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Original poster

Controlled Assessments

34 replies

inthesticks · 07/11/2010 16:29

Do the school decide when they take place or is it the exam board?

I am puzzled because DS1 in Year 10 was given Mice and Men to read over half term and was told on Friday that they have the GCSE controlled assessment on this book at the end of November. This doesn't seem long to prepare? If the school knew about it I'd have thought they'd have made a start in September.
Are they likely to have more CA on the same book does anyone know? It's AQA and a new course I believe.

OP posts:
Docbunches · 08/11/2010 11:04

Just to add more confusion to this thread ... my DD in Y9 has just brought home 'To Kill a Mocking Bird', which I'm really puzzled about because although her school has started doing a 3-year KS4, it doesn't apply to the core subjects for which she is still in KS3, or so I thought Confused.

I suppose I should be grateful she's got three years to nail her English Lit GCSE, unless of course, they make them take it early.

seeker · 08/11/2010 10:10

I am outraged that my dd is in year 10 of a hight achieving school, and they started reading To Kill a Mocking Bird at the beginning of the year, and they are still only halfway through!

And they are writing essays on the half they've read - how on earth can you write a meaningful essay when you've only read half the book?????????

Sorry, as you were!

Original poster
inthesticks · 08/11/2010 10:05

I'm obviously out of touch.
I still can't get over the fact that they don't bring home text books at secondary school. Not even in English. It must waste a lot of class time reading during a lesson. This was the first time he had ever brought a book home and only his class were given it (for one week).
I asked for a list of the books they would be studying so that I can buy them myself but only got a vague reply.
DS thinks I interfere too much.

OP posts:
bruffin · 08/11/2010 00:58

My DS is year 10 and is doing AQA English. He has not done a CA yet and hasn't even started studying a book yet.

Kez100 · 07/11/2010 20:55

My daughter has also just sat a CA for M and M. I think she had last half term studying it but no homework over half term on it, so it took her by surprise to be sitting a CA last Monday, out of the blue.

I also thought won't she be better at English next year? I remember (in the olden days) improving a lot from my mocks in January (would have been year 11) and the summer!

BelligerentGhoul · 07/11/2010 19:33

It sounds like bad planning to me (am an English teacher too). However, the English dept are probably being pressured to enter pupils early for as many assessments as possible in order to establish a 'baseline' level in as many areas as possible. Pupis can then re-sit them later.

Not the way I personally would want to do it but that comes after us having to fight and refuse to try and cram a two year course into a year! Maybe that's what's happening at your son's school?

Original poster
inthesticks · 07/11/2010 19:25

Thanks for your replies. So 3 weeks would be considered long enough to study the book then?
I am Shock, but then I was at school a hundred years ago when exams were all done in one stint at the end of 5th form (Year 11).

OP posts:
RealEyesRealiseRealLies · 07/11/2010 17:33

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TheProfiteroleThief · 07/11/2010 16:47

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