Prelims 2022/23

[CrabbitBastard]

DD is now in S4 and has been told her prelims will be starting at the end of November which seems a bit earlier than I remember? Is this normal? Will they get any study leave and if not, how should she be studying?

I know past papers are more for the final exams than for the prelims. She says Bitesize is shite but she does always do her homework and I got her some 'how to pass' books. She also plans to start a 'study club' with her pals where they take it in turns to go to each others houses to study. I'm a bit worried they will mess about although tbf they do tend to all get good grades in tests so far. I've told DD if I get any hint that they aren't really studying, then the study group stops!

Any one else's DCs preparing for prelims? Any tips from teachers?

Appeals evidence isn't always a thing. It was a thing, then the SQA switched to remarks, then in covid times appeals became important again. Who knows what will happen next?

DS happy with his 70% for Nat5 History result. Less so with 64% for Maths and Physics 58%. I have said not to get upset as there's time to improve still for the exams.

Well done to all others sitting prelims. Time to relax for Christmas very soon 🎄

DD got 85% on accountancy. Taking into consideration she’s badly dyslexic and the fact her teacher told her she would not be able to scrape a pass and tried to push her out of the class, I’m so chuffed for her. Still waiting on the rest.

But the current approach by SQA is not remarking, it is submitting an evidence-based appeal. It makes sense to have the best evidence possible in that scenario.

Yes and we've changed our approaches every year for the last few years in response to this. That's been by adding in additional assessments though not putting back the prelims.
I think students need to find out sooner rather than later if they aren't working hard enough

I think students need to find out sooner rather than later if they aren't working hard enough

Absolutely agree with this, also disappointment at prelim time can be a positive if it give them a wee fright and prompts them to revise better/more. Cruising through prelims can make them over confident and they take the foot too far off the gas.

...I know there's more to it than just hard work; but it's still useful to find out that you struggle to write fast enough for the time limit, or that's there's something wrong with how you are structuring your answer etc.

DD isn't very well which I think is affecting her willingness to study and concentration. Ran her a nice hot bath and told her to go to bed early. Did manage to get her to do a short English quiz in prep for tomorrow so we will see. She has heard she will get her Maths result next week but is feeling fairly confident about that one as she likes Maths. Well done to all other kids who passed their prelims.

So the second English prelim was awful, apparenty, going to need to get her a new and better English tutor than the last one but where do I even look? I can't really phone up a school and ask but teachers don't seem to be advertising tutoring services anywhere, its all students and I'd prefer an actual teacher. I don't want to post on Facebook asking for one to spare DDs blushes. I'd even get one via Zoom or similar if no one local but I still can't see anyone both qualified and currently working as a teacher (so recent SQA knowledge). Anyone know where I can look or ask?

I reckon most teachers aren't tutoring any more. There's just too bloody much to do these days. None of my colleagues are. In saying that, I'd contact the school. They could maybe put you in touch with someone.

And that's the prelims all over, with the exception of one English paper in the new year. Time to relax and some results arrive next week, others in January. Fingers crossed she did better than she thinks she did.

A mixed bag today.... 85% in maths, 47% in History 😬

A bit of a mixed bag here too. Two fails which I wasn't expecting. I can't be upset with DS though because I know he has worked at those subjects, he just finds them hard.

We have more in... So far sitting on two As (maths and computing), two Bs (physics and chemistry) a D (history) and as yet unknown for English. I need to get my head round the N5 History course demands, fast. He will work hard but will need feedback to act on.

Good results for your kids!
@FuckingHateRats It doesn't seem as though the requirements for N5 History are much different from when I sat SG History (I got As at SG and Higher and did it for my degree, got an E for Higher Maths prelim though and needed a tutor!)
I tell DD to look at the number of marks and that gives an idea of how many points to make for the answer.
As for the source comparison question, the answers usually include - is it a primary source (from someone who was there?) or secondary (written a while after the event, by a historian etc)? So how reliable is the source?
One source tends to be different from the other - in what way? (negative whilst other is positive, or focusing on something different from the other).
Bitesize is useful as a resource.

As for Maths and D&M so far. Proud mum.

D for business management which is a surprise. She found it hard but still expected to pass.

D for Chemistry which isn't so much of a surprise as she's been struggling with it this year but still worrying.

Question for teachers - if your class average result is 44% (DD's chemistry class), would that concern you? What happens next? Do the heads of department investigate / ask the teacher questions? I don't want to appear like I'm dissing teachers but if that many kids don't pass in one N5 class but other N5 classes apparently did, isn't that a concern for the school? Dh thinks we should be asking the school questions - should we?

@TinyChancer Is the other Nat5 class in the same subject area, as if so I'd imagine they have set them to some degree, so there might be a class that is more likely to pass. Often with early prelims it's a lack of effort/revision which can be changed by the summer. The class average could also include students getting As and Bs and also some no awards. I'm not sure what the average really tells you without knowing the range of marks.

Thanks, its the same subject area and I have no idea what the other pupils in the class got, only that the class average was 44% DD was told, and I presumed that meant they had all failed.

You could have ten people getting Bs, 2 with D's and 8 failing badly and you'd get around 44% average.
Now it's not good for half the class to fail obviously! But it doesn't mean that they all did.
You could certainly ask the school what your dd needs to do next (though the teacher should tell her that anyway) but I don't think asking questions about the average would be helpful. It's a worrying time I know!

ds was in a low performing school and it was not unusual for only a handful of pupils to pass N5 prelims which would be their first real experience of NAT5 national standard questions in exam conditions. Sometimes it would be more weighted towards one class than another and through all the kids talking or the teachers feedback to the class it was usually obvious to ds why.

We tried not to worry too much about the performance of the class other than to take some comfort he was not the only one who didn't do as well as expected. Focus on helping your dd reflect on her own performance and gaps in knowledge and work out what she needs to do to bring her mark up and to ask the teacher to help plug those gaps.

I think it was around this point in NAT5s ds realised he didn't know how to study and we started looking into study techniques. I watched a few short Thomas Frank Youtube videos (there are lots of them!), thought they looked good and picked a few for ds to watch, we discussed them after he watched, and what techniques would be better for different subjects and he found that helpful. It gave him some structure to get the best from his revision. These are the first two ds watched -

A for Art and B for History. Still English result to come, one more paper to do.

We're at two As, three Bs and a D. But he was rushed to A&E on Boxing Day with suspected type 1 diabetes, and it's been confirmed. He was feeling hellish all throughout prelim period and totally suffering from the ill-effects of undiagnosed diabetes.

I've asked that he gets to sit additional prelims in separate accommodation with extra time, to gather better evidence.