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Secondary education

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

Original poster

GCSEs 2018 (14): the aftermath

997 replies

mmzz · 17/06/2018 10:45

Following on from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3275972-GCSEs-2018-13-Untwisting-our-knickers-lucky-for-some

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37
Original poster
mmzz · 30/06/2018 06:03

Ggirl it sounds like a horrible place. You are right, there is no excuse for the teachers' bad manners.
I understand about the courage, but hopefully it won't deter him from trying new things again? He can take away from it that it was unpleasant but he made it to the end of the day.
To be honest, it's a good reminder as to why it's important the induction days are important.

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Original poster
mmzz · 30/06/2018 06:29

DS had his own induction day yesterday, at the selective sixth form. I think it went ok in terms of mixing with others. These things are always a slow burn.

The headteacher and deputy head invited parents to attend a presentation at the end. That was something else! The head communicates clearly and with evident deep understanding of what the school needs to do and how it provides it. Both the current school and the sixth form are rated outstanding in every category, but the sixth form really is in a different league. The comprehensive school can be a bit worthy and smug at the parent talks, but the sixth form HT managed to demonstrate incredible mastery whilst retaining humility. What came across is that the focus is on preparing the students for university life, not on the A levels. I really want DS to go there now!

DH made a good point last night that although we've tried to find out what the current school does for the sixth form, we know nothing except the students have to wear business suits, attend all the assemblies and the sixth form is rated "outstanding". When we attended the school open evening in the Christmas term, the maths teacher just preened about running a popular subject and warned that not everyone who wants to do maths, will be allowed to do it (you have to be good at algebra). The other subject teachers mostly described the A level exam format - no of papers, no.of points available etc. (i.e. things that are easy to find out by ourselves).

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Stickerrocks · 30/06/2018 06:35

DD thoroughly enjoyed herself. She came home buzzing about the dresses, the food & so on.

One of the former group of friends insisted on having her pic taken with DD in the photo booth, rather than going with the rest of the former group of friends, even when they commented. She was also shocked that DD hadn't been asked to after-prom. It was clear that the majority of their parents have no idea how vile their DDs have been over the past few months. Now she only has the taster days left to go before she pucks a different 6th form and never has to see them again.

Ggirl you made me giggle with your "large" comment. Several DC Rom this thread are going to the 6th forms with 2000 - 2500 per year group, with 1,700 the smallest. 250 is our secondary school intake size!

sandgrown · 30/06/2018 06:50

Cubscout my DS was in a similar position to yours a couple of years ago and often declined invitations as he had no real close friend to go with. He was ignored by the "cool" crowd. I was so pleased when he made a close friend. Unfortunately it was a boy who had been expelled from another school ! They have got into a few scrapes but at least DS had a mate to go to prom with. Hope your DS has a good poker night and good on him for being brave enough to go.

Original poster
mmzz · 30/06/2018 07:06

stickerrocks do you know how many at those 2k sixth forms take 3+ A levels? If any of them are near 100%, then the setting must be really good for the more popular subjects.

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Original poster
mmzz · 30/06/2018 07:14

I've just remembered something the HT said yesterday in the talk: he said that feedback from the universities is that they only want 3 good, relevant A levels. He explicitly said they don't want/ have no use for 4 (or 5).
The emphasis was on relevant though.
Quite a few of the DC on this thread are doing 4, aren't they? So, maybe other schools are giving different advice?

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Oratory1 · 30/06/2018 07:17

Mmzz have found when looking at numerous schools for our three over the years that the head makes such a difference. If you like and are impressed by the head it’s odds on the school will be right for your dc

Stickerrocks · 30/06/2018 07:22

The one DD is going to is almost exclusively A levels. Around 800 take maths p.a. Here's a quote from their

The A level results for 2017 achieved by our students are once again absolutely outstanding. The impressive 99% pass rate has been maintained again this year, with over a third of the grades awarded being A or A and 83% of grades being A to C.

The proportion of the very highest grades achieved by our students (A, A, B) has increased from 62% last year to 64%, with over 12% being the very top A grade – 682 A grades were achieved overall, a truly stellar performance. In fact, 162 students gained A in Maths A level alone! For the Extended Project Qualification, 65% of the grades awarded were at A* or A

Oratory1 · 30/06/2018 07:23

Uni open days often said the same - three are enough. Which makes sense as they want students who excel and are passionate in the subject they have chosen to study. There is no benefit in 4

I can understand doing more if you’re not sure about a third and are trying another in case you need to switch. Or if you are extremely able and want to do another and can do so with comparative ease - or if the 4th is further maths.

I can’t understand schools who suggest 4 as a norm or this dropping one at the end of year 12

Original poster
mmzz · 30/06/2018 07:32

Stickerrocks at first I thought you were emphasising odds bits there, but then I realised the A*s were interfering with mumsnet's shortcode for bold!

800 is an enormous number: 400 a year, 15(?) per class so 27 sets! All of them with 7+ at GCSE. That must make for really narrow ability ranges in each class, which must be a good thing for getting the right pace for each individual.

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Stickerrocks · 30/06/2018 07:33

2017 A level results from 6913 A level paper entries:

Percentage A12.6% A 23.9% B 27.5% C19.6% D 10.6% E 4.6% U 1.2% A to B 63.9% A to C 83.6% A to E 98.8%

They are all in what I would call "proper" subjects.

