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Secondary education

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GCSEs 2018 (17) What will be in your coffee cup on Thursday?

999 replies

PeggySchuylar · 20/08/2018 07:24

Thread 16 full to brim. Hope nobody minds me starting new one.

OP posts:
Thread gallery
13
mmmz · 22/08/2018 08:32

Trawling twitter and some bits and pieces are getting posted. I am not sure what to make of them.
Do we think the various exam boards are likely to have similar grades boundaries for the same subject?

hmcAsWas · 22/08/2018 08:35

I am going to take a step away from this thread today as my approach to avoid spiralling panic is to pretend its not happening! See you all on the other side - hopefully with good news to share all round. Everything crossed and good luck to all

adrinkofwater · 22/08/2018 08:38

Hope everyone is ok. I've been away with DH for a few days while DC's are a a camp/ festival, so I've not had a chance to catch up on the thread!

We are getting DS and another DC from the camp tonight at about 10pm and driving them 4 hours home, so they can go into their respective schools tomorrow morning to pick up results!

I've got no idea how DS is feeling about it all, only that he'll be tired! I'm definitely calmer than I was this time last week before DDs A level results, but still thinking about it more than I should!

JufusMum · 22/08/2018 08:39

mmmz I've been trawling Twitter too but all I can see is legacy stuff?

farangatang · 22/08/2018 09:06

Kick I taught a student whose stress-coping technique was the same as your DD's!! Always felt a bit guilty for enjoying her baking so much, knowing what prompted it in the first place....

Sost you have summed up everything that is wise in this whole GCSE madness!

mmmz I hope your DM is OK and Alexander I hope your DH's problem is diagnosed correctly soon so he can get the best treatment.

Oneteen · 22/08/2018 09:09

Morning all, rudely awoken by some persistent hammering (we have a primary school about 400 yds away and I think they are going some work on it this week)

DD's HT always writes lovely blogs (I suspect because the school isnt super selective and it has a holistic approach to learning). She wrote this during the exam session (probably because this years cohort will not have the same exam success has last years cohort) :

Schools should be about providing pupils with skills and attributes to help them adapt and flourish in an ever changing world, providing them with the resilience and confidence to face challenges and take risks. However, as I watch, this week, our current generation of girls sit public examinations, girls who have worked for weeks storing copious amounts of knowledge in their memory cells to apply in a fixed pressurised time frame, with no collaboration, I question how long this system of assessment can remain. It is testing and measuring them for skills they will not have to use, these assessments do not allow the girls to demonstrate the depth of their talents. Many of the alumnae I met last week were flourishing not because of their success in these assessments but because of the values and attributes that they had learned at School. We need to reward and recognise these skills and to celebrate these confident independent women striving to make a difference to the world.

cubscout · 22/08/2018 09:10

Some lovely posts in the last few days about our wonderful dc and I wish all of them the very best for tomorrow.

I had a long talk with ds about how he feels about tomorrow - he is so mature and calm about the whole thing I feel some shame for my anxieties. He told me 'I worked hard, did my best and tomorrow doesn't change the past - the exams were finished in June'. He is lucky in that he is unlikely not to get the grades required for 6th form unless something has gone disastrously wrong. I guess we worry because we care so much.

Like hmc I'm not going to look at the thread anymore today. Ds and I are going out for a day together to celebrate 'in advance' the next stage of his life and I'm trying very very hard to not fret. I will be thinking of all your dc tomorrow, they are all Star and i wish them (and you!) all the very best.

Yes, maybe we should all meet up!

TheThirdOfHerName · 22/08/2018 09:13

I'm not looking at grade boundaries at all yet.

If DS2 gets an inexplicable grade tomorrow (for him this would be anything below a 6) then l'll find the grade boundaries on the relevant exam board's website and then he can decide whether it's worth pursuing a review of the mark.

beenrumbled · 22/08/2018 09:18

Off out today for some retail therapy for all 3 Dcs.

At least the effort of not throttling DD over school shoes shoud distract me from tomorrow

Oratory1 · 22/08/2018 09:30

Great post one teen, this is very much the philosophy of DS school and I agree wholeheartedly with it and can see how it is making him into the DS I am very proud of. But that still doesn't stop me getting hung up about these results and some of the less than stellar teaching - crazy isn't it.

