GCSE 2018 no. 6: stress, struggles and success (hopefully) *Title Edited by MNHQ*

[mmzz]

New thread for GCSEs 2018

Loose, in that case, they need to provide spare paper so the incorporating the techniques that have been drummed in to them isn;t so obvious!

I'm in a bad mood today. Went to the GP's nurse yesterday. She was running late - i was the first patient - and she was showing off a bit to trainee nurse. Upshot was she was so distracted with speaking to the trainee that she didn't do the test properly, then realised her mistake two hours later and wants me to come back to do it again now. She keeps saying that its her mistake (and it was) but I am the one who has to go through it twice. Its uncomfortable and I'm irritated.

Loose I agree, interestingly/worryingly DS has said that a number of pupils in his classes (top set) have abandoned even trying for some GCSE's ie doing next to no revision as they can't cope with the volume....I really do feel that our year will have a disproportionate amount of pupils who will be disadvantaged by these changes as there just hasn't been the time to teach the material effectively and obviously teachers will learn an awful lot from our guinea pigs!!!!!!!!

beenrumbled that is awful and looks like poor organisation to me!

DD STILL does not know when her German speaking exam is, but yesterday they had a visit from the examiner who did a mock with them. DD was picked along with two other girls to represent the class as apparently they are the three most high achieving students.DD got a 5 on her mock in February - if that's high achieving I do worry! She's hoping to get a 6 on the real thing. Whenever it is !

I used to disagree that the current year 11s have been disadvantaged, but I think you are all right. I didn't have a problem as the curriculum was being taught but, now at the end, when the revision resources are patchy, when some teachers underestimated the workload and therefore finished late / not at all, when past papers are either non-existent or a scare resource and when no one really knows the ball parks for the grade boundaries, then yes, its clear that this year do not have a level playing field with subsequent years.

As an undergraduate, I had to memorise an unusual amount of information and then reproduce this in exams. We used a lot of mnemonics, but many of them were quite rude. I always felt a bit self-conscious about writing 'SOD OFF' or 'Oh Oh Oh To Touch And Feel Victor's Goolies, Vast and Hard'* in the margins of the exam booklet, but I expect the examiners were used to it.

• Points for anyone who can guess what either of those stand for.

do not have a level playing field with subsequent years

I think this is true, but I am not sure to what extent it matters.
Once they have done 6th form and got their A levels or BTECs, those will be the results that matter. Even more so for those going on to degrees.
Yes universities will look at GCSE results, but that will be more or less only within cohort.

What will matter a lot is if employers start asking for 5s for maths & English if pupils don't have to retake 4s. (But I suspect they won't as it will rule out too many people).

However I do think that some pupils at some schools will be disadvantaged by their schools reacting to the changes worse than others. The schools who didn't get through the syllabus properly, or the ones who haven't taught good revision skills and balancing time will end up with relatively 'worse' results. Worst case this will affect what choices they have for 6th form.

I am sure stress levels must be higher this year for pupils teachers and parents. Getting to the end may be a test of resilience rather than academic strength. I am relieved I don't have DC doing GCSEs this year.

Teen sadly if you have a DC that is aiming for a highly competitive course then unfortunately GCSE's will matter.........personally I'm trying not to dwell on it as nothing can be done now we will just have to re-evaluate when results are in!

mmzz I think there is spare paper - I will check the exam regs! AQA can be a bit contradictory - they say students don't need to use technical language but the mark scheme rewards them for it - of course, it does need to be accurate.
Well - in a bizarre twist, DS has texted me to say he has found a suitable drawing for art in his computer fiolder. I texted back to suggest both it and his art teacher might be happier if he stick it in his art book!
Really do feel this year that dcs are guinea pigs. I'm hoping our school might rethink the number of GCSEs in future.

Blue I get that, but they will only be competing against others who have done GCSEs in the same year surely? So the 'level playing field compared with later years' doesn't matter. What of course does matter is if your school has reacted to the changes less well than other schools. And I do get that stress levels this year will be higher for everyone as so much is unknown. Best of luck to your DC.

