GCSE’s summer 2020 thread 5 - And then there were none..

You raise an interesting point Piggywaspushed. I've gone back and read the Ofqual guidance. They state there's no requirement to set additional work and also that schools should question if there's a marked change in performance in work completed since 20 March.

It's a fairly academically selective private school. I don't think school is panicking as such, I think they see this as the best way to support the predicted grade process. I'm sure it's as onerous for our teachers as it is for pupils... They also see it as good preparation/revision in case any students want to resit exams in the autumn. As with other private schools, the payment of fees probably also plays a part as I guess parents might have quibbled if there wasn't any work set (even though there was only two weeks of teaching before study leave under normal circumstances).

Whatever the process at each school, hopefully all our Y11s will get the grades they deserve and a well-deserved break over the summer.

It's certainly very poignant orange. She just seems like a little, damaged girl. Very cleverly done.

I still can't bring myself to watch Amy DH just finished Diego he loved it !

This is the thread you mean patience

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3863982-Bridging-the-gap-to-A-level-work-for-current-Y11

PatienceVirtue a couple of good series
Chernobyl
One Strange Rock

An easy but interesting read for would be medics/health professionals and those interested in politics "Warhead", a memoir of being a teen with a cancer.

I teach documentary , so know which ones 17/18 year olds tend to like. Here is a list and little summaries!

Amy (about Amy Winehouse , you probably know that! Really affecting and teens love it)
Diego : same director, about Maradona. Good if they like football but some of my girls (sexism klaxon!) did like it.
Stories We Tell : If you read the synopsis this sounds dull but it is so engaging and funny and clever. Try not to read too much about it on Wikipedia because of spoilers.
Any Michael Moore documentary : Bowling for Columbine is the most moving and shocking but the anti Trump ones are great!
For Sama : won the Oscar last year. Warning: graphic content including dead people and dead children. Important film
5 Broken Cameras : about Palestine. Very political and interesting. Probably a bit out of vogue at the moment as anti Israeli
Act Of Killing : very weird ,almost surreal and again very troubling
Man On Wire : some kids have liked this one about a tightrope walker who aims to walk between the Twin Towers. It's sad to think they disappeared
Sisters In Law is harder for teenagers as it can seem the dullest but it is a really interesting insight into the role of women in Cameroon and ultimately very life affirming

I am sure the ST had a list of 21st century documentaries at the weekend as well because I tutted that Stories We Tell wasn't on it!

All of these are superior to your usual Netflix serialised documentaries.

For Sama is free on All4 at the moment.

Some of the political ones above might be good for an interested geographer.

Re maths stuff . Has he seen The Imitation Game/ The Theory of Everything/ Hidden Figures? All very enjoyable !

Goodness JMG, I honestly though Ofqual had made it clear that stuff done at home (unless coursework) after 20 March was very very strongly discouraged because of relative advantages/disadvantages in home support! That is naughty!

What kind of school is that? Are they panicking a bit about something??

@Piggywaspushed I'd love some recommendations for documentaries please. DS doing maths x2, physics and geography for A level but they don't need to be related to that.

He's not getting enough work from school and I've told him I don't want him gaming during 'school' hours but he's a bit useless at filling his time - I've said he can read, go for a run, watch documentaries, hit a ball against a wall. Anything really but not gaming. Does anyone have an easy link to that good thread about prep work for A levels for y11s? I really don't want him starting his A levels, but some working around it would be great.

I can't believe schools are doing exams! God how stressful.

DD has just crashed this week. She's missing her sport terribly esp as its outdoors and she's been stuck inside all this time. School is still giving work, and doing full days but she's started to struggle with motivation. I think a lot are around now and schools will need to rethink and do more engaging things. Endless revision for exams they won't take can only go so far...

In answer to the question about why they're doing assessments, the school have said further assessments will help teachers in their process of predicted grades and rankings.

Their view is that Ofqual didn't explicitly exclude post lockdown work from being taken into account so it provides an opportunity for students who feel they underperformed in mocks to show evidence of progress.

I think the forthcoming exams will be a bit stressful in terms of getting an hour to download papers, complete them and rescan/send them back within a further 15 minutes. Hopefully our printer and wifi aren't having an off day.