I think its a real shame too that the school is starting to go media crazy in order to survive and be sustainable and compete with other local schools, going all out to 'sell' its results in the best light and match the others in its frequent announcements of the various achievements of its pupils - whereas most of us chose the school because of its differences. I guess it doesn't see it has any option in todays world of league tables and exam focus but its is changing the feel

Soursprout · 22/08/2018 09:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

TerfTerf2 · 22/08/2018 09:40

Did you see this article?
https://www.theguardian.com/education/2018/aug/21/should-schools-be-judged-by-exam-results-ofsted?CMP=sharebtnn_fb

We should all be absolutely furious with Ofsted!

farangatang · 22/08/2018 10:04

Terf I agree that with all the measuring and rating and data collection, something is going very wrong with 'education' indeed!

And to add to the messages about keeping things in perspective, I'd like to contribute one of my favourites:

In a world where you can be anything, be kind Grin

Happy Pre-Results day everyone - enjoy celebrating the hard work and the fact our DCs have survived the process at all!

Oneteen · 22/08/2018 10:07

Oratory - It is tough and I guess some schools who have a slightly more balanced approach to education still have to get bums on seats. DD's school is a bit of a roller coaster - last year was their best GCSE results and the intake in Yr4,7 and 9 was very good in fact I think they increased the cohort in one yr.

DD still at NCS today they are struggling to find a suitable place to do a street sleep (understandably safety is the main issue)...I was quite impressed that DD was putting together a risk assessment - they have managed to encompass some good skills on the program (as well as fun).

Oneteen · 22/08/2018 10:09

In a world where you can be anything, be kind Grin

Love this comment !

Sostenueto · 22/08/2018 10:12

soursprout by all means share my post if it will help the DC.
Great post from all and it goes without saying I wish the best for all our DC tomorrow.

Sostenueto · 22/08/2018 10:20

farangatang great quote I shall use all the timeFlowers

Theworldisfullofgs · 22/08/2018 10:21

Dd dreamt about the results yesterday. Apparently she was given a gift bag full of stickers at the same time.

Holidayshopping · 22/08/2018 10:25

Do the schools get the results today?

ReservoirDogs · 22/08/2018 10:26

So every day this week I have woken up at 5 am. what is the betting that tomorrow (results emailed at 6am) I will sleep in!

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 22/08/2018 10:26

Furious with how they've always judged schools on their 'raw scores?' On exam outcomes not taking into account the challenges facing the population of the school, the ability of the pupils, their socio-economic background, the ridiculous funding discrepancies? Oh yes.

Having worked in a poorly performing comprehensive that was working its socks off with struggling families, loads of FSM and PP pupils, parents who didn't value education, very low funding due to demographics and geography, that Ofsted ranked RI because its % of 5x A* - C was below average, I was bloody furious.

I now work in a lovely environment, a grammar school with rich and involved parents, a hugely successful PTA and a member of staff who is employed solely to fundraise. Of course its lovely, and of course its Ofsted outstanding. Which school actually was doing a better job? There's just no comparison.

So now the struggling comprehensive will be judged on what? The fact that it uses its ancient minibus to pick up school refusers and persistent absentees to get them to school? That the staff hold a collection each Christmas to provide a few presents for some of the most deprived pupils, calling it a 'prize for trying hard' so as not to embarrass them? I doubt it.

I bloody hate Ofsted. Rant over.

ReservoirDogs · 22/08/2018 10:41

Yes the schools get the results today.

brainmelt · 22/08/2018 11:33

I posted a while ago about online results clashing with DS performance start time... School are going to make sure he can get them at 9am like everyone else, so the dilemma has been solved. I won't be with him (we're in the same city but he's staying with the other musicians) and will meet him later for the show. Perfect.
Good luck to all your DCs. May they all get what they need!

Tzara · 22/08/2018 11:33

As the big day arrives tomorrow - I am dealing with the double whammy of results day plus my sons 16th Birthday - anyone else in the same boat?

Theworldisfullofgs · 22/08/2018 11:36

Hope both go well Tzara.

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