MFL. German GCSE speaking exam...

[Sparklingbrook]

DS1 is in Year 10, takes his GCSEs Summer 2015.

He is doing a speaking exam tomorrow that will be 15% of the mark of his GCSE.

Why would he be doing that this year and not this time next year when he will be even better?

My son is also doing German GCSE (iGCSE I think) and he isn't doing his oral until next year. It does seem weird doing it this early.

It could be Bear, that DS1 has told us some bunkum about it being 15% of the final mark. But DH claims that the German teacher did say that at Parents Evening.

Poor soul is up in his bedroom chuntering away to himself in German at the moment.

The speaking exam is actually more than 1 exam. Students can do a number of different speaking assessments over the course of the 2 years based on different themes and then the school pick the best 2 which count as 15% each of the final exam grade.

At our school all students do 3 different scenarios and some do 4.

It's similar with their writing tasks - students are expected to do several and then the 2 best examples are selected - again worth 15% each.

The reading and the listening are just exams taken at the end of year 11 and are worth 20% each.

Ooh steview that makes so much sense. I don't think DS1 is aware of the chance to be doing it again and again, and I am not telling him. But that's good to know. Thanks.

We do them four times a year at mine so that we have 8 to choose from; we send off the best 2 marks.
It's to give them chance to improve.

I feel so much happier now. I genuinely thought that everything was pinned on tomorrow. He is so anxious about it all too, he really doesn't know there are other chances. Crafty Sir?

Very crafty!

Because he has to do four of them (2 speaking 2 writing) on four different topics, and it makes sense to stagger them. Otherwise he would have to revise four different drafts all at the same time.

My yr 11s are just doing their last one tomorrow afternoon. I am very glad they have already done three of them!

In addition they are often done at the end of studying a topic so it is fresh in their mind. We don't tend to do more than the required four at my school as that is more than enough for me (and them!!)

15% is quite correct btw. Each one of the four is worth that, and then 20% for each exam. In other words you could go into the exam knowing (more or less) you had already passed yr GCSE if you achieved A-grade in yr CAs.

Brilliant clary. This one seems to be about where you live etc. It's the first one he's done and he's very nervous.

I have to say he doesn't seem to be enjoying his German as much as he did in Yr 8 &9 which is a shame. Not sure why.

That's a shame he's not enjoying it so much, but sometimes the pressure of controlled assessments gets to students. I am sure he will be fine if he has prepped for it.

Top tip for future speakings (not much use now!) is to record it onto your ipod (or even better, get your teacher to record themselves reading it) so you can play it as you walk to school and what you need to say subliminally enters your consciousness

Well he did it. I don't think it was great, some of it was 'inaccurate' apparently. No grade as yet-teacher is going to listen back.

He does know that there's another 3 now though.

YY I think recording it next time would be a great clary. It is true to say he gets himself into a tizz over tests/assesments too.

Accuracy is only 5 marks out of 30 anyway. He needs to get about 18 for a C grade, 10 available for content, 10 for range of language (tenses etc) and 5 each for accuracy and fluency.

Can you tell this has been on my mind this week? 15 speaking CAs to mark this weekend and 15 written ones to look at as well.