GCSEs 2018 (14): the aftermath

I don't know mmzz, I'm still getting used to the new numbers so tend to think of a simple comparison. Also DS school wants 7 at 5 or above ( plus 3 6's) So they are slightly ignoring that 4 is meant to be a pass too, so I understand.
I think quite a lot of people will be like me and do a simple translation, at least until there is better awareness of the new system.
Maybe people will understand that 5 is a high pass and 4 a lower or standard one.

Rightly or wrongly, I think most people will think of 5 as a C, due to all the 'good pass' labelling.

Had a very brief conversation with DS about what he might get and he identified around four stronger subjects including the three he wants to do for A level which he hopes to get at least a B (6) for, but those could be A's (7's) or at least some could be. Music, Drama, Maths & Physics. He needs 3 6's ideally in the ones he wants to continue with.
I guess Maths is the strongest contender for a possible 8, but he didn't quite finish one of the papers. Teacher's predictions are generally a mix of 6's and 7's.

Then he needs 7 to be at least 5's, so we mentioned various other subjects that should at least be 5's but on a good day could be 6's.
Really they all should be except maybe French where we're hoping he could get a 4.

I don't know how people make better predictions than these, we definitely only have a ball-park sense of things 😊
I suppose some people lay greater store by teacher predictions than I do. It all seems like guess work to me!

Morning all. sost hope treatment is progressing ok and glad you have shared with the family.

Further Maths Paper 1 this morning - ds has done next to nothing for 3 days so it was a bit of a shock to wind up again this morning! He seems to have grown too - his shirts would not do up at the neck and the trousers.....shall we say 'snug'

I'm off today and about to embark on painting ds room ready for new carpets next week and then a revamp of furniture when we're back from holiday. We've ordered a bigger desk, a nice swivel chair and some shelving to make the room more suitable for a 6th former. All that's left is to clear out some old toys (sob)

@goodbyestranger I nearly posted the link to Schools Out too...but then I thought I'm probably a lot older than some mums who would not remember it ...also sadly I remember Peter Skellern on TOTP...

I;ve been charged with booking DD a hair appointment tomorrow afternoon for a "Balayage"...(my niece was going to do it but the cost would probably be the same when you add on petrol costs).

Dd did a year of fund raising for the charity Educating Girls in Yr9 ...it did give the girls a sense of perspective..

@mmzz DS2 has a similar problem with GCSE Physics papers. He's hoping that A-level will be more a test of Physics and less a test of trying to guess what the mark scheme requires.

goodbye I'm trying not to think too much about art moderation! (Unless marks get moderated slightly higher!) Have fun with the dress shopping, though!
Yes that Syria item definitely puts things in perspective.
Good luck with the dance exam Panda!
How many dcs still have exams after today? I think there's still German and DT but may be more. It doesn't feel quite over until we've all finished...
DS is very much in the post-exam relaxation phase. I have warned him that he'll have to start making himself useful soon!

No mmzz, only when they get their results. If we say they worked hard and should pass, but miss out by a couple of marks on one paper, they will usually get the chance to resit (depending how far through their exams they are) at their own expense. If we say they will fail one badly or more than one and they do, they may lose their job unless they are great at what they do and there was a good reason for their results.

You end up using diplomatic wordings - I hope Jemima gets the results she deserves etc. My favourite was when I told a huge employer that it was impossible to predict how X would do as they hadn't submitted a single piece of work or shown any engagement in class. X came top in the world out of around 6000 students that sitting. I had another student who had won global prizes in 3 of their 10 papers but failed mine by 1%. They were gutted, because first time passes are everything on a CV.

No post exam autopsies here. What will be will be.

And thank you for the reminder about those girls in Syria @Sostenuto. It's good to keep a sense of perspective about how fortunate all our children are. DD2 has a friend who arrived here from Syria about a year ago. Goodness knows what she's been through.

I hope so Stickerrocks! DD has gone off to set up her Art for moderation this morning, has this last exam at 1pm, after which (tomorrow) let the dress hunting begin....

Stickerrocks I would hate to be put in that position, they would have to be truly atrocious for me to predict a fail if I thought it could result in them losing their job, but I am way too soft!

DS has challenged me not to talk about anything exam related until the night before results........so I may occasionally need to come on here and talk to myself about it if the urge gets too great

You will definitely be able to get a bargain goodbye. Try everything. DD's is the most unexpected dress that I could ever imagine.

Prompted even. That unbought prom dress still obviously much on my mind :) (tomorrow's job).

That's a late finish Sandy. DD starts at 1 & finishes at 3. She wants to go in early to thank a couple of teachers who she still hasn't seen properly and to give her BF a huge hug when she finishes Graphics this morning.

Sost you were listening to Today as well then.

Unfortunately I have to predict pass/marginal/fail for each of my students for each exam they sit and report back to their employers, so I've taken the same approach with DD through habit. Their employers use our predictions to help decide if they should keep their job or get sacked, so the pressure is on to be accurate.

Glad you were able to tell your family Sost. I love your concern for others.

DD has dance GCSE this afternoon... Most of her friends have finished their exams, and she was invited to her first proper party last night. She is not a party girl at all, but has had the odd fruit cider or weak Pimms with us. She asked if she could go to the party, and we decided to say yes, as long as she didn't drink at all, and her Dad picked her up at 11. Well she came home completely sober, and said ' I didn't drink, cos I thought if I did as you said you would trust me a bit more next time.' She is currently downstairs cooking a fry up for DH's birthday breakfast, having nipped out to buy bacon and sausages, then she will revise for the rest of the morning. Very proud of her!

Very glad to hear you were finally able to share Sost.

Promted by Teenmum60 and to add to Sost's own 1972 song and for all those, along with DD, finishing today after Add Maths:

I’ve put predictions on my phone but not sharing them with DS! He’s pretty chilled about the whole thing at the moment and I’d rather not worry until we actually see the results. His required grades for sixth form are very achievable but he wants to make sure he gets his option subjects for A level.
Sostenueto glad you were able to share the news and to be so positive with dgd. Very best wishes for your treatment and recovery and hope you are having lots of cuddles with Pup.
Very, very best of luck to all the mathematicians today! I hope it’s a good paper!

I'm not going to try and predict grades. If DS1 does as he did in his mocks I'd be happy! The most likely scenario is that he does pretty much as he did then with one (hopefully not two) slip ups. If I were to predict the slip up I think it might be biology.

Ad Maths today at 1.45 and then it's over! If there is one he fears it's thus one but he has had a couple of eureka moments over the last 48 hours on topics he's found tricky to date.

@Sostenueto - thinking of you. V glad you've shared with your family now.

My DD is refusing to even think about possible grades - she wants to just forget about the whole thing until results day.

I mentioned something yesterday that I'd seen on Twitter about one of last weeks science papers and asked if it was on her paper- she said she couldn't remember, she's already wiped it all from her mind!

She has well and truly moved on!

Good Luck today to the mathematicians 🍀

I think the boundaries will be lower for GCSE's too - the IGCSE for Physics A* last year was 71% against GCSE 90% and I would expect the boundaries to be similar to what the IGCSE exams were last year...(not sure what my rationale is for this though).