Teen DS is at an average comp where in normal years they get 1 person every other year out of a cohort of 240 doing what he wants to do. He's already had to mentally write off one GCSE and teaching has been patchy to say the least so yes I would say he's at the lower end of the playing field!!! But we are keeping positive and DS is working incredibly hard so who knows

I think the issue really is the difference in how schools have coped with the changes. On another thread someone has a DC whose History teacher has clearly forgotten about one History paper (30% of the course) and was trying to shoehorn it in to 5 weeks. The DC in question has now dropped History.

The lack of revision resources, past papers etc leaves pupils much more reliant on good teaching. And there clearly isn't a level playing field. I do still think that grade boundaries will be very low this year, but that doesn't help the stress now, particularly for DC aiming for highly competitive courses. My DD really wanted a particular course at Oxford and we knew she'd need stellar GCSEs to stand a chance. She got there, but the pressure while she was preparing for them was intense-and that was under the old system.

On a lighter note, and re TheSecond's post, I have just come up with 2 acronyms for elements of Nazi Germany for DS. The first was SATAN and the second was AWFUL. I was pathetically pleased with myself!

You've convinced me, Teentimestwo and Cherryburn.
However, wrt the issue of different teachers causing different outcomes, (even in similarly able students), i am thinking that hasn't it always be this way?
I can see that students are more vulnerable this year to the impact of an ill-prepared teacher. Or even just someone who isn't very good at teaching (since the scope to make up the difference with past papers, external materials etc is more limited).

Yes the impact of different teachers has always been there (that is what good schools v poor schools boils down to really). But this year, I suspect there will be way more variation and some 'good schools' (or departments) will do poorly compared with others (and poor schools well) because they have reacted to the changes better.

But good teachers cluster together, don't they? They want to be able to do a good job and not be lumped with trying to play catch up on a class that had a weak teacher last year. Within a department, they want to be able to share the work and benefits of creating resources. And, finally, there's no point being in a great geography department (say) at a school where the rest of the departments aren't up to much because that means that they won't get the good quality raw material (aka the students) joining the school in large numbers.

I suspect that creating a good school is a bit of a spiral - a few good results, attracts motivated parents to send their DC there 9the kind of Dc who don't truant, do their homework and generally are in school to learn), which in turn attracts better quality applicants to any teaching vacancies, which in turn makes parents compete even harder for places, and so on.

I don't think its necessarily as simple as that; yes you will have some schools with predominately excellent teachers and those who don't but I reckon the vast majority of schools fall in between, you have to remember that teaching is a very fluid workforce just look at how many leave and join a school each year, plus a number of subjects particularly the sciences and maths they struggle to recruit let along expect to get someone who is at the top of their game. Also geography has a lot to answer for!

Back on, will have to get new phone next week as this one has practically had it! I've said all along this cohort well disadvantaged but not a lot can be done about it. First exam for dgd tomorrow Spanish oral followed by 2 full days if art exam on the 9 the and 10 the then r.e and biology paper 1 on 14th and 15 the. So its begun, no good worrying about if enough revision done as it is too late. They either know it or don't. Nothing more can be done bar pumping away at revision in between exams now. But I think our DC are more resilient than we give them credit for and I'm still thinking positive.!
Dgd has managed to organise work experience in local hospital in the neurological department. They don't do work experience at her school so she has arranged all by herself. The only disappointment is she won't be able to go into theatre till she's 17 cos of insurance. A d she so much wanted to see an operation. She will start straight after exams are over. Her official leaving day is 25th May. Gosh unbelievable really they grow up so quick. Dgs doing mocks ( year 10) and not phased at all, in fact, he doesn't really care either but what can you do? Maybe that's best way to be?
Good luck to all I will be rooting for every DC!

for teenmums dd glad all went well!

I've said all along that change widens the gap in terms of the impact of good/poor teaching - and I think DC/teachers/Parents didn't realise the scale of the impact until quite late. So whilst it should have been a level playing field within the year it won't be.

DS school have also felt the impact of the general teacher shortage where they have struggled to replace good staff who have left - and that's in a comparatively good school too. So temp staff or staff coming in late in the process have not been able to get up to speed quickly enough. And in a small school with small departments there is no cover to fill the gap.

