Corona Cohort - Year 12 - 2021 - NO 'Self isolating' please.

[Oblomov20]

We just want our kids in school. Please. If at all possible.

And driving lessons. And good Mental Health. And happiness.

In-and-amongst all this Covid nightmare and lockdown debacle.

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Hopefully, they'll be able to do a few rounds of mocks next school year.

Edexcel have removed some set works from A-Level Music next year. Do we think there may be a reduced curriculum for other subjects..has anyone heard anything?

@FoolsAssassin Sadly, I ain’t holding my breath about public exams being held in 2022 or the ‘alternative’

No sign of that in my subject, annoyingly orange...

Didn't they remove the one black composer? DS said something to me about it. Whoops.

DD mentioned about music changes before the Christmas break but I honestly thought she had misheard that it was for year 12 as well! It’s a reduction from 18 to 12 set works, extra 10 mins on exam length and extra optional essay question. It’s good that it applies to 2021 and beyond. I’ve not heard anything about other subjects.

Yes, that's it Courtney Pine (and a few others ) have been removed from Edexcel A level syllabus. AQA have done the opposite... kept all set works but reduced composition and performance element. Dd was pleased Kate Bush was kept in but annoyed at some of the other more 'traditional ' pieces that have stayed.

She is also hoping that Othello gets sacked from English Lit AQA spec, but keep the poetry because she loves it

Oh @ProggyMat nooo.
I think there will still be issues with TAGs this year. Look how much time they had to.plan last year and it was still a massive balls up

@orangecinnamon the balls up was due to the algorithm producing a load off rubbish and a quick change to unmoderated CAGs, I think a lot of schools did a good job. I can't see any school giving grades which means people miss offers from top universities, particularly Oxbridge. I am guessing that they will see their offers as almost unconditional and make fewer offers than usual.

A friend said Tuesday she wasn’t hopeful things would be normal on 2022 and my instant reaction was she was being pessimistic. I think now she has a point.

The general consensus for DS’s school was that they were fair and there were people getting grades that I think they would probably have got higher if they sat the exam, but you never really know do you. DS got what I think he would have got apart from history where he was ill in his last mock and the school had a track record of not getting top grades (had restructured teaching to address this).

Was thinking that Monkey, It must have been obvious that this was potentially coming so would guess they were being more cautious anyway .

DD’s cohort went through school during the Gove era and it hits me every so often the irony of ending up with centre assessment. It was awful at the time as you different years doing different systems so no way of comparing what was effective, couldn’t compare across the years and the changes caused so much confusion there were kids who sat work they shouldn’t have at some schools.

DS on good form so far this week , college provision is excellent.He had to submit this term’s project options and I think that is helping him explore ideas about degree options as making him focus on what his interests actually are.

[quote Monkey2001]@orangecinnamon the balls up was due to the algorithm producing a load off rubbish and a quick change to unmoderated CAGs, I think a lot of schools did a good job. I can't see any school giving grades which means people miss offers from top universities, particularly Oxbridge. I am guessing that they will see their offers as almost unconditional and make fewer offers than usual.[/quote]
I agree the schools did a good job, but the system decided on was wrong. Hopefully, they will consult about TAGs and get it right this time. I just don't trust DoE at all.

I just really feel for anyone who is currently year 10 and upwards with the knee jerk responses to their education by the Govt. Anyone in those year groups will have missed so much, whether for GCSE or A level provision. It did make me laugh (well something has to) when DS' Othello Teams lesson yesterday kept getting interrupted by the teacher's small child who wanted to go on Minecraft. Poor woman!

School finally realised (after an e-mail direct from us parents) that waiting to drop AS maths until DS back in school was pointless - we did point out (very nicely) the need for the correct paperwork to go through the correct channels was really not necessary as we agreed it, his maths teachers agreed it and the senior tutor agreed it. He was allowed to stop immediately and has spent so much more time on his other subjects even just in two days. School teachers have been great with Teams - much better than when DS was off with Covid - but as parents we have had nothing by way of a phone call or a check or a parents evening for almost a year now which I'm not really impressed by.

I can’t see things being “normal” by 2022 exams. I may be feeling particularly pessimistic today though

I have a year 10. I am concerned that if cases ease off and things do go back to “normal” then this government will expect this year group to be able to take their GCSEs normally with no allowances for the fact they’ve missed so much school.
Same for our year 12s with their A level exams

I have a year 10 too and share that concern, although her school's remote provision has been good so far. I am far more worried about Y12 DS, he is so attached to his school and was already sad and worried that he only had two years left there, now it is all being taken away from him.

I also have a year 10 - I should think there’s quite a few of us with the year 12 and year 10 double

I have a year 12 and a year 11 and I'm starting to wonder if any of my children will ever sit a public exam .

I feel for those of you with year 10 and 12. I guess this will be the catalyst to look again at the exam system. Terminal exams good for some but not for others and I think I would like to see hard work throughout the years paying off.

Both of mine have SPLDs (one dyslexic and one dyspraxic) and terminal exams are not great for either of them, they would both probably benefit from a more continuous assessment in normal times. However all this disruption is playing havoc with BTEC courses too, not just the exams but every bit of work counts towards the final mark and it's really worrying.

If we had a government with any ability to think and plan then I'd be feeling more positive.

In light of all the school they've missed next years A levels and GCSE's should be a mix of exam and TAG. I'm Canadian - final exams account for 30-50% of final grades. Seems a good system to me as it balances those who are good at exams with those who are good at coursework.

I have a year 10 and year 12 as well. I am just hoping that schools will be back in March and they get some f2f teaching.

More or less the same in Scotland wheres which is why there hasn't been the same level of uproar/disquiet.

Y 10 and Y12 here too. School's provision has been ok, and is good this time round (nearly all live teams lessons and I'm hearing some creative teaching too!) I do especially feel for my Y10. By A level, you're moving to independent learning, there are smaller classes so its easier to ask questions/discuss on teams. At GCSE, there's much more breadth to take in, you're still doing some subjects that you don't love and/or aren't great at, and they need so much for input. My Y10 is motivated, more organised and dedicated than her older brother, but she struggled last time and is finding it tough - esp with subjects she doesn't love (aka maths and physics!)- it's just toooooo easy to drift off a bit on teams when you are muted/off video....I really, really hope this leads to a move back to continuous assessment: it won't necessarily suit my kids (ds is at his best in a quiet room writing on his own!) but I really think it is better/fairer.

I think the ones who are suffering most are primary school pupils. They can't do any independent learning, so totally depends on how much parental support they get. They are missing all sorts of basic stuff and will be catching up for many years to come.

My Y12 has not really missed out academically this year. I think it would be a bit of a relief if it was not all done on terminal exams next year as they have no exam experience and preparing for external exams is a skill which needs to be developed.

For my University first year, he has worked harder because there are fewer distractions!

As I said before, I think Y13 this year will get generous grades but miss out on actual learning, so an odd combination which looks fine on paper but will not set them up so well for university.

Agree, Monkey2001, about the primary school kids being at bigger potential disadvantage. I'm able to wfh without too much trouble with a 17 yo and a 15 yo - at 7 and 5 it would have been impossible.

I too am grateful that I don’t have a youngster to support home schooling with. Especially for those also trying to work beyond the usual household needs. Other than my daughter’s extraordinary capacity to eat therefore frequently visit the kitchen, I don’t know she’s home.

One of my Year 6 girls shares 1 iPad with her 3 older siblings. I flagged her as a vulnerable child, but Mum has terrible anxiety so won’t send her in. She is so bright and sparky, but these 12 months will have a major effect on her learning.