Yr 11 support thread - the scaffolding is holding up well

[pointythings]

Because we need a new thread now that things are really hotting up!

Bloody hell Laniakea - that's simply appalling! You had one job OCR, one job!! It's bad enough that OCR screwed up on one question, but it probably played on all the DCs minds and confidence throughout the whole of the rest of the exam. I tell my DS to read the questions carefully, and then read them again just to be sure. That would have thrown him for sure! In the meantime, apparently loads of students sitting the AQA exam misread the Inspector Calls question and wrote about Mr B, when they were asked to write about Mrs B and only realised halfway through, or worse, afterwards when speaking to friends.

yeah 4 hours of closed book exams for English lit - 2 novels, a Shakespeare play & poetry anthology - it is undoubtedly very tough going.

Draylon not really unfair given that the syllabus is either 3 separate papers or 2 papers and 2 pieces of coursework. Has your dc got 3 exams for Eng Lit?

I mean the CIE IGCSE syllabus

lania my dd just told me about that story, it's going round fast. What a cock-up OCR! My dd does OCR English but thankfully not R+J.

tiggy - my DS hated Tissue too, so glad that didn't come up!

OCR - that's appalling - how could a mistake like that get through??

sheepskin if they are using KS2 data to assist in setting grade boundaries for GCSE - what are they using to set the grade boundaries for KS2 Sats?

Good question. I think KS2 assessments are meant to be criteria-based, but the real answer is probably 'politics'.

No, there was a 90 minute closed book exam on Monday - 15 poem anthology, ranging from 19th century through to near-contemporary, and Silas Marner. Also, two 1500 word essays for assessed coursework - on Macbeth and VFTB in my son's case. So it adds up to 2h 15 exam plus coursework for 25%. I doubt that schools relying upon their reputation for getting students into good universities are going to risk selecting exam boards that those universities are going to deem easier.

All the exams seem much harder than in my day - many more papers, and coursework and a wider range of skills. Simple example: we didn't touch the subjunctive until A level French back in the 80s. I don't know where this 'grade inflation' or 'simplified exams' stuff comes from - I think our children deserve all the praise they get.

CIE IGCSE Eng lit, I mean.

Yup cie eng lit has a closed book exam also and also Poetry (17 poems to learn in dd's case).

The open book (play) is a 45 minute paper and just counts for 25% I think?

It's an extract question anyway rather than a 'topic' question so actually no real advantage to having the play - they haven't really got time to go leafing through anyway with such a short amount of time. Dd was still scribbling up to the bell.apparently.

Thanks ifonly4 - The poem was bayonett charge - power and conflict shes checked what she used to revise and she thinks she done good!

Well earned break for all of them now and us!!

Haven't seen DD yet but I texted her and asked how it had gone and the response was 'meh'! When pushed I then got 'it was meh, it was ok but meh' so god only knows how it went. They finished school at 12.15 but have ordered pizza and gone to the park so won't see her till later. She did Frankenstein and poetry.

"Embrace your inner wanker"

That is excellent advice!

I think for me that advise would be - embrace your inner diva!!!

I know there is so much hatred for 'Tissue' but my (really rather dim) class are very fond of it must be the amazing way I taught it

I don't like Bayonet Charge much personally but it's an obvious choice given its length.

The OCR mistake beggars belief.

I hear OCR exam board messed their paper up.....muddled the Capulets and Montagues up in a question.

Anyone's done Blood Brother as the English today?
Dd1 said it was "weird".
But she was happy with Bayonet Charge as that was what she predicted would come up.

I agree draylon And for the life of me I don't see how it could have happened. Those questions would surely have been proof-read to death by many different people? How could it have not been spotted??

I don't know the process for inventing exam questions, but I can't help thinking that maybe 3 people should actually do all the questions to help eliminate these errors. (Obviously not the same 3 people for all the questions for all the subjects for all the boards!)

Shameful by OCR, rather casts doubt on the idea the questions are set by English specialists. However my classes were very happy with the exam, AQA, today.
It will be interesting when university admissions are looking in a couple of years at the relative value they will place on IGCSEs and the new Grade 9 GCSEs.
I know the local super selective indie is planning on entering the most able for GCSE from next year to avoid comparison.

Bertrand DD needs the same as your DS. It takes a lot of pressure off in my opinion!