School refusing to give GCSE predictions

[BirthdayBadger]

DS is in year 11 (in an independent school). No mocks have been done at all and the school is saying that they are not going to give us any predictions and that there's no point in even asking. We know that predictions exist because DS applied to go to a different sixth form and his school needed to supply them for the new school to consider him.

Is this normal? I feel that we actually have no idea how he is really doing. We had a very inconclusive parents evening recently where some teachers gave test results which helped a bit but not all subjects had had any recent tests, or the teachers wouldn't comment. So, we are concerned that we don't actually know how well he is doing at all.

Is this what other schools are doing? Surely it's usual to provide some kind of prediction so that a clear idea of where the pupils are at is given and steps for extra support can be given if needed?

P.S. Any predicted grades given in the Autumn term were likely given on the premise that the school year would proceed as normal - schools were not given any form of heads up that we would be going into lockdown.

@HelloDulling

How do you manage to request a review of marking without the students permission? I thought all boards now required students permission.

[quote HercwasanEnemyofEducation]@BirthdayBadger That is literally the learning process. Students from v young are used to listening to teacher feedback and acting upon it. Most of the 15/16yos I teach are great at it.[/quote]
Good to hear. I’d also hope they’d ask for clarification if they were unsure of teacher feedback. I think there’s a much more collegiate approach with students and teachers in yr10 to yr13 than in younger years. Certainly more than I had at school many moons ago. The fact that parents’ evenings are very much ‘student evenings’ with a parent listening in demonstrates the shift. These learning skills are essential in the workplace too. I’d be disappointed if teens are leaving school, especially 6th form without these skills, confidence and maturity. I get they’re still being developed in Yr11 though.

@HercwasanEnemyofEducation I’m assuming just her school. She was a bit annoyed as she would have prepped. Some of her friends were in tears over it. They were due mocks first week back in Jan so all revised over Xmas. I’ve never seen DD2 work so hard. She did minimum 6 hours revision a day & only took xmas day & Boxing Day off. Did half day New Years. So was disappointed that mocks didn’t go ahead at all but understood how it would be potentially unfair to do online. Yet they’ve surprised them this last week of half term with a number of tests in various subjects, with no warning. It was a surprise maths test today. No idea if they have a surprise tomorrow or not. No idea if they count or not. She’s taking it in her stride. I’ve said I’d expect it to be formative rather than summative, but it does add to their worry.

DD is yr13 private 6th form.
They did mocks in January and got the results. They aren't classed as predicted grades, but we all know where she is working and where she needs to improve. Are the school providing any feedback?
I don't think that sounds good especially if you are paying for the privilege!

@NotDonna interesting point about parents evenings. I was not allowed to have DS with me. He was totally excluded even though I said he should be there. I was pushing for a scenario where I could see the interaction between him and his teachers at first hand and they were not willing to play ball. It's one of the (many) reasons we are moving him out of there for sixth form.

@purpleboy this I would be absolutely fine with but with no year 10 exams and no mocks I have no idea. I sometimes get him giving me the result of a test but a test on a topic you covered over the last three weeks is different to an exam covering the whole syllabus.

@Sleepthief But still not really an 'embargo' as the PP was call calling it!

It's literally called a results embargo, you have training for it. If you breach it the fines are massive. Have a google

@BirthdayBadger wow! There’s a real push at my DDs’ school for them to be independent learners and that includes their presence at parents evening from year 9. At their previous school they were present from Yr7. They find it weird and awkward at first as the teacher asks them how they think they are doing and pretty much talks to them about progress, with the occasional nod to the parent. It really does encourage students to take ownership of their learning. I assumed all secondaries did this. Considering your school is an Indy they’re really not preparing them for Uni or the workplace. No wonder you’re feeling disgruntled and looking elsewhere.

Maybe it’s worth your DS (who copies you in?) emails each teacher asking how he can improve & what he needs to do to get the best grades possible for him. He needs feedback. It’d be better if he got it rather than you. Would he feel able to do that? Maybe you read through it prior to sending to ensure not too demanding & has a few pleasantries thrown in. My DD1 can be quite curt in her emails 😬

We found it really difficult as neither of my kids schools gave predicted grades.

When ds applied to college he had to do it online and he had to enter predicted grades for each subject. It was a drop down box and the application would not proceed without entering the information so we just had to make it up.

Similarly dd applied to a school where she could have applied for an academic scholarship if she was predicted certain grades but she had no idea (in the end her achieved grades of mostly 8's and a couple of 9's were way above what we guessed she would get mostly 6-8's.) She actually didn't apply for science based A levels on the basis she thought she'd only get 6's.

[quote NotDonna]@BirthdayBadger wow! There’s a real push at my DDs’ school for them to be independent learners and that includes their presence at parents evening from year 9. At their previous school they were present from Yr7. They find it weird and awkward at first as the teacher asks them how they think they are doing and pretty much talks to them about progress, with the occasional nod to the parent. It really does encourage students to take ownership of their learning. I assumed all secondaries did this. Considering your school is an Indy they’re really not preparing them for Uni or the workplace. No wonder you’re feeling disgruntled and looking elsewhere.[/quote]
Yes, I'd be as concerned about that as anything else. I know there is growing concern amongst universities that whilst the kids may be getting great grades, indies are not adequately preparing them for independent learning like their state school peers. DS, who is at a state school, has always attended parents evenings, as well as a termly Academic Mentoring session with just him and his form tutor. We had parents' evening online last week and he was given "on target for", rather than predicted grades, by all his teachers and lots of useful feedback.

In the same position here where our school has also refused to give predicted grades or even target grades to motive DC learning path and provide a good indication of progress or lack thereof.

The thing is, their refusal is clearly protective against legal ramifications that might arise from actual grades awarded being different to those given in the above format.

We are all experiencing a different format this yr and both sides have a valid position. What I think the schools should do is notify parents of their restrictions, provide reasons for these boundaries they have recent set up without consultation and implement a clear and valid alternative to replace what use to be standard practice (predicted/target grades) for current yr 10s, 11s and 13s.

I think parents would be happy with this in light of the current state of affairs.

It’s just not good enough to provide no alternative progress indicator.

For those working below what would have been their target grade, feedback saying ‘you need to do better’ simply isn’t cutting it.

Some teachers are better at feedback than others so this non standardised approach again, just isn’t good enough.

Just a though, would requesting DC Yellis report be worth anything? Doesn’t this provide some kind of prediction?