GCSE Results Day 2017

There are a lot of MNers worrying about medical school, it seems weird to keep holding that up as so important.
It's weird, I'm seeing little here about timing of GCSE sittings. Sheffield is only school that mentions sittings (6 in one sitting requirement). Is that list very out of date or incomplete?

I'll be pleased if DS gets a C for his GCSE he finishes at end of yr9. And that will probably only be with a huge amount of hand-holding from me (even though it's a Mickey Mouse GCSE being phased out, I think still in letters not grades). He still will benefit from doing the GCSE early so he can practise at what is it like to do a GCSE before the big ones that count for much more.

MsHarry how do you manage to raise a child to be that driven?

I have one very driven child who has just got 11GCSEs at A* and A and a younger DD who isn't as gifted in that area. I support them both equally. I hate the attitude that you can't ask questions if your DC is a high achiever. You just have to shut your mouth and be grateful. I haven't 'bragged' to anyone about DD's results because of this attitude and my DD wonders if I'm ashamed.It's a different kind of pressure at that end. My DD worked her backside off, it didn't happen on it's own. I don't claim any responsibility for her ability, it was apparent at a young age. What a bizarre attitude we have in this country to success.

I have no problems with Welsh bac in the respect that it did have dd writing up reports and assignments like I had to do in uni. But had not been taught to do. It's just a shame that it means she can't choose 4 a levels to do.

BertrandRussell I agree. One of the A level threads had me reaching for the wine as it contained so many parents of super high achieving students with Oxbridge aspirations or multiple children at Oxbridge universities.

I kind of felt that they had no idea what it is like to be the parent of a child/children who need a bit of a kick to get motivated to pass exams or just an academically average child. DD is academically able, but does need a lot of encouragement.

I would like to know the magic ingredient of parenthood that makes your children focused and motivated when it comes to studying because it doesn't exist in our house.

I think the least discussion is actually of those just above middle/ just below high : this is where the most 'disappointed ' people lie, I think.

Those with clutches of Cs, maybe a smattering of Bs, the odd A : they get overlooked : the 'meh' brigade. I feel sad just writing that.

Bertrand

but it is sad how skewed Mumsnet education discussions always are to the needs/wants of the high achievers.

Bit like the Tory party and current educational policy really. Sad sigh.

I did notice on the threads about Edexcel maths grade boundaries there was lots of discussion about the Higher paper, but pretty much no queries about what was needed for Foundation. Stats released by Edexcel yesterday show that nearly 50% of kids that sat Edexcel sat Foundation.

The assessment every half term is crushing and soul destroying for most teachers and many many students, : in my experience it did nothing to raise the effort, application or outcome of the middle to low achievers and their results didn't improve. In fact, it meant we had to rush all the teaching to fit into half termly units. Given a school local to us (previous RI at Ofsted) got better Eng results than us, I am hopeful we will tweak this (who am I kidding? No I'm not)

That said, I think my DS could have done with a bit more practice ; they never even had a proper lit mock, so there has to be a happy medium.

I am surprised there is still so much early entry since Ofsted dislike it (or say they do.)

I have never known so much stress amongst English teachers and amongst students as this year and I have been teaching 20 years +.

I am a fan of a head on Twitter (can't recall his name) who ahs given up half termly data gathering as statistically pointless. they gather data twice a year!

I agree about the skewing of MN. I have tried not to look at the posts with people's DCs' results. I am delighted for all the pupils who did so well and their parents, too. It just makes me view my DS's results as mediocre as do all the press releases from schools and I admit jealousy of other DCs results. He got full marks in 3 out of 4 of his Spanish units but then someone (not on MN) said Spanish is 'ridiculously easy' and he won't be able to make the step up to A level, so that was helpful!

No one forewarns parents properly how stressful this phase of parenting can be!! DS has not been easy to guide drag through this process!

BertrandRussell
I know.
It also amazes me how mumsnet seems to have the parents of half the country's most able children on it, the ones who are just so far ahead of any other child.

Sadly, I think it's bragging rights as if having a bright child is a sign of awesome parenting.
(What's equally sad is if you point anything like that out then it's "inverse snobbery" from "people who are jealous kf anyone who is above average" )

The biggest issue this GCSE resukts day is what happens to those on a 4. 1-3 resit. 5+ are fine. 4s don't resit, and don't get the option, but then universities haven't said they'll accept a 4 in 2 years time.