It's tricky isn't it, finding the right balance for each student, that doesn't make them feel like they're being made to do un-necessary work or activities just for the hell of it, whilst keeping them just ticking over with just enough motivation to move onto the next stage after such a shit, abrupt end to Y11.

DD here is really grateful for the couple of hours of scheduled stuff she has on, with her teachers doing a fantastic job of treating them accordingly, adapting to the circumstances they're in. She's found the relationship with them more personable, and respectful of the fact that this has mutually affected them all, so they'll muddle through together. And some things may need to be done differently, dependent on the child.

She has many friends from all educational sectors and is really shocked at how differently schools have reacted. From a very highly sought after boys school making them sit actual 'real exams' for all GCSE subjects next week (including timetable), to others having 3 hour subject lessons as before as if nothing has happened. And obviously some who have been cut loose altogether. Couple of her friends from the boys' school had been threatened over the easter hols (allegedly, via phone so no paper trail) that not preparing and sitting the forthcoming exams could affect their exam grade rankings. They were livid, thought about a formal appeal but resigned in the end to the knowledge that the school holds power in not submitting marks yet. This could all also have been over-dramatised, as kids do when gossiping, and is coming from a high achieving environment where the differential between those achieving 9's vs 8's is marginal...not our world thankfully, but has made me think what is actually behind some of these big 'brands', and thank god we're not in one.

DD said she could so easily become a full time gamer if she'd allowed herself, and whilst this is a total anecdotal generalisation, it's most of her male school friends that have fallen into the 13.00 - 03.00 ave gaming cycle, with no motivation for much else. And getting quite down with life in general. She thinks it's also because they know they are in the profile where whilst all bright, they were relying on the post easter revision to get their desired grades, and that has back-fired on them, I add in their opinion.

Our biggest challenge so far has been the lack of decent exercise for her. Moving from 15 hours weekly sports training to intermittent bike rides and 15 mins core workouts in our minuscule home where you can't swing a cat vs access to a 24 hour fridge. I'm having to tread really carefully on what I say and when...

They would have been on official study leave from tomorrow, sitting first exams from Monday. How long ago does all that feel?

sandy has she read War Doctor ? The Language of Kindness? Hard Pushed?

All brilliant!

What on earth are they doing assessments for JMG ???

Actually, that was debunked in a recent survey! We have less holiday - believe it or not- than almost any country! Many with longer holidays do 'better' educationally.

I haven't found year 12s all sort of unlearnt in the past after their (slightly less long) lay off, but that may be because of the subjects I teach, perhaps.

We know how much learning is lost in the 6 weeks’ summer holidays - some of these students will have had 24 learning free weeks by the start of the autumn term!!!

My son's school is still going strong with GCSE assessments and portfolio work. He has four timed exams next week in the sciences and maths and three the week after.

He's quite conscientious but is struggling to keep motivated when friends at other schools stopped GCSE work after lockdown. I know school is doing their best to help students achieve the grades they deserve and it takes a big effort on their part but it does feel a bit endless at the moment.

Hopefully there will only be another three weeks of GCSE work set and he can move onto something else or have a break.

DDs school set work up to Easter and then stopped as apparently they were not required to do anything more as this would not be assessed for GCSE grades. This has annoyed me as it's not just about the grades, it's about keeping them motivated and engaged with their learning so they have a purpose other than spending most of the day gaming or on social media. They also had not finished or consolidated the curriculum in many subjects which they should have finished. They are trying to arrange some bridging work for ALevel and I am encouraging more reading, hobbies and documentaries but it's been 4 weeks of no work now and it is very difficult to keep up the motivation.

Its hard on everyone, and its dragging on and on. DD school is setting work across all subjects and doing full lessons. But the quality of the work is going down, not up and many of the girls are worried that it will affect their marks. I think the school is just keeping them busy and ticking over. But it’s stressful.

Mocks were a mixed bunch as DD concentrated on some, and left others. Hard to know how it’s going to pan out as school didn’t send end of term reports out before Easter.

Its hard to stay positive, and hard for the kids as one day is just melting into another....

