Bad 5th Year Report

maggie magoo

Hi

My teen missed a lot of school during 5th year and as a result only managed to pass 3 subjects in the summer tests - the ones they did pass they did well but the other 4 were not. Advise for 2 subjects was to drop to common level. They were always a good student until covid happened. I wonder is there any hope at this late stage of going into 6th year with having fallen behind so much in 5th year? I have suggested grinds but they don't want to do anything over the summer holidays!

Thanks and any advice would be good.

HazeDoll

A student who failed more than half their 5th yr summer tests and doesn't feel in any way inclined to make an effort over the summer is unlikely to manage HL subjects in the LC.

This is particularly true if the absenteeism can't be easily accounted for. Sometimes things happen and a good student has to miss a chunk of time. Under those circumstances generally they'll find a way to make up for it. However, if missed time takes the form of days dotted here and there and frequent half days it seems to be harder for them to compensate. If weak excuses are given for days missed - a headache today, a stomach ache tomorrow, a sore knee next week - it's a clear sign that the student has lost interest.

Nobody can do the work and sit the exams for your child. They need to be on board. Avoidant behaviour can be a habit that is hard to break.

Make it clear that they are choosing a path that comes with a set of consequences. Limited choices for third level, possible impact on future earnings etc. Like it or not, they are competing in the LC against students who DID go to school.

Whatever happens regarding grinds or class levels next year, it's more than likely that from now on a bit of tough love will be required regarding attendance. There is no section on the CAO form you can fill in that says they would have done much better but COVID happened.

maggie magoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120805790#Comment_120805790

Thanks HazeDoll for taking the time to reply. I understand fully that they'd have to want to put in the effort and I'm hoping that they will. Severe anxiety problems since covid... I didn't just mean COVID happened.. but since then and personal bereavements they have been struggling. Help on that front is in progress so I'm hoping that they'll be in a better state of mind by the end of the summer to put in the effort. I guess what I am hoping is that with effort that they could pull themselves back up to even passing.

HazeDoll

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120806162#Comment_120806162

Hope is not lost, by any means. There's plenty of time to turn things around but it has to be the child who does it. Teachers and parents can facilitate and support but the kid has to turn up and do the work.

I probably reacted a little harshly to your post, and that's because I have had a very frustrating couple of years trying to get students ready for exams while working around some chronic absenteeism. What really bothered me was that parents were accepting of it, to the point of being complicit. Given the choice between staying in bed and coming to school, most of us would stay in bed. This is not a recent phenomenon.

I'm going to assume, but I might be wrong, that homework has gone off a cliff along with attendance.

A missed class means you weren't there when the previous night's hw was discussed and problems identified. You missed the material covered in today's class and today's hw. If you make it to tomorrow's class you'll be detached for at least part of the class because you won't have done the hw and you have missed the material we're working from.

That's no big deal if it happens occasionally. If it keeps happening, even one missed day a fortnight, (90% attendance!) it erodes a massive hole in the progress a student should be making.

Teenagers have really absorbed the message that their mental health is fragile and they suffered more than anyone during covid. I understand that parents are terrified of causing serious upset to their kids but telling them they're not able for school today is definitely not helping.

Here's another thought. A kid who has done well in the past but has begun missing school and failing exams might be struggling in a different way. Lots of people coast through primary school and first year, getting exemplary results. What happens when the results dip a little? Sometimes the kids can't deal with that and they try to disguise it by doing very badly. A middling result means the student hasn't been able for the material or hasn't done the work. A very low result is a mystery, easily dismissed as an anomaly or a symptom of some other problem, rather than academic mediocrity.

maggie magoo

https://www.boards.ie/discussion/comment/120806491#Comment_120806491

Thanks so much again for responding and for giving such insight from a teachers point of view. I can imagine how frustrating it must be for teachers when there is repeated absenteeism. I definitely do think too that many parents accept it. I’ve another child who would try getting a day off because they haven’t been off as x, y and z in their class. I didn’t grow up like this and there was no question of me not going to school unless I really was sick, which in itself was rare.

It’s given me hope, thanks, that if my leaving cert, puts in work and attends school that they might get by. Ability is there but there is also a lot of catching up. Unfortunately I’m not much help as it’s all in Irish😩🙏. A positive is that class numbers are lower than most schools and teachers have said if student will make effort that they’ll try help them get up to a higher standard.

Thanks again from a worried mum! 😊