I suppose I shouldn't be surprised considering the demographic, but it is sad how skewed Mumsnet education discussions always are to the needs/wants of the high achievers.

I'm not in position to worry about all the kids.

No but schools are, so shouldn't do this sort of crap.

"but i would still rather they didn't go for the early entry route as it may make his applications to uni for medicine more tricky "

Especially if English and maths were taken early. DD is looking at medicine for 2018 entry and a lot of medical schools are looking at GCSEs and when they were taken as AS levels are being dropped by many schools.

We are in Wales. My DS in year 10, this year he took maths, maths numeracy, english lang, and half of his double award science (triple no longer available, grumble grumble). He was meant to do Welsh forst lang gcse too but I put my foot down and made them withdraw him as there was no way he was ready for it.
He did really well in his exams and we are happy with the results but i would still rather they didnt go for the early entry route as it may make his applications to uni for medicine more tricky but the school simply wouldnt listen!
Luckily his school dont seem to do all the extra general studies, rs and any other gcse, small mercies. In my experience, having moved from England 9 years ago, the policies followed in Wales are those that were ditched over the border when we were leaving!
On a positive, my DD finished A Levels last year, she wasnt scuppered by the early entry rubbish because that didnt happen 4/5 years ago and actually her Welsh Bacc qual helped her to get into Uni to study Vet Med, so its not all bad. The Welsh Bacc is good for scientists because it maybe the only time they have to write essays and compile reports at A Level.

It's very good for MY DC, Noble.
DD has got highest marks in everything so far (she also always has phone to hand which you won't approve of... heck I don't approve, but she makes it work).

DS needs practice at handling the anxiety & timetable; he won't be magically better at it in the last 6 months of yr11. He needs the easing in.

I'm not in position to worry about all the kids.

Revision a continuous process?, ha!! The UK systems are terrible for encouraging this. Can hardly imagine worse than this last-exam-means-everything system that is norm here. I hate it for that.

"It seemed a very good way of de-sensitising exam nerves and practicing exam technique, as well as discovering weak points and ensuring that revision was a continuous process."

Really? It seems to me to be a very good way of ensuring that staff and kids all die of boredom halfway through year 11!

Ours did full mocks, under GCSE exam conditions, every term from Spring of Y10

Oh dear god those poor teachers. The use of 'PPE' suggests the hand of Pixl Club. Joyless exam-gamers.

It's not very good for them DfE research is unequivocal that early entry is bad for students. They end up with lower results than they would do if they sat them at the proper time.
That's why they introduced the 'first entry only' rule for league tables and why progress 8 only looks at 8 GCSEs. Quality over quantity.

ProfessorLayton1
Because marking isn't that attractive to teachers who are already up to their eyes in teaching stuff.

Plus for Lit, it's loads kf texts and not exttact based. There's no way I could tell you if quotations in a paper from a text I've not taught are accurate etc either. So there's additional work there learning about texts that markers don't know as well.

If you'rr still teaching a full timetable (minus 3 or 4 hours a week for y11) then marking ia a massive load. I considered it and then decided not. I may do it next year.

DC have done / are completing GCSEs in yr9 & yr10. It's very good for them. Final count will be 11-12, only b/c they are in high sets.

Sorry Noble, cross posted..

Redsrule- why were they left so late to be marked?
Did AQA did not have enough examiners??
If so, how did other boards get them marked - surely there must be some forward planning as they knew before hand how many students are taking English AQAs , with the proposed changes it would have been better enough time was allocated for each paper??

And we know AQA struggled to recruit markers for English and was advertising for PGCE students and interested postgrads to do it.

Very shortsighted Welsh government policy..Dd would like to apply to universities in England but I think she completely underestimates the competitiveness in getting into them.
The only kids who I know who go to such universities are children of parents who themselves have gone to such institutions- I know a boy who was advised so badly of A level choices he missed out on university, makes me so angry..
So many kids I know have done 14/15 GCSEs - ridiculous!!

How often did your dc sit mocks (or PPEs, as they call them)? Ours did full mocks, under GCSE exam conditions, every term from Spring of Y10. (At least in my dc's subjects, I don't know about, say, Drama or Art.) So at least four times. Then they marked and analysed them together. It seemed a very good way of de-sensitising exam nerves and practicing exam technique, as well as discovering weak points and ensuring that revision was a continuous process.