GCSE summer 2020 thread 6 - Carry on Corona Cohort, Further adventures aboard the Corona Charabanc.

[FoolsAssassin]

The summer of discovidtent for the Corona Cohort trudging on towards results day.
Ofqual have done them a little video to explain their results:

Please feel free to join us to see what twists the next bit has in store for us all.

Thread 5
Thread 4
Thread 3
Thread 1 year 10

I only know ds's ranking in one subject, music. It's a small cohort and he is ranked number one. We have been consistently told over the last two years that his knowledge of theory outstrips everyone else and his composition was a high standard. So he is hoping for a 7 or 8.

Everything else is anyone's guess. He probably won't pass science, in English he was bottom set but had a tutor and was doing really well with her. They moved him up a set but he didn't cope with the larger class. So how he was ranked is anyone's guess.

@sandybayley we’re not in London or the south east - are you?

@Comefromaway I hope your da gets the passes he needs. Am I right in thinking he’s doing a music BTEC?

Ah I thought you were London. Your description sounds exactly like one of our local schools.

@sandybayley I guess there a few similar schools around the country!

Interesting point re use of level 6 SATS. I hope they can use the Y7 CATS as DS'2s (non-selective) school had their highest ever average CAT score in his year, so another bright cohort who would probably have out-performed historic results. I think DS may not like his Comp Sci result as, according to the FTL data, the gap between 2019 and CAGs was particularly high for comp sci, so may be heavily moderated. Also they have a great teacher who had only been there for 2 years and he would have made a big difference to results. . He has said that if he gets 2 grades below what he hoped for he might do the November exam for that one.

I still think our worries pale into insignificance compared to A level DCs.

Agreed @Monkey2001 - I had a sleepless night fretting about DS1's A Levels. I swing from optimistic to pessimistic from day to day. I try to fret a bit about DD's GCSEs to be even handed as I feel like I ought to but it's quite lack lustre. Poor DS2 has a solitary GCSE result as well (Year 10) and he barely gets a look in.

Another one here using up all my stress on DS’s A level results. He is far more random than his sister who is super-consistent.

We are off on holiday next week to try to avoid thinking about either set of results!

Good luck to all the A Level parents! I agree, it’s much more significant than GCSEs. Hope they get where they want for the next stage.

Yes, Music Btec.

I’ve also got a dd awaiting A level results but she’s not reliant on them. She was gutted the exams were cancelled as she self studied for one. Luckily her gcse teacher had been mentoring her, set mock exams, and she took the AS level last year.

However she is in a cohort of 1 for that subject and no one from her school has ever taken an A level in that subject before.

Swinging from it’ll all be fine, reviewing previous year school results etc to oh dear what if it’s not and then DDs accepted her fate so I should too. Roll on results day. Agree for those of you with DC awaiting A levels it’s more significant.

Following DDs appointment with the psychiatrist she has a working diagnosis of inattentive ADHD. DD despite agreeing that the symptoms summed her up completely still seems somewhat shocked. She’s considering whether to start any medication in September. Anyone else have a DC with ADHD taking medication?

@PaddingtonPaddington ds (year 9) was diagnosed a year ago and started on medication in Sept. He’s not been taking it in lockdown because he mainly gets distracted by other people. There’s also an element of impulsivity with him. Happy to chat by DM if you want?

Probably controversial, as ever 😂 but I think that Yr13 are ‘better placed’ in moving forward to the next step of their academic journey than Yr11 given the current climate?

Why do you think that @ProggyMat?

Not really @ProggyMat - they don't know if university will even start and if it does it won't be what they were expecting. Taking a gap year isn't ideal as there's no casual work and even if you have money already it's not clear if you can travel.

DS1 was at his school for 7 years and it looks like there will be no formal end of school - the delayed celebration in September now looks likely to be cancelled so that's probably it.

DD on the other hand will start her 6th Form refreshed and raring to go. Things may be disrupted for the start of her studies but if they are they will be for everyone. It's highly likely by the time she starts university things will be back to normal.

DS1 is fortunate in that he's doing a 4 year course so if his first year is disrupted he has 3 more to go. But he'll never get to be a fresher in the way he was hoping for. He didn't get to play in the first XI this summer (which was a huge thing for him),

But TBH it's the Year 12s going into Year13 who have the worst deal.

Dead heat for rubbishness - Year 12 and university 'graduates'.

I agree, I think year 11s have come out of this ok, assuming their grades are in the ballpark they were expecting. Can you imagine not having to take your GCSEs?! I think I’d have been over the moon!

I do feel sorry for those starting uni this year as it won’t be normal. Year 12s - it depends on the teaching they’ve had during lockdown.

DS1 is starting university from a gap year and I think his friends who did not take a gap year had a tougher deal. Last year they got the Freshers experience but lost weeks due to struggles, them months for the virus. They are also going back to uncertainty and disruption.

The reason I feel for Y13s is that they lost all contol over their A level results and just have to passively wait to see whether the combination of teachers and the mysterious algorithm gives them fair results. If they get strange results they are forced to take a gap year due to the timing of results.

I think our Y11s are lucky. Having not done exams, they have had the opportunity to focus on A level transition work and if sufficiently self motivated should hit the grid running.

Grrr, lost weeks due to strikes, not struggles!

Even though I have tried really hard to keep them going (easier in one of my subjects than the other) I think year 10 are in the most troublesome place form a teacher's point of view. Especially since Ofqual really are offering very few concessions for next year. Year 12s were easier to teach remotely. My views are coloured by the fact that I felt embarrassed by the apparent fact that most of my year 12s have exhibited to me that left to work at home , they produced better work than they porbably would at school!! I think, in part, this is due to them having the time and not wasting time at school in free periods slopping about doing nothing and chatting. A couple of the girls did get badly affected by anxiety type issues, though.

I feel sorry for year 13s. I think their results will be OK (fingers crossed) but going to uni in Sept/Oct is not as it should be.

I think teacher and parent stress over year 11 is possibly worse than it is for the majority of the kids!

I don’t think ours are in too bad a place as long as the results are roughly what’s expected. I do think it’s rough on Year 13, it will be a strange time starting.

We still don’t know what is happening with DD. Her host university has recently decided to accept foreign students and they have the option of online from home country (huge time difference) or go out there but borders not open. She has decided she will go out if possible and has a room reserved and decision needs to be made on that towards end of August but there’s accommodation here to consider.

@Monkey2001 I think 1st year uni students had varying experiences. My Ds had online lectures & assignments to complete right up to the end of year assessments in May. Whereas a friend’s son was already on the spring break at the start of March & had very little contact with the uni after that, no end of year exams.

If the Yr11 results are not as expected there is no appeal process.
The Yr13s have had the experience of sitting public exams and have been able to have any unexpected GCSE grades remarked.
I think universities will be lenient with ‘slipped’ grades as they need ‘bums on seats’.
The fresher experience won’t be the same unfortunately but the same can be said for Sixth Form.

DS is pretty “what will be will be” at the moment. I’m glad he’s the one in this position rather than DD who would be more anxious about it.

Am also glad they were year 11 and year 9 rather than year 12 and year 10.

There’s no appeal process for year 11 or year 13 @ProggyMat. The fact is though that A Levels are more significant than GCSEs.

Sixth form will be different - but they’ll still be in school/college having lessons. Uni students may be almost fully online for the first term and I suppose the social side is much more significant than it is at sixth form level.

In all honesty, I think they’ll all be fine!

PaddingtonPaddington, DD has ADHD, diagnosed at 8, now 16, and has taken meds from the off.
Happy to chat to you via DM; it can manifest quite differently in girls than boys.