Thread 14? Corona Cohort Yr 12 2021 - 'Vaccinations and Eliminations'

[orangecinnamon]

Just place marking for the New Thread!

Why would they not moderate the EPQs as normal? There is no timed exam so is there a pandemic rule for EPQ?

@Monkey2001 I may be wrong but I’ve got something lodged in the darkest recesses of my mind that EPQs in 2020 were given CAGs
As I’ve said, maybe wrong

There are still decisions pending about all qualifications but this is causing particular confusion re any coursework related subjects, and EPQ. Was led to believe no submission of coursework and no external moderation. read recently that we might still be expected to submit samples. Lord knows why.

Should know more next week.

Thanks all for your advice re accreditation. DD has no idea what she actually wants to do after degree tbh, so not sure how important it is. I think I will look at all the courses she is interested in and list which ones are accredited or not.

Re Covid jabs. I received a message on my GP app today saying I may be eligible for the vaccination and to give them a call - I have an appt tomorrow afternoon at a local small hospital! I wasn't expecting it all at, although I am overweight and do get called for the flu jab. It will make going back to work easier, as I am currently on unpaid leave from 1 of my very part time jobs (School nursery at lunch time). In the first lockdown I was told I could stay off as I had the flu jab but this time the criteria was only those EC so I asked what I could do as can't work that job from home and the school said I could take unpaid leave, which is what I'm doing. The nursery is in as usual so around 18 three/four yr olds so I did feel vunerable. Not sure where I stand on having 1 jab now though - no idea how much protection that will give until I've had the 2nd? also no idea which vaccine, assume I will be told tomorrow.

Re EPQs. DD's start in May, and due to be handed in Oct with final submitted in Dec. She gets to pick a teacher to be her mentor.

@Piggywaspushed if they have any sense they will require samples of work from schools which have TAGs which vary significantly from the grades a centre normally achieves. Look at this table of CAGs v previous years from an ACTUAL exam centre last year :

I know . With coursework it is the logistics of bits of paper and the fact that moderators will be WFH, not able to attend in person meetings. Also, the point at which it is acknowledged some coursework couldn't be finished or done properly in some subjects.

(You will still find on a FB page 1000s of parents who think their DCs were undercagged...)

My film results would have looked like that , though. They looked at last three years of results : one of those years had no cohort. The other two years were weak and the affected year were more able. The original algorithm CAGS hammered the poor students, so, in that sense, thank God no algortihm!

There isn't always evidence of work easily spirited up (unless there is coursework) so that is another issue.

My film results would have looked like that , though. They looked at last three years of results : one of those years had no cohort. The other two years were weak and the affected year were more able. The original algorithm CAGS hammered the poor students, so, in that sense, thank God no algortihm!

There isn't always evidence of work easily spirited up (unless there is coursework) so that is another issue.

I think that subjects like film and music are very variable, but those science results are outrageously cheeky - every student suddenly gets A/A*? I do not believe that could possibly be fair.

Yes, I know people who were under-cagged too. DS's school rigorously moderated the results so they were like previous years. 1 boy I knew got a grade lower than he should have had across the board because he was in the school play in March, so did not focus on his mocks, being confident that he would work harder after the exams. His teachers told his parents they would have expected his grades to go up.

My theory is that schools which did not want to tell parents that their children would get poor grades, put in high grades and left the algorithm to do the dirty work. I know of a local private school with outrageous grades.

Yes, I think that last bit is true!

My worst nightmare was Dd being given a mark considerably less than her mocks and coursework results for music. Her school were very organised so all cwk done by December. Music was her top mark, possibly because she spent so much time on it. It would have been so terribly unfair for her to come out with a mark much lower than expected. The anxiety before results day was awful.
So I guess the moral of my little story is err...bring back coursework?!

Glad people are getting vaccine appointments.
Love all the accents discussions.
I don't have any desire to visit Uni's, which is odd because I am Judith Chalmers.

The accent discussions were interesting. DD is really hoping she loses her accent when she goes to Uni. She was born in Swindon, but we moved to the Wirral when she was 3 and picked up the accent very quickly. I found it really odd having a child who sounded different to me. DH and I are quite neutral apparently, but DD definately sounds Wirral. Not that strong, although it's got a little stronger recently due to having more "local" friends as she has got older.A lot of her friends she has known longer (hockey and junior school) have a much milder accents. Anyway she is keen to lose it apparently.

Maybe you need your DC to consider uni in The Hague or somewhere more exotic? Friend's son is doing a year in Singapore so could check that out to see if it's worth the other 3 years in Manchester?

@heifer, I had a Wirral accent until I was 9 - my parents have me on tape as a child talking. But they didn’t because we weren’t local. I seemed to lose it quite quickly when we moved to the midlands.

*’they weren’t local’ was what I meant

After the talk of vaccines yesterday dh had a text. He's going next week. That's good news for us. A few others his age also going the same day. So I think they are on group 7. I'm not in the top 9 groups. So don't expect to be done until May at the earliest.

Got my vaccination next week. Not totally sure why but had pleurisy last year and also was diagnosed with possible MS 10 years ago but never had any issues or treatment with it. Am very happy to take the vaccination though!

It's funny how there are some areas of the country where people want to lose their accent and social/academic prestige is linked to mild or zero accents. I have always noticed this with Birmingham. Scots place great stock in hanging on to accents and would be devastated to be told it had vanished.

Always get a warm feeling hearing a Brummie accent. Especially in London. I feel immediately home sick, even after 35 years away. DD says I still have one, but I think it really only comes out now after a drink

I think Scotland was popular for call centres before they went to India because the accent is seen as positive and calming. I once worked with a Scottish construction company and had to hand calls over to a colleague as I could not decipher the broad Glaswegian accent! There was once a court case in London where they had to get a translator in for a Scottish defendant!

Lots of companies still use Livingston and Newcastle for call centres. I think Scottish was always viewed as 'trusted with the economy and finances'.

[quote Monkey2001]@Piggywaspushed if they have any sense they will require samples of work from schools which have TAGs which vary significantly from the grades a centre normally achieves. Look at this table of CAGs v previous years from an ACTUAL exam centre last year :[/quote]
OMG that is outrageous!

Coincidentally we watched Darren McGarvey’s Class Wars last night - the first episode is all about accents.

Any of the 50 plus partners with diabetes received a shielding letter ?