GCSE Summer 2020 Thread 10: Carry on Corona Cohort ‘The Next Step''

[OrangeCinnamon1]

Welcome all to the 10th Thread for this year's GCSE cohort - the Corona Cohort!

This is a thread for supporting all young people ( and their parents) who were examined for GCSEs 2020 regardless of the institute they attended or the grades they needed. It is respectfully requested that we are all supportive and helpful to each other.
If you want to start a debate e.g state vs private - please do not within this thread.
Similarly it should be recognised that the grades our children needed/deserved/wanted will vary across the board- we wish to celebrate and comiserate with all. One same grade outcome can simultaneously cause joy and despair for different posters and their families. Please be sensitive when responding to threads about grade outcomes.

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 on the Secondary Education Board (at least until Mumsnet HQ chuck us out grin ) as from now on our DS/DD may go down various paths such employment, apprenticeships, higher ed etc so we decided not to be exclusionary.

Any new threads should have 'GCSE Summer 2020 Thread # : Carry on Corona Cohort' in title just to make it easier to find. There is no preciousness about who starts new threads!

At this precise moment in time it us 'results day ' most have GCSE results and some awaiting BTEC results .

We are all ALWAYS trying to protect our young people's mental health, which the government claims is their priority...when they talk about wanting students back in schools/college in September popping this here.

previous thread

We are another one whose school moderated downwards so ds received a maths grade at least one grade lower than predicted, 2 according to some measures which meant he had to change schools. I was doing ok until I read that article and now I'm pissed off all over again.

And yet other people who were predicted lower grades at other schools have come out with better? I am honestly pleased for them just annoyed for ds.

Our school said that they had over 200 GAV’s allocated. That seems to suggest to me that they had moderated themselves quite harshly downwards. But I don’t know. It’s exhausting thinking about it. It is what it is and all that. I’d never vote in a Tory government anyway but I hope this fiasco has made a lot of other people stop and think.

I’m sad that this cohort will have the ‘mickey mouse grade’ attached to their achievements because it’s not their fault. And there are so many variables for each child and each school. I worry that DD with a clutch of ‘average’ grades in a year that is publicly seen to have been grossly inflated will be unfavourably compared amongst her peers but the government have seen to it that we have no route of appeal or argument.

And likewise those kids who would have got those 7/8/9 if they’d sat the exam anyway, why shouldn’t they be proud of what they’ve got? It’s an absolute clusterfuck of giant proportions. And yet it could have been avoided with a transparent system right from the start using evidence and assessing each school on its own achievements for moderation.

The letter in with DD’s results said that the CAGs were each teacher’s best estimate of likely grade based on the evidence of the Y11 mocks, the Y10 mocks, class work and homework in Y10 and Y11, plus general attitude to learning. It said each pupil’s proposed grade and ranking was discussed and agreed with head of department, then CAGs were moderated by SLT and signed off by HT, with governors also ‘involved in overseeing’ the process to ensure fairness.

I don’t know if that ‘moderation’ by SLT meant they were trying to fit things to the curve or whether they were just checking consistency between different classes (it’s a large state secondary school so ~350 in the year with multiple teachers for each subject).

I am in no way grumbling as DD did as well as she possibly could have done had she sat the exams - all but one grade seem realistic and plausible based on her schoolwork and mocks, and in line with expectations from parents evening. One grade is higher than either of us expected (an 8 rather than the expected 7) so we wondered if that was a GAV.

@IHeartHarryStyles

Hear, hear! It’s all such a mess. DD worries that people won’t believe she deserved her grades, that they won’t realise how hard she worked to earn 9s - that people will think they were just handed out like sweets. On the one hand it’s a nice problem to have, but it is frustrating to have ‘you didn’t even sit the exams so it’s not as if they’re proper GCSEs’ thrown in your face - which has already happened (thanks, BIL 😡).

