Supporting your child as they move from year 11 into sixth form

By Lauren Sandhu, on 7 August 2020

This series for parents and carers is written by Karen Roberts our Senior Access Officer for pupil engagement. Karen is a former teacher and has lots of experience working with young people. We will be posting on a regular basis so please check back for more tips and ideas.

Unfortunately, young people in Year 11 have been among the most disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic as schools were forced to close and GCSE exams were cancelled.  The government has said that young people will be expected to return to education in September so we can only hope that Year 12 will be more stable for your son or daughter.  Here, we provide some tips for parents on how you can help your child to transition to sixth form over the summer and into the next academic year.

First, familiarise yourself with your child’s post-16 options so that you can better support them in deciding what to do after year 11

The main options your child has are:

• To remain in full time education in school or college
• To choose an apprenticeship or Traineeship
• To study or train part time – but this must be in addition to employment, self-employment or volunteering for a minimum of 20 hours a week.

If your child wants to remain in full time education to study A-levels or vocational qualifications, then talk to them about whether they are best suited to staying in a school environment or moving to a sixth form college.  There are pros and cons to each.  In general, a school environment will suit a student who likes more structure, while a sixth form college will suit someone who is a more independent learner.  Staying in school will provide your child with a familiar environment (and with the same teachers if they stay in the same school they attended in Year 11).  Colleges tend to be larger and they tend to offer a broader range of A-level and vocational subjects than schools so your child may have the opportunity to study subjects that are new to them, such as Accounting, Film Studies or Politics.

As an alternative, your child could choose to become an apprentice where they would become a paid employee who studies as part of their job.  At the end, they would gain a nationally recognised qualification, which can be up to degree level.  Apprenticeships help young people develop the skills they need to work in a particular industry.  For further information, click here for the Parent’s Guide to Apprenticeships.

Traineeships, on the other hand, are aimed at young people who are not yet ready to start an apprenticeship because they lack the required skills or experience.  Traineeships are designed to help young people become ‘work ready’.  Find out more on the Government’s website.

Remember that all young people must be in some form of education or training until they are 18.

If your child is disappointed with any of their GCSE grades, don’t be afraid to appeal and/or consider resits

As you know, GCSE grades this year will be based on teacher assessments so your child will receive calculated grades rather than grades based on exam performance.  If your child feels their grade is unfair, then don’t be afraid to speak to their school to see if you can appeal and/or to discuss whether your child will be able to resit their exam(s) in the next school year (likely to be in the autumn of 2020 or summer of 2021).  Many other young people are likely to be in the same position so don’t worry that the teachers will think you’re making a fuss.  These are exceptional circumstances and your child’s school will do their best to help.

Similarly, talk to the sixth form or college your child wants to go to if they have missed the required entry grades

If you child hasn’t quite achieved the required entry grades for the sixth form they want to go to, then it’s worth a conversation with them as they may still be able to offer your child a place.  If the course your child wanted to do is not available, then the college might be able to offer a transfer to a different course or subject or they could recommend other colleges or sixth forms which might suit them.

Support your child to choose A-levels based on what they want to do in the future

If your child has some idea of what they might want to do as a career, then they can use this as a starting point for their A-level choices.  Based on their preferences, you can gather some prospectuses or go onto university websites to check degree requirements; for example, if your child wants to become a Chemical Engineer, then they can look up the A-level subjects needed to get onto a Chemical Engineering degree course at various universities.  You will find that some degrees don’t ask for any specific A-levels (for example, Law) and in that case, see if the university provides a list of preferred A-level subjects as UCL does.  A list like this can also help if your child has no idea what career they might want to go into in the future as it will help them choose subjects that are applicable to a wide range of occupations, such as Maths, English, Business or a Modern Foreign Language.

Be aware that there are jobs which will be in demand when your child graduates that we may not even know about yet!

It is understandable that you might favour the traditional professions such as Law, Medicine and Engineering as these have been seen as the higher paid, higher status careers for generations.  However, the world is changing and we would encourage you not to be dismissive of your child’s career choices if they are more unusual.  For example, there may be new types of health and science jobs emerging to deal with climate change or global public health in light of the current pandemic.  There will undoubtedly be technology-related jobs which we do not know about yet since technology is always evolving.  Just look at what has happened recently with so many people working from home.  This would have been unthinkable even twenty years ago. So, try to be open to your child’s “dream” job even if you have never heard of it before.

Your child has now reached a major milestone in their education.  Having studied a wide range of subjects in school up until now, this is the point where they will start to specialise by focusing on perhaps 3-4 subjects which most interest them.  They may find this challenging, but hopefully they will also find it exciting.  We have prepared some resources to help your son or daughter choose their A-levels.  We also run a number of online events for both young people and parents to help you prepare for university. Once your young person is in Year 12 and potentially thinking about their university options they may find our free UCL Study Prep online module helpful in their preparations.  Please check the Access and Widening Participation section of the UCL website for further details and keep checking this blog for new posts.

