Surely we’ll all be in full lockdown very soon?

[Browneyedgirl20]

With the recent travel bans and now freight banned from France, Hancock saying the new variant is ‘out of control’ etc - how long can it be until the whole UK is in lockdown? A few days maybe?

@xmasfairybuns - well if everyone was getting a 6 they couldn't could they?

It's a stupid, over pressurised system, skewed by political interests rather than based on the understanding of educationalists, that beds in inequality and is well overdue an overhaul anyway.

But what I am really getting at is that the differences between the ability and achievement of children and young people during this time is far less important than ensuring the futures of all of them as a cohort.

[quote Ihatemyseleffordoingthis]@xmasfairybuns - well if everyone was getting a 6 they couldn't could they?

It's a stupid, over pressurised system, skewed by political interests rather than based on the understanding of educationalists, that beds in inequality and is well overdue an overhaul anyway.

But what I am really getting at is that the differences between the ability and achievement of children and young people during this time is far less important than ensuring the futures of all of them as a cohort.[/quote]
well if everyone was getting a 6 they couldn't could they?

So how do they sort out 6th form places for A levels. If a teacher knows that Joe isn't really A level material as he'd probably have got 3-4 grades whereas Fred would have got 8-9 grades. Joe applies to 6th form with his 6s and so does Fred. How can they tell Joe he can't have a place but give Fred a place? Joe will be saying it's not fair and wanting his place when the school know full well he'll probably drop out because he's better suited to a vocational course or apprenticeship.

It wouldn't be fair as students would end up on courses which weren't the right ones for them and it wouldn't be fair on the others who were on the right course if they are taught alongside peers who aren't studying at the same level. It'd be a lose-lose situation.

Yes it is a mess.
People seem to think that schools should either open, and run as normal, or close.
The reality is, that if schools remain open, it will be with limited staff due to teachers being ill due to not having covid protective measures in place, so students will be in with cover supervisors. These cover supervisors don't teach, they deliver work prepared by teachers. (Not knocking them, they do a great job, but they are not there to teach). The students are then mixing in an unhealthy environment, without the teaching they deserve. The teachers are unwell at home, and not engaging with the students.
The option of having healthy teachers, at home delivering better quality work and offering feed back online, surely is the better option? How can people, who think that being at school is paramount not see this?

If secondary schools go back too soon, parents are delusional if they think that their students are getting the same education they got pre-pandemic. Not schools fault. It's the reality of now.

@xmasfairybuns -
The example you give of 6th forms asking for higher than a 6 is to do with perpetuating inequality and exclusion, to keep their own success rates up.

I should have posted my caveat which is time and energy going into finding the right progression routes for young people. At GCSE and A level. I agree the teachers know the young people best. But grading them in an equivalent manner to any other year, or insisting on exams through this is a joke.

And tbh DH and a few friends work in HE and they already have that situation with this years' undergrad intake.

[quote Ihatemyseleffordoingthis]@xmasfairybuns -
The example you give of 6th forms asking for higher than a 6 is to do with perpetuating inequality and exclusion, to keep their own success rates up.

I should have posted my caveat which is time and energy going into finding the right progression routes for young people. At GCSE and A level. I agree the teachers know the young people best. But grading them in an equivalent manner to any other year, or insisting on exams through this is a joke.[/quote]
I don't know what grades they ask for, it was just an example of what could happen.

@xmasfairybuns - some do precisely this. My point really is that the current system doesn't work anyway, not fairly, and right now it really does not and cannot work. A different solution needs to be found to ensure young people collectively have the very best possible chance of coming through this disaster. We older generations neglect this at our peril.