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

@neutralintelligence you're right - the same pupils will be disadvantaged . I saw that the petition that I signed was at nearly 74,000 .. Hope more Tory Mps will add their voices - they're the key to putting pressure on them to change their mind as Scotland has. And if they think we have short memories of this they underestimate parents and families of these kids

I'm dreading next Thursday. Dd wants to go to sixth form but obviously we're now dependent on grades that she's had no say in. Personally I think all those students who've been given conditional offers at sixth form on their mock grades should still be allocated their place regardless of the grades they achieve. After all, schools are well aware they're capable of achieving the A levels or they wouldn't have offered a place in the first place.

I think the system of predicted grades based on SATS was always absurd. My DSD did so much better than predictions based on her SATS. This is the first year it mattered, because in the past everyone could shrug their shoulders because it would all be down to the exams. This year, it might actually matter!

How bad would you feel if you had a result already and it was inflated by about 2/3 levels?
Your child told you they gained a 6/5 although 4/4 in mocks.
They then checked again and it was 7/6. Child had read the result wrong.
Asking for a friend I know it's harder for those who will be marked down, and dreadfully unfair, but those marked up and not moderated must feel like cheats.
What would you say to your child?

I am infuriated just how this has dropped from news headlines. I’m RT’ing like crazy on twitter, but my few followers won’t do much.
I did manage to get the bbc journalist who published an article last night to RT the letter from Whitley Bay.

I am not letting it go.
Andy Burnham is threatening legal action.

The pressure on the government can not be eased.

A rather damning article re GW from Marina Hyde

twitter.com/marinahyde/status/1294527112716660736?s=21

My son was predicted to get 7/8 With a 9 on a good day in the subject he wants to study at Btec.

However his other subjects are 4/5 mostly down to autism, lack of sorting out meds for him and him deciding that his hyper focus was Music so he’d concentrate on passing his theory exam and in arranging all the music for the school show as he was confident he’d get the grade 4 passes he needs for college.

We tried to persuade him to aim higher but an autistic child with hyper focus can’t be swayed.

So now he may end up on a Level 2 music course, a standard he reached in about year 9/10

Andy Burnham is threatening but Labour need to sort the situation in Wales to gave currency.
I see Jolyon Maugham also mounting a legal challenge.
Foxglove have sent their Judicial Review letter or whatever (excuse my terms no clue)
Equality Human Rights Commission seem very interested
Labour Shadow Ed secretary has called for CAGs .
This is all based on A levels but no doubt have impact for GCSEs .

Devlesco, that’s some inflation!
How does it fit with last year’s results?
I’m assuming it’s your DD’s English? How did she read it wrongly?!

@Comefromaway your son is more the technical music/composition side isn't he. Is it worth trying to convince collefe to take him on whilst he works at passing some with attendance Maths/English ? My nephew did something similar last year.

I have taken to Twitter which is a joke as I only have DH following and some random company and don’t ever use it but am have tweeted our MP and retweeted some bits for DH to look at as he has a few followers.

Got off the phone after best part of 2 hours to Dad and Stepmother, Dad a staunch Conservative voter. Both livid, he has been to emailing the Telegraph, she said never been so angry about anything and saying she will march if there is one. Dad said he will never forget this and would find it hard to vote for ‘this shambles of a government ever again’. When I said I think they are counting on it being forgotten in 4 years time he was adamant he wouldn’t forget. They actually cheered me up no end and and if I were Mr Cummings I would worry as Dad actually said something complimentary about Labour which has not happened during my half century on this earth and having been politically poles apart we are bonding over mutual hatred of the current cabinet .

@areyoubeingserviced
You ask why the results were not released earlier. For the A levels, they want to hurry the students into a university course - filling up the most popular first and then allowing the lower rated (and in danger of closing) institutions to offer places through clearing with increasingly reduced grades over the next 2 weeks.

Teenagers being teenagers, once they have a place, they will mostly transfer allegiance to their new course and forget about retaking/appealing. Result is that vast majority of students + parents move on and all the ghastliness goes away for the government.

Heaven forfend students and their families should have more than a few days to mull over their next moves.

Alsoplayspiccolo

You couldn't make it up honestly. I think she was just happy to pass tbh, and read it wrong.
Went back and couldn't believe it.
It's not good as she knows no way would she have got those results. There was a huge effort, right up until cut off date with work back and two to the teacher but from a 4 to a 7, no way.
I think 5/5 or maybe 6/5 at the best.
There are 25 in the class so not less than the 15. results are always high at this school as a lot of academically gifted there.

@FoolsAssassin that's cheered me up too! My parents the same and MIL adores DD so feeling much stronger about it than I thought she would ..

I don’t have a child doing GCSEs but having seen the devastation caused by the A level ‘results’ I’ve written to my MP asking him to lobby for GCSE students to get their CAGs.
Good luck to everyone on Thursday.

MP email just sent re A levels and in advance of GCSE. Conservative who always toes the party line so not confident but gone anyway and petitions signed. I doubt I have ever been this angry.

@Northumberlandlass that’s my DD’s school. I can be reassured that if nothing else the SMT at WBHS are on it.

I've tweeted more than ever in my life today. I've just given the education department short shrift about their 'golden task force' and it's promise of swift appeals. I.have no.clue what i'm.doing and need to clean.the kitchen

@OrangeCinnamon1 that really made me chuckle. Likewise my bathroom is looking at me grubbily 😂

He’s actually changed his mind and is going for the music performance course now.

He’s made a cracking job of his bridging tasks so fingers crossed. He should get maths. Could easily have got 6/7 if he’d put his mind to it but was happy with 5. English is borderline. But just before lockdown he was assessed as the upper end of a 4.

College can facilitate maths/English retakes but not other subjects.

@Comefromaway I'd be tempted to give them a call if you can. Fingers crossed ..it is just the not knowing isn't it?

Apparently 3% of the Department of Education were at work on A level results day. Hopefully the rest were hard at work just WFH?
The education committee is being convened on Tuesday - why wasn't this committee convened in advance of the A level results and in readiness to deal with all this fall-out?
Boris made sure he was out of the country and gave that ridiculous one-liner, not evening mentioning pupils. Gav is making it up as he goes along. Ofqual intransigent, heels dug, in, fingers in ears.

Sixth forms can't admit everyone based on offers. Many pupils have several offers. Sixth forms may make many offers that they know a good proportion will not achieve or will decide not to take up.

Nevertheless, it would be good if pupils' existing school undertake to keep all those whose CAGs were suitable in their own sixth form, and so reduce some of the uncertainty.

I have a child who is due to have GCSE results next week. They can't appeal as the school lost all the data and information due to a hack before the lockdown. We were told that it would be okay as the children would sit the exams and it would all be fine. Due to the current situation, I believe that my child will have to resit the exams.

I would urge anyone who is not happy with A'level and GCSE results to appeal. We are going to submit an appeal if my child doesn't not get pass marks in their GCSE results. We are furious with the education system (and both work in the system). I would urge every parent who didn't get the results for their children to appeal. It will cost the Government a fortune (millions!!!) in appeals. They have said that they are going to pay for every appeal. I am happy now to waste the Goverments money.