Coping with Year 11 stress and anxiety

[loobylou]

I think it's an increasing problem with students getting extra time - a friend of mine whose dd is in year 11 at a local comprehensive says she feels she has done her dd a disservice by not asking the school to apply for extra time - apparently between 1/3 and 1/2 of the students have extra time. She feels that her dd (average ability) is now disadvantaged. I have no problems at all with students with genuine disabilities having additional time - it makes complete sense - but ever other child who gets extra time will have a significant benefit from this. I can't imagine schools working hard to minimise this because presumably it benefits them too?
On the private diagnosis front - we decline to prescribe for children who have had a private psychiatric diagnosis and insist that their pschiatrist prescribes or they get seen by CAMHS who support the prescription. We appreciate the difficulties that parents have getting their children seen on the NHS by CAMHS but at the same time every single child who sees a private child psych seems to get a diagnosis and medication. It does make one cynical.
Back to year 11 stress and anxiety....
Dd is now on her 3rd day of mocks. Maths yesterday was apparently hideous; the others have been manageable so far. She is liking the study leave and the chance to revise during the day between exams.

[kenyancowgirl]

YES!!!!! This.....

"....We appreciate the difficulties that parents have getting their children seen on the NHS by CAMHS but at the same time every single child who sees a private child psych seems to get a diagnosis and medication. It does make one cynical..."

exactly.....! It's the point I made earlier - if a parent has paid to go and see them, they are "expecting" a diagnosis, so one is given..."adhd tendencies", "authority avoidance", "mild dyslexia", "slight anxiety disorder".....I believe I have all these things - sometimes at the same time - and I certainly would if I was a child being schlepped around by a parent before my exams, being tested to see if I did!! The exam boards need to be more realistic as exam officers are certainly aware the lead is being swung in many more cases, but, unfortunately can do nothing about it when faced with the letters parents present. Not surprised you are cynical loobylou - you aren't the only one - the idea to remove disadvantage is great but, like many other aspects of life, it is now misused in my opinion. Like your friend I do think I am letting particularly one of my sons down by not insisting on extra time (the other would hate it!) - it really wouldn't be hard to arrange....

No mocks here for Y11 but Y13 mocks - yesterday's maths was a car crash apparently, the new style exam looks nothing like they have ever seen beofre and nothing like the old papers, so it hasn't started well. Joy.

[guest201]

My daughter tells me that a large number of children in her year have been diagnosed as "slow processing" and are therefore given extra time, she says they can ask to be assessed, so they go along and do everything a bit slowly in the assessment and are then classified as "slow processing" not sure what to make of this myself

[ToadMum]

On the University of Manchester SU jazz hands front, things do seem to have gone rather quiet (no pun intended)?

Possibly I wasn't the only one whose first thought was, 'Ooh, okay - just like clowns...

[Eccentric]

My daughter tells me that a large number of children in her year have been diagnosed as "slow processing" and are therefore given extra time, she says they can ask to be assessed, so they go along and do everything a bit slowly in the assessment and are then classified as "slow processing" not sure what to make of this myself

I don’t think you can do things slowly from what my Dd told me the test didn’t work like that. It was multi fasceted. My Dd said she literally could not do many of the things they asked her. The really sad thing that as a Mum of a child who has a genuine diagnosis and has quite clearly had a problem all her life. I feel like a fraud. She feels like a fraud why this is clearly not the case.

[kenyancowgirl]

The point is Eccentric, they are ALL "genuine" diagnosis....but are they all genuine cases? The suspicion from many parents, exams officers, GPs etc is very much no - hence the problem.

guest201 is correct - If a parent wanted their child not to perform to the best of their ability, and the child saw the adavntage of extra time, it is possible to not do as well as you absolutely could - (I was trained to screen for a whole host of spectrum and none spectrum disabilities under TIPS many years ago, for Oxfordshire County Council). Despicable of course, and very unfair on genuine disabilities and must be hard on them - but equally hard on other "normal" children who are also being disadvantaged now.

[kenyancowgirl]

On the University of Manchester SU jazz hands front, things do seem to have gone rather quiet (no pun intended)?

Possibly I wasn't the only one whose first thought was, 'Ooh, okay - just like clowns...

I remember a very funny interview by the BBC with a very sheepish member of the SU, who obviously also thought the whole thing was utter tosh but was trying not to say it!!!

[loobylou]

My daughter tells me that a large number of children in her year have been diagnosed as "slow processing" and are therefore given extra time, she says they can ask to be assessed, so they go along and do everything a bit slowly in the assessment and are then classified as "slow processing" not sure what to make of this myself

I don’t think you can do things slowly from what my Dd told me the test didn’t work like that. It was multi fasceted. My Dd said she literally could not do many of the things they asked her. The really sad thing that as a Mum of a child who has a genuine diagnosis and has quite clearly had a problem all her life. I feel like a fraud. She feels like a fraud why this is clearly not the case.

This is so common nowadays and so unfair.
I have a few patients who have told me that they're not claiming benefits (despite being absolutely genuinely unable to work) because "benefits' claimants are fraudulent". When I pursued it they knew they were genuine claimants and should claim but had an amazingly fixed mindset that wouldn't let them do it. (I did suggest they stopped reading the DM - every single day - and a couple of them did and reported feeling a lot better about themselves!)

[Eccentric]

Incidentally Dd says there are only 5 of them in her year with extra time for the exams. Not quite the high numbers that people have been suggesting.

[Moon unit]

A much higher percentage of children in the private sector get extra time.
I can’t find the link but it was in the news last year....