GCSE's 2021

[barbites]

Dd is due to do her GCSE's next year. As of 15th June she will have 2 hours a week at school (no teaching) and I cannot see things being back to normal in September. There will be no mocks to use as a guide. Will this cohort of children actually get a qualification?

@Hercwasonaroll if you find it hard engaging with your virtual CPD for an hour a week imagine what it is like for our dc with poxy power points day after day. My dc would definitely be much more engaged with some virtual lessons, even if just in a couple of subjects.

My son has also been doing approximately 2 hrs a day. He is going in from 15th for a few hours to talk about his art assessed course work and what the school expect him to do over the summer holiday. Well I can tell you now he will choose to not do much over the summer. My older son was not expected to prepare course work over the summer holiday - he was expected to do it intern time using the school art facilities not my spare room. No maths, English or science has yet been scheduled from the -5th so how can it be fair?

I'm a lone parent working full time out of the house. It's my issue to make my child do the work and motivate them still.

@Hercwasonaroll I was interested in your comment about EEF but can't find the support for it on their website. They have lots of guidance on how online teaching can be done effectively. Surely some teaching is better than none, and the EEF clearly states it's the quality of the teaching that counts more than how it is delivered.
My Y10 daughter is at a private school and has a full schedule of online learning plus clubs. They will go back one day a week (year group divided into three clusters) for the hands on classes like art and science from the 15th, hopefully increasing as government guidance allows. The term has also been extended by two weeks.
The head believes that if schools fully return in September then there will be minimal or no adjustments to the exams; if not, then there will have to be some, probably course assessments as well as exams. The school does not do mocks until February (too late in my opinion). Removing some exam content is not appropriate due to how they are taught (not all in the same order). Perhaps a three out of five questions, but this would not work for math, and rather defeats the purpose of setting a syllabus. And will any content adjustment affect their ability to study the subject at A level?But these are extraordinary times.
No one can deny that the teaching for Y10 and 12s have been very mixed and schools best placed to be able to get their students caught up are the very ones who have been providing a lot of teaching content already.
The children will get grades and get their qualifications. Whether this will be done accurately is another issue.
I know my child, as privileged as she is, is stressed about her future results and is already calculating that the grade bands will inevitably be lower next year, which will be to her advantage (as she has had more learning than most).

@coffee my dd will not do any work over the summer I imagine. I actually hope they aren't set anything because I feel utterly drained worrying about what she isn't doing and constantly having to ask her to do what's set. I feel like it's negatively effecting our relationship as it's all I go on about!

@bonsaidragon How? How do you motivate them? I'd honestly like to know what else I can try...

@wakeupitsabeautifulmorning
Mine is live teaching, still bloody hard work!!

educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/evidence-reviews/distance-learning-rapid-evidence-assessment/

Quality of teaching is most important. So a well narrated pre recorded PowerPoint is superior to an online badly explained lesson. There is no difference between synchronous and asynchronous online learning (ie live or not).

Second most important is access to tech. Something a lot of students are missing despite government promises. 4 laptops in a school of 1000 isn't good enough.

Thirdly is peer support/interaction. This doesn't need to be live and can be via a chat function. Teams is perfect for this.

Venetian

It’s absolute bollocks that online teaching is the only way to do it.

My school has 50% of pupils who don’t have access to an adequate device and/or internet connection.

That means we’ve had to be much more creative about how we deliver remote learning.

I’m guessing your kids are in an independent school?

Sorry OP, I didn’t answer your question.

Yes, the current y10 and y12 students will get qualifications- we don’t know how the assessments might change and schools are already looking at how we can change curriculum plans to maximise the time we have with students.

Because everyone is in the same boat - remember that the curriculum has been suspended and remains suspended until the summer (the Y10/12 time is supporting remote learning not replacing it) - exam boards and the DfE will have to make modifications to either the course content or the assessment, or maybe both.

@barbites

My DS is also year 10 and I'm struggling too. So worried about his outcomes. He's a summer born baby and is on the SEND register. Only mild difficulties though and he has been predicted 5s mainly and some 6s. Which is fine. He's intelligent and keen but lacks focus, especially in subjects that don't interest him.

At this point in time I'd be happy for him to repeat year 10.

@Hercwasonaroll there’s no pre recorded PowerPoints. He has to read through them. I think that’s similar at most state secondaries.

They follow their school timetable. The internet lets them on their console at school break and after school so they aren't on it when I am at work. Then after school I let them have unlimited console time as they socialise with their friends with it (this is automatic). They have to show me their school work when I get in from work and if it's not done then I stop the console. I email their tutor every now and then to ask if any of the teachers have any concerns if my DC don't mark it as done on the e-diary that school have them use as parents can see this or have shown me the work.

@bonsaidragon sounds like that works well for you. Dd is not a gamer so no bargaining chip there. She's started to meet a friend so I am saying no work no meet up which I don't really want to do as seeing her friend has greatly improved her mental health. I have never had to oversee what she does at school, she always does her homework and is very well regarded at school. It's just a really hard time for these teens I think.

@abreviation

That's a shame. We are sending video clips (made by others or ourselves) to accompany work where possible. These are just voice recordings but we have seen more buy in.

@venetianblue this is what is already happening as has been for months?

But virtual school plays to the well off as a lot of students don’t have access all day. A lot of my pupils can only use the device at night when parents are not working. If I did 5 zoom lessons a day they couldn’t watch. The push for viurtal lessons literally goes against all the disadvantaged students. It’s also an archaic view of teaching that the teacher stands at the front for an hour and speaks! Most teachers talk for 10 min max and the rest of the time students are working on a task.

mobile phone + wifi or 4g

in place since march

venetian

50% of my students do not have access to any adequate device or internet access.

Many students don't have home WiFi and their data plans are limited to 2gb, barely enough for one video in some cases.

ONS : Of all households in Great Britain, 93% had access to the internet in 2019.

adequate device or internet access

You understand what this means, Venetian?

www.argos.co.uk/product/8619785?clickSR=slp:term:tablet:1:86:1

Both my kids have a computer and iPhone and we have good WiFi. However as much of my day is Skype meetings they can't stream anything otherwise I can't be in the meeting. However, not a problem as my dd's school isn't doing anything except setting work on ClassCharts...

Venetian that's more than plenty of families can afford. Plus you'd need to get the relevant apps to access content which can be expensive. Never mind enough data to download it.

DDs school is only offering face to face for pupils not engaging in home learning. The school I work in are putting on a great provision for Y10&12 although I think more than what the government are recommending.

DDs motivation is dipping, she needs teacher interaction and I can see she's worried, her schools online learning has been patchy at best.

I really hope we find out sooner rather than later plans for their exams so they know what they are working towards, the unknown is definitely not helping her.