University 2020 :4: The wait for grades and better days ahead

[MillicentMartha]

New thread for us. Interesting times.

Old thread here

DS's state school are setting work daily and warning from tutor this week that if they don't do it, it will affect their grades then capital letters you have been warned. He's getting approximately the same amount to do in a day that he previously got in a week. Per subject! DS has been asked to re do 2 x essays as part of recent mock (did badly). He's going to do them but, really, having read this thread, is it going to make any difference?

Am so confused!

Schools have a particular obligation at the moment to keep in regular contact with pupils and parents mumsneedwine.

Some schools are clearly much advanced than others with their tracking systems, so some will be confident that they'll be able to assess - and crucially, evidence - grades which will satisfy the criteria that Ofqual requires. There are only a limited number of things available to teachers/Ofqual, so it doesn't need the brains of an archbishop to guess what the range might be.

@mumsneedwone your school may not wish to communicate with its pupils... Dds school happens to communicate very well both with parents and the girls in the Upper Sixth.

You have no right to tell a senior HT of a successful, caring school what they should or should not do. If your school chooses not to communicate that's fine..their decision.

What seems to be forgotten on this thread is that some schools have a MUCH higher number of vulnerable pupils they are trying to cater for. That's not just the "official" vulnerable ones, but all those families the schools know are managing to 'hang on' whilst the routine and the support systems are in place, but they know will be struggling in this situation.
then some schools will have a considerable number of staff that are struggling / not in / isolating
It seems reasonable to me that my dd's school focus on those pupils rather than my dd who, like all the dc here, have been told their exams will not take place.
Sometimes you have to look at the bigger picture.
As I've said before - I hope OFQAL and whoever else is making these decisions do NOT allow submissions after the schools closed, where they are 're-takes' and 'opportunities to improve the grade' as that is clearly a very unlevel playing field - not just from the pov of what schools are able to provide, but what the pupils are able to access at home too.

The school I work at has been very clear with their Y13s. They will NOT include any work after school closed on Friday 20th in their assessments. Apparently earlier this week students had been pleading with teachers by email to allow them to demonstrate they could achieve particular grade, so they have communicated this to them unequivocally. Not communicating at all could lead to a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety.

They may review this after the guidance has been received.

@BackforGood - those are very fair points. I agree.

DS’s school have been less explicit.

They have encouraged them to continue to do work set to complete their syllabus in each subject.

They have stated that ‘this could well add weight to the integrity of how your courses are going to be accredited. At this moment in time, how exactly this is to be organised by OFQUAL, the DfE, the exam boards and school remains unclear.’

‘However, we would urge you not to panic – no-one wants you to be disadvantaged or disenfranchised in any way.’

And they have told them to continue working on their NEAs.

Interesting, Millicent. DS's school have just told us there will be assessments after Easter. I reckon this was due to student and parent pressure from those who were relying on a last minute dash to the line. Not happy.

What kind of assessments @stsaulofsnacks ?
Surely any assessment taken online can't be guaranteed as reliable?

Exactly. They havent specified. They don't know. They are awaiting instructions from Ofqual next week. So why couldn't they have waited for that before announcing the assessments? They told students to have a week off then say they will have assessments. I'm sure its parental pressure.

I'll be emailing my discontent. I have a lot to say but any suggestions appreciated. Or should I wait for Ofqual instructions?

Schools can communicate all they want. Say what they want and tell students all sorts of stuff. But no one knows yet what is happening. Or how the grades will be sorted. So telling anyone 'facts' is just wrong.

And I communicate with my students daily. I just tell them the truth - we do not yet know what the hell is going on.
But as one student now has both parents in ICU tonight I frankly don't give a poop about grades for them. 4 of my colleagues are very ill. I currently just care about people I know coming out alive.

@mumsneedwine - I don't think Dds school has not told the truth and I am not sure why you would make such a statement.. This is what they have said and you have completely misinterpreted my post...

