Thread 18 - Corona Cohort Enrolling to Year 13 2021, Invasive Infections & Uni Uncertainty

[Orangecinnamon21]

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I don't think that individual stories will draw out the real conclusions of what has happened this year or last year, we need to see the bigger picture. I know that 2 local non selective comps (including DS's) pinned results to 2019 levels and some of the academies and private schools played the game to their pupils' advantage. I know of a grammar school in the north which was also very cautious. I would like to see a big analysis of school types and what happened to grades in 2019, 2020 and 2021. I think the OFSTED report writers were mistaken to focus their report on 2021 v 2020, because it is comparing 2 anomalies.

I think this year was super unfair - some people got great grades they would definitely not have got and others got the grades they would have got in a normal year, but they were de-valued by the inflated grades.

I think I hope we don't get TAGs (sorry Zanda) but I also hope that we are allowed some grade inflation so that the schools which managed teaching best during the pandemic don't snaffle all the top grades!

Monkey don’t worry, no need to apologise. Dd is a bit of an ‘outlier’, thank goodness. I hope there can be a system in place for pupils who don’t manage exams if covid is still a thing. The GCSE timetable is brutal for those who are virus-fatigued.

@Monkey2001 there’s an ofqual analysis of where the ‘grade inflation’ if we frame it as that, came from per sector and region- which was posted on this thread?

I've just been reading the "nurturing university thread" as DS is going to need extra support with his SNs. One thing mentioned was how social media helps them get to know other students, which I have read elsewhere too. Neither of mine use SM at all, they just aren't interested, DS hasn't even got any accounts, he just texts his friends. He finds the whole idea really daunting and confusing and has read horror stories of people being pilloried for saying the wrong thing, trolled, scammed etc. I really ought to get him to dip his toes in though. Gulp.

@Monkey2001 Thanks. The drugs have finally kicked in and the pain significantly reduced. I’m also back home although walking is very painful and stiff. Feeling rather sorry for myself but hoping things will gradually get better over the next few days.

I wanted to refer to an article I read yesterday about the grade inflation and how it’s the group ‘other’ (PRU’s etc)that actually saw the biggest real inflation and also something about grade clusters for each sector, explaining that as Indy school grade clusters is usually around the top grades but there are similar clusters for state schools. It concluded with smaller sector clusters will be more exaggerated than the larger sector clusters. It was very interesting but now can’t find the article.

I’d have liked peoples opinions on it. DS is at an Indy and has worked very very hard throughout his yr12 to date and I believe the grades he’s got so far goi g into yr13 are very much in line with the standard of his academics and effort put in (even as I speak he is studying in the kitchen) but no doubt when results come out next yr, he will be told his grades are inflated and handed to him on a plate. I wish there was more transparency rather than the media making sweeping remarks about an entire sector to whip up a frenzy.

It's not an entire sector. DH teaches in a private school and there's no way they would inflate grades. I do think they need a proper look at this and actually root out individual schools. I am not surprised that PRUs did it a bit : we are talking about proper life chances stuff there. Plus, doing assessed work in more supported circumstances might have helped those kids.

Ow Shimy just scrolled back as missed that hurty bit of your post. Hope your feeling better. Morphine makes me even loopier than normal but very good at stopping the pain.

Been chatting with DH a lot about this as I was quite stressed out. He said that it will all be ok as it was when we initially panicked when the GCSEs were cancelled in the first place. Whatever happens, they will all be in the same boat. I am reading too many conflicting news articles about 2022 exams and don’t know what to believe anymore!

@Zandathepanda thank you. The relief knocked me out and I just woke up.
At our school I don’t know of any parent that’s been inside the school let alone marching in to put pressure on teachers to push-up grades. We’ve all pretty much just left them to do get on with it. Apart from virtual parents evening back in February, I don’t even know who his teachers are and frankly don’t remember their names. Most parents at our school are all in the same boat so its been really upsetting reading ‘private school’ parents have pressured teachers to up their dc grades etc. The parents at the private schools that I know will be horribly embarrassed to even do such a thing.

Has anyone signed up you the Kate Green thing? I am not well enough really...

Question submitted. Bit wordy...

Thank you for asking to meet with concerned parents.
However, a recent TeacherTapp question suggested that the year group teachers think has suffered most is actually the current year 12 : many parents are deeply concerned that the plight of current year 12s is being overlooked. What will you do to encourage the DfE to focus on ensuring this year groupis not disadvantagedby any draconian recalibrating of standards , and that the work they have missed , through no faultof their own , or their schools, is recognised and accounted for so that they are not disadvantagedin seeking nextsteps.?

@Piggywaspushed Perfect! Let’s hope there’s a response, given our cohort have 2 terms of teaching left before, in ‘normal’ circumstances, the exam series…

Well done @Piggywaspushed Ds effectively had no education (even online) from March to September last year as they stopped lessons/setting work for Y11 once it was decided that exams would be cancelled. I’m sure this was the same in most other schools.

We'll see. I quite like Kate Green. I wonder, though, if this same courtesy of listening will extend beyond MN hive mind and also to teachers...

It's not an entire sector. DH teaches in a private school and there's no way they would inflate grades. I think it's the same at DS's school. They would rather play it straight than have parents howling if gave 'optimistic' grades and then they were adjusted.

Twiddling my thumbs waiting for this zoom thing to start. It's very hard being a teacher. Obsessed with punctuality!

How many are you allowed on a zoom? Do you think they’ve underestimated mum power?

DS's school gave fair grades. Dd's school rigorously moderated their own results before sending them in, so in one case instead of her teacher predicted 9 in chemistry she got a 7. So when the rest of the UK went back to teachers predictions DD was stuck with the moderated results. The school did put in a request ( quietly) to change the results but the answer was no.
But we do know one private school near us did inflate results, certain state schools did too, but others were very fair.

No idea. Would be crucified as a teacher if lessons started this late!

AFAIK, they could put a message on the screen explaining.

You can have 100 people on a zoom call, unless you have the add on for large meetings, and then I think it's 1000.

Which you would imagine the Labour party do!

Those are gonna be some small thumbnail pics!

I reckon we weren’t in the first thousand then.

Weird. I was there really early and there would normally be a message about capacity.

Oh, just had a message saying it was cancelled!!