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.

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Thread 1 year 10

What makes me sad ( and perhaps I’m a bit weird to think like this) is that DD might get some grades that are higher than she would have got, had the exams gone ahead.
For example, historically, the results for Latin are almost all A and above.
DD’s class this year was smaller than previous years’, so it’s possible that she’ll be awarded a 7, when really, she probably should get a 6.
For me, that would make me feel that none of her results are “real”, which is a bit of a blow for self-confidence, especially given that she has ALN and really needs to believe in her own ability.

If you can’t trust the integrity of the grades awarded, what is the point?

Except they weren't on track to do that madame just being - y'know- different kids!

I know they don't use individual kids KS2s. I am not panicking : just have never had a satisfactory explanation for (what I considered!) a small subject with only on year's worth of prior data. Hopefully, they just accept my grades and don't ty and throw some silly statistical bollocks at it. The two year groups are not even vaguely similar. This really only ever works in core subjects or large options like history, geography , or elite ones like Ancient Greek!

I think in new subjects and schools the plan is that kids will get their teacher predictions. I don’t know if that only applies to schools that have no prior data or anyone that has less than 3 years. It might be that they do just use your predictions. We’re going to have that issue at A Level, our cohort were doing much better than last year’s, but they aren’t brighter, just more studious and committed. The model won’t account for that, but the majority of our subjects at A Level are smaller than 15, so hopefully that will help.

Thank you both @MadameMinimes and @Piggywaspushed

I feel sorry for DS’s school and do hope if they come out lower than expected they can appeal. The new Head was making a difference. DS’s rubbish physics and chemistry teachers were swiftly moved as the triple science year 10 results were poor and good teachers sent in making huge difference.

They rearranged History classes as they hadn’t been getting the higher grades so have been working to achieve them, reorganised the English teaching and it all feels a bit like waste of time. Time will tell and maybe my fears are unfounded but currently feel so sorry for students and staff.

Does anyone know how much a student’s postcode can skew the algorithm despite being at a school in a more affluent area?

I am so worried now i read that teacher grades ignored in most GCSE results. My DD is a high achiever in a school with very mixed abilities. Class of 25, except for maths and English, GCSES are less then 15.

Previous results are average. D has a target grade of 9 in maths, further maths and also in her 3 separate sciences. Got high 9s in mocks for all, except for biology where is was just a 9. In the last 3 years for sciences there has only been one 7. Previous classes were 25 and less and for 2 years only 3 took separate sciences with poor results.

She'll be near the very top of rank orders then, so she should be fine. Don't panic.

When yous say class of 25, that isn't the whole intake is it? The whole lot is ranked, not each class.

Can you work her / yourself round to thinking 8s and 7s are still amazing: a 9 should be run around the block naked type level of excitement. It doesn't always feel that way on MN...

Have just read the OfQual guidance on how results are being distributed. Was initially worried, but thankfully DDs school is fairly high achieving with good attainment 8 / progress 8 scores. She should be okay.

However, I'm very worried for my own students. It's a tough school that had terrible results two years ago, a change of headteacher saw better ones last year. But I am most worried that in my GCSE class, the really hard working students will be let down. Last years class were not too focussed and didn't have loads of natural ability. So their results were mediocre to say the least. But this year, I had a bright, hardworking class who I real high hopes for. So if their results are pulled down to be in line with the previous year group, I will be really upset for them.

@Piggywaspushed 25 in the entire year, only 1 class. Absolutely, for me it's about effort and I will be proud of her regardless. It's a difficult year for all. Unfortunately her way of thinking is different, if she feels her grade is less then fair she will want to appeal, which isn't possible so I told her to get ready for re-takes.

I think by taking out the teacher element they are devaluing the GCSE's in all directions.

In DD's friendship group there's a girl who just hasn't worked at all...was getting 2's in mocks, she was perfectly capable but just didn't give a damn. The school has very little history of really low marks - very much middling results with not a lot at either end. So it seems to me that kids who haven't worked much will benefit from past performance, while those who were hoping to break through in the top 8/9's won't get those marks despite teacher predictions due to history. Unfair all round and it's all going to generate a lot of upset. Its a kick in the teeth to the teachers as well.

That’s how I feel at the moment Wheresthebeach though trying to be philosophical.

Proggy no idea about postcode and the algorithm, had assumed it wouldn’t be part of it . Has anyone else heard anything about that ?

One thing I am really hoping is that schools will not do their normal "It was a great year for GCSEs; we achieved xyz and Fred, Bob and Sue did particularly well achieving ..." type reports for the local media/school websites.

Would really like to see schools putting out statements that all their students have worked hard for 5 years and many of them will not have got the results that they wanted and deserved, but they are all to be commended for what they have achieved whether that is reflected in their results or not ...... or something like that.

Are there any rules around reporting results for this cohort?

I think there will be waves of appeals.

That does depend where they put that girl in the rank order wheres...

I don't think schools will do as much of that : certainly the patronising value added type stuff will go .

Fools chatting to a teacher whilst on holiday and after reading Scottish stories it seems post codes played a part in what the algorithm ‘ spat out’
despite CAGs or ranks.
I don’t know if this is on an individual level or centre level hence my question to those that may be in a position to advise.

I don't think postcodes have been used at all.

If teachers grades are being ignored what was the point in asking them to go through the stressful process?

Teacher grades will be used for new schools and for subjects with less than 15 students. They couldn’t only ask some schools for grades and not others so there had to be one coherent system. Whether they use the teacher grades or not the rank order that was submitted will be still be really important and that was the really time-consuming part for any department with more than one teacher. The process wasn’t a waste of time.

Oh that’s made me feel quite stressed & I’m not sure I understood that teachers grades would only be used for new schools or for subjects with less than 15 students.

Ofqual just published a responds to the tes article here:

www.gov.uk/government/news/response-to-tes-story-about-centre-assessment-grades

Piggy I had to lol at this
"9 should be run around the block naked type level of excitement." so so true, a 7 is a great grade, it's an A after all!

Argh I think I am going to stop looking at this board. Dd is predicted high grades. I looked back and the only ranking I know was that she came 6th out of 240 pupils in CAT scores in Year 7 - and a note to say she didn’t finish one of the exams as she was fixing her annoying wobbly desk ! However, she was hospitalised for a brain infection in January so had only been to a handful of lessons in the Spring Term. If it goes on ranking, she is really at the mercy of the teachers’ perception of her illness. Don’t know what to think. Glad she didn’t have to do the exams and so fortunate her cognitive abilities are not affected but the teachers were aware of seizures and tiredness. And I thought it would work out ok. She has had so much to contend with.

One thing I have really advised her to do is look forward NOT back and don’t bother with ‘resitting‘. Whether she takes my advice I have no idea.

Hopefully if there’s that much of a big shocker headline, employers will remember and on future CVs, this year group could put grades in two columns: school prediction v ‘algorithm‘ grade, with Coronavirus 2020 in bold. If there is that much of a discrepancy, I will pacify her with this!

@Zandathepanda do come back if so after results day....when we can really move on to the next stage