Advice needed re Year 9 ds being put in too early for GCSE science

[frankinsensible]

Sorry this is quite long...ds school has a policy of putting kids in for some GCSE's in yr 9. In yr 8 he chose 2 options from a limited selection - a language and a practical subject - and has studied them intensively for GCSE next summer. That seems to be going OK-ish although I personally think he is too immature for the language exam. Whenever we query with a subject teacher that it is too early for this step they just blithely say 'he can always take it again'.

The problem is the school now tells us that he is being put in for English Literature and Science GCSE's as well and has module exams in January. At the parents evening the science teacher told us that if ds fails the exam he will not be able to re-take it! When we looked shocked he said it would be fine because ds won't fail.

After a couple of days I began to be really worried about it. Ds is an intelligent boy but he's only 13 and I don't feel he's anywhere near the maturity of written expression and presentation required to get a good grade in these exams. He also suffers from Absence Seizures which are worse under stress. I brought all this up with his tutor who said he had spoken with the science teacher and the exam can be re-taken if he fails (so why tell us that it couldn't?) and that they are certain he will do well.

My biggest worry is I know ds is the type to react badly to a bad result - he will say that he's no good at the subject so it won't be any help to him to have to re-take. Today he had an oral exam in the language and came home pretty crushed saying it had gone badly

Can I insist that the school do not put him in for the science GCSE? What is my best course of action? I don't want to get into a big stand-off with them but I am genuinely worried - this is ds's future they're gambling with.

[lljkk]

You don't know my DD . She might turn anorexic under the huge final stress, but she'll apply self-discipline all the way thru.

Meantime, the boys will turn out a minimum standard of work and barely pay attention until the last minute when they truly accept & agree it matters. Then they'll be so overwhelmed with the deficits in their knowledge in so many areas that they won't think they can do it, so easier to just give up and go into the Army instead.

[creamteas]

Unfortunately under the current changes I think Schools will be forced to either cut down on the subjects or use early entry more.

When I was at school the 'norm' was 8 subjects at O level and most had 2 papers at the end so about 16 papers sat in total. At my school we had early entry for English Langauge and Maths (sat in Nov year 11) to try to spread them out a bit

Currently many DC are taking 10-12 GCSEs, and even if all of those had just 2 papers that is 20-24 papers in one exam session. The sudden change pushed through by Gove to only allow terminal exams has meant no time to change the curriculum so GCSEs designed for modular assessment now just have their exams at the end.

So either we need to stop Dc studying so many subjects (and many MN comments scorn at taking less than this, with unfounded warnings that universities will look down on such candidates) or accept that early entry is a way to cope.

[Muminwestlondon]

I agree that the young are forced to do too many subjects, 8 or 9 should be the max as it was in my day. In my elder DD's school she had to do English lang/English Lit, maths, all 3 sciences, one humanity, one IT subject, one MFL. She had to do two more and did Art and Latin. Thankfully the school saw sense and made statistics optional in her year (now dropped altogether). She could easier have done without art and IT for example.

She did them all in the summer of year 11, apart from the paper 1 in the sciences which they sat in the January and components of English were spread over two years. The school is a so called super-selective.

[Muminwestlondon]

By the way, I don't think she would have benefitted from early entry. I think she may have benefitted from longer exams - the Latin ones were 4 x 45 mins for example and History was also chunked up into 3 exams I think, so they seemed to go on for ever.

[lljkk]

Creamteas says that early entry will still be possible? So are firm strict changes being imposed from above or not?

[creamteas]

As far as I know there is no plans to ban early entry. The only restriction is that exams will be in the summer series (apart from English & Maths I think)

So schools will still be able to enter students in years 9 & 10 (or even earlier!)

[lljkk]

Ah, so (I should have kept my mouth shut on entire thread?) our schools will probably keep current programme but with no January entries. This might be good thing because of the variation in exam board marking (this year) between Jan & June exam entries. At least schools can't get caught out in that way, again.

[twoterrors]

The firm change is to the modules I think. All will have to be sat at the end, but they are not reducing the number of them. As I understand the system, this will have a big effect on the sciences in particular.

[mercibucket]

The theory with boys vs girls is actually kind of as lljkk describes her children. Girls work hard consistently and so benefit from coursework and modular work. In situations where there is just one final exam, they are more likely to play safe, hence getting good but not outstanding marks.
Boys are lazy and so leave everything to the last possible minute. They don't pay as much attention to coursework and prefer to do sudden last minute revision. Therefore they either crash and burn or take more risks on answers - so you get boys scoring more at both top and bottom ends of the scale.

That's the theory, don't bite my head off for the blatant stereotyping everyone!

[throckenholt]

If I remember rightly from my school days - the girls all worked hard and did well at o level, then relaxed a bit and did relatively less well at A-level, whereas the boys mostly screwed up their o levels (through lack of work), scraped into doing a levels then knuckled down and did well with their a levels. So maybe that is the same process as you describe.

I have 3 boys - I can see it is goign to be fun getting them to get on with studying.

