ONLY for parents of Year 9 and 10 students doing GCSEs this year

[barbosska]

My yesterday's post on Qfqual's proposal no to award grades to students from Year 9 and 10 registered to sit their GCSE exams this year was swamped with non- constructive comments full of negativity and lacking any practical solutions.

Therefore I had to create a new thread for people affected by the Ofqual proposal.

If your child is not in Year 9 or 10 registered for the GCSE exams this year and you want to say how the schools with early GCSEs cheat the system etc, please add your comments to my yesterday's thread.

There are about 50,000 Year 9 and 10 students in the country who will be affected by this proposal.

We have about 500 students in Years 9 and 10 at our school and today we have done the following:

• our school has written to Chief Regulator of Oqual Ms Sally Collier
• the Board of school's governors has written to Ofqual
• parents have signed a collective letter to Ofqaul
• parents have individually written to Chief Regulator of Oqual Ms Sally Collier

-parents have individually written to the Education Secretary Mr Williamson via the governmental website link:

form.education.gov.uk/en/AchieveForms/?form_uri=sandbox-publish:AF-Process-f1453496-7d8a-463f-9f33-1da2ac47ed76/AF-Stage-1e64d4cc-25fb-499a-a8d7-74e98203ac00/definition.json&redirectlink=%2Fen&cancelRedirectLink=%2Fen

I suggest that parents of the affected students do the same asap whilst the proposal is being discussed.

Our children have worked hard alongside Year 11 children and they need to be treated fairly and equally.

I’ve written to the Head of our school and sent an email to OfQual. I’m also expecting an update from our school in the next few days.

SpringUnsprung, well done! Hopefully a joint effort will work out.

UPDATE:

Our school has written letter to Ofqual, pls see the links below:

www.hollandparkschool.co.uk/academic/governor-letter-to-sally-collier/

www.hollandparkschool.co.uk/academic/letter-to-sally-collier

www.hollandparkschool.co.uk/academic/parent-letter-to-sally-collier/

I have called Ofqual this morning, they’ve confirmed the consultation will be published on their website shortly, but when they do not know when so told me to check their page regularly. They do not know when the deadline for comment will be.

They will also announce consultation on Twitter.

Glad to see your school are actively engaging with this. The point about equality is very interesting and valid. I wish I could say our school are being as proactive, they seem to be very passively waiting to hear the outcome. To say I’m disappointed in their lack of action is an understatement. I’ll keep an eye out for the consultation on OfQual’s website.

@ ChloeDecker

Please do not derail this thread by posting irrelevant and unnecessary information about what type of school Holland Park is/is not.

It is a support thread for those with kids who are being affected by this decision, and it affects many schools up and down the country.

‘Most people who are affected ...’

Where is your evidence of ‘most people’?

As I said above, this is a support thread, so unless you are looking to contribute positively, please use the old thread. It’s getting really tiresome.

Ofqual is having to prioritise those who are moving on to the next stage of education. It is disappointing but year 11 and 13 this year are stuck with a cobbled together solution that is the best that can be managed. Younger students will at least get the benefit of the "proper" system next year - try to see it as a positive!

@ HugoSpritz

How very convenient

I suspect that a lot of the affected kids are taking an exam in their home language so not as bothered by taking the exam at a later date.

Hope the kids get a fair solution though.

CIE (Cambridge) IGCES have brought out today their guidelines for accredited grades which do not discriminate based on age.

us13.campaign-archive.com/?e=[UNIQID]&u=af6c7773efd0a10e9e916b8fd&id=329cee4ae0&fbclid=IwAR2fccHcRjIkx27IT5JDNJCx-0IakjDyp-qvBaHlkcPHNHmh34wBDfg9IPs

Welsh educational authorities treat Y9 and Y10 the same was as Y 11:

www.itv.com/news/wales/2020-03-27/year-10-and-12-pupils-will-not-need-to-sit-exams-at-a-later-date-education-minster-confirms/

I've got an email from Oqual today saying:

"Although the guidance outlines our intention that exam boards will not issue grades for students in year 10 or below (unless students have been officially moved up a school year), we will shortly consult on this proposal.

The consultation will open on the Ofqual website soon after Easter for all those who wish to submit their views. With your permission, we would like to pass your email on to the team who will be conducting this consultation so that your views and the detailed information you have provided can feed into it directly.

We will carry out a full analysis of the responses received and this will inform our decisions."

Children in Y9 still have 2 years to do their GCSEs so they are not affected.
Children in Y10 usually only do one GCSE early. They will still be able to sit the exam for it in Y11.

I think it would be best to support the children positively rather than making them think its a disaster, it really will be fine.

ZombieFan

thank you for your comment.

I have created this thread ONLY for parents of Y9 and 10 students affected by the proposal.

You can read a discussion of the wider public on the various aspects of early GCSEs on this thread which I left open too.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3871106-Year-9-and-Year-10-GCSE-students-unfairly-treated-by-Ofqual?pg=1

DS's school to most GCSEs as normal in year 10 & 11, with the exception of one subject - this is done in years 9 & 10 outside of the timetable after school.

If these kids have to delay their GCSE until 2021, they will have fully completed the two year course, and then have to wait a year with NO lessons to take the exam. The teacher has confirmed that their is no time / room on the timetable or with teaching staff next year.

My point is that I suspect there are various reasons why pupils take exams early, and it's not as simple as saying oh well, they're still at school they can take them next year.

As a parent of a Year 11 taking GCSEs this year and also of a Year 10 who was due to take a foreign language GCSE this year I'm very comfortable with the Ofqual decision for my Year 10 to not get a grade this year. I also have a Year 13 anxiously waiting for A Level grades for an Oxford offer.

My children's schools really need time to assess A Level grades, they need time to assess GCSE grades so my DC can progress to A Levels in September. They don't need to award my Year 10 a GCSE grade.

This us about what really matters - there are sacrifices to be made and more important things to worry about.

boredboss

If your school wants to join other schools effort, they may want to add their signature to the letter to Ofqual:

docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeJZm_3L20knlQZJnYVmd74NU3gw9i6dY0Yy1OQoytA5Jy29g/viewform

The text of the letter itself:

www.hollandparkschool.co.uk/academic/letter-to-sally-collier

So this is Holland Park School, which hasn't had a full Ofsted inspection in 6 years and the head earns over £275,000 per year. That explains everything!

@barbosska I'm unable to reply to your message but would be interested in knowing which email address you used for Ofqual so I can also send my comments.

I agree, the year 10 exams have an impact on the levels for year 11. So if they pass they’d study the higher levels next year or start usually May this year. I have two affected. It’s disappointing they want their grades.