GCSE Summer 2020 Thread 7 : Carry on Corona Cohort, Cruising or Crawling to The Final Countdown

[OrangeCinnamon1]

Welcome all to the 7th Thread for this year's GCSE cohort ...or the Corona Cohort as has been termed by @FoolsAssassin.

Some of us have been here since I started first thread back in 2010, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. It is hoped this will continue. Going forward we intend to stay in secondary so any new threads should have 'GCSE Summer 2020 Thread # : Carry on Corona Cohort' in title just to make it easier to find.

From now on our DS/DD may go down various paths so we decided not to be exclusionary and stay right here in Secondary

Thread 1 The first GCSE yr 10

Thread 6 last thread

And in some ways the need to appeal is worse between GCSE and A'level - there is 1 working week between results day and the first day of term (including a bank holiday).
Education is mandatory 16-18 years but the council is no longer obliged to find your child a place.
There is a lot more demand for sixth form the FE college places since coronavirus because it has meant many apprenticeships have been cancelled.
Some towns only have school sixth forms, so many pupils will be holding offers that are conditional on certain GCSE grades.
Plus they are only 16 years old. They cannot take a gap year to sort things out. They cannot work full-time.
The government still won't implement an appeals process that will be resolved by the start of the new term.

@Oblomov20
Dd can be a right cowbag at times,I get so upset because I would never have spoken to my Mum like that, then frustrated as she seems to forget it happened. DH admits to being rude and disrespectful at that age he blames it on the teen brain /hormones. Little comfort I know as it hurts here have some

@neutralintelligence

And in some ways the need to appeal is worse between GCSE and A'level - there is 1 working week between results day and the first day of term (including a bank holiday). Education is mandatory 16-18 years but the council is no longer obliged to find your child a place. There is a lot more demand for sixth form the FE college places since coronavirus because it has meant many apprenticeships have been cancelled. Some towns only have school sixth forms, so many pupils will be holding offers that are conditional on certain GCSE grades. Plus they are only 16 years old. They cannot take a gap year to sort things out. They cannot work full-time. The government still won't implement an appeals process that will be resolved by the start of the new term.

The cheek of Fridge Gavin in the Times this morning saying appeals should be dealt with 'swiftly' when he knows full well the current process involves 9 stages with some ridiculous times built in like 40 odd day waits!

HarryStyles DS also has lots of subjects that will probably be 4/5 so I'm fully expecting they might all be fails.

DS is hoping to do A Levels (he should have much better results in the subjects he wants to do A Levels in) and his teachers are all very supportive of this (the 4/5s, rather than higher grades, are down to SLD and lack of application, rather than lack of ability) but he might well end up below the minimum (and his school sixth form has the lowest A Level entry criteria in town) 8 GCSE passes required. We never perceived this as a genuine likelihood (and it wouldn't have been if he'd sat the exams) so he currently does not have a Plan B. Plus if he doesn't get 8 GCSE passes (and it truly is a nonsense that a potential A Level student is worrying that he won't) this really will blight the rest of his life.

Redskyatnight my daughter is the same, 4/5 predictions but if down graded by only two subjects she won't be able to do her a levels. She needs 5 4s to get in and needs maths and English. Our plan b is a local college to do a btec which will impact the rest of her life

That letter from the headteacher at Holyrood Academy is heartbreaking. That truly is the real story - the actual people who've had their lives affected by this fiasco.

I think it is the randomness of the results that is the issue. Whether you think your DC might be on a grade boundary is irrelevant.

My DS had 2 a levels downgraded from CAGs, and therefore missed his uni places. One from an A to a B and one from a D to an E. Many of his friends had downgraded which meant they lost out on first choice uni's. They are at a selective indy, but with about 150 in their year. Not all private school students came out unscathed.

