Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

Spanish GCSEs - Is DS for real? - Oral exam

33 replies

Buck3t · 19/04/2017 20:52

I'm not sure if my son is being untruthful, not listening when he should be (more likely) or if it's wholly true.

He doesn't appear to be practising speaking in spanish. I asked him if there isn't an oral part to the exam. He said no.

I do remember that I asked a couple of years ago about vocabulary testing - I remembered vocab books (even found my old french ones) and the teacher said they don't do it that way anymore. I thought fine, I'm 20+ years older, things change, so fair enough. However, now he's saying there's no oral element to the exam.

Now before I come across as one of those weird parents to his spanish teacher (why do I care what they think of me exactly?), I thought I'd ask here first. So tell me what do you know? Can you pass a GCSE without being able to pronounce 'Monopatin' correctly?

OP posts:

innkeeper · 19/04/2017 20:53

He has probably done a speaking assessment as part of his coursework

choccyp1g · 19/04/2017 20:56

My DS did the speaking part as a "controlled assessment" a while ago.
it consisted of writing and learning a speech, and having prepared answers to 5 questions, only one of which they asked you at the end.

booellesmum · 19/04/2017 21:01

DD is taking Spanish gcse this year.
All the speaking and writing assessments have been done already as part of the course.
The only exams during the exam period will be listening and reading.
Wishing him luck!

TeenAndTween · 19/04/2017 21:08

Have you not spent some of the last 5 terms listening to him learning and practicing his 2 spoken CAs?
Or been aware of his 2 written CAs too for his MFL?
Are you aware he has also done Science ISAs and possibly other CAs for other subjects?

booellesmum · 19/04/2017 21:18

To be fair I only knew about some of the Spanish assessments as DD got a bit stressed - not a fan of languages! One written assessment I only knew of the night before when she mentioned it while we were at a concert.
All of the other assessments could easily have passed me by.
One of the science ones I only knew about as she was ill on the day and she told me to ask about it being rearranged when I called to say she wouldn't be in.
She does tend to just get on with things.

Original poster

Buck3t · 19/04/2017 21:42

DS is not taking spanish this year.
His exams are next year.

OP posts:

Original poster

Buck3t · 19/04/2017 21:45

Teen and Tween - no - I have no idea of what you are talking about. What are ISAs. I get CAs are controlled assessments (not good with acronyms sorry).
He's taken some science papers that were old exam questions. All he has said is it was to help him move sets.

We got a letter home about upcoming maths tests after Easter. Sorry I have not a clue how this all works.

So should the oral be done in year 10 or year 11.

OP posts:

toffee1000 · 19/04/2017 21:49

ISA: investigative skills assignment, aka practical.
The oral exam for GCSE Spanish would be in Year 11. It's during usual term time not the specific exam period. Oral exams are always earlier than the written papers, because the examiners have to go round all the schools.

70ontheinside · 19/04/2017 21:52

So your son is in Y10 now, which means he will be taking new specification GCSEs next year?

It depends on how the school structure their schemes of work, bit there will definitely be a speaking exam at the end of Y11. It would be mad not to practice these speaking exams beforehand. We have one after every unit, and will do one in the upcoming Y10 mocks.

Maybe you should have a word with the teacher to clarify.

Original poster

Buck3t · 19/04/2017 21:52

Many thanks toffee. Going to find that curriculum booklet and see if there is any information in there.

OP posts:

Rosieposy4 · 19/04/2017 21:53

Year 10s will not be doing ISAs or Ca in science.

Original poster

Buck3t · 19/04/2017 21:55

70ontheinside Firstly, I think you've stolen my real name. Secondly, I think I will contact the teacher, as I am unable to get information from him (think blood from a stone).

OP posts:

70ontheinside · 19/04/2017 21:56

If you know which exam board your school have chosen you can look up exam formats there. Exam boards could be AQA, Edexcel, WJEC, OCR or a few others.

Original poster

Buck3t · 19/04/2017 21:56

Thanks Rosie lots of information coming forth. Should use this page more often.

OP posts:

Original poster

Buck3t · 19/04/2017 21:56

It's AQA, so I'll do that. Thanks again.

OP posts:

AChickenCalledKorma · 19/04/2017 21:58

DD1 is in year 10 and doing German on the new specification. She has definitely been told there will be a speaking exam.

drummersmum · 19/04/2017 21:59

DS in y10 is taking IGCSE this year. I don't know if it's different from GCSE but he has his spoken exam in a few days and it requires quite a lot of preparation: prepared presentation on a photo, plus 3 min of questions on the photo and the topic related to the photo, and then 6 more minutes of questions on two different topics chosen by examiner among five topics.

Original poster

Buck3t · 19/04/2017 22:01

drummersmum you are scaring me. DS isn't doing IGCSE.

OP posts:

70ontheinside · 19/04/2017 22:01

We're with edexcel, but they are fairly similar to AQA.
Things like "picture descriptions" and "role plays" should ring (alarm!) bells with your son by now. My Y10s are fairly oblivious, but they might have noticed by now that we seem to be doing an awful lot of picture description tasks...

leccybill · 19/04/2017 22:01

If he's Y10, there's no controlled assessment anymore, just final exams at the end of Y11. There should be lots of mocks/practice for them though.

And there def is a speaking exam! With a role play, and general conversation.

Original poster

Buck3t · 19/04/2017 22:04

leccybill - so like the old days then! Starting to make sense.

OP posts:

TeenAndTween · 19/04/2017 22:13

OK, not y11. All change for current y10. What exam are you talking about in your OP - end y10 internal of final GCSE exams?

Original poster

Buck3t · 20/04/2017 07:02

Tween I was talking about final exams. There seems to be no oral practicing and I was concerned and DS informed me no oral exam.

I am checking with the school also.

OP posts:

UsedToBeAPaxmanFan · 20/04/2017 07:10

My ds is 18 now so did GCSEs a while ago. I know he did a speaking assessment but I didn't have a clue what it consisted of. I don't speak Spanish so wouldn't have known if he was right/wrong even if I did listen to it.

I also didn't know when his Controlled Aassessments were in science etc. Why would I? It's a bit harsh for criticising the OP for not knowing. I had faith that the school knew what they were doing and that he should listen to them. Obviously if he has asked for help in revising stuff we'd have got involved but he just got on with it.

Ontopofthesunset · 20/04/2017 09:13

The IGCSE has what drummersum describes - an oral rather like the exams we might have taken at O level. There is a short presentation/talk that the child has to learn, then some questions on that. There's also a role play and general conversation. With the IGCSE at my son's school the teachers conduct and assess it, but it is recorded and sent off to be moderated; I don't know if moderators listen at random to a few children from each school to check the marking is robust.

Flip

1 2