Upper Sixth Examination Grades
Although we are still waiting for final clarification from the examination boards, we are working internally to determine our predicted grades so that we are ready when we are asked to submit to the Examination Boards.
Many parents have asked how they will be determined. To reassure you, we will take into account a wide range of criteria from performance data, internal examination data, coursework, previous results, mocks and observed potential. It will not be based on the January mocks alone. We will be fair and consider performance across the length of study, and take into consideration the examination lift we normally see in the final examinations. We do not know what the Boards will do with this data, so at this current time we will not be able to share our predicted grades with you.

Mumsneedwine - this is dreadful to hear about your students' parents, are you in London area? Will keep you all in our thoughts and prayers.
Both DS's still completing course work. In Uni yr 2 DS1 has been told exams are online and will still count to Degree grade with lectures and seminar activities coming thro daily.
Poor DS2 on the Btec still has work sent regularly and has to present on Skype. Latest feedback for him, usually a Dist student and very conscientious was." This isn't even Pass standard at the moment, needs more work." He is in meltdown, "what's the point" etc .
I have written to his personal tutor suggesting politely that maybe a more encouraging approach might help.
We have come all this way and just hoping he doesn't fall at the last hurdle now

@mumsneedwine so sorry to hear about your colleagues and your poor student. Thinking of you and the thousands of teachers trying to do their best.

But @oneteen how does your school know that's what will be allowed when no one else does ? We hope that's what will happen but we have no guidance yet - they could say it's all done on GCSEs (they won't). I get that your school are trying to be reassuring and saying all the things we are all hoping for, but to make it sound that it's up to the school how this is all sorted is wrong. We will know everything next week and schools will do their best with the rules we are given.
And I'm not in London. But not far.

@mumsneedwine... The email does not say its up to the school... It clearly states that they do not know what the boards will do with the data..

I'm not bickering with you about this...let's agree to disagree.

To say you don't know what the hell isn't going on isn't very reassuring mumsneedwine but hopefully your HT is communicating with more constructive emails.

I don't think introducing emotional coronavirus accounts is really appropriate on these threads. I know that some posters simply have that sort of style, but we're all affected and if you go out of your way to make a point then probably you should reply to any response. I happen to be worried sick about my two DC working on the very front line in busy London hospitals without appropriate protective gear, and without testing but with daily contact with coronavirus patients. But I don't say it by way of justification because it's completely irrelevant.

Sorry autocorrect - silly phone. Is going on not isn't.

All good HTs whose staff operate detailed tracking systems effectively will have a very good idea of what's going on anyhow. Lots will have staff members who are chief examiners too, so heavily involved in discussions. Also plenty of HTs themselves will be involved in discussions. If other HTs are throwing up their hands, failing to reassure their pupils and those pupils' parents that they're in good hands, that there are plenty of proven methods for assessing current working grades and future grades, then that suggests a very poor quality HT, or a drama queen/ king. Which is not what any pupil needs at a time like this.

Very worrying times for all parents of DC on the frontline @goodbyestranger...

Really surprised to read how schools seem to be adopting such different approaches. The was an email from DD’s school the other day to explain foe teaching will be organised across year groups. It said that for the upper sixth, teaching will continue online until 7th May (when study leave would normally have started) following the assessments after Easter. Some girls in this school. do the IB programme and it states that no further assessment will be required for these students and their study leave starts on 27th April (I suspect this is because the IB programme is more module-based with more continual assessment throughout).

So those A-level students in the upper sixth must be studying like crazy over Easter.

DSs school has just sent us a link to this re the exams

www.gov.uk/government/publications/coronavirus-covid-19-cancellation-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2020/coronavirus-covid-19-cancellation-of-gcses-as-and-a-levels-in-2020

@oneteen totally agree with you. Sorry if misread the text. Just a few schools are telling students that they know what is happening, these students tell our students the 'facts' and they then ask us why we don't know !!!! Our HT is awesome and we are looking forward to the OFQUAL rules next week. Then every teacher of year 11 and 13s will be doing their best to get anything and everything they can to support the decisions we now have to make. Whilst also continuing to teach them in case they want to do the autumn exams.
I have decided that Teams ages me quite a lot - it needs filters !