GCSE English controlled assessments in Year 9????!!!!!

[kesstrel]

Has anyone else encountered this? My year 9 daughter is sitting a GCSE controlled assessment for English tomorrow, without having been previously told that it was for GCSEs! Apparently the school is hoping to gain some advantage in the league tables by doing this, but I don't understand how this is even possible. We parents found out tonight - half of these children are only 13! A friend is distraught because her daughter didn't do much preparation, not knowing it would count for GCSEs. Anyone else with similar experience/advice?

The school I'm currently training at does this. My year 10 class have just redone 2 of the controlled assessments as, unsurprisingly, they didn't do that well in year 9.
The department will be desperate for C grades. If the students don't get them I am 99.9% sure there will be at least once chance to redo.
The issue that annoys me is that if a student in capable of getting a C grade in year 9 (therefore wouldn't be necessarily considered for a redo) what could they get in year 11, with two years growth and teaching? B? A? A*?

My dd is in the top set for English and they did some practice controlled assessments in year 9 but are doing the real thing now (yr 10).

Thanks for responding. Blueemerald, did your Year 9 kids know these assessments were for GCSE before they did them? Because My daughter has already done several, starting in October, with no idea that they were for GCSE. It's worrying enough that they are starting in Year 9, when they are so immature, but not telling them so they will realise they need to make a serious effort just makes that still worse!

I'm not surprised you are having to redo the assessments...!

At my DCs school, they start doing controlled assessments in year 9, but they do more than is actually needed and pick the best ones to submit. In many cases this will end up being the ones done in year 11, but sometimes they do better in earlier ones because they go through a stroppy ''am I bovvered'' phase at the wrong time thinking of DS2

cream teas sorry, but what you say cannot be the case for English. CA titles only last for 2 years (and are specific to the year of submission) so the titles for submission in year 11 would not be known in year 9.

OP -if what you have heard is true this is entirely unacceptable but are you sure they haven't been told. It's amazing how many children say they haven't been told things.

We do this a lot - CA style tasks in year 9 - but they don't count. The 'task bank' is deliberately not released in time by the exam board.

They'll be practice tasks to familiarise students with the techniques needed.

In OP's osition I'd contact the school just to clarify, mind you.

It's just about possible that creamteas dc's school are gambling on the tasks being similar enough to just tweak the titles, but it's...erm...a bit dodgy.

My DD's school do this - she has done two English CAs this year and will also do 2 full GCSEs by May/June - all in year 9.

The school did send letters home and hold parents meetings (though not many people turn up!). Unbelievable that OP's school don't bother to inform the parents - surely they must mention it at parents evening or do practice stuff for homework?

Domino Sorry, I should have explained better. They can count as the DC who have good CAs will be entered for the exam in the summer of year 10. If they get the grade expected of them (not just a C) they then do Eng Lit in Year 11. If they don't get what is expected they retake Language.

Creamteas, yes this is apparently what they are hoping to do: exam in Eng language at end of year 10, then do Eng Lit exam at end of Year 11. The objective is apparently 1) to lighten exam burden in Year 11; and 2) to get the A-C passrate up now that resits of exams won't be allowed (I think?) by signing up those with lower scores as "retaking" the whole Eng Lang course, so they can sit the exam again.

The worry is that kids may achieve a lower grade than they might have done because they aren't as matur in Year 10, especially those who are young in their year. And of course the worry is that they might be too discouraged or not want to make the extra effort to do the exam and controlled assessments again in Year 11.

I supposed the positive side is that they will have the benefit of 3 years of serious work on essay writing, etc, rather than just two. Of course, it does also rather indicate that the normal Year 9 curriculum can be happily dispensed with without anyone noticing the difference!

Ah, fair enough then if the GCSE course is being run from year 9-10.

Interesting new variation on gaming the system!

Tbh, our year 9 is pretty much a 'dress rehearsal' for year 10 - we do a series of units which map to the CAs for year 10.