Starting Year 11 GCSE 2021 Thread 2

[indy69]

Just continuing on from thread one. Let's support each other through these difficult times. Here is the earlier thread. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3653238-Starting-Year-11-GCSE2021-title-edited-by-MNHQ

Is that what they have planned for Wales? So not teacher assessment then? Online testing which is worse than them actually sitting their exams. That’s not very helpful is it!

I'm sure it will iheart . I'm going to not get too worried/invested as I can't control it and I can't magically make DD better anyway. What will be, will be. If I don't think like that I'll stop coping with life.

I'm struggling with the worry of all this.
Mainly because DS is and has been 'working at' mainly 4s and 5s. The school did mocks in November. We find out the results soon. I already know he really struggled with some ie. higher maths and science, most likely failing. In normal times he would have learnt his lesson on how to study and pull his socks up for the real thing. In maths he would sit the lower exam I'm confident he would get a 5. In these times I'm worried the school will take his mock results and downgrade him to 3s.
So I guess I'm hoping for some form of mini exams to go ahead.
I've just been looking at the IGCSE maths thinking I could pay and enter him for that but I can't see the 2021 exam dates. He isn't at the level where he should be downgraded and have to re do a whole year based on mock results after missing April to July of face to face full time school.

Here's the link to what may happen -

www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/news/pupils-to-sit-mini-summer-exams-marked-by-their-own-teachers-vml307tqg

Sorry! Just seen you have to pay to read the full article, the Daily Mail have taken the story from The Times so apologies for a fail link!

GCSE and A-level pupils will 'STILL face tests this summer'
mol.im/a/9131229

So we have gone from stress of the unknown to stress of exam cancellation with who knows what to stress x 100 of mini exams that no one has ever sat before and no one knows anything about. So they are doing exams. And they drag it out for longer.

Please may I stay with my bottle of wine in the kitchen and not go and tell DD who had finally motivated herself enough to focus on A level content rather than GCSE and is now happily in the study writing a chapter of a new book, and avoid telling her this which will stop her in her tracks however much I ‘try’ and dress it up as something positive.

Pants

DD’s response: so this is why people end up having revolutions. If I were to accidentally kill GW in a skirmish would I be hailed as a war hero in future years or would I never see the light of day again? They said on TV mum exams were cancelled.

My thoughts: hope it never come to this and so proud of DD, despite seeing her crying at this and struggling to understand the sheer stupidity of this decision she’ll be fine whatever happens but some DCs will struggle, some of those are her friends and she hurts when they crumple.

Any strategies for supporting DCs who want to support other DCs people when you get fined for even going out on a walk these days? DD has a vulnerable friend who she hasn’t talked to yet on this subject and will stay quiet for the moment but when they find out will take this news badly. I’ve just said keep the lines of comms open and if I need to take her to see her friend and drive five miles to help her friend not harm herself then common sense will prevail. I will drop a subtle line to the mum of course and say we are there.

Of course, it is just one idea. Of potentially many. Who knows what will happen.

But they said firmly on Wednesday that exams were cancelled. Not "you will have a different type of exam marked by your teachers." It's almost as if they make it up as they go along..

DD is supposed to be practicing her spoken language assessment for English. It was her Christmas homework to write and practice it, but she still wants to tweak it lots. I'm not sure why they even do it, as it doesn't count as any marks towards their GCSEs. I'm wondering what other people are doing, have they already presented theirs in other schools or are you not bothering about it now?

DS did his by video during the summer term.

In order to support DD and DDs friends locally we have rationalised it like this:
DH &I work from home
Do DDs friends parents work from home/furloughed
Are DDs friends families risk takers? Thank fully no
Have we had a two week period of fairly strict isolation in an area with relatively low numbers? Yes
You may met a friend for a local walk, masks on, enjoy

I'm seeing lots of older people, in couples, meeting up chatting. I feel my teens need this social contact, they come back really appreciative and because they are not going to the supermarket/doctors/post office/petrol station/garden centre it's a small risk.

(I'm more worried about my parents super spreading it around, they run 'errands' every day, if tack n trace get hold of them it will take forever to notify their tracks)

But to avoid the accusations of inflated grades and to get standardisation between schools they will need some form of assessment, which will mean exams.
My daughters school does iGCSEs, which at the moment are going ahead (as are IB for those not doing A levels). While my daughter wanted the validation of actually taking the exam, it is not fair for her to spend endless hours revising for one chance at a grade when the majority are to assessed by their own teachers through shorter more targeted exams.
It seems inconceivable that the government, who knew there was a possibility of cancellation, did not already have a system ready to go to ensure a trusted and robust method of assessment. Or the recognition that not all students take gcses and A levels.

DS got his mock results through the post today.
They were worse than he thought - he is really disappointed with himself for not revising. I don't think he thought he would get the grades he has despite not revising, at least 2 or 3 grades below the "expected grades" he's had in everything. He has just said it is the kick up the bum he needed - hopefully it's not too late :( They are talking about another set of mocks in March - fingers crossed they get the chance to do them. We are currently devising a revision timetable and sorting through the work he can do between now and then.

We also got my DD mocks, she's dropped in about half her subjects but to be honest with the 2 week isolation right before the mocks & her lack of any real plan to the revision I'm not surprised. I think this also reflects the lack of work for the summer term last year especially as she completely disengaged by May. Hopefully she can bump the grades up a bit but to be honest, she'd have what she needs to get into the A level courses so I'm not stressing about it.

@LynetteScavo my DSs school are doing their English speaking this week on teams. I think it's good for their confidence so we're pleased it's going ahead.

A bit more clarity, but still some unknowns in this Schools Week article: schoolsweek.co.uk/revealed-williamson-sets-out-his-plan-for-replacing-exams-this-year/

www.gov.uk/government/consultations/consultation-on-how-gcse-as-and-a-level-grades-should-be-awarded-in-summer-2021

Anyone can respond.

DD tells me she now won't be getting the results from her mock exams as teachers will be using these grades for final exams. She also won't be told how well (or not) she's done in her drama performance and drama portfolio- I don't know it that's usual or not.

As usual school haven't communicated any of this to parents.

We received DS mock results and they were better than I thought. After speaking to teachers on parents eve felt even better.
If you get a chance ask where roughly your child came in the class. If they got a 3 and the rest of the class for a 2 it speaks volumes of what the actual mock was like and how they will use those results going forward. Appreciate that may not work for subjects where they are in ability classes.

We got DS’s mock results mostly before Christmas and this week had a Spring Term report based on those results and expected results at the end of the school year.

My dd got her mock results Yesterday. She didn't mange to sit all of them because the whole year group were sent home to isolate before they were complete. She hasn't done too badly, but not as well as expected. The ones she did were all 6s and 7s but French speaking was a 3- she's predicted a 6. She probably would have got higher if she'd been able to sit the reading and writing papers too but she's really gutted with this mark. She's hoping for all 7 8 and 9s in the final grades as she will need high grades for the area she wants to do, but I don't know what to do to help her improve- she's demotivated at the moment working at home and feels she can't work any harder. Anyone with experience of how much they can improve between mocks and the real thing?

@freakstar

It's not at all unusual to improve by a couple of grades.