Thread 8 Carry on Corona Cohort: GAV give us the CAG?

[OrangeCinnamon1]

Welcome all to the 8th Thread for this year's GCSE cohort the Corona Cohort!

Some of us have been here since I started first thread back in yr10, 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 until HQ chuck us
At this precise moment in time we are awaiting GCSE results that seem to have been produced by an algorithm that also takes very little account of Teacher Centre Assessed Grades. There is an appeal process but it was changed yesterday to include mock results and coursework, then taken down again for review.
Trying to protect our young people's mental health.during this shit show , which the government claims is their priority...when they talk about wanting students back in schools/college in September...

first ever thread

previous thread

I’ve signed petitions and talked to DD. That’s it now until we know more.

My biggest fear for ds is his English. All other mocks and continues assessments 6-9.

English was 2 for language and 3 for literature. He has 1:1 in subject and autistic so language was never going to be his thing!

Usually working at a 3 but cocked up mock - something to do with no answering a question.

I would say despite 4 prediction a 3 is more realistic for ds and he always accepted he'd most likely be in retake category.

Here's my major worry. His school is pretty high achieving. Always above NA for 4 and above and 5 and above and a good number of 9's.

So ds will be pretty low in rankings for English based on a CAG of 3 if I'm right about that.

Except if the algorithm just decide x% U and x% 1 he'll end up with one of those.

A 2 fair enough as he could could have easily cocked us his exam like he did the mock (though you'd think he'd have learnt!).

But 2 is the lowest he got.

Please tell me it doesn't matter. Realistically I know as when he actually passes it'll be irrelevant

It doesn't matter, @itsgettingweird

Does that help?

@Rhubardandcustard same! My husband says I need to calm down but I just can’t. I feel sick with worry and my stomach is doing somersaults all day. I can’t bear this I really can’t.

@Rhubardandcustard

I just can’t think of anything else except exams. It’s occupied most of the last week- any spare moment, writing to Mps, completing any petitions I can find, today downloading 3 years of school data to analyse. It’s the first thing I think of when I wake and and last thought at night, I’ll probably start having nightmares about them soon.

If it's GCSEs it's only two years (or maybe even one if the spec is very new).

We are the ones who know about the algorithm - there are going to be some very surprised kids and parents on Thursday, when kid who was a very solid 6, maybe a 7 is downgraded to a 5 or 4, cos that’s what the computer says....

Does anyone know what's happening about Art and Music?
I have no idea of my dd ranking in the class.

Same as everything else Devlesko Your DD's fate will be determined by "the algorithm" unless she is at a school where there is a small (up to 15) number of entries in that subject. Any NEA gets ignored.

Did she complete any of her NEA’s? Ds didn’t get to do his performance but he had handed in one composition. The withdrawn appeal guidelines stated that these could be used as well as, or instead of mocks for appeal.

I would imagine that prior attainment in music at your dd’s school was pretty high and stable year on year.

@Devlesko I was under impression if coursework had been submitted by 20 March that could be used be CAG but could be wrong...

Schools could use all evidence up to the 20th march to determine the CAG. So NEA could be included.

Been thinking about subjects that have foundation (grades 9-4) and higher (grades 5-1) papers. How would rank order work for those subjects? Do you think all those entered for higher papers would be ranked above those for foundation?

NEA can inform the CAG. But as CAGs are ignored (unless small subject group), this makes NEA effectively irrelevant.

But it’s looking like NEA’s can be used for appeal if what the previous document said stands.

Paddington
My assumption for subjects with higher/foundation is that schools tend not to enter students for higher unless they think they will get 6+. So all the "higher" paper students should indeed be ranked higher than foundation paper students. Of course they might end up with grades lower than 6.

I can see an interesting anomaly where "the algorithm" says that more students should get 6+ than are actually entered for the higher paper, so a foundation paper student could get an "impossible" grade of 6+. Unless the algorithm caters for this specific situation; or even does a split allocation depending on which paper the student is entered for, which I guess is data that is available..

Boy from DS's school in ST today. Hot on the tail of the press reporting a massive drop off in state students studying music. Poor lad predicted A A A and got BBB. Lovely boy. Lost his place now at Cambridge to study music. Mixed race, neither parent attended uni . Shocking repression of his progression. School never had A* in biology, ergo neither can he. Ironically this is a school which gets contextual offers. How can it ever improve if it is told to know it's place like this? I am cross with Cambridge, too.

That’s awful piggy.

I hope somewhere else snaps him up. Lots of better places to study music anyway (in my opinion)

Piggy it's so stupid.

What I don't get it seems that even if you haven't had a U over the 3 years you have to have one this year but yet at the top end they won't accept that having not had an A* it's possible.

@RedskyAtnight You’re right but the whole narrative stinks. DS is at an Indy but the algorithm inlybenefits you if you’re highly ranked. My DS is not. He has SEN plus ADHD so is in low sets but he’s a very hard working student predicted top grades. So it’s very upsetting hearing some people say only state schools have been disadvantaged. We all have.

Does anyone think there will be an update tonight now are we waiting and going for tomorrow now?

Sorry that should read hoping not going!

Shimy I suspect it would suit some people if parents used their energy on a private vs state scrap instead of uniting against this problem that we have in common. Private schools are handy targets for people's anger.. deflecting it from those who are actually at fault, definitely not private schools or their students!

Thanks @RedskyAtnight that’s kind of what I was thinking. Just concerned about DDs combined science as after mocks she went from the higher to foundation paper.

I'm in the same position with DS. He was borderline higher/foundation for biology and chemistry but in the end entered for foundation as his teachers were worried there was a high chance he would go to pieces on the day and get no grade. So he would have easily banked 5s in both in exams, but who knows now ...