Stickerrocks · 30/06/2018 07:42

That's not showing up here. Sorry about that. It seems to be consistently in the top 10 Colleges for everything from sport to music to Oxbridge offers.

Stickerrocks · 30/06/2018 07:43

No, that is around 800 per year taking maths apparently!

Stickerrocks · 30/06/2018 07:47

I stand corrected - they had 627 who took maths A level in 2017 with 25.2% getting A, 25.2% A and 86.3% getting A to C.

Oratory1 · 30/06/2018 08:15

What was the entry requirement for Maths A level ? Presumably it’s a 7 now ?

Stickerrocks · 30/06/2018 08:32

It was A or A* in old money, grade 7 now.

KickBishopBrennanUpTheArse · 30/06/2018 08:33

cubscout hope you have an amazing time in central America. I'd love to go.

Dd had her sixth form induction yesterday at first choice big city college. She loved it. She made friends with two other kids and has been chatting with one of them afterwards. I'm glad it went well as she was having a wobble about taking such a big step and leaving her school.

TheThirdOfHerName · 30/06/2018 08:40

feedback from the universities is that they only want 3 good, relevant A levels. He explicitly said they don't want/ have no use for 4

At the Physics talk at the university open day DS2 attended this week, they said the offer is based on three A-levels. Applicants need Maths and Physics A-levels. The university also wants & expects applicants to take Further Maths if their school offers it.

At DS2's first choice sixth form, they can only take Further Maths as a fourth A-level. So he needs to take four.

TheThirdOfHerName · 30/06/2018 08:45

DS2's school is strong on Maths; 30 pupils (out of 190) got a grade 9 last year. About 120 each year go on to do Maths (entry requirement grade 7).

The numbers for Further Maths (entry requirement grade 8) are smaller but enough for two classes.

BlueBelle123 · 30/06/2018 09:19

DS is staying on at his school for 6th form, when he attended the interview, they not only encouraged him taking 4 A levels (maths + 3 sciences) but that he should also do an EPQ Shock it probably won't surprise you that the average grade at the 6th form is a C, I have told DS on numerous occasions that he only needs 3 and I am hoping that he will drop one at the end of year 12 when hopefully he definitely know whether or not he wants to do medicine. I have said do not do an EPQ if your doing 4!!!!

Stickerrocks your DD looked beautiful and Terf your DS was standing in a very prime ministerial way!!

adrinkofwater · 30/06/2018 09:25

When we asked at medicine open days for DD (now just finished year 13) they all said just do 3 A levels and she was finally persuaded to drop 1 at the end of year 12. No regrets now!

DS will be at a different school to DD for 6th form and they insist everyone does 4. It is so stupid, but DS is happy as he wants to do 4!

cubscout · 30/06/2018 09:56

Only those doing Further Maths take 4 at ds school which I think is sensible as it gives a bit of scope for those who might think they need FM but then choose something else.

Right - now signing off for 3 weeks or so, need to finish packing and get to the airport! thanks for all your brilliant support over these past weeks - hope you all enjoy your holidays and see you in August!

EllenJanethickerknickers · 30/06/2018 10:38

DS's prospective sixth form is unusual in that they still enter everyone for AS levels. They all take 4 ASs and then mostly drop one and take 3 A levels. It's useful to start off with 4 IMO as the ones they decide to keep can be different to their GCSE favourites. They also have all doing an EPQ with a weekly lesson dedicated to it.

At the selective school I work at all start with 4 (some really bright DC start with 5 and take a 6th in their own time!) and can drop one at the end of Y12 but some continue with 4 (or more.) No ASs anymore, though. They are encouraged to do an EPQ, but it's not insisted on. Over half do, though.

Some universities take EPQ into consideration and may include it in the offer. At one of my DS's choices (for a maths degree) he could have had a B in physics instead of an A if he got an A in his EPQ. I'm not sure if one grade down is worth the time necessary to get an A in an EPQ though! It did make him research and write though, which is a great life skill for uni and beyond. If he'd continued with 4 A levels he wouldn't have done the EPQ as well.

Universities may take 3x A or 2x A plus 2x B but again, is it worth the drop of one grade for the time taken to study an extra A level?

I think for FM it's a bit different. Maths, FM and say Physics only, is a bit of a narrow field of subjects, especially if you decide you're not that keen on maths after all! (Caveat, that's what DS1 took and is now happily studying maths at uni, but he also took computer science to AS)

LooseAtTheSeams · 30/06/2018 10:47

Ellen DS's prospective sixth form is the same - you need a certain points average to do 4 and they still do AS levels, usually dropping the fourth at the end of Y12.

EllenJanethickerknickers · 30/06/2018 11:26

I think taking AS is handy for prediction purposes for unis but now that it doesn't count towards the A level it seems like unnecessary pressure on students that doesn't gain them much.

Schools have to choose exams boards that allow for the AS syllabus to be taught first in Y12 and for that to be similar enough to the first year of the A level syllabus to be worth it. It restricts the order in which the topics are taught and might stop schools ploughing ahead with the second year topics in Y12 and making Y12 a shorter year, effectively stopping teaching new stuff after 2 terms to concentrate on revision for ASs.

I know the AS exams are now timetabled for mostly before half term so the last half term should be back to teaching, but the 'after the exams' mentality can make it difficult to get the students focussed again before the summer. End of year exams at the end of June/beginning of July would be my preference.