School Trip before exams - what to do?

[ilelo]

My dd's MHCHS music exam was at 8.30 am on the Saturday of a guide camp weekend
I picked her up at 10pm the night before (the time they were officially going to bed anyway) and dropped her back straight after the exam (hence why she was wearing scruffy jeans and most people had dressed up for the exam ).
It was fine.
To have made her miss the camp would have been very upsetting for her (she missed two parties as they were at the exact same time as the exams which was bad enough) and not made any difference to the result.
Beforehand she was grumpy that I want letting her sleep over but to be honest that was mostly because I didn't want to get up at 6am to pick her up. Afterwards she rather liked the fact that she was awake enough to enjoy the rest of the camp.
Let him go. It won't make a difference to the exam. Either he'll do well enough that he'll have missed out for nothing or he won't, in which case ditto.

I may know you in RL! My DD's MHCHS music exam was after a Guide's camp weekend too, but we didn't let her go. It was 2 hours away, she would have had 4/5 hours there before heading back on the day. We thought about picking up at 6am too but she won't have had any sleep.

OP, I am not suggesting you do as we did. You know your child and will make the best decision for them.

[Ricky74]

If your son wants to go then please send him.

Better he is relaxed, spends time with friends and happy. That is the right mindset for the 11 plus.

It can be easy to forget these pleasures in the intensity of the whole 11 plus, but they are so valuable for his wellbeing and future - sounds like he will have a great time.

[ilovemykids2018]

I am sending my DD to a YR6 trip and if she gets through the 1st stage next Tuesday, I will simply pick her up on Thursday so she can rest a good 24 hours before the 2nd stage.
I think it will do her the world of good to be free from 11+ stuff and what is she possibly going to learn in that week anyway, she has worked hard all summer, we all need a break.

Good luck to everyone.

[piggys]

My DD's MHCHS music exam was after a Guide's camp weekend too, but we didn't let her go. It was 2 hours away, she would have had 4/5 hours there before heading back on the day. We thought about picking up at 6am too but she won't have had any sleep.

What a shame you made her miss a whole weekend trip.

Why do some 11 plus parents not realise that life does not stop simply for a few tests? Why put all that pressure on your children? All this talk of cancelling trips, banning outings and staying in to avoid all manner of germs and bacteria is frankly ridiculous.

[Guest55]

What will you do when its GCSE; will you keep them locked away for months?

[Amber]

What will you do when its GCSE; will you keep them locked away for months?

Ah but then they might catch a chill when they first go out. Decisions decisions...

[ToadMum]

What will you do when its GCSE; will you keep them locked away for months?

Don't laugh - the mother of one of DS1's friends did more or less this for the duration of their GCSEs. He was allowed friends round for a sleepover after the last exam to make up for it, though .

Admittedly, he did very well in his GCSEs - three more A*, than DS1 and no B or C, but two years later, they got the same grades in their A levels.

[ilelo]

It wasn't a whole weekend, only overnight. We did what is best for us. She would not have slept the whole night and would have been unable to concentrate. We tried to get a different day but nope. We had paid for it and would have loved for her to go especially as it was her last one but things don't always work out as we want.

If others would have done different, that's up to them. I'm sure everyone will make the best decision for their own.

Might I add that my DD is in an orchestra that meets once a week in term time, she's in swimming and football clubs both of which meet weekly. We have not stopped anything for the 11+.

[Blue_Marigold]

We had this exact situation a few years ago with DD1 going camping the weekend before the 11+ test. I think that for some parents it’s fine to let to them go and for others it isn’t. Because if you are going to spend the whole time worrying about it then it might not be worth it. If you have voiced your concerns to your child, they might be afraid of trying things incase they hurt themselves. Also, if you let them go and they do get hurt or fall ill, you will spend ages blaming yourself or wondering ‘what if...’ (specially if they don’t qualify). But not everyone has these worries so for them it’s fine to let their kids go on trips before exams.

I am not going to go overboard by wrapping them up for a month before the exams but you have to be sensible according to what you know your child can cope with. It doesn’t sound like OPs child was that bothered about the trip anyway so I think they made the right choice for them.

[Qeb2019]

Time went fast. My son went to day camp, on the day when he finished Qeboy exam he went straight back to school to sleep for the final night. We just got the result, he scored 244. He told me it was his best week ever.

Thank you very much to all forum member for the help and advice.

Regards