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

[FoolsAssassin]

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 .

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn Result!
DD bought a pair of trousers for £10.They are a really good fit and the fabric is fab, so we bought another pair!
Well done to your DS on the EPQ. DD is doing one but is still bouncing ideas around .
She doesn’t know if it will be ‘library based’ or, if at all possible, a small research project linked to some volunteering she would like to do.

Thought I would update - just had a letter from DS school re 6th form & confirming his place for A-Level choices based on his performance over the last 2 years. I feel quite emotional! he’s always worked hard & delighted for him to get this rewarded.

They’ve also advised bridging work will be set from next week.

We are breathing a huge sigh of relief!

Is it too early for wine?!

That’s great Northumberland! Possibly a touch early just right now !!

We’re waiting for DS’s accommodation offer but forgone conclusion for him as one of the furthest away. Whether or not they start actually at College or virtually remains to be seen at this point. I guess their online bridging work coming up is a trial for September in case they can’t go.

Thanks Fools!
Fingers crossed for his accommodation offer. Yes, I hope they will get back to school in Sept...

Proggymat that is a bargain, I tried to buy a second pair of trousers for DS's suit (under DH's advice) but they literally only had that one pair in his size. I searched all over the internet for another pair but couldn't find anymore.

DS has now also decided that he'd like to produce a piece of music himself to go with the EPQ which has made me properly LOL (not to his face obvs) as he has no musical talent at all. Oh well, if it keeps him busy.

Good news Northumberlandlass! Keeping fingers crossed for the accommodation and also for Fools DS.

@Northumberlandlass that is good news.

After 6 weeks, DS has now received some work from school; bridging work for one of the subjects he hopes to do for A-level.

I’m pleased he has some certainty.

Pleased your DS has some bridging work. I was beginning to worry about lack of structure.

Now all I need is plan to get him back into his sport!

@Northumberlandlass was that a selective school? we would love that sort of certainty.

No @ChristopherTracy - a state high school (we’re 3 tier).
We’re just waiting for the bridging work now. DS has even asked if anything has been set yet!!

@Northumberlandlass - that's fab. Lovely to have it all sorted.

DS will have some pre A Level work for a few weeks after half term. He’s agreed to give his YR8 sister some much needed Maths tuition for a negotiated £5 ph. Let’s hope it’s more successful than my past attempts and it’ll be a win win for all concerned.

@sansou I have negotiated gap year DS1 to provide maths tuition for Y11 DS2 for £5/hr too. That is going really well, he says he deserves a bonus and I think I might agree!

m.facebook.com/320745821346060/posts/2831324906954793/?d=n&utm_source=Easter+message&utm_campaign=63a5d6ac60-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2020_02_11_04_05_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d14d200624-63a5d6ac60-129967156

Maths resources for anyone who needs them.

blutick.com is also a great Maths site. Free of charge whilst on lockdown.

Not sure if this has already been discussed, but has anyone else seen the results of the Ofqual consultation on the awarding of GCSE grades this year ? From what I can understand Ofqual are now going to place more emphasis on the historical performance of the school than was originally planned when moderating the results

www.gov.uk/government/news/ofqual-gcse-and-a-level-consultation-outcomes-and-autumn-exam-series-proposals

Also they have just launched a consultation on the proposed Autumn resits.. looks like the GCSE resits will be in November. I think that will tough for most students as it will be 8 months after they have had any formal teaching

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-an-additional-gcse-as-and-a-level-exam-series-in-autumn-2020

That isn’t good news for DS as his school isn’t great but his cohort much stronger as usually a fair few would have gone to the Grammar but stayed within our local school pyramid. But it is what it is and we just want to move forward now so will suck up whatever comes as long as it doesn’t stop him getting into his sixth form.

November resit along with A levels and as you said, no teaching since March will be grim.

DD’s cohort is, the school said, the brightest they’ve had. I presume they can support this and it will be okay. Otherwise the whole year is going to suffer which is just unfair.

They will still be using the prior cohort attainment though. The use of historical weighting is instead of trajectory weighting so a bright cohort can still get better than usual grades but a school that has improved its teaching etc won't necessarily be given that uplift if the prior attainment is a standard level.

Haha, DS's cohort is also a particularly good one - I think the school sad back in Y7 that the average CAT score was 108 even though it is non-selective. The guidance says that "prior attainment at cohort level" is used in the standardisation model, so hopefully that will support predictions of higher grades than usual.

I can't see that anything really changed as a result of the consultation, but they say they are looking into rules re appeals:

We have listened to suggestions about how we could take into account evidence from a centre that it believes shows exceptional circumstances which justify changes in how the standardisation process should apply to its students. Specifically, where a centre can demonstrate that there has been a significant change in the demographic make-up of its 2020 cohort in a subject which indicates students would have performed better than in previous years, and that using the normal standardisation process as set out would disadvantage this year’s students.

Ok that sounds ok. At least at this stage there is a lot of prior data.

Our school was new 5 years ago and this would have been their first GCSEs so I’m not sure how that is going work here

To wrongdissection - this has been the same for all three of my daughters (DD) no matter what age! They are all so bored now and actually want work to complete I think. Is your DD needing grades for sixth form or college?

Fiddlers Green - they no doubt will use the prior cohort attainment as well as the demographic modelling mentioned above for your school.

Just posting random comment on here as the thread fell off my threads I'm on!

Nothing to report... as you were.