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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Exams cancelled 2

999 replies

Orangeblossom1977 · 08/02/2021 09:31

Started a new thread as last one is full.

OP posts:
AllAboveAverage · 03/03/2021 10:44

@Cuddling57

'Any allowances/compensation made for the extenuating circumstances?' I feel this is all of them! A lot in my child's maths class seem borderline 4. If they had been at school as normal surely a lot more of them would pass? If they take working at grades and they are all just below a 4 they will have to resit the exam either another year or November. I just don't feel that's right.
It seems that there is no clear plan yet, and schools may be devising their own systems. Not surprising given that the guidance from govt/Ofqual is not yet forthcoming.

Potentially basing grades on work already completed/work not yet done. Or on mocks, mini tests, class-based timed or not timed assessments.

Then work will be 'judged' based on where a child is placed within a class/year group/ what they know on some or all of the curriculum/what they might have got on their best day/what they might have got had they had access to face to face teaching for all of the course/where teachers think they are now and can evidence, without acknowledgment of either lost teaching time/expertise or the MH/practical impact of the epidemic which will vary between students.

Essentially, it is currently a mess - and not just because CAGs are a hard thing to do in a system not designed for CAGs, but because the govt has failed to plan. Failing schools, teacher and kids.

FWIW, I think teachers should have the flexibility to use whatever evidence they see fit that show students in their best light. We have to have trust that schools will not game the system - this would be picked up if an entire cohort does much better than previous cohorts. But I think an essential part of the process should be students' well-being, and putting more pressure on them now would be cruel to some. So no to high stakes tests and no to judging them as if the pandemic hadn't happened.

Final word - I've not seen much about students with SEN. Many will not have had access to the additional support they would have had in normal times, nor the intensive kind of exam practice etc that would happen when the curriculum is finished. They may have had greater struggles to engage with online learning (and trust me, many, many of these students have not been in school especially in secondary). They are at a greater disadvantage for sure - not heard anything about how this will be mitigated. Including on here. (Also applies to EAL, and other characteristics that may not have met the 'vulnerable' children high bar, but who are certainly more disadvantaged than the average student)

NotDonna · 03/03/2021 14:48

Thank you so much for this honesty noble

MrsHamlet · 03/03/2021 14:55

@AllAboveAverage I can only speak for my school but we've worked really hard to continue to support our students with SEN. I have a year 11 with 1:1 support and he is getting that remotely and it's working. He was offered a place in school but is well supported at home. Every student who gets 1:1 is getting it, and every student who has support is being supported as best we can.
It won't be the same for every student but then it never is!

NotDonna · 03/03/2021 15:00

Same here. 1:1 dyslexia support has continued online weekly. They’ve also been offered a school place. Again, I’m sure it’s patchy nationally.

noblegiraffe · 03/03/2021 15:00

It's a nightmare for teachers (and exam boards), NotDonna but as I've been telling my classes, it's good news for them. We don't need to worry about what we give them being messed around with by rogue algorithms producing bonkers results like last year.

Schools aren't going to come up with systems that produce dreadful results. We've got an idea of what our kids should be getting and so we'll be working towards that. So long as what we produce isn't mad, it'll be allowed.

NotDonna · 03/03/2021 15:01

think teachers should have the flexibility to use whatever evidence they see fit that show students in their best light. We have to have trust that schools will not game the system 100% hope so @AllAboveAverage

NotDonna · 03/03/2021 15:02

And that’s very reassuring noble!

HercwasanEnemyofEducation · 03/03/2021 18:11

We've had our initial plans for assessment and they are very much "do what shows the students in the best light". Please try not to worry if you are a parent, it is in everyone's interest for them to do well.

The exam board stuff is apparently coming March 21st. My gut is that nothing the exam boards provide will be much use beyond that we already have available. They won't link topics to grades, they can't provide grades for a paper with optional questions and they won't give unseen graded papers because they've never been sat so there is no cohort to norm reference from. We may get new questions/mark schemes but that's about it.

treeeeemendous · 03/03/2021 19:11

Do any of you teachers know when the students are likely to finish this year? dd just wants an end date she's finding it very stressful

HercwasanEnemyofEducation · 03/03/2021 19:13

Grades have to be submitted by 18th June. Our last assessment will be done before May half term to give time to standardise and grade. We will struggle to keep students motivated after that so I hope they go at half term and return for sixth form prep lessons.

MrsHamlet · 03/03/2021 19:54

We're waiting on confirmation of when we can let them go. Our last date is June 7th for internal stuff and then I will be too dead to do anything so I doubt it'll be before then.
That's more or less normal for us. We don't have study leave so, in normal times, they're in full time until the bulk of big exams are done.

poppycat10 · 03/03/2021 20:31

But I think an essential part of the process should be students' well-being, and putting more pressure on them now would be cruel to some. So no to high stakes tests and no to judging them as if the pandemic hadn't happened

Yes

Schools aren't going to come up with systems that produce dreadful results. We've got an idea of what our kids should be getting and so we'll be working towards that. So long as what we produce isn't mad, it'll be allowed

This sounds good but it feels like my son's college are just going to ignore the fact that the pandemic has happened. To be honest, they've done a fantastic job of not falling behind, and the kids should generally in a good place. But that doesn't mean the pandemic hasn't happened, and not all subjects were as good as each other. Teachers should be robust (you can't give everyone an A or someone who is working at the level of a D a B) but I do think if a pupil is borderline they should be given the benefit of the doubt and given the higher grade. And no bell curves - kids should get what they deserve, not compared with others.

