Guilt Free Railing 10

[WouldBeGood]

Is the end nigh?

We're all in for in service Monday and Tuesday but usual faculty meeting has been postponed as SG and SQA haven't deigned to inform the school what their great master plan is! Shambles.

Edit: schools

That must be so stressful for her @TheGenealogist.

Jeez, @TalkedTooMuchStayedTooLong that’s no good.

This is a proper shambles.

Oh I love my osteopath. I've massively hurt my back. Twisted different ways etc. But she's loosened lots off and follow up apps made.

I might get some sleep.

Good news @Groovee!

Excellent news groovee! Glad it's a bit better.

Today's rail is Scotrail cancelling our usual train back home from DPs, so having to wait an hour on the platform for the next one (cos they're still on covid timetable). To be fair, it sounds like it wasn't strictly their fault - apparently there was some "incident" last night at Waverley, and the entire rail network in central Scotland collapsed, so all the trains have been in the wrong places today. But still - I'm now tired and hungry, which is not a good place for me to be... The has been opened though, so I'll calm down soon.

I didn't realise schools were in such a mess. Poor kids, this is awful

Other than staggered summer holidays, and an SNP agenda, what's the advantage to keeping Nat5 & Highers instead of switching to GCSEs and A Levels?

OK someone replied to my comment earlier that it's not uncommon for international/ private schools to sit different exams to mainstream in a country.

But thinking of somewhere like Germany or the US do they have different systems in different states / regions?

A levels is 2 yr course so everyone would have to stay on for S6.
It doesn't give the breadth of highers as usually only do 3
But would cut university to 3 yrs thus reducing student debt

But we aren't different states / regions? We are different countries.

We have had our own curriculum and assessments for as long as I can remember. Long before the SNP were in power.

@forfucksakenett

But we aren't different states / regions? We are different countries.

We have had our own curriculum and assessments for as long as I can remember. Long before the SNP were in power.

We have one passport.

What is the real benefit to Scotland to have a separate education system?
Scots go to English Unis and vice versa, NI have swapped to the English GCSE & A levels.

The official Higher & A level results now come out on the same day, despite the Highers being sat about 3 weeks before the A levels.
Students all go into clearing together.

Just because Scotland historically had separate exams, what's the real point in keeping them?

We have a separate legal system too, shall we change that as well?
NI didn't swap to the English system; it's always had that.
Do we really want the English system: SATs and 11 pluses, academies? There are plenty of complaints on mumsnet about it it's far from perfect.
I've experience of both systems and wouldn't rate one (exam) system above the other.

Legal system is too difficult to change.

The ScoGov have no faith themselves in the SQA so why try and reinvent the wheel again? Why not tap into something that works?

Scottish schools have slipped down the tables so working to the English system would at least close the gap between us and them.

Well you couldn't just tag on GCSEs onto our current primary and early secondary education. You'd have to change the whole thing. Including uni - do they want to alter their courses to fit 3 years instead? Not saying that would be a bad idea necessarily But it would be a massive overhaul (and it's not that long since the last one tbh). The 5 higher system does allow a breath you don't get with a levels. This is not just an SNP thing.

And not every area of England has 11+ and grammar options so that wouldn't need to change.

What I'm talking is replace Nat 5 with GCSE they seem to sit lots of them so must have a very wide circulum at that point. Then doing AS (if that's still a thing) and A levels. Ditching the Higher & Advanced Highers.
OK might need to request some extra subjects like Gaelic but beyond that, Maths, English, Sciences, Languages are all the same.

And yes cut a year off Uni saving a small fortune in accommodation costs etc.

Surely the stuff taught at primary level is the same / similar. Learning to write, read and count.
Yes I can see early secondary might need to change their courses but what can be that much different?

Exactly its not that long since they scraped Standard grades and introduced Nationals but they themselves have no faith want to change things again - so my answer is change to something tested and proven - rather than another change that may or may not help.

It's a interesting one.
Would say not many places in England still have the 11 plus most areas got rid of it a long time ago. But I definitely took SATS.

The A level entry thing is interesting, when I applied to uni 2 of my choices were in Scotland. Because of my A levels one uni offered me straight into 2nd year, the other one remained a 4 year course. So it definitely used to be possible for some unis to have it as a 3 year course. I was told it was because my ALevel year was the equivalent of the first year.

I have always found it a bit strange that a 17 year old can go to uni mainly as I used to do student welfare stuff in my 20s. It's a big adjustment for many even at 19/20 let alone 17 when actually a year or two can make the difference of being socially ready alongside academically ready.

Our DS will remain at nursery for a extra year because of the social development side of things.

The universities will all be setting entrance exams regardless soon, that'll make it even harder from kids from less affluent backgrounds.

I'd love to see a real mixing up of starting age between 4-6, children don't develop uniformly and an extra year can make a huge difference in emotional maturity.

Some unis and courses offer Second year entry to candidates with strong AH passes just like they do with ALevels. My DD wasn't offered this but due to her AHs sat in S6 her first year at uni was a breeze and she devoted her energies to partying.

I thought Scotland had a more flexible start than England with automatic right to defer entry for the very youngest and even then our very youngest are 4 and a half. Happy to be corrected though . Could still be more flexible though compared to lots of other countries we sent our children to formal education very young.

A move to GCSEs and A Levels would be as pointless / backwards as keeping Nat 5 and Highers.

The SQA aren't being scrapped because there is anything inherently wrong with the Scottish qualifications, they are being scrapped because the qualifications don't lead on well from CfE.

The OECD has recommended a less 'final' form of assessment and ongoing assessment through means other than a traditional exam. The changes are intended to reflect and honour that recommendation.

A move to A levels wouldn't support that. Far from it it would be even more restrictive because as many posters have pointed out there is less flexibility there.

Ffs let's not be sending children to school at 4 unless it's a 3-7 kindergarten stage.

4 seems so young. Ds2 is a December baby so I'll need to decide nearer the time whether to defer or not.

With hindsight I’d have deferred DD, if I could, @shouldistop. I knew nothing about kids really so never considered it, I’m ashamed to say.

I am thinking that 5.5 is better to start than 4.5. I suppose it depends a bit on how mature he is at the time and anecdotally I've noticed second children coming on quicker than firsts.
Ds1 wouldn't have been ready at 4.5, he's matured a lot in the last 6 months.

It is so sad how far the Scottish education has fallen and the SH should be making it one of the main priorities
But I won't hold my breath