In the instructions to Heads of Centres, Ofqual said CAGs should take into account;

previous results in your centre in this subject – these will vary according to a number of factors, including prior attainment of the students, but our data shows that for most centres any year-on-year variation in results for a given subject is normally quite small

the performance of this year’s students compared to those in previous years

@LilyBolero

In the instructions to Heads of Centres, Ofqual said CAGs should take into account;

previous results in your centre in this subject – these will vary according to a number of factors, including prior attainment of the students, but our data shows that for most centres any year-on-year variation in results for a given subject is normally quite small

the performance of this year’s students compared to those in previous years

Link here assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/887018/Summer_2020_Awarding_GCSEs_A_levels_-_Info_for_Heads_of_Centre_22MAY2020.pdf

@Janie74 and @IHeartHarryStyles I hear you on both counts. I’m so proud of DS and his achievements and actually his grades are completely in line with mocks and expectations (four grades stayed the same, four went up by 1, just one “potential GAV” went up from a 6 to an 8 but then we were told he was only a few marks off a 7 in the mocks so not totally implausible) but it does feel as if they are going to be tainted by this Mickey Mouse grade bollocks. And that does none of them any favours, regardless of their level of achievement.

I’m sure this is one of the reasons DS has been so totally unexcited about his results no matter how much we tell him we’re proud and he’s done really well. I don’t think he feels any pride in them whatsoever, even though he should.

Equally though I can totally understand the frustrations of those like your DC @ChristopherTracy who have been graded down when others have gone up. It is, as you say, one giant cluster fuck of a shambolic mess.

I guess we just have to hold onto the fact that they will move on to their new courses and achieve in those, and as time goes on it’ll be those achievements that define them, not their GCSEs. Doesn’t feel like much comfort now though.

I just have to try not to be cynical - after all when those teachers gave out the 6s they knew that that child wouldn't be able to take that subject for A Level and therefore would be likely to leave and when they gave out the 5s they knew that probably meant another child wouldn't be offered a place full stop.

Some of the other intricacies of our results wouldn't stand up to a proper investigation I think.

PLus if they realised that they had undermarked compared to other schools why enforce the 6th form entry as yes, they may truly feel that DS shouldnt take a certain subject but they have no way of knowing that with the external candidates who may have just been inflated.

@ChristopherTracy if I remember correctly, you were worried your ds might be ‘managed out’ via lower grades from the start? It sounds like trust between you and the school had already broken down before the whole Covid situation?

I’m sorry you feel cynical and fed up but maybe it’s for the best in the long term? Are you happy with the school/college ds will be going to? He might rise to the challenge of a fresh start.

I have no idea how I feel about it all, having had a bit of a whirlwind of a week. DS in line with what expected, might have expected 2 higher if sat them . I think feedback from A Levels was fair but not generous and I think people will end up saying the same with the GCSE CAGs.

DS seems ok but hasn’t really had time to think about them. Also he has been through a pretty rigorous selection process for 6th form which included an exam so I think he feels his GCSE results are kind of vindicated by that so easier to leave the GCSE results behind him if that makes sense?

My hope is that others will feel the same when it comes to getting their A level/BTEC/Apprenticeship results but obviously that is a long time away (though will fly by).

It needn’t have been such a clusterfuck with better planning and that makes me very annoyed and sad. My main concern at the moment is they have as little disruption to their studies over the next 2 years, not sure I feel hugely optimistic given the chuck them in at the deep end approach. To screw that up after doing them over with the exams would be unforgivable.

Fools I’m of the opinion that they will need to ‘hit the ground running’
with A level subjects.

So am I Piggy with A levels- I meant the getting schools back, keeping the virus under control without school closures!

Yes @crazycrofter that was me - you've got a good memory. It was after the A Level choices meeting when they said that no-one in the lowest set for maths had ever got good A Level maths grades (and therefore is strongly discouraged from taking it) that I started worrying that in fact noone in that set would be given the opportunity. Do I think they cooked those grades a bit? Honestly yes.

Should I mind? No, as he is going to a much better school for him.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn

I am absolutely sure Our school did Ofqual job before the CAGs were sent. My DS was downgraded from his mock in one subject in a high performing grammar school. For the past year we have been told that they expect (and it is normal) for the pupils to improve by at least one grade but usually two from mocks to gcse. I also understood, perhaps incorrectly, that the schools were meant to be grading based on a best performance on the day scenario. I can’t see how the school can mark someone down on that basis unless they were doing moderation.

