GCSEs 2018 (8) Dozens of DCs, 1 DH and Flashcards in the fridge

[mmzz]

Previous thread

I think we need to repeat the mantra its a new exam so grade boundaries will be on the floor

Yes, sorry, hello Juggling. I'm definitely a bit distracted-tomorrow is DS's heaviest day.

mmzz - yes, it was Gove who brought in the new GCSEs, which many feel were a retrograde move:

• more rote-learning/memorising
• linear testing i.e. all in exams at the end
• no assessed work (except Art, etc)
• more challenging question structure and complicated mark schemes (which even teachers seem to struggle to understand)

DS1 did GCSEs 2 years ago and I have been stunned by how different/difficult they now are.

sost I'm not sure what you mean by 'segregating children's ability even more'?

DS has learnt the translations to all his set Latin texts -Druids, Boudica and Aenied - by heart word by word.

Blimey brain that's impressive. Not sure DD memorised these but understood them inside out.

Reports here too that Latin and History went as expected and she finished in time. DD only had 15 Mins break in between due to the clash - no time to eat anything and they were not allowed to revise any more then.

She has been focussed on English all day. Thank goodness does not need to memorise any of the poems just know them really really well. She is trying to learn some quotes for her other set text though.

I think I need to get her out of the room for some fresh air as she needs a break and is exhausted.

It is endless this. As soon as one exam is done we are onto the next.

I just cleared away all her history, Latin and French books/folders/papers into spare room so at least room a bit cleaner and she can hopefully have a clear mind or at least put them out of her mind.

Looks like half term will be all about the paper 2s.

Re. allegedly making these exams harder than previous ones am thinking they are still basically all competing with one another for places in sixth form and later universities etc. so not sure how convinced I am by all this posturing by politicians.

Make some real improvements in how well children are doing say compared to children in other countries/ education systems ( Finland anyone? )
and I might be more impressed!

Is the problem that in the days of O'levels, parents and students weren't accustomed to large %s getting top grades, and as discussed previously on this thread a whole string of As was rare. However, I bet we all know someone, or several people whose DC got all A-A*s. So our expectations are raised.

And then, Gove comes along and makes the exams difficult again, so that the results differentiate students? but we are all still in the mindset that our children should be able to get A-A*s and its unfair if the exams require too many skills for that to be realistic?

DS decided at about 4:30 to write out all his quotes for tomorrow on flash cards. Not sure why at this point, but I've decided just to leave him to it!

But equally a child that has studied maths gcse for 2 years and only has to get 18% in the exam to pass is surely madness that means that in those two years 82% of the syllabus they failed to understand, how is that progress?

Juggling I don't think there's any "allegedly" about it. The 9-1 grading system is explicitly designed to make sure that it's much harder to get the top grade. And the linear nature of the exams is explicitly designed to make them more exacting, by removing modular coursework and requiring students to retain knowledge - often by heart - of the entire course.

So while it is true that they are still competing for the same sixth form places, the whole experience of the exams is unequivocally harder.

People should realise that the top grade is now to recognise exceptional talent though, and let go of it a little bit.
I always looked on an A* as a bonus kind of grade - DD got one in one of her favourite subjects and that was really nice!

An 8 is something to be very proud of - hoping for maybe one or two of those
We will be delighted with any 7's and hoping for a good spread of 6's.

But given that A Levels have also changed, and it's now impossible to 'bank' the marks from the AS Level at the end of Y12/resit modules (so much more like A Levels used to be) surely the GCSEs have to change to prepare students for the next stage?

University lecturers have been complaining for years that students were arriving ill-equipped for the rigours of degree study. I do think the balance had to be redressed, and this year's cohort won't be unfairly penalised because the grade boundaries will reflect that these are new courses with all the attendant difficulties that entails.

I don't agree with all the changes by any means (rote learning proves nothing about real ability, only memory capacity) but broadly speaking the new qualifications will better equip those who choose that path for further study.

However, I don't think they're fit for purpose for DC who will choose a vocational path. But then we'd be back to a 2-tier O Level/CSE type system, and I'm not sure that's right either. It's a tricky one.

I personally never saw the problem with a big leap from GCSE to A level, particularly as the vast majority doing GCSE's probably do not go on to take A levels so why should they be treated like they do.