[EllenJaneisstillnotmyname]

I think one of the big differences with the summer exams only is that you can't take them early and then retake them and choose the higher mark. Often DC took the exams in the Jan, then again in the June. They can still take them a year early, but then can't bank this result and take them again, hoping for a higher grade.

[lljkk]

Every year the local High School & college publish pictures of their very highest achievers, the ones who get all As/A*s (GCSE) or who get (provisional) acceptances to Oxbridge.

The impression I get is that in both photos, the ratio of girls:boys is 3.5:1.
Maybe the boys are just camera shy.

DS art teacher (male) said that he has never had a boy get above an A at GCSE art, too.

[suec4075]

Can anyone tell me whether it is true that those children that sat their GCSE triple science early (my son is currently year 10) will not finish the final units (7 & 8) but instead sit 3 exams per subject plus practicals for each subject in year 11 (June 2014) and that those units they have already done don't count for anything? Because if that is true my son will have wasted nearly two years having already gained A's, B's and one C in units 1-6 in Biology, Physics & Chemistry. His School don't seem to know what is going on as each week we are told something different!!

[webfizzystuff]

suec4075 the exam board websites have information on the changes but I think that if your DS is taking the final exams in 2014 then he has to take the new exams. His previous exams only count if the qualification is finished in 2013.

www.ocr.org.uk/images/71509-gcse-science-the-move-to-linear-specifications.pdf

"These changes will affect all candidates starting two year courses in September 2012. This change does not affect candidates who started a two-year course in September 2011, or those starting a one-year course in September 2012. However, Year 9 students who started a three-year course in September 2011 will be affected."

[frankinsensible]

Sympathise with that sue, as mentioned in my OP we have been given conflicting info on re-takes.

I emailed the DfE on Monday and asked them to clarify this situation with GCSE Science, haven't heard back yet. If I don't hear this week I will phone them. I agree it seems unbelievable that they would put all that work to waste rather than allow it to stand and apply any changes to those who are just starting on the process.

What have the school said?

[EllenJaneisstillnotmyname]

Sue, I don't know for sure, but my DS is in Y 10 and doing triple science and we were told he couldn't do the modular course, he had to take all his exams at the end of Y11. Hopefully someone actually does know, as the schools don't seem to.

[suec4075]

Thankyou for your comment. Its a nightmare because he did so much revision before taking the exams and then did brilliantly and now it all counts for nothing. His School should never have entered them for the exams this early because so many failed that they are now being threatened with doing a Btec instead of the final exams!!

[frankinsensible]

Thanks for that webfizz - needn't have bothered with the DfE!

[suec4075]

frankinsensible, the School are hopeless, I have been to see one of the Heads of subject and I honestly don't think he understood it because I asked if the results he had already gained counted and he said Yes. Then when searching the internet regarding this I found another local senior School had posted a letter on their website explaining the new system!! I have a good mind to forward that to my son's School!!

[frankinsensible]

It's going to be quite a scandal I think sue. I feel so sorry for kids that have basically been caught in the war between schools and ministers, the speed of change to these exams has caught a lot of schools out. I think you should print that letter off and take it in.

[suec4075]

I may do that because the teacher I saw permanently looked like a rabbit caught in headlights when we were in the meeting! I honestly believe that they should have been allowed to sit the last two units for each of the 3 Sciences. I do feel sorry for the children that failed but in the end I think it might work out better for them unlike my son and the small number of children that did well! I am so angry regarding this as my son's year were being used as guinea pigs by the School, they thought that if they started early and could just resit to get the grades the School wanted and now it has backfired big time!!

[suec4075]

Many thanks Webfizz that confirms what I had read on the other School's website...I'm absolutely gutted for my son and his friends.

[frankinsensible]

Yes, that was the refrain I kept getting when I questioned taking exams so early: "he can always re-take if he fails". I am going in tomorrow to speak to the English teacher re ds being put in for Literature GCSE. After that I am going to get hold of the head of science and try to stop them putting him in for January exam. Don't know what sort of reception I am going to get though.

In your place I would be gutted too - how do the other parents feel?

[suec4075]

frankinsensible, I honestly don't think the other parents know. Since the new Headteacher took over it has been a shambles, she is all about how lovely the new buildings they moved into last year look and how pristine it needs to be kept and not about the children. Half the staff don't know what the hell is going on, at least three of the most experienced teachers are leaving. My son's year were called into a special assembly regarding the English exams, when some of the children started to ask questions about the fact they were being threatened with being changed to Btec Science instead of GCSE, the Science teacher I had the meeting with was called in, my son said "Mum I honestly don't think he knew the answer to any of the questions he was asked"...what chance do they have??

[circular]

mumsneedwine - Where does it state about the 6 or 8 GCSE's in a single sitting for RG Unis. I couldn't find it in the informed choices booklet. A bit alarming if they only take 9 in total, including 2 a bit early, and also some modular.

frankinsensible - Shocked at the idea of Eng Lit earlier. Have heard of quite a few doing Lang in yr10 & Lit in yr11, as DD1's school does. Not grerat, but better that way round.