Helping your child to transition to year 7 during the current pandemic

By Lauren Sandhu, on 15 June 2020

This series for parents and carers is written by Karen Roberts our Senior Access Officer for pupil engagement. Karen is a former teacher and has lots of experience working with young people. We will be posting on a regular basis so please check back for more tips and ideas as the summer term progresses.

Helping your child to transition to year 7 during the current pandemic

Leaving primary school is a major milestone for young children.  At the end of year 6, they need to prepare to leave a school where they know everyone and where they are the most senior year group, to join a new, unfamiliar environment, where they are the youngest surrounded by much older teenagers.  This can be an overwhelming time for both children and parents/carers.  And this year, there has been the added stress of the Covid-19 pandemic which has closed schools and affected the run-up to ‘big school’ for those joining year 7 in September.

Here, we provide some tips on how you can help your child to transition to secondary school during their last few weeks of primary school and over the summer.

Find ways to help your child say their goodbyes

Whether or not your child has returned to school recently, there are likely to be other children who have not returned and/or school staff who are still shielding or self-isolating.  Consider how your child can say goodbye to the people who are important to them who are not present in school.  Could they send a card to their teacher via the school?  Or send an email to the school’s account?  Or could they talk to absent friends on the phone or via Skype to say goodbye?  Perhaps other parents would be able to put you in touch with any of your child’s friends who you don’t have contact details for?  Saying goodbye can be a way to help your child come to terms with the fact that they are moving from one stage of their education to another.

Walk, cycle or drive the route to the secondary school and take advantage of any virtual school tours that are offered

Your child will have a new school journey to get used to after the summer holidays, so, if you are able to, prepare them for this ahead of time.  You may wish to travel with your child to the new school (avoiding public transport where possible and staying socially distanced from others) so your child can get a taste of what this experience will be like. You won’t be able to go in, but if you have access to the internet, lots of secondary schools are offering virtual tours of the buildings to help children visualise their new surroundings.  Some schools also have Q&As and opportunities to ‘meet the teachers’ online.

Start giving your child more responsibilities at home

At primary school, your child will have spent most of their day with one class teacher and they will be used to following a very fixed schedule.  However, at secondary school, they will move between different teachers and different groups of children each day, they may have a two-week timetable to follow instead of a weekly one and they will need to take responsibility for juggling homework deadlines across a range of subjects. This is a major shift and a big step up for them.  Just making sure they have the right equipment and books for each day can be a challenge.

In preparation, you could try giving your child more responsibility at home so that school becomes an extension of this, rather than a culture shock.  For example, make them responsible for certain chores in the home (such as making their bed, laying or clearing the table) or allow them to help you in the kitchen or on shopping trips. You may also wish to reinforce the rules for crossing the road unaccompanied. These small tasks will help to send the message that they are reaching an age when they will start to become more independent.

Share your own experiences of secondary school with your child

They may be dismissive of this at first, but it could still help to hear that, despite whatever challenges they may face in their new school environment, they will come through it successfully.  Talk about what you enjoyed at secondary school and what you think you got out of it, but don’t be afraid to speak to your child about what you were worried about before you went and how you dealt with this.  You could also ask their older siblings or other family members (such as older cousins) to have this conversation with your child.

Try to help your child see the move to secondary school as an opportunity

Focus on the good points of the change to a new school by talking to your child about all the things they will get to do at secondary school that they couldn’t do while they were in primary.  The list may include:

• Making new friends
• Travelling to school on their own
• Studying new subjects
• Trying out new clubs and activities
• Generally becoming more independent.

It may take your child a few weeks to settle in, particularly if they don’t have any friends from primary school at the new school.  Let them know that this is perfectly normal. If there are issues beyond this, make sure you know who to contact at the school if you want to discuss anything.  You may wish to make an appointment to see their form tutor if your child is experiencing any social or educational problems. However, try not to worry too much.  The chances are that your child will enjoy year 7 once they get to know everyone.  Remember that all the children in their year will be going through the same transition.

Some useful resources for parents and carers:

Transition to Secondary: 5 tips for parents – Teacher Toolkit

Preparing Your Child for Year 7 Science – STEM Learning

Black Lives Matter

By Lauren Sandhu, on 9 June 2020

UCL’s Access and Widening Participation Office believes Black Lives Matter. We stand in support and solidarity with our Black colleagues and young people that we work with.

Our team have been having a discussion about the resources that have been helpful to us. The following list is non-exhaustive and has been compiled by recommendations from the staff in our team. We would love to hear your recommendations too.