HercwasanEnemyofEducation · 03/03/2021 21:30

We kind of have to ignore the pandemic has happened once we have assessed them. We're giving the grade they are working at, not the grade they would have got with no pandemic. But when deciding what to assess students on and the evidence we use, we will very much keep in mind that the pandemic has happened.

noblegiraffe · 03/03/2021 21:50

If you’ve got a question about how exam results will be approached, please ask the children’s minister by midday tomorrow www.mumsnet.com/Talk/education/4181807-Q-A-with-Vicky-Ford-MP-Childrens-Minister-about-return-to-school-for-all-children

Cuddling57 · 03/03/2021 22:17

Thank you Noble I am going to repost you comment on another thread to encourage some other parents Smile

HappySonHappyMum · 04/03/2021 13:20

Just wondering how your DCs schools are going about getting 'evidence' to prove your DCs grades? My DDs school has decided that two weeks of formal assessments under exam conditions is the way to go and they will be starting on March 22nd. My DD will have two weeks to settle back into the school routine and cope with the inevitable stress and anxiety this will cause, whilst revising for exams that she doesn't feel prepared for. Am genuinely furious about this. Have spoken to the head of year and she assures me it will all be OK Angry.

AlexaShutUp · 04/03/2021 13:24

Ours have two weeks of formal exams starting on 8 March, @HappySonHappyMum. Be grateful for the fact that your dc has a couple of weeks to settle back into school first. My dd would have really appreciated that.

Original poster
Orangeblossom1977 · 04/03/2021 13:38

My DDs school has decided that two weeks of formal assessments under exam conditions is the way to go and they will be starting on March 22nd

Same here but most taking place after Easter. They are finishing for Summer at the end of May

OP posts:
Fortyfifty · 04/03/2021 13:49

The latest is that they will be assessed the last 2 weeks before May half term. A mix of past papers or college written papers and exam board mini exams.

DH's school after doing mocks as soon as they are back and then another set of exams next half term.

DD is on a WhatsApp chat for offer holders of her preferred university and students are discussing the different ways they are being assessed. It's really unfair the differing amounts of stress they will be experiencing but inevitable with such poor guidance from the government. DD said she used to feel like it was the pupils and teachers working together against the exams system but now feels like she's on her own now the teachers are the exam system. Hopefully once back at college she'll feel better about it all... once she knows when she is back...!

HappySonHappyMum · 04/03/2021 13:51

Is this not a bit crap though?! The government advice on how to grade isn't being given to schools until Easter. I really feel for all our kids - it's horrible. My DD is beyond stressed about this whole situation. They're not going to get the best results out of any of these kids are they so what's the real point?

AlexaShutUp · 04/03/2021 14:01

I think teachers and schools are doing the best they can in difficult circumstances tbh. It's ridiculous that the government guidelines still haven't been published.

I know at our school, they're keen to get as much assessment done before covid cases start rising again and loads of kids have to isolate. They're in a bit of a no-win situation tbh.

It's shit for the kids to have to go straight back into exams. They haven't had time to prepare properly, and my dd is just craving a bit of normal contact with her friends. She's really low at the moment, and it's hard to manage stress when none of your normal coping mechanisms are available, but it is what it is. We're in the middle of a pandemic so we accept that nothing can be normal.

I'm pretty sure it's shit for the teachers too, and I understand that they need to gather as much evidence as they can. We've been told that there will be further assessments in May. It's relentless. Ultimately, though, I trust that they are doing this to give the kids the best possible chance to prove what they are capable of, and that the teachers will do their best to assign fair grades on the basis of all of the evidence available.

Neversaygoodbye · 04/03/2021 15:25

We too have exams starting next Tuesday and they're so determined to cram them all into the 2 weeks my DD even has her 2nd History paper after school on the 18th! I don't know how much weight is going into these exam marks but I can't believe they will be performing at their best having come straight from 2 months of virtual learning..in fact due to self isolation and mocks before xmas DD hasn't been in school since mid-November. Add in the stress of LFT and wearing masks. We have virtual parents evening in an hour, 4 minutes per teacher on zoom...not sure what the point of that is and I bet the teachers could do without it too! I would have thought it should wait until after these exams.

MrsHamlet · 04/03/2021 17:30

I know at our school, they're keen to get as much assessment done before covid cases start rising again and loads of kids have to isolate. They're in a bit of a no-win situation tbh.

We're not assessing yet. My fear is that we'll be further disrupted before we do and that will actually make the situation worse rather than better

ineedaholidaynow · 04/03/2021 17:58

DS's school has moved mocks to straight after Easter holidays and then going to have mixture of exams, assessments and revision. I am hoping it is not going to be too stressful, think it would have broken me, but DS seems calm at the moment.

NotDonna · 04/03/2021 18:37

Crikey! I’m really surprised that a number of your DCs are hitting the deck running with assessments immediately on return. I think that approach would seriously stress both my DC. Thankfully, our school is waiting until the exam boards send out the full info. I expect they’ll start after Easter, giving them the holidays for revision. I do hope so. But like mrsHamlet says there’s then the possibility of disruption.