AQA 'Catching the bus'

[SomeGuy]

ROFL:

www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Boy_gets_prize_for_catching_a_bus&in_article_id=72 0027&inpageid=34

The student has demonstrated the ability to:

"1. walk to the local bus stop;

1. stand or sit at the bus stop and wait for the arrival of a bus;

1. enter the bus in a calm and safe manner;

1. be directed to a downstairs seat by a member of staff;

1. sit on the bus and observe through the windows;

1. wait until the bus has stopped, stand on request and exit the bus.

"

[SomeGuy]

I think I need one in 'remembering to put those square brackets round links'

www.metro.co.uk/news/article.html?Boy_gets_prize_for_catching_a_bus&in_article_id=720027&in_page_id= 34

[ilovemydogandmrobama]

So how did his brother fail?

Maybe didn't, 'look out the window and observe...'

[SomeGuy]

The thing is I remember my bus to school, and what with the emergency exit constantly being opened (resulting in piercing noise), the smoking, upstairs and downstairs, the fireworks being chucked out of the window, etc., I know they'd all fail.

[BertieBotts]

I catch buses all the time and point 4 never happens. Also, the drivers barely wait for the bus to stop before expecting you to stand, let alone request that you do so!

Joking aside, isn't it an assessment aimed at SN adults?

[TheDailyMailHatesWomenAndLemon]

I think it's aimed at teenagers with SN, at least.

[Goblinchild]

I think you're right, sounds like an element of an ASDAN qualification. Life skills
www.asdan.org.uk/life_skills.php
Isn't hard for an nt teenager, but can be a real challenge for an ASD teen to manage something like this, even if their academic abilities are A*

[saintlydamemrsturnip]

Well it's something my eldest son will never manage. If he was capable of it, I would love him to gain this award as it would be a real boost to independence and a useful skill.

[TAFKAtheUrbanDryad]

I saw this story in the Mirror. It made me really annoyed - this award is obviously aimed at SN teenagers, who need things like this, and need to work at life skills. I know people who could never get this award.

This is a lovely way to include SN kids - laugh at their achievements and compare them to those of NT children.



The papers - and this family - have spectacularly missed the point.

[Goblinchild]

We're working up to it in stages!
When we catch the train, he's got a prompt card that he made, because he couldn't hold the sequence in his head. Beginning with 'Excuse me' and a stage direction to wait until the person is looking at him.
Eventually he'll be able to do it without the card and me there but a metre or so behind him.
Then we'll go for him on his own. he might still be a teenager by then...
He's predicted A* in the majority of his GCSEs, but lifeskills in society? Still working towards.

[TAFKAtheUrbanDryad]

"Youth support services director Barbara Lewis insisted: 'For some, it may be the only qualifications they get.' "

"In an apparent gift to critics who insist tests are being dumbed down, the 15-year-old was awarded a prize certificate simply for catching a bus."

God I hate the Metro with every fibre of my being. Possibly even more than the fucking Mail. I suppose we should be grateful that they even included the quote from Barbara Lewis.

[Goblinchild]

The problem is that an ASDAN level 1 counts as a low-level GCSE grade. So if as a school you choose to misuse it and allow children who don't need that support to do it, it devalues the purpose of the award.
Wosisface will get a level D equivalent if he does ASDAN, whereas he might fail French altogether.
Depends why he's doing it.

[ilovemydogandmrobama]

If he has special needs, then of course taking a bus is a major accomplishment, so apologies

[Goblinchild]

I doubt that the boy in the article has sn if he's been nominated a Head Boy. Lovely though that would be, it's unlikely.
The reason that you need to look out of the window and observe is to develop an understanding of where you are, what landmarks to look out for and when to get ready to disembark.
Or, in my son's case, he'd put in his headphones and switch off from his surroundings and then be turfed off at the terminus.
Leeds probably, or Plymouth.