What an interesting term this has been. With schools overseas opening pretty much as normal as they could be from August, so schools in the UK tried to do the same from September. However, with boarding schools this was not always practicably possible firstly because many students coming from overseas had to quarantine on their arrival in the UK. Then, the day to day running of boarding schools has varied too – whilst some cancelled exeat weekends, others (usually with more day students) continued home weekend visits as usual. Some schools tried to test all students at the start of term and after exeats, but after finding so many asymptomatic positive cases caused them to have to send whole year groups home, most ended up following a more pragmatic approach and only tested students showing obvious symptoms. This was largely successful until near the end of term when quite a number of schools had to revert to online learning because of an increase in cases and not wanting to risk both staff and students not being able to be home for Christmas. We now know that these increased cases in schools in the South East were probably linked to the effects of the new strain which are still just coming to light.
With a return to online schooling for many at the end of term, and as is likely to continue in January too, this has knock on effects. Firstly, there is of course the on-going fear that public exams will be cancelled again in the summer of 2021, and schools are having to ensure that their internal assessments are inscrutable and can stand up to moderation if they are to self-allocate grades again. With children studying online, this makes it all the more difficult and schools have had to come up with various new solutions for internal assessments which whilst suitable for a handful of students, are harder to implement for whole year groups. As a byproduct of this, be aware that if you are looking to compare the grades of schools for 2020, be mindful to also look at 2019 for grounding as some independent schools’ grades were inflated by 10% last year. The main effect that we are already seeing is students with excellent GCSE results, ill prepared for the rigour of their sixth form studies. This is something we will monitor to avoid with this year’s GCSE students as their schooling continues to be disrupted.
With all that is going on globally, I know many of you are still moving ahead with plans to return to the UK and / or to send your children to board, and schools’ admissions are proceeding – not quite as usual, with some changing the format of exams; all moving interviews online, including with group activities in some cases; and many in the main, moving their main assessment window before Christmas.
We currently have many students waiting to hear if they have been successful in their entry endeavours, but already we have had some good news at all levels from prep to 16+ and I am pleased to say that students have already been offered places (some with scholarships) at: Abingdon, Epsom, Fine Arts College, Harrow, Hurstpierpoint, Mayfield, RGS (Guildford), Rosemead, St George’s (Weybridge), St Swithuns, Streatham & Clapham, Sydenham and University College School, as well as students being put forward to the next round of 13+ assessments for Eton, Wellington, Westminster and Winchester. In addition, two of our students who began in Year 9 at Tonbridge in September have been awarded scholarships in view of their high performance this term. We are delighted to hear of everyone’s success and look forward to reporting on more next term.
In the meantime, we still have students working hard for Spring entrance exams for schools including Benenden, Cheltenham Ladies College and Sevenoaks, with others focusing on their GCSEs and Sixth form studies – keep up the good work.
The whole Ellipsis team wish all our families a very happy festive season wherever you are. Some of you have been isolating with your children, others have just had the return of your children from quarantine, but most have seen a lot less travel than usual and I suspect for all, Christmas will be quieter and more low key than normal wherever you are. With increased recent travel restrictions, I do hope that everyone’s loved ones make it home for Christmas.
Whilst of course we are hopeful for more stability in 2021, recent developments in the UK have put a lot of people’s January plans up in the air both regarding travel and schools, and so it looks likely that we will be starting the new term probably more unsettled than we ended this one. I for one will be watching the developments in many schools closely and will keep you informed if there is anything to report. And as always, if we can help you in any way with your children’s educational needs, please let me know.
For now, best regards from deepest Sussex, currently in tier 2 but just 5 minutes from the border of Kent and tier 4.
Fiona Hodgkins
December 2020