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Original poster

GCSE’s summer 2020 thread 5 - And then there were none..

993 replies

FoolsAssassin · 26/03/2020 15:07

Once upon a time there was a group of year 11 students who had spent the last few years preparing to sit their GCSE exams in the summer of 2020. Then one day they woke up and found themselves as characters in a real life disaster movie and as if by magic the exams disappeared.

What lies next for the Corona Cohort?!

Thread 4
Thread 3
Thread 2
Thread 1 (Year 10)

Anyone lurking please feel free to jump on in .

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5
Monkey2001 · 30/04/2020 20:56

@Piggywaspushed - typed my message in a bit of a hurry. What I meant was that in a "normal" school they will be giving grades across a wide range, so the number of students clustering around the margins of grades should hopefully be manageable. In a grammar or very selective private school, most pupils get 7,8,9 so ranking is much more difficult. The way the standardisation should work, schools are not competing with each other, but against the other students in their school who will be sharing their statistically allocated grades. I can see that the school needs a way to rank pupils in an objective way, so having an exam which all do to manage the ranking makes sense as long as their pupils all have decent equipment and internet access, making the exams fair.

The way each school manages their ranking should not affect the grades each school gets if they follow the guidance set out in the consultation.

Piggywaspushed · 30/04/2020 21:04

Oh, I totally get what you mean. I just can't see why extra exams are needed. But not my decision, thankfully!

KingscoteStaff · 30/04/2020 21:28

But this time their grades really are your fault, Piggy...

Piggywaspushed · 30/04/2020 21:29

Oh Lord....

KingscoteStaff · 30/04/2020 22:07

And Callum is going to sit at the back of your Introduction To Arty Cinema class staring at you and plotting your downfall.

Piggywaspushed · 30/04/2020 22:51

This is quite a thought!! Grin

ExpletiveDelighted · 30/04/2020 22:54

Did you see on the news just now the students in South Korea taking their exams spread out all over the pitch in a football stadium?

PatienceVirtue · 01/05/2020 09:59

Thank you so much Piggy and Eww for these excellent suggestions which are far more imaginative and interesting than my original thoughts. And thanks too for the link to the old thread - that's the one I was thinking of.

Much grumbling from other parents at ds' (private) school about lack of structured lessons. They're not getting ahead on A levels because they have a big influx in sixth form. There's some sort of vague EPQ type thing but not a lot of actual teaching of it. I don't know what the right approach is but I do know that I don't want ds do nothing but gaming May, June, July and August...

JustHereWithMyPopcorn · 01/05/2020 10:55

And Callum is going to sit at the back of your Introduction To Arty Cinema class staring at you and plotting your downfall. Grin

So, after my 'woe is the world' post of yesterday and my subsequent chat with him about all the things he could be doing, DS has just shown me the 1,000 word draft he wrote yesterday for his EPQ! Shock He is also watching a lot of documentaries - I've just recommended the Beastie Boy Story to him (relevant for his EPQ and just interesting) and he's been watching some relevant YouTube videos and one from Harvard which he found really good. Yay!

He's got the last lessons today for GCSE. His English teacher is doing a video teams lesson so she can say goodbye to them all.

Wheresthebeach · 01/05/2020 18:38

DD is still slogging through GCSE work. A group of the students got together and asked if they could move onto A level work as they were finding the GCSE work was a poorer quality than they did in school and got shot down (in flames).

So generally they are pretty grumpy and now worrying that their grades will drop.

Gah.

Silverhill · 02/05/2020 10:56

DD isn't getting anything from school.

She made an attempt to finish off the GCSE courses by herself and is now pre-reading for the A-level subjects she hopes to study.

RedskyAtnight · 02/05/2020 12:07

Have to admit my opinion of DS's school has gone up since reading the poor provision that some Year 11s are getting.

They have now moved away from GCSE entirely and in most subjects are focusing more on "general interest" learning (so in economics they are being encouraged to look at what effect the pandemic is having on the economy; in biology they are looking at how viruses spread and how vaccines are created). They are also being encouraged to sign up for OpenLearn courses - school has suggested some that might be appropriate, but they are free to pick the ones that are of personal interest. DS has signed up for CyberSecurity (computer science) and Nuclear Energy (Physics). He's not spending masses amounts of time on schoolwork, but at least he seems a bit more motivated. Actually seeing what DS has to do, I wish education could be like this all the time, rather than the slavishly having to follow syllabuses (yes, I understand the need for core skills, but it's nice to have some flexibility just to enjoy learning as well).
So I'd suggest looking at OpenLearn if your school isn't really setting anything.

Wheresthebeach · 03/05/2020 11:27

It would be great if this time could be used to encourage curiosity rather than more gcse practice papers! Sadly not the case for us...

Zandathepanda · 03/05/2020 17:40

Wheresthebeach unless the school are completely incompetent, surely they have enough evidence now? Why on earth have they taken that route? Is it an independent school trying to justify fees by setting lots of work? I think I would be coming down with a virtual sore throat.

Bridging work for A Level is handy though. I admire your Dd and friends trying to sort that out.

Wheresthebeach · 03/05/2020 18:39

They’ve lots of evidence, so I think its fees, plus a genuine belief that its better for them to be working and revising as that what they would have been doing anyway. I just spoke to a friend who’s DD has had no work at all, and she’s really struggling with weeks of nothing to do. I just think they got the balance wrong, or more accurately some of the teacher have. Some teachers have been quite relaxed. I’m hoping they move to bridging work sooner than they planned. School has always encouraged girls to talk/feedback etc...they may be regretting that a bit!

Piggywaspushed · 03/05/2020 18:49

Hidden Figures is on TV tonight by the way!

Piggywaspushed · 03/05/2020 18:52

Sorry, tomorrow . Tonight is The King's Speech.

EwwSprouts · 03/05/2020 19:28

Hidden figures is in no way a girly film if anyone is thinking in generalisations that teen boys won't enjoy it.

Scruffyoak · 03/05/2020 19:30

Mine has not been contact at all. Only to say no gcses and take care. That's it!

Zandathepanda · 03/05/2020 22:02

Eek Dd said her first GCSE was tomorrow!
She’s smiling!

SeasonFinale · 03/05/2020 22:07

To the poster looking for documentaries my son enjoys the Louis Theroux series and I actually think the Stacey Dooley ones are pretty good and engaging for teens too.

Zandathepanda · 03/05/2020 22:10

Primates (BBC1) has been very good too.

ExpletiveDelighted · 03/05/2020 22:57

I've been watching Simon Reeve's Mediterranean with mine.

ChristopherTracy · 04/05/2020 11:50

We watched Race Across the World, Gino, Gordon and Fred (dont ask!), that Channel 5 navy ship thing, and now we're back on my usual fare such as Taskmasters.

DS has started his bridging work today though - French this morning. Plus he is still doing the Dualingo. I take this as a massive win.

ExpletiveDelighted · 04/05/2020 12:45

We tried Gino, Gordon and Fred as DS is a fan of Gordon but even he thought it was silly! We also watch Gogglebox every week as it gives us plenty to talk about and ideas of things to watch or not watch.