We had the same conversations, my DS did nothing for his mocks. Worked really hard after, was told he was going up one or two grades. Came to the CAGs and he has got some lower than his mocks and most bang on his mocks. He goes to a highly selective private school, so he got put at the tail end by the looks of it. Such a pain. So disappointing when he was working so hard-but clearly working hard for 3 months isn't enough :-(

orange I grew up near you - I remember the ritual after your last O level was to take your school hat to the end of the pier and frisbee it in - can't imagine anyone has a school hat any more

crofter I had the identical problem to your DC - I chose to stay at school for the sake of my other subjects but it was a pretty grim 2 years studying the modern history I hated. It made university a pleasant change though.

sandy DD is going to do IB - SL in maths English and German and HL in music philosophy and biology. A good choice for her as she has no idea what she wants to do whereas DC 1 has always been a one trick pony with music.

The last couple of days have been manic as I didn't want to jinx the results by buying anything for boarding school until we were sure she would be going. Now busy shopping for all sorts - mesh laundry bags, suitcases and fairy lights. Had a major shock at the price of tuck boxes - £70+ for something to store snacks in....................

My DS also had zero enthusiasm about the results. We waited for him in the car on results day and when he got in he handed his younger brother the envelope and when we asked he said he got all 9’s. It is like he feels that they don’t count. The deputy head made a point of saying to him that if he had sat the exams he would’ve got the same results which I thought was nice. He had consistently been getting grade 9’s in all his subjects and wasn’t just scraping it he was well over 90% in each subject. I feel like all his achievements have been undervalued with everything that has gone on and he doesn’t deserve that.

Londonmummy extension leads and door wedges are things people have suggested to me. He needs a bedside table as isn’t one and I think a desk lamp, pins for notice board, am thinking a mattress topper. Most of the bedding is there now after first trip , hadn’t thought of things for laundry. What are you planning to fill tuck box with ? He’s only there in week so have sent a biscuit tin but currently empty.

@Londonmummy66 - nice to have another IB-er. DD is doing HL Maths,Biology and Chemistry and SL History, French and English. She's definitely a STEM girl but pretty good at everything else.

Like @Nard75 'a DS she feels a bit shortchanged by the process - like her 9s were handed to her rather than earned but I've told her it's time to move on now. We're very proud of her and there is an opportunity to prove herself in 2022. Her GCSE results might not have the same value as in previous years but there's nothing we can do about that now.

FoolsAssassin have bought a mattress topper (plus duvet, pillows and 3 sets of bedding) and she already has an extension lead and a doorstop. I suspect that the laundry bags are less of an issue for boys although I think some use them to keep socks together) but she is worried about bra underwires and tights going through the communal laundry system and thought mesh bags might help with that a bit.

She will be at school for 3 weeks at a time with no ability to leave site due to CV19 restrictions so that's a lot of snacks and she wants to skip main breakfast so she can shower when the house is less busy so will also need 3 weeks worth of cereal and soya milk. Bit annoying when I'm paying for her school breakfast anyway.

sandy I agree it is good to have some IB parents around. A couple of neighbours' DC have done it so she has been talking to them - I'm minorly worried about the IB results problems this year if CV continues long term as they weren't regraded and there seem to have been loads of downgrades.

@Oblomov20

Ds has just been offered a job at Sainsbury's. Thursday 5-9, Saturday 12-8.

This is good. Apart from the fact he now doesn't have a bike 🚲 to get there. He'll have to walk.

Is he sensible enough to buy one on the first pay day?

Although a month of walking may persuade him

DD’s school has a specific teacher who looks after medical school applications and it would appear that he spent most of yesterday phoning each potential medic, jollying them out of any feelings of not deserving their grades and enthusing about his suggestions for Covid-friendly volunteering and work experience.

DD said he was so nice, she didn’t dare tell him that she’s thinking of swapping to Vet Med...

@IHeartHarryStyles

My DD is 17 in a week and a half and already has her theory test booked and L plates bought 😱 it’s scary stuff!

Gosh. Mine turned 16 the day before gcse results!

Londonmummy yes I would find that a bit annoying. They were supposed to be doubt their washing there but I suspect it will now be coming home. Am having the weekend off then am going to start working through my list again and make him do some more cooking this week in preparation, There is a WhatsApp group and a couple of lovely year 13 parents have been putting my mind at rest.

orange I grew up near you - I remember the ritual after your last O level was to take your school hat to the end of the pier and frisbee it in - can't imagine anyone has a school hat any more

I grew up in the city but moved to a village outside and so did secondary there.
I remember some schools had the ritual to put washing up liquid in the fountain by (what was!) Alders - and then jump in.

Ha, I remember that too @itsgettingweird. Then they had to empty it completely so no children could climb in and drown unseen through the foam.