Another Path - part IV

[321zyx]

Apologies if I've done this wrong! I seemed to have filled up the last thread, hopefully the abbreviated title is ok!

Thank you @321zyx !

@Pumpkintopf @Jan069 @bendmeoverbackwards @BigWoollyJumpers @SeasonFinale @quest1on @WarmAndco3y @Tenpastseven @LoonvanBoon @Vargas @MidLifeCrisis007

Tagged whom I could remember

@longtimenewsee and @321zyx
Thanks - it can't be much longer now

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Checking in!

Thank you for the new thread, good to be back for more support and fewer bun fights!!

DD received a history offer from Edinburgh last Friday but like @321zyx is waiting for St Andrews which is taking forever. Keeping my fingers crossed for @maggiethecat for positive news next week.

DD has been doing assessments this last couple of weeks. She's really feeling the pressure and just wants the assessments and mini exams over and done with!

@321zyx thank you for the new thread and hello to everyone. I am pleased that we have kept this going rather than merge into the generic uni 2021 thread.

Congratulations to those with Edinburgh offers. I cannot believe St Andrews are still dragging their feet. Sheer madness and so frustrating at this point. Also how the hell is it May? Ds finishes for May half term. It feels wrong. He is my eldest so our first foray into this whole uni business and it has been lovely to have the support of this thread.

It has also been lovely to hear positive stories from parents who have been here before us and how well it has turned out for their children.

Thank you for the new thread.

Well done to all those with Edinburgh offers, what a long wait!

Is it just St Andrews still to come now?

@jano69 my dd is also having assessments over 5 weeks, Just the last 2 weeks to go now and then she’s finished!

let them keep taking the same assessments until they come up with the right answer

opoponax That's not what they are doing though. Sorry, if it was unclear. They are not retaking the same assessment, they are giving another opportunity to the entire cohort. So, rather than one assessment, or two, for say English, they are doing another. There are no limits on the number of assessments you can do. As SeasonFinale confirmed, as long as a cohort all takes the same assessment and presents that as cohort evidence, that is completely within the rules.

DD was just annoyed because she aced the first assessment, but may not do so in the next, which will likely be the one used for evidence.

chopc Thanks for the virtual hugs. A tear was shed this morning as the van left. She can be a pain in the arse, but I do love her, and will miss her grumpy presence!

DS working diligently. I think he is stressed ....... his school has two sets of assessments with a gap in between. As far as I know they are trying to be as fair as possible. But I have an issue with there not being any consistency amongst different schools

BigWoollyJumpers sorry I misunderstood that it was a different assessment although the approach of letting a cohort take a number of assessments until it generates the right answer remains. In some schools there seems to be an approach of keeping just within the guidelines whilst others are upholding academic rigour above all else and there are probably a lot of schools falling in between. Parental pressure, despite what the guideline say about it, must have an impact too. Hence my point that with a process that covers such a spectrum of approaches, an A star evidenced by one school can be a very different thing from an A star evidenced by another. It was always going to be a bit subjective and imperfect but the perpetuation of an uneven playing field, when the process had been intended to flatten it, feels farcical.

It is not fair to have these differences. They should have stuck to real exams in my view even if we had to use the empty nightingales and empty conference venues bussing in pupils to sit at huge distances from each other.

Well we've just heard ds's year group bubble is having to isolate. That means no physical school until the 10th, which is when their final assessments start. Apparently a student tested positive on a lateral flow test, took a PCR test then instead of telling school/waiting for results/isolating, came into school for two days. DS isn't too bothered as any assessments during the isolation period will be done online open book with cameras on - but really not ideal and I'm shocked anyone would be so oblivious to the rules at this stage of the pandemic.

Final note on differences between schools.

For DD, these final assessments are the only ones they have had all year. They did end of year exams in June 2020, but since then, no formal exams at all. They focused instead on completing the curriculum, and are being examined on the entire spec for each subject, which I believe is quite unusual, with many schools focussing on a narrower subject base. So you could argue, that gives a different kind of advantage to those other DC's being examined on a narrower range of subject. Our school never closed, we had no Covid, so again, a different kind of advantage.

So, what I am trying to illustrate, is that this last year has been different for all, with different challenges, so there couldn't possibly be a rigid formula for assessments, only guidelines. Perhaps even with these differences in approaches to final assessments, all schools will hopefully endeavour to fit the guidelines in with what they have managed to achieve this year.

@Pumpkintopf

Well we've just heard ds's year group bubble is having to isolate. That means no physical school until the 10th, which is when their final assessments start. Apparently a student tested positive on a lateral flow test, took a PCR test then instead of telling school/waiting for results/isolating, came into school for two days. DS isn't too bothered as any assessments during the isolation period will be done online open book with cameras on - but really not ideal and I'm shocked anyone would be so oblivious to the rules at this stage of the pandemic.

Crap - that's really terrible, and very unfortunate when cases are so low.

That's just such tough luck @Pumpkintopf !

Whilst the idea ending cancelling exams was to be fair to all by not testing them in content which they haven't been taught - this lack of uniformity between schools also does not level the playing field.

I don't understand why all schools should be made to select questions from the same exam Bank and have the papers externally marked and not just randomly moderated. After all the exam boards are still charging fees as normal ..........

Thanks all. Sadly in our area cases are still pretty high, about 4x the national average- but just flabbergasted this student and her family completely ignored the rules really.

Oh no @pumkintopf- Dc also informed of a positive case in year and had to isolate until told not in close contacts. Friends are having to isolate for 10 days just as assessments going to start ..very stressful for them ( no open book assessments planned).

That's awful @Pumpkintopf - really what you don't need at an already stressful time.

bend that's great it will all be over for your DD in a couple of weeks. DD finishes around the 19th May then has an extended half term and then returns for 2 more weeks of enrichment classes and Y13 leavers fun stuff!!

Wishing all your DC the best of luck in their on-going assessments and fingers crossed for those with offers still outstanding.

Am sorry to hear of those forced to isolate. That's rubbish timing.

It suddenly feels very relaxing being the parent of a gap year student with an unconditional offer.... but I'll be stressing again come September when DD begins the UCAS lottery (for medicine).

@jano69 and @321zyx
best wishes for good news next week!

@Longtimenewsee that's awful. At least the main assessment period for ds was always planned to start on the 10th May- which is the day they go back after isolation. Apparently the only test he had planned for this week was a maths one - but he's most stressed about that subject as it's the one he's not had so many tests in as they've gone along therefore less evidence, and he needs an A star for his Imperial offer. Waiting to hear if it will actually go ahead now, or whether they'll try to shoehorn it in when they physically go back.

@Needmoresleep you enjoy! Definitely gather your strength for the medical application process- sounds gruelling.

Sorry that last comment was for @MidLifeCrisis007 ! I seem to have the memory of a goldfish at the moment, apologies

I will be very glad when the assessments period is over @Pumpkintopf.. having the added stress of it being potentially disrupted by covid isolation periods does not help our dc. They already been through a lot.
Hopefully they can reschedule your ds’s maths assessment so that he can do himself justice.