National 5s - do you think they will be cancelled?

[happilyragin]

My daughter says 2 teachers have told her they will be cancelled.
I was talking to English teacher friend and they said it was a good solution to the education fiasco. Kids go straight to highers and get slightly longer to prepare. I did always think 1 year was crazy for higher course (I did A levels and that was 2 years for 3 subjects)
I'm concerned about my daughter and time missed, now thrown back into class with non stop testing after 5 months of minimal education.
She's not a grafter so this has come as a big shock. I'm also concerned if they go straight to highers this will be her 1st set of exams ever!

I think they will, I think they’ll go with teacher assessment but they will have to announce soon. That way they will be able to plan for highers and advanced highers to go ahead even if we were in a partial lockdown as the number of candidates/scripts/exams will be significantly lower.

Does anyone know when we'll hear?

I get that this is a sensible option BUT also wonder if the will just abandon the Nat5s or give them a grade. She's not killing herself with studying. Due to minimal workload s1/s2 (very little homework even) s3 got cut short , she has no idea how to apply herself and study.
I've tried to help her organise but I feel this s4 year they have been fed to the lions and jumping straight to Highers going to be immense! Although maybe this is for the best preparation wise.
She will be happy to ditch a couple of subjects though. Wish they would just let us know. I can imagine this will create another logistical nightmare

We are supposed to hear before October holidays which start next week for some. For many young people N5 (especially in Maths) is their exit level qualification. I think we still need an externally assessed qualification at that level. Although A Levels are 2 years pupils still have their GCSEs first. Some schools went for 2 year Higher , I wonder how they felt this year?

My pupils are telling me they're stressed and shattered due to constant testing (in some subjects) as teachers are already trying to obtain evidence in case N5s are cancelled again.

Wish my colleagues and I knew as much as your DDs teachers. I mark N5 and don't know anything.

They might be the first set of external exams but there will be internal ones for practice which are run the same way. There wouldn't be any dropping of subjects until S5 though surely?
I am dubious that any teacher knows what the Sqa will do that just sounds like speculation.

They can't give them no grade and go straight to highers. Not everyone does highers. I feel they should have made a decision earlier to drop a section of the course and drop that from the exam.

I can't see them going ahead but there's been nothing official and teachers shouldn't really be saying that to pupils. It's hardly going to keep them motivated!

See I could say "there's a possibility that they will be cancelled" and a third of the class would take it as gospel! Maybe they do have some inside knowledge, wish they'd let the rest of us know.. That doesn't solve any problems with this year's higher though.

@Mistressiggi haha very true!

I just don't really see how exams can run without a whole host of kids being disadvantaged. That's if it gets worse. If it carries on as is, it would probably be okay.

Yes, I reckon my daughter's teachers didn't have any inside knowledge but more 'thinking out loud' and wishful thinking on my daugher's part.
Yes, agree what will happen to the kids that do nat4 or choose to leave after nat5 - they can't have CV with no qualifications on it when they have done their time and may have passed loads of them.

I really hope they at least grade Nat 5 on coursework if not exams. My DC has additional needs and is doing a mix of Nat 5 and Nat 4 as the school say they can't give her classroom support to enable her to work to her ability. She plans on leaving in the summer after S4 and going to college and really needs Nat 5s to access the course she wants. Another year will absolutely destroy her, even more so than they already have.

As a teacher I'm dreading the exams being cancelled. It's not exactly going to help pupil engagement.

At the minute my daughter is being tested non stop. This week 4 tests, next week 6 tests, English and history essay for good measure. It's crazy and very stressful. I understand why they need evidence but it's relentless and too much in such a short period of time.
The more I push the more she backs off- not good for her. I was hoping throughout s4 she would have a few exams with poor results which would be the kick up the backside she needs but every single tiny thing counts. The workload is immense.
I'd rather exams at the end of the year with a build up and prep rather than this crazy timetable of continuous assessments.

Yep loads of tests and assessments here, which is really stressing DC out as they've barely done any learning

I would encourage her to study for her NAT5s regardless of whether the exams takes place or not. Highers build on the knowledge gained during nat5s and I think kids like my ds doing highers now will miss not having the motivation of studying for their nat5s, firming up their knowledge and setting the foundations for highers.

Erk!
I might have to move across from the English system to S4
I see it might be a very bad time :(

'Due to minimal workload s1/s2 (very little homework even) s3 got cut short , she has no idea how to apply herself and study.'
Ds1 is in the same boat.
His report says things like 'read your notes from lockdown' but the school signed him up to teams using the wrong account and it took weeks to sort.
He has tests all the time, is so stressed he gets sick most mornings, really isn't enjoying school at all.
He's really bright and I had hoped success in school would give him a bit of confidence and that he might apply to university.
Now I'm not sure what he will end up doing.
I think i would prefer a definite plan early on so we could work towards something.
Rather than speculation and uncertainty.

I'd read that we were expected to know what the plan was for 2021 exams by the start of the October holidays. Anyone know what the revised date is?

I'm sure I read that John Swinney was making an announcement on Tuesday next week.

Thanks @fuckweasel just read that in the Courier 👍

@fuckweasel
@DumplingsAndStew

Is that Tuesday 6th or the Tuesday after, please?

Due to minimal workload s1/s2 (very little homework even) s3 got cut short , she has no idea how to apply herself and study.'

That was that same in ds(16) school. Deep in the depths of the school handbook, and easily missed, it says S2-S4 pupils should be studying 1-1.5hrs every day, even when they don't have homework. Chatting to ds about school over the years the teachers tell them to revise too, information most pupils won't share with parents. There is very little set/marked homework in most years, instead there are resources on the school website pupils can choose to use to revise independently such as maths Q&As.

For ideas on how to study try the Thomas Frank youtube videos. Ds found them useful.

[quote 52andblue]@fuckweasel
@DumplingsAndStew

Is that Tuesday 6th or the Tuesday after, please?[/quote]
6th I think

www.thecourier.co.uk/fp/news/schools/1620817/exams-clarity-for-2021-to-be-offered-to-pupils-and-teachers-next-week/

It better be. We have started the October break and DC really needs to know what it going on instead of stressing about it the whole holidays.

I’ve got one DD in S5 and one in S4 and they are both stressed with the constant testing after going back after 5 months at home it was all supposed to be health and well-being not tests every week. I know why teachers are doing it but it hardly seems fair. DD2s English teacher turned round and told the class everyone is getting a C on their tracking report. This the top English class how can they all be a C? DD2 seems utterly demotivated right now with quite a few classes due to disruptive pupils and teachers failing to really teach.

If it's a working grade rather than a predicted grade Sweetkitty. That would be what I would expect strong candidates to be at in early October in Higher. We are measuring essays, Folio work etc against the same General Marking Principles as they will be in May. They will develop their skills and refine their processes significantly as they make their way through the course. Skills based courses differ hugely from content based ones in that aspect. If I am asked for a working grade I have to input what that candidate would get if they sat the exam there and then, so a C right now is a good grade. A projected or estimate grade would be based on what they would get in May so we don't normally get asked for them till just before Easter when we've finished the course and have a much clearer idea based on a year's worth of evidence which demonstrates progression. Or that's how tracking and monitoring works where I teach but I know there other models used.