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

Piggywaspushed - Grant Shapps at transport has two kids in year 11!

Me too! I’ve got one home from uni dressing that it won’t be the same with social distancing when she goes back, and now this. Remind me why I had kids!

Stressing not dressing( though that’s another thread).

Morning. Another day, another episode in the Ofqual / government shitshow!

Agree with everyone making those very valid points about English and maths. It is going to be an absolute logistical as well as mental health nightmare. And some sixth forms won’t let students take 3 A levels if you need to retake English or maths - my godson missed a 4 in maths by 6 marks last year and had to drop to 2 A levels and a BTech rather than take his planned 3 A levels...it has wider implications for many than “just” a retake.

I don’t know what to say to my DS now. Like others on here, he had decent mocks, way above his target grades in many subjects, quite likely decent CAGs and we have reiterated the “no system is fair but you should do okay” mantra - but I suspect he’ll be one of the ones screwed by the algorithm, like so many of our DC here. School have sent out a very vague not particularly reassuring email which has not made anyone feel any better either!

My rather battered optimism hopes that sixth forms up and down the country will ask for student CAGs from schools to determine acceptance of pupils and just ignore the shitshow GCSE results but...uggh it just gets worse and worse.

Is it too early for wine?!

@MrsHamlet - Likely to Achieve Grade. DD's school have used these throughout to predict gcse grades.

Ah. So an expected grade. I see.

Like cinnamon I'm trying not to let on to Ds1 that I'm completely obsessed and have done literally nothing for the last 3 days other than peruse Secondary section on mn, read every single link on this thread etc etc.

Inside I am actually quite worried. That lazy boy! We had many mocks of 4. Yet predicted grades of 6/7/8.

I'm assuming he'll open the envelope and see a run of 4's?

Presumably this won't be good enough to stay on at his outstanding catholic (not that he believes at all these days!) 6th form.
7's required for all A'levels isn't it?

So A'level English Lang, Business, Sociology, ICT: looks .... unlikely?

I'm wishing the hours away. I just want it to be Thursday. I can't wait for this shitstorm to be over.

What a bunch of Fucktards!

Yup fucktards indeed and on that note @oblomov20 do feel free to post that again in the new thread ...don't want you to be cut off.in your prime

Although I will say teachers generally agree improvement from mocks ?

climb aboard the next thread here

I not 7s required!!!!!! DD at outstanding girls’ school and it’s 5 GCSEs 4+ but a 6 in science and maths or English.

lilgreen, your maths scenario is the same for DD.
She asked to go down to the bottom set because she knew she’d get the input she needed to improve. She has ADHD, so it takes her longer for things to bed in, but her year 10 results were strong, and she got a 6 in the January mock.
The set is small and most of the others were taking foundation, so DD could well be at the bottom of the higher paper and could even be failed, just because the school hasn’t previously used foundation so a couple of students in previous years have failed.

She needs a 5 in maths to go to the new school, regardless of A level choices.

It’s so, so wrong that she could end up with a 4 or lower because someone failed previously.

@Alsoplayspiccolo DD in top of set 3(5 sets) was in set 2 but asked to go slower so they put her down.

@Piggywaspushed It is highly relevant the Gav has a year 10.
It is mostly the year 10 parents who are arguing against the grade inflation and for this standardisation.
They feel that their children will be disadvantaged because they will probably have to take the exams but have missed a large chunk of the 2 years' of teaching during lockdown.
They feel that if pupils 1 year older are given higher marks without an exam, their children will be at a big disadvantage.
That is why Gav doesn't want to Gav, I imagine he has given reassurances to his other half and child that this will not happen.
So it is personal for him

I think that actually if the current year 11s are given their CAGs any grade inflation at the whole-year cohort level will benefit the year 10s moving into year 11. There will be a precedent set and this precedent will only benefit these children They may get reduced curriculum, reduced exams, some form of on-going assessment in year 11, and of course the moderation of the whole-year exams will based on 2020 so their children will get a higher overall cohort grade level as well.

If only those with secondary indirect interests would stop being so petty and mean, they would see that what benefits the current year 11s and year 13s will benefit their year 10s and year 12s too.

And as for the fact that those at the top of Ofqual don't even have an education background - good grief, what a blood stupid idea.
It is the same in the NHS, often the directors come from, e.g. supermarket management. It is the very free-market capitalist ideas being seen as necessary in the state sector. It only leads to incompetence in the job because hospitals and schools should have other objectives.

@Oblomov20 A level results is dependent on school. Our school requires minimum of 6 GCSEs 5-9 to get into sixth form, including a minimum 6 to take the subject at A level (except for maths / chemistry where they require a 7). Sixth form college where ds hopes to go just ask for 6 GCSEs grade 5-9.

@neutralintelligence more very good points yes.

I think the pragmatic approach would be to give GCSE students their CAGs. There may be overall grade inflation but now everyone has to stay in education or training they're going to be externally assessed at 18 before let out into the bigger world (assuming two years is long enough for gov to sort exams~COVID). Avoids expense & anguish of appeals process for pupils/parents/schools/OFQUAL.

Gah A level requirements not results!

The optimist in me hopes that yesterday’s debacle over the Ofqua guidance is just creating the kind of pressure which means they will have to do a Uturn and use CAGs- even if they disguise it through the appeals process to avoid looking like they are copying NS in Scotland. If they thought the fallout from Alevel was bad then the gcse has the potential to be a tsunami!

Can someone just tell me in plain English what are they using to grade our kids. Rank order, algorithm or CAG’s I think I have lost the plot.

I’m heading up to see my Dad soon for social distant coffee. It will be interesting to see if he has any views on this! He is blue through & through & loves Boris!

DS follows me on FB / Twitter so aware of my strong feelings/ despair!!! I am more angry at the injustice of it all to be honest. I keep saying we can’t worry about what we can’t control - I am not worried, I’m livid! 😂 I’m re-directing emotions.

He said if I booked the train to London today, we could go & protest ....bit of a journey for us!

@EwwSprouts

I think the pragmatic approach would be to give GCSE students their CAGs. There may be overall grade inflation but now everyone has to stay in education or training they're going to be externally assessed at 18 before let out into the bigger world (assuming two years is long enough for gov to sort exams~COVID). Avoids expense & anguish of appeals process for pupils/parents/schools/OFQUAL.

Totally agree

Will sixth forms be lenient with entrance?

Sandra Collier from Ofqual wrote to Headteachers asking them to be flexible this year with admissions....does this seem likely as most are sticking to their guns about entrance requirements.

Northumberlandlass my Dad the same but he has plenty to say about it and I don’t think Boris would like it !

The word Clusterfuck was made for this situation.

Lilgreen I just meant that our school 'prefers' them to have a 6, or a 7. In order to cope with A'level.

@Nard75 we don’t really know! It’s all under review.