Saying that though I think GCSEs do have limited impact once they have got you to the next stage - even on the top courses (and I do have 2 DC who have gone through the system at that level). Even at the highest level they are only part of the whole picture along side A level predictions, interview, entrance tests, PS etc and in fact I think it is less of an issue at a high levels as the admissions tutors concerned are more clued up and fully aware of the context the DCs were part of.

Sostenueto TY - well done to your DD on arranging her own work experience - I think its really important with medical type degrees.

I'm sinking fast today ...was up at 5am doing work and have just got back from an appointment in Bracknell..then out again to pick up DD.

I think the schools and pupils that do well - will be the ones that have been forward thinking ...I think DD's school used a lot of common sense when they picked the option to do 40% coursework with English it has taken a lot of pressure on the girls with a new 9-1 exam. Also things like DT project work - DD was working on her project in Feb HT - this is where having a very experienced teacher helps because they know from previous years where the issues arise. I cant say the same about the Computer Science teacher - although in hindsight teaching a lot of the theory in the last 4 months means its quite fresh in the minds. Although it's difficult to forward think when there are so many changes!

Bluebelle - There are the same sorts of issues with a lot of the DT subjects - where the coursework boundaries are pre-set ..so unless you virtually get 89/90% in your coursework you have no chance of getting an A (A boundary for coursework set at 92%) even if you get 100% in the written exam due to the 60/40 split. There were two girls in DD's DT group plus Dd who got 85% and 84% in the coursework and know that it is impossible to get an A...DD is fine about this (and I think its a valuable lesson because she was laid back through Yr10 so her folder could have been a little better)...but the two other girls are very dismayed because they were looking to achieve A's.

Loose - I think you deserve a very large glass of wine ... I am so glad DD did not take Art!

I'm forever hopeful that perhaps someone will look at the pressures that 16-year-olds are under (given mental health is in the spotlight), and rethink the examination process - it is outdated and needs to be changed... it's not about educating our children it's about passing exams.

Totally agree teenmum - they are working so hard and under so much pressure but to do what - just regurgitate a mark scheme. DS is so frustrated because often he has knowledge beyond what's in the mark scheme or has ideas that are a bit 'off the wall' and teachers think he's brilliant and lovely in class but he gets no marks on some science exam questions as he can't recall or write some of the specific mark scheme answers.

And for bright children they must be so bored revising for all or year 6 for SATs and then for the whole of year 11. At least I am so relieved AS s have gone. DD2 did IB and enjoyed it so much more - due to the breadth of the courses there wasn't so much teaching to the mark scheme but more teaching the skills and knowledge you needed to do well. it meant the marking was a bit more subjective and so open to more variation but so much better overall and better preparation for Uni.

Oratory I know exactly where you are coming from regarding science as that's exactly what's happening to DS!!

Totally agree about the examination process. Quite a few kids in DS's year are having to be pulled out of lessons for a meeting to see how they're doing (MH problems etc), and everyone is very worried and stressed.

Got a very upset DS here this afternoon. He got back about half an hour ago with tears in his eyes. Today in class they'd been talking about future careers, and DS had said how he wants to be a doctor. After class a boy (who DS hasn't ever really been friendly with) says to DS "if you want to be a doctor then you'll have to cure your own mental illness first". This is in reference to DS being trans (been "out" since Y9), so I'll be ringing school tomorrow as he's really upset and it shouldn't be tolerated.

DS currently having a cup of tea whilst watching Friends, and has asked for lasagne for tea (his favourite). Haven't got anything in for it but will nip to shops. Later he says he'll revise the RE thematic units and then do some Biology & Maths.

Tantrums started (sigh) and there's 6 weeks of this (sigh).

After our school's recent experience, I can't praise the way the staff are trying to support the year 11s enough. Last week each pupil was given a postcard from a member of staff telling them how proud they are of them & how their work deserves to be rewarded. It couldn't stop recent sad events, but they are trying so hard to get them through the next few weeks. Not quite business as usual ( a memorial/celebration and a funeral before exams start) but a clear focus.