I've just had a quick look, and I think in 2017 well over half went on to do A Levels Bluebelle

I can see why GCSE grading needed to change to allow more differentiation between the highest achieving students, but that could have been achieved without changing the style of exams to one requiring so much to be memorised. In this modern world it is really easy to check a formula, on the PV, on your phone etc. Why suddenly require everyone to memorise great swathes of formulae, dates, poems? It only benefits those students with good memories. It doesn't recognise the talents of students who might be excellent, innovative engineers or talented writers etc who happen to have less than perfect memories.

The exams need to be suitable for all. Some credit for old fashioned rote learning, maybe, because that suits some learners, but also credit for those who can think laterally or those who have great imaginations. These GCSEs seem to be designed to put the vast majority off learning. I'm sure that wasn't the intention, but it's a very unpleasant side effect.

I agree ellen

And back in the day A used to be more than sufficient to show the very bright children

I dont really understand why further differentiation is required, just make it hard to get an A

But thats just me

A* was introduced in 1994

youve got to feel sorry for the straight A sudent of 1993...eclipsed by the straight A* student of 1994

Again...probably just me

You are right, Rufus, but if they just made getting an A harder, it would be difficult to compare our guinea pigs with DC from a couple of years ago, so changing to the 9-1 makes sense in a way.

ellen

Personally i cant wait til my grandchildren are getting 20's

Its going to knock all those cgiodren only getting 9's right out of the water

(I am joking...i think children getting 8's and 9's are obviously bright and working hard )

Children!!!!

What the hell is a cgiodren??

I can see why every so many years the exams need to change as teachers get ever more proficient at teaching to the test so you get grade inflation, I just think this is too big a step way to quickly, who knows in a few years the system may well bed down and be perfectly fine, luckily I won't have to worry as DS is my youngest

I'll tell you a little story. What system of education has had the biggest rise in a particular form of high school education? Well technical schools in several disguises. My dgs now attends a university technical school. The reason he attends one now in year 10 is because the school he was at said he could only do the obligatory English and maths as his academic skills were too low and they didn't do btecs only in p.e. so he got a leaflet given to him about the university technical school and was actively encouraged to take it up. Does he do more GCSEs at tech school? Nope but he us doing btecs in engineering . English and maths GCSEs and that's about it. Oh metalwork too and a bit of mechanics. So we now officially have the return of a 3 tier education system. Grammar, comprehensive/academies/ free schools and the cunningly disguised tech schools.
Admittedly not everyone is academic and its a good thing that practical skills are taught as we always need the trades. But the Tories and labour have failed children. With the rise of children like my dgs being shoved off to another school which, incidently, helps an already poor schools exam results, and the massive increase in school expulsions in comps since march where children are being sent to special schools, or in other words shipped out just before exam season, again to help school exam results ( in papers this week) giving the biggest indication of segregation. The second sign of segregation you now have the new super 9 grade.
I know my dgd bright enough to get lots of 9 s if she had some private tutoring which we cannot afford. The majority of DC that will get 9 s across the board will either have teachers or professionals with degrees as parents or regular private tutoring. That really is a fact. Money really can buy you everything.
We see this ethics in grammar schools where the DC are private tutored to pass the 11 plus. In my day EVERYBODY sat the 11 plus as you were educated in primary to that level. You didn't need a private tutor to pass. In fact, in my class we all passed our 11 plus. But even that did not guarantee a place in grammar. We had our names pulled out of a hat as there were not enough spaces in the only grammar. As I'm an unlucky person you know where I ended up!
So you see education in this country gas always been about creaming the top and disposing of the rest.

Anyway back to something else we have no control over......our DC's exams tomorrow......Good luck everyone lets hope our DC can at least understand the English questions!

They will probably need a degree in English lit to understand them bluebelle

I don't think there is a perfect answer. You want exams that all can access (ie answer a decent % in).

You want students to be prepared for GCSEs, but you don't want to put the students who are destined for vocational qualifications to go through a system designed to prepare students for GCSEs.
However you don't want to split them off into separate systems
You want understanding, but not to have to specifically remember anything because Google has the answers.
Maybe the solution is the technical/ gymnasium system they have in other European countries. The sats results indicate that testing at 11 does indeed have strong predictive power, but there are exceptions for false positives and false negatives. So the two paths need to allow for movement between them and, crucially, they both need to be respected by the population at large.
Getting that respect was where Cases and before then, secondary moderns feel down. Perversely, however, this policy of sending 50% to university might be what finally breaks down that barrier, because when you see a child scrape into a week course at a bottom of the league tables university, and then you look at another starting out in an apprenticeship, don't you ask yourself whether the child doing the apprenticeship may well be the one who is on the path to greater success?