I'm a secondary teacher and this year, a mentor for a handful of KS4 pupils. I monitor their levels, attitudes to learning, attendance to curriculum and after school revision classes.
At the moment, one of my pupils is suffering increasing 'Year 11' anxiety. This pupil used my room from last March onwards to study at every single opportunity (break, lunch, after school). Her exam notes, prep etc were second to none. Her parents told me that she was the same in the house - totally dedicated.
Her GCSE results (at year 10) were disappointing. She was devastated and hasn't really recovered from that. They certainly didn't reflect the mammoth effort she put in. In the meantime, she's had a dose of shingles and hates the way she looks. She really is in a bad place.
I'm finding it hard to counsel someone who is (by all accounts regarding tracking, performance in class, reading age test, all data basically) a typical B-D pupil. In her coursework, she is achieving B's, exams - D's, yet the very clear message we are sending all our pupils is "You have a C? Why not a B. You have a B? Why not an A?". Instead of saying "...a B grade pass is awesome - well done you". She isn't ever going to get the grades that she is being pushed towards and her feelings are now of poor self- worth and increasing distress. It's becoming a real point of concern and other than telling SLT to back off, I don't know what to do.
I mentioned this to my Mentor leader and their response was to put her on our weekly pupil scrutiny list i.e. how to push her towards maximum success. I could scream. How can I strike a balance between fulfilling my duty of care to a pupil who is in danger of 'checking out' completely without ignoring my responsibility as a teacher? DO you come across this and how do you deal with it?