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Secondary education

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Original poster

GCSEs 2018 (4 already)

999 replies

Stickerrocks · 24/02/2018 20:56

Following on from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3152060-GCSEs-2018-3

OP posts:
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14
BlueBelle123 · 05/03/2018 10:29

I just hope they don't increase the number who get 9's as that is supposed to be a fixed percentage or else all this change would of been for nothing........oh hang on they will just introduce the 10Wink

Teenmum60 · 05/03/2018 10:32

I think its personally sad that these children think they are going to fail if they don't get a top grade 9.... I think its great that they are motivated to want to really achieve the top grade but to believe that they have failed because they don't get a 9...

Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 10:33

Too true mmzz.

mmzz · 05/03/2018 10:34

Yip, to leave space for a 10 is why they made 9 high!

but grade inflation is nothing new. Don't we all have to say when we did our exams as well as the grades so that the person who has asked can interpret whether they were good, mediocre or poor?

Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 10:36
  • bluebelle 10 will be on the horizon somedayGrin or they could just call it the Oxbridge level!
Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 10:39

Well I think that as I said before, people will view the top 3 grades as the old a,b,c over time. That's why whole system stinks.

Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 10:41

This system will divide our DC more than ever. An elitist system devised by the elitists in our society.

Teenmum60 · 05/03/2018 10:44

Well done to your Dgs Sostenueto.... There has been a lot of local press about apprenticeships at Cambridge Research Centres in the last week...where allot of 18-year-olds have opted to work and study at the same time .

My brother did what was called a sandwich course in the 70's and worked at the local council whilst doing his CIPFA exams - He is now Deputy Managing Director and HOF of a large council ....so these schemes worked really well.

Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 10:46

Teenmum my dgd hell bent on getting that 9 in geography! She knows she may just miss maths 9 but is working heroically on revision for it. She will be well pleased with 8 s for others and especially chuffed if she could get a 6 in English.

Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 10:48

Hope it will be the making of him teenmum because the last few years have been really difficult with him. It hasn't helped that His cousin is academic. He never was but a great builder of things and more creative.

Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 10:51

Thanks teenmum we cross postedFlowers

Teenmum60 · 05/03/2018 11:03

The problem with the 9 grade is that the DC are at the mercy of how other children perform. I know there are 40 plus girls in DD's year who are working at level 9 standard in Maths and this is just a selective school. I think 3.5% of children got a grade 9 last year - if you look at the Super Selective schools 70 children out of a cohort of 204 got a grade 9 last year in just one SS school so that was over 33%...its so difficult to gauge unless I suppose you know your child is always achieving 95% plus in exams (like your Dgd in Geography)

BlueBelle123 · 05/03/2018 11:35

That's the trouble with your average comp they realistically only have a couple of people working at level 9 so lessons aren't pitched for them. compared to a SS or grammar or indeed comps in leafy suburbs there will be a much bigger focus on level 9 material! Oh well it is what it is!

Teenmum60 · 05/03/2018 11:43

BlueBelle123 Oh well it is what it is! I think that is the right way to view the exams - encourage revision so the DC perform as well as they can. Hopefully the DC will have happy faces come 23/8 and achieve the grades to take up their places at the Sixth form in order to pursue their ambitions further.

Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 11:45

Second that teenmum

BlueBelle123 · 05/03/2018 12:11

I agree Teenmum I think its not helped that all my Uni friends with children went private and so I do occasionally wonder if I have let DS down ......although recently we had a conversation on selective schools and he said he's glad he's not at one as he likes the fact at his school there's a real cross section of people (putting it mildly!). I guess as parents it doesn't matter what ever choice you make you always wonder if its the right one!

BlueBelle123 · 05/03/2018 12:12

Do you think I'm just suffering with pre-exam nerves Grin

Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 12:25

Don't fret bluebells your DC will do his best and at the end of the day that's all that mattersFlowers don't ever worry what others get.

user1469682920 · 05/03/2018 12:26

Agree all we can do is get them to keep working steadily on revision and exam technique, try and mitigate stress levels etc and see what happens. I can't see the point in all the focus on predictions - wasting teacher and dc/parent time when there is really no way of telling

mmzz · 05/03/2018 12:41

Do you think I'm just suffering with pre-exam nerves

Its funny you should say that, @Bluebelle123, because I think i am too! I have been helping DS by directing him on how to manage his studying, creating a study timetable for him, providing the materials and trying to get him to talk about what he's learning. However, yesterday I had an enormous wobble/ panic. Suppose I'm doing it wrong? Suppose i am missing something basic? Suppose he follows my timetable and runs out of time? Maybe he doesn't have time for everything and needs to prioritise??
I spent about 3 hours really panicking (and trying to get my head straight without letting DS know that i am having serious doubts).
It can only be exam nerves i just didn't recognise them because I haven't had them for over 20 years.

mmzz · 05/03/2018 12:43

@user1469682920 you say that but its hard to ignore when your Dc has a conditional offer.

Sostenueto · 05/03/2018 12:54

The DC really do have to do the revision etc themselves. Of course we all want to help and advise but mdg for instance, has her own way of doing things which I often disagree with, but she has got this far using her own methods and must continue to do that. We just have to trust her that she is doing her very very best in revising and preparing for the exams. But that can be very hard to do as my heart is in my mouth too! She won't go into detail about what she's doing, just saying things like ' did unit if chemistry, did English ' etc and if I ask how's she's getting on or what she's doing I just get eye roll and a sharp 'working'. And stomps off.! So I don't ask for details too much now. But I am so nervous and understand how you feel!

user1469682920 · 05/03/2018 12:57

Ah apologies, forgot about 6th form entrance !

Teenmum60 · 05/03/2018 12:59

mmzz - Your DS is fully engaged and revising - he will do really well in exams. Was it Kings College Maths School he has an offer from?

LooseAtTheSeams · 05/03/2018 13:23

Sostenueto well done to your dcs, that's a great opportunity for him!Star
I keep telling people to ignore the 9 and just focus on doing their best. (It doesn't always work!) If you read the scales as 8-1 with 4 as the pass and a 9 as a sort of extra recognition for the best of the best of that year, it makes more sense. It's bonkers to see 8 as failure - the courses have more content and the controlled assessments are mostly gone, so these are not the same as the A star to G GCSEs of past years.
By the way, I'm in a non-selective London borough and last summer almost all the schools here reported 9s for some students.