Calling all Teachers

[Bitteplease]

I realise that there are no concessions given for the exams this year. Guess they have to end at some stage.

However, when speaking to teacher friends, they privately admit that their students are definitely not at the same stage they would have expected pre the pandemic, although this is not something discussed externally and certainly not communicated to parents.

Both work in secondaries, one in an indie where some GCSEs are taught over 3 years (and although in principle they should have had time to catch up as normally run as a 2-year course elsewhere, the school has not been used to teaching it over 2 years and so the change and transition in that itself has made it hard and kids are behind, not to mention staff shortages last year). My other friend works in a high performing state comp (GCSE courses are taught over 2 years so although they are doing well and have caught up some they are still behind, but also due to there being less of a working set up for virtual learning early on in the pandemic).

So, I'm calling all teachers teaching at GCSE level - are your students where you would normally expect them to be, or do you see gaps or expect to complete your syllabus later than pre-Covid?

Have never been more please
To have a year 11 who knows what results he needs to do chosen a levels and is putting the work in
Bizarrely we are finding the teachers a lot more difficult, both in year 11 and year 9 than in previous years, so I guess it goes both ways!

@mumof3now2 sorry, could you define what you mean by "more difficult" teachers?

One teacher stood in front of a class of year 11 English students, and told them 'you are all shit at the work and lazy'
I've never had cause to complain about a teacher, until this. When I spoke to the head of English, the teacher admitted what she had said, and apologised both to my son (who is predicted an 8, so not lazy) and the class as a whole.
Unfortunately after the Xmas break she accused them of not bringing their text into class.. the text she had taken off them before the break so they didn't loose it.
This is just 1 example, but I think people need to realise it can go both ways, it's not always just the kids

Unfortunately after the Xmas break she accused them of not bringing their text into class.. the text she had taken off them before the break so they didn't loose it

Crikey. Take away her teaching license now then. What a terrible crime.
Re the comment she apparently made, it would be worth reflecting on how hideous that lesson must have been to push her to that comment. Teachers in my (20 year experience) are very aware that such a comment (with the language as you describe) could cost her her job. I'm surprised it was handled at head of department level and the head wasn't involved?

Sorry? She apparently said it? She called me and apologised, she didn't apparently do anything.
I'm not getting into an argument with you, just because I won't tow the all teachers are fabulous, it must be the pesky kids party line.

This is quite a sad read. A cohort of apathetic children. My son and his friends still seem motivated and the teachers say the content is covered now. But the idea that the same percentage of each grade will be awarded as 2019 is something i struggle to wrap my head round.

But nothing to do with the teaching of course.

We will finish the course at exactly the same time as normal, despite a 3 year gcse. Behaviour is a little worse than usual, but the biggest problem is the number of parents who have lower expectations of the children. Not in terms of academic performance, but in behaviour and attitude to work. There was always one or two who made excuses for their DCs, but this year there seems to be loads of them. Loads are focussed on how hard their children have had it over the last few years, rather than modelling resilience.

That's interesting though not what I've heard from parents I've spoken with (but maybe we're in a bubble). I don't think they've been permissive but rather surprised at how badly many of DD's friends did in their mocks and unexpected too (but definitely not making excuses).

When you say you will finish the syllabus at the normal time, when is that?

We will finish the syllabus shortly and move onto revision.

This year's cohort are our worst in years but they've been a handful all the way from yr7.

I'm exhausted and leaving teaching as a result of the incessant pressure, unending criticism (see upthread) and mad expectations of not just leading the horse to water but shoving it's head in and ensuring it drinks sufficient water to give a positive residual. I get good results. I am an experienced, safe pair of hands, good teacher. And I am out.

Primary school teacher here. Yr 6, and I've never taught a class with such a lack of resilience. Constant arguing about why they shouldn't have to do the work. Walking out of the classroom if they can't do something instead of putting their hand up and asking for help.
It doesn't bode well for when they get to secondary school.

But the idea that the same percentage of each grade will be awarded as 2019 is something i struggle to wrap my head round.

Why? It’s how grades have been awarded for years. We know now that about 70% of kids in Y11 will pass their maths GCSE in the summer. We don’t know yet who those kids will be.

Because I've never thought about it before? I suppose i imagined there was much more parity between different year groups beyond you were the middle 15% of your cohort.

Not a teacher but can someone explain the grade boundaries. Is it based on a bell curve with, say, grades awarded above/below that dependent on how the overall cohort did or are their 'set' grade boundaries which then flex if the cohort did very badly (or well)?

So do teachers have any idea what a 9/8/7 grade boundaries might be this year?

We will finish the course shortly after Feb half term.

It isn't permissiveness as such, it seems to be a complete failure on the part of both parents and students to realise that they actually have to do work both in class and at home. It is still a minority of parents / students. But a far bigger proportion than I've known before.

With grading, the papers are designed to be an approximately equal level of difficulty each year so (if designed perfectly) the same percentage would get you the same grade each year. However, it isn't an exact science so it can be quite difficult to predict how a cohort students will interpret questions. Therefore, grade boundaries aren't set until after exams are completed and around 80% have been marked.

This website lets you see the distribution of grades for different