GCSE summer 2020 thread 6 - Carry on Corona Cohort, Further adventures aboard the Corona Charabanc.

I think @FoolsAssassin there is still some secrecy surrounding the algorithms..well at the least it not very explicit.
I think you are right the students at schools with a past of less achievement will suffer here.
This will affect small schools, improving schools etc but we can be assured that schools at the other end of the spectrum will not suffer as much.

I mean no appeals in England other than process-related.

@FoolsAssassin I agree, but it looks like they may not have looked separately at small cohorts, which OFQUAL say they are going to do. One advantage SQA had was that every year teachers have to send in predictions to the exam board, so they have data about correlation between results and predictions. Still seem to be some results that don't make sense out there.

No appeals other than against the process, but scottish people do not have the opportunity to take the exam in the autumn.

@BlueMarigold
dd holding offers for 2 plus her existing senior school. She decided only to do the bridging work for her favourite college. It would have been too much work to do them all.

We decide that if things go really wrong with results and she ends up at one of her other choices she could say to them I didn’t do x but I did y and hope that would be enough for them to see she was working - and same subjects for most of the colleges so the work would still be useful that she’s completed.

Has anyone seen the mess of SQA results today? the hashtag on twitter and online. Not boding well. Kids being bumped down numerous grades and getting lower than their mocks

For people who have applied to more than one 6th form school or college, is your child doing the transition work set by all of them?

Oh dear @FoolsAssassin, hopefully once results are out they'll get the message once and for all.

Oh crikey, so moved by your interest and knowledge, I feel a bit of an imposter as she isn’t my biological child. She is lovely and it has been very rewarding to watch her wake up , but of course it has also been really hard. My kids are grown up and there have been so many changes since they were at this stage. I won’t be shy to call upon your collective knowledge again, and I will let you know how she does on results day.

@Zebracat let us know how she gets on on results day - I really hope she gets what she needs to keep plenty of doors open.

[quote Monkey2001]@Zebracat sounds like she was very lucky to end up with you to fight her battles. I think we will all keep an extra finger crossed for her![/quote]
Absolutely. And to have guidance from those with experience here which I am always in awe of - courses, navigating the system etc. She sounds lovely and so do you too!

@Zebracat sounds like she was very lucky to end up with you to fight her battles. I think we will all keep an extra finger crossed for her!

Virtual School is a good idea. She deserves all the support anyone can find, bless her.

Private fostering is complex : easy to fall through a few cracks funding and support wise.

That is useful to know. The school were wonderful, extra maths, counselling, mentoring hub, all the study guides for free, so I’m not inclined to get arsey with them. The funny thing is they turned her down initially, she wasn’t lac and the LA were trying to argue we had a private fostering arrangement even though they asked me to have her. School said her needs were too great without the extra funding, but gave in because I cried.
But extra careers guidance would be great. I know lac children outcomes are appalling, and her education had been so disrupted, maybe I will contact the virtual school in her LA and tell them how well she’s doing. They may be able to access some careers advice for her. I know she’s also entitled to help from the Adoption Support fund.

And her PP funding : you could challenge what that was spent on if you are feeling feisty! Extra carers advice and advice in destinations is supposed to be provided.

If she is LAC, then their otcomes are appalling, as you will know. She should be bring offered extra career support and advice. I am a bit shocked that she isn't, but I guess it's the fact that her status has been altered due to your care. Pretty sure former LACs are tracked for outcomes as well.

@Piggywaspushed.she is a previously lac, so still gets pupil premium. The local authority have not been great though and we don’t have a worker. They do the Btec in computing, but she is adamant she wants to do the A level. She gets the GCSE teacher who she hated for a year because she’s so exacting, and then realised that high expectations are a compliment and lead to better outcomes.
You are all being so lovely. Thank you

Apologies if you have already said zebra : is she a LAC?

I think to choose between psychology and sociology she needs to decide what interest her the most about those subjects and what she might aim to do in future. If she wanted to be, say, a social worker both are useful but sociology might win out . Psychology is scientific, although some unis award BA degrees it is still essentially a scientific look at the brain.

If she wanted to do speech therapy or something like that, then psychology would be a better choice. Helpful to be good with computers for psychology these days!

I lost track of why she ahs to choose between those two : they go well together.

FWIW ,the new media A Level spec is notoriously dull. Lots of media teachers hate it.

Psychology is the most dropped after half a term A Level in quite a lot of schools.

Cinnamon household has a three day weekend yay! Dd has white spots on tonsils, everyone else has achey limbs too. Why does it always happen so ?

The further you go with Psychology the more interesting it gets especially with regard to experiments etc. There are, of course, lots of statistical packages involved.

My boss is a Psychologist specialising in neuroscience. Her career has been amazing ...she is amazing
... full of vitality and extremely analytical at the same time.
I think it may need more looking into possibly?

Does the college also do BTECs? I’m guessing not as you said it’s small. I’ve heard that the extended diploma in Computing is very good and excellent preparation for university.

I think this year group all need to move on from GCSEs rather than retaking - I guess you need to persuade her that they don’t matter very much.

Well we put her back a year already otherwise she would have been joining a new school in the summer term of year 10 with 9% attendance for the previous 2 terms. The school did support with1 to1 maths tuition, but she believes that she isn’t good at Maths in some mystical way, not because she missed the lessons, so she would probably turn us down if we suggested it. It’s very difficult to guide her as she has very little understanding of the world, she talked about marine biology although she hates boats and is scared of the sea. I’m hoping that she will get some targeted careers input . She is very precise and logical, very thorough so some type of science/ Computer Science role could work For her. for her.