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn I think you are describing a large proportion of boys at state schools around the country. "Nothingness" is just what it is.

@sandybayley in case your DD has not come across it, she might like to check out this BSMS "virtual work experience" for medics - bsmsoutreach.thinkific.com/courses/VWE?fbclid=IwAR0hJLHUHfglUZ_9ZzMKJNcMwwUsB51NtxOysCxIk0Awt5wLel8v0HQYC00

@Oblomov20 Your post of Wed 29-Apr-20 18:23:38 resonates with me. DS did 'OK' in mocks (didn't get anything below a 5) but did very little revision as he didn't think it mattered that much. He would absolutely cram and it has previously been extremely successful tactic for him. He now accepts that the grades will be what they will be and I'm slowly getting there.

We are at a point now where he doesn't get out of bed before lunch, comes down eats something, annoys his little brother, might go into his gym (the garage!) for half an hour or so and then X boxes til dinner. They are still being set GCSE stuff til tomorrow and hes just not even bothering now and I've lost the will to argue with him anymore.

Next week they are supposed to be doing a future skills course and then that's followed by the bridging work for A level. He has no motivation for anything and barely even showers. I think this huge period of nothingness is causing harm.

In the meantime I carry on trying to work and also ensure that DS2 carries on with the daily timetable which, actually, I can't fault the school for. It is a proper school day but it does mean hours of my time dedicated to helping him.

DD's school has organised bridging work. She's leaving to go elsewhere for 6th Form and will do IB but carrying on with some maths will keep her skills up and she's pleased to have the opportunity to do a bit of Economics before she commits to it as a subject choice.

It's fairly relaxed, mainly tutorial type sessions. DD has lots of free time and is reading various medical books as she's planning to apply for Medicine.

For her this whole situation is actually OK. She did very well in her mocks and would have worked like a Trojan in the run up to exams and got very stressed. She is the most relaxed I have seen her in a long time. I know others have different experiences but for her it's actually OK.

Another one here who had planned to start work over the Easter holidays. He has barely any work to do and I am worried that he is just going to complete fall out of the habit of work and find it really hard when school eventually starts.

His predictions are very good, so I expect his grades will be about what they would have been in a normal year, but he has missed out on a lot of consolidation of his GCSE knowledge which would have formed a strong foundation for A levels. I don't particularly want him to start A level content, but would like him to be doing a lot of past GCSE papers for Maths and Physics.

I think in reality most kids think they would have put in a last minute push/effort. But presumably so would those steady hard workers? My dd is somewhere in the middle, she’s pretty conscientious in that she does homework and I don’t need to nag her, but she definitely could and would have worked harder in April/May. I think teachers must be factoring that in a little bit?

But ultimately I don’t think it’s unfair that the steady hard workers get rewarded. Dd said she knows she could have got a 9 in Maths but she’d never really bothered to revise yet. She will probably get a 7 or maybe 8. I told her that seemed fair to me. The ones who have bothered to revise in the past will get the 9s.

As for bridging work - I’m not too fussed. I’m happy for her to have a nice break.

Christopher Tracy, Ds1 is currently x box champion amongst his 15 mates.

Like I give a fried fart!

What a twat!

I don't want bridging work as such (as DS doesn't know what he wants to do next year, I'm not sure what he would bridge to anyway). I do want something for DS to do that keeps his brain ticking over or he would be spending 6 months from 20th March doing not much more than playing on the PS4. If he would do stuff I suggested or had any motivation to do things himself I wouldn't mind. I've suggested most of the things on Piggy's list

At the moment school is setting "stuff" and it's filling a block of time (maybe 2 or 3 hours) in the day. They are suggesting watching films, documentaries and taking OpenLearn courses amongst other things. DS will do it (sometimes) if a teacher suggests it - he won't if I do! If he was a different personality I would think differently. My Y9 DD has taken up a few new hobbies during lockdown, I'd be perfectly happy for her to just do her own thing if roles were reversed.

In terms of bridging work, I do sometimes wonder if the motivated able children are all going full speed ahead towards A Levels, so the ones that do nothing for the next few months are effectively going backwards?