UCL’s Access and Widening Participation Office

Books

• Natives: Race and Class in the Ruins of Empire by Akala
• Notes of a Native Son by James Baldwin
• Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman
• Queenie by Candice Carty-Williams
• Why I’m No Longer Talking to White People About Race by Reni Eddo-Lodge
• Taking up Space: A Black Girl’s Manifesto for Change by Chelsea Kwakye and Ore Ogunbiyi
• Your Silence Will Not Protect You by Audre Lorde
• Black and British: A Forgotten History by David Olusoga
• Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid
• The Good Immigrant edited by Nikesh Shukla
• The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
• Sing, Unburied, Sing by Jesmyn Ward

TV

• 13^th – documentary on Netflix and also available for free on YouTube
• Lots of subscription tv services have collated lists of documentaries for Black Lives Matter
• Sitting In Limbo – BBC

Podcasts

• About Race with Reni Eddo-Lodge
• Code Switch
• Leading Routes podcast

Organisations, campaigns and other resources

• Leading Routes – an initiative that aims to prepare the next generation of Black academics, and their ‘Broken Pipeline’ research report.
• The Black Curriculum – a social enterprise founded in 2019 by young people to address the lack of Black British history in the UK Curriculum.
• Cambridge Union debate with James Baldwin – video on YouTube
• gal-dem – a print and online publication committed to sharing perspectives from women and non-binary people of colour
• UCL’s Legacies of British Slave-ownership – a database where you can learn about how your local area benefitted from slave ownership and compensation upon its abolition.
• Generating Genius – supporting talented young Black students into STEM careers.

More top tips for parents and carers: home schooling

By Lauren Sandhu, on 15 May 2020

This is the second in our series of blog posts which aim to help parents and carers manage the transition to home schooling.  If you have just discovered our blog, then you may wish to check out our first blog for top tips 1-5.  This series is written by Karen Roberts our Senior Access Officer for pupil engagement. Karen is a former teacher and has lots of experience working with young people. We will be posting on a regular basis so please check back for more tips and ideas as the summer term progresses.

Tip 6 – Focus on literacy

Encourage your child to read every day at their own pace. It is no secret that regular reading is one of the best ways to improve your child’s literacy at all stages of development and some children may find reading relaxing.  This doesn’t have to be books; it can include any suitable reading material that you have at home, such as free newspapers (although we suggest only allowing them to read specific sections which you have checked for content), magazines or re-reading written materials that they were given at school.

Similarly, creative writing can help develop both reading and writing skills.  You can ask your child to write about what they’ve done that day or you may decide to give them a particular theme, such as ‘friendship’.  They can also make a comic by adding pictures to their story.

Tip 7 – Work on numeracy

Use this time to go over fundamental maths skills with your children, such as number bonds, times tables, division, addition and subtraction strategies.  You could also try simple arithmetic games which test literacy skills at the same time.  For example, assign points to every letter of the alphabet between 1-26 (A=1, B=2, C=3 and so on up to Z=26).  Then, for younger children, you could ask them to work out the total value of certain words; for example, “how many points are there in the word ‘dog’?”  For older children, you could increase the level of challenge by asking them to come up with words which add up to a certain number of points; for example, “can you come up with a word that has 12 points?”

Tip 8 – If you are sharing home schooling responsibilities, think about how best to divide your time

You will undoubtedly find it difficult to home school all day and also get other things done!  Some of you may decide to split your home school schedule into shifts, meaning that one parent might supervise in the morning, while the other parent supervises in the afternoon.  Depending on your other commitments and the size of your family, some of you may prefer to divide your home schooling by age group so that one parent helps the younger children, while the other helps the older children and on different days, you may switch over.  There is no right or wrong.  Feel free to change things around until you find the arrangement that best suits your and your family’s needs.

Tip 9 – Enlist the help of others where you can

If you aren’t confident about certain subjects, have a think about whether you could ask someone else to help.  For example, does your child have older siblings or cousins who might be able to help, particularly if they have already advanced to A-level or university level study?  Do you have any relatives or friends who might be able to look over your child’s work via WhatsApp?  Or they could talk through their homework with them on the phone?  Also, don’t be afraid to contact your child’s school to see if you can speak to your child’s subject teacher for some advice as, in many cases, school staff will be checking emails on a regular basis.

Tip 10 – Remember that home lessons do not have to cost you extra money

Money is tight for many of us at this time, so here are some more ideas for learning activities you can do with your children at minimal cost:

• Send your child/ren on a treasure hunt around your home (and garden if you have one), with instructions such as ‘find something white’, ‘find something that has a nice smell’, ‘find something soft’ etc. Try to include at least ten items on the list and try to cover sight, smell, taste, touch and sound.
• Ask them to draw a picture of whatever they can see from the windows of your home (this can just be a pencil sketch if you don’t have any coloured pencils or paints).
• Help them to make a simple paper banner to decorate your home for the summer.
• To further develop literacy, encourage your child to design their own word search or crossword for you or their siblings to complete.
• Set them a photography challenge to take pictures to illustrate the times we’re currently living in; for example, their mood, daily activities and anything important that happens such as clapping for the NHS. You will find these interesting to look back at once life returns to normal.

We wish you all the best with home schooling and once again, remember not to put too much pressure on yourself and just do the best that you can.  Also, keep checking the Access and Widening Participation Office’s blog to see how we can help.

Some useful resources for parents and carers:

• BBC Bitesize Daily
• Classroom Secrets Kids website
• Discovering Children’s Books (British library website)