I am dreading this Thursday - my DD has always worked hard. All her mocks were 7 s and above. Her predicted grades are higher, so her CAGs should be good. She needs six 7s for 6 th form. I just don't know what to say to her. The whole episode is an absolute disgrace ☹️

And the top news stories about France and quarantine are farcical - obviously this was going to happen, been building up to it for several weeks now. Those who went to France were perfectly happy with the risk.
The DailyFail has top story about someone who 'had to leave their children behind' (as if they are fleeing a war or the nazis), only to mention that the children are just staying on for the rest of the holiday with their own father.
The media in this country should be ashamed of itself.
They helped put on the pressure for the Scottish pupils, now they won't help with the English pupils and are happy to go along with these distractions, news-burying stories. And perpetuate the myth that we all just want As for all our children instead of looking deeper than the single sentence fact that overall the cohort of all year 13s achieved 'robust' 'dependable' marks and 'employers' need this.

Same here. DD is a 4/5/6 students. She needs 5 x 4 plus including maths and English. Maths is a real worry as that is currently in track for a 4. She has worked so hard. I’m sick with worry.

Just like to thank posters in this thread for the information they have provided.
I just can’t understand why the exam ‘results’ weren’t given earlier. It’s not as though there were any papers to mark.
These ‘results’ could have been given out as early as June. This would have give students time to appeal and therefore get their sixth form , college or university places.
I have always said that this Government was incompetent , but I just can’t believe the level of incompetency

@neutralintelligence- can’t believe the Daily Fail

@areyoubeingserviced good point.. is there any more we can do? MPs I guess ..

Iheartharrystyles. It's so unfair that the Government are prepared to fuck up the futures and mental health of our teenagers. They cannot be allowed to get away with it.

@RedskyAtnight completely agreed. DD was never going to be a super high achiever at GCSE. But likewise it’s down to application not ability and the school were confident she would be a solid A-level student in her chosen subjects. This has been a hell of a wake up call for her.

Does anyone know if the Progress 8/value added scores are included in the algorithm for GCSE results?
If they are using the year 6 SATs score for the school then it would only be accurate to also use the Progress 8/value added score in the algorithm - a widely available and validated reporting score.

Apologies if this has been posted already - govt petition to review petition.parliament.uk/petitions/306773

@neutralintelligence wish I knew who but someone posted yesterday that no value adds not included.

Some posters have mentioned petitions they have signed, can you please put links to them here if possible so we can sign them here?
I’m so angry what’s going on I’m trying not to think about but it’s already making gastritis flare up so trying to calm down. I want to slap Gavin Williams smug face left and right, back and forth

interesting that Sarah Vine, wife of Michael Gove who removed all coursework assessment from most GCSEs and is a key cabinet member and Brexiteer supporter of Boris, has written an article not entirely supportive of the government in the Daily Fail (sorry, again).
Her kids are year 10 and 12 though, so largely unaffected by the grade catastrophe.
Some suggestion in her article that CAG would be better, but not very outright.
Some bizarre suggestion that these pupils might like to take the year again (perhaps on the playing field, while classrooms are occupied by the rest of the school and new school year intake???).
But she does think the teachers' predictions should have been used at least.

Here's the link to petition.
petition.parliament.uk/petitions/306773

The damage to our kids mental health is being ignored. They belief in systems being broadly fair is being destroyed.

DD is just flat, curled up in a ball watching TV. Some kids are reacting by being angry, others with a sense of despair. Its going to be a long wait til Thursday.

www.change.org/p/boris-johnson-boris-johnson-we-need-a-fairer-system-for-this-year-s-a-level-and-gcse-students-alevelresults

=main petition at the moment, I think

It's somewhat cathartic to watch the numbers on the petition going up at at speed.

Thanks for the links @desertcoffeeyoga & @Wheresthebeach. Signed.

@desertcoffeeyoga
Thanks.
That is ridiculous, you cannot assess a school on its year 6 intake's SATs scores without also looking at the Progress 8/value added.
That will only benefit schools who selectively take high-achieving pupils and logically get good results. It disadvantages schools that take average pupils and get them to a very high standard by GCSEs. Those pupils will be treated as if they were still the same ability as year 6.

Watching shadow education secretary on sky news, calling for cag results to be awarded.