh my son would love a teacher like you !
He is yr 10 , youngest in his year and very bright. He is being held back by a teacher who goes off on a tangent about politics or her own feminist and religious views and doesn't teach them anything, giving them the work to do at home but no idea of what's expected of them.
He really puts in the hours with homework and revision but he does say he has kids in his class who really couldn't care less.
I don't think kids in general realise how competitive the job market is nowadays.
Keep your chin up you're doing a great job

In fairness to the students I think they are a product of the system. They've been tested and tested their whole lives - none of the other tests appear to them to have had a discernible impact on their lives. Yes target grades are based on them but there's no tangible repurcussion to them doing well or not - I don't blame them for thinking that they are just providing results for their schools. They've been showed this repeatedly so I'm not surprised that they can't get out of that mindset for GCSE.
We never let then fail e.g. They redo coursework and ISAs etc hundreds of times until it's above target grade, so they've an inflated idea of what they can get with little work.
We offer not only fully prepared lessons that often take longer tonight prepare than deliver, we do extra sessions, top up sessions, Easter sessions etc. Again is it any wonder they think their performance is based on our work.

After all of that they do get decent GCSEs and then think the same minimal effort will get good a level results and fall on their faces.

So whilst I despair, I also know I'm part of the problem, but worry about the initial impact if I stop.

One of mine said on Monday 'I don't know anything about this poem'. I pointed out that it was a month til the exam and how long was he going to continue to put off for? He took the point, but lots of them haven't.

He now thinks he is doing great because he has done a poem a night since then. I suppose it is a start

I wonder if sometimes the parents are part of the problem.

DD is only in year 1, so I have no experience of GCSE revision yet, but something happened recently which shocked me a little bit.

DD does an activity at the weekend, and all the parents sit together in a waiting room while the kids do their activity in the next room. All the children are the same age so discussions often revolve around school.

A little while ago the topic was parents evening. One mum said she was horrified when looking over her daughter's books at how much writing she was doing, "a whole page!". She said they would have plenty of time when they were older for "boring things like reading and writing" and that they should still be playing at that age.

Cue a loud chorus of agreement from a lot of the other parents. I was astonished that some parents could see education in this way!

I know this is (hopefully) not representative of the majority, but if these children are told by their parents early on that learning is boring and not worth their time, how engaged are they going to be when they reach GCSEs?

OP you sound like a great teacher, I am sure a lot of your pupils appreciate the work you put in, even if they don't say it. To this day I remember the teachers who cared, and genuinely wanted us to do well. Please don't give up, my DD's generation need teachers like you!

Oh and I think we put so much pressure on the kids to do so many subjects that we are breaking them. Because we don't let them fail anything less than an A sounds poor.

I'd love to wind it back - allow students to select fewer subjects but spend more time on them. Allow them to develop a love for the subjects not just cram.

I realise I am derailing because this was about students doing bugger all but I really do think it's our market used system that is the root.

befuddled that's a good idea.

*marketised

My year 11s are the same, I say '28 days to the first exam' and they get panicked for a few seconds then they're back to gossip and phones and nothing substantial.

My year 10s, 9s and 7s are different, and I praise them constantly for their work ethic and self-motivation. They still want to learn just for fun.

I wonder if the scary pressure of year 11 turns them into idiots? Current research says low stakes quizzes aid learning, high stakes exams stifle learning.

So whilst I despair, I also know I'm part of the problem, but worry about the initial impact if I stop.

Yes, yes and yes.

I wonder if the scary pressure of year 11 turns them into idiots? Current research says low stakes quizzes aid learning, high stakes exams stifle learning.

Quite so. I noticed how much I loved learning things after formal education was finished. Having an exam at the end ruins this.

I realise I am derailing because this was about students doing bugger all but I really do think it's our market used system that is the root.

Not at all MrsP, I'm desperate to understand what's going on here. This issue is a symptom of an enormous problem we have in this country. I really need to try and understand it to make me see the bigger picture.

Thank you

One of my year 13s has produced an astonishing piece of coursework because she loved it. We'd decided at the beginning of the year not to give marks for things just feedback on how to get better because she had been so turned off learning because accreditation isn't her motivation - she just loves learning.
Sadly she is in the minority. I had another student demand that if her a level coursework wasn't an A I must return it and tell her how to get an A, and that if she didn't get an A I would be held responsible.

Bloody hell MrsP

Education in England is a conveyor belt. The students feel no personal responsibility for the points on the conveyor belt where their progress is measured.

Responsibility for learning needs, urgently, to be returned to students.

I think you are overstretching yourself so only seeing the negative. If you do all the worrying they will do none. So l would pass responsibility back onto them. Say lm sure ye all know what yere doing. Im sure ye will do great as we have all worked so hard together this year. Step ba k. You are achieving nothing by wrecking yourself. As my ds said after major exam ..its not tbe big drama everyone makes it out to be. Dont add to the drama.

WelshMoth - the fault lies,multimately, with McKinsey/the OECD. It was their big idea to use engineers and economists to design education systems.

I know [angry

Have to say I'm some where along the fuck it. My DD is in year 11 and doing what I consider quite a lot but pressure from school is massive. And pushing for them to give up all other and just revise. Sorry life's not like that. And if you don't do well now it's not the end of the world - you can resist, go a different route.

It's one step in a process and not that important. But then I didn't do that well but it's never held me back and won't hold my DD back.

But thank you for putting the extra in and my DD has done after school sessions nearly every day but she is still working, playing rugby and guiding - though has dropped a couple of clubs.

DD's psychology teacher asked them to bring in revision notes as proof of doing revision. This was set as their homework during the Easter holidays.