Warning: Rant alert!!
My worry is that the kids won't have approached these 'non-exam' 'exams' in the same way they would have approached proper SQA exams. Because there has been so much doubt and uncertainty as to what exactly they were going to be tested on, how often, under what conditions, when etc... many have just been ploughing through the work at home as best they can.
And what absolutely cannot be denied is that the fact that the quality of their learning in these past 4 months has been so varied. In some subjects my DS has coped by supplementing the lesson with a degree of self-research and self-directed 'revision'. But there has been an absolute clash and conflict between him continuing with the sometimes (not always) poorly presented 'lessons' and the background pressure and stress of 'when do I get my revision in? How do I prioritise the online 'classroom' work and yet continue to revise what I've learnt so far?
Often, my DS has felt the pressure to submit the work set in his online classes for fear that potentially it was THIS work that would have been used as evidence for his final grade. That was the perceived 'threat' that was constantly playing out - what if we don't get to take tests and it's our homework that matters?. And all the while knowing there were areas of the curriculum that he hasn't consolidated or that he feels are weaker but he hasn't got the time to go over them in a concerted way - not enough hours in the day with 4 other subjects all doing the same. His revision has been compromised.
And I've got to say, some of the online teaching offering has been appalling. He showed me how a teacher had uploaded a screen where they were writing out how to solve a particular mathematical problem. There was voiceover narration as the teacher wrote out the problem and explained the solution. A good approach I thought - except the video cut out and stuttered throughout so there would be writing with no audio, and audio with no writing and what looked like jump cuts from the middle of a complicated equation to the end with a whole chunk of explanation missed out. I told him to complain and let the teacher know but he wouldn't because this was a lesson that he should have submitted work on over a week ago - he'd got behind on it and he feared the teacher would have a go at him for obviously not keeping up with the class work. And, interestingly, no other pupil had commented in the comments section that they were having problems or struggling because of this technical hiccup - either they weren't paying attention or were just feeling too defeated by their online learning that they thought it was pointless complaining.
And the quality of his Music lessons was erratic too. Uploaded, pre-recorded clips where two pieces of music played at the same time (he had to compare the two pieces of music while they played across each other) Another lesson where the music sounded like it had been recorded in a dustbin that was so distorted that it made a delicate piano piece sound like a piece of industrial techno!
I know that the issues I have described were essentially technical - and that the teachers are under enormous pressure. In class this would never have happened - it's purely down to the remote, digital nature of the delivery. The teachers that delivered these lessons were dedicated and capable but there is no getting away from the fact that the lessons were sub-par. The teachers themselves had obviously put them out without checking how they were playing on other devices. They obviously didn't have the time or were grappling with bad technology - I get that. BUT this will have to be taken into account. Some kids have had excellent online lessons - some kids haven't. I hope to God there's allowances for this.
Sounds like many of us have had the same sort of Zoom/Teams interactions with our schools these past days. Sets of 'prelim- style' exams immediately upon going back - and then a week or two to put everything right (ha!) and then proper 'exam-like' assessments. This time of year is never 'fun' but this year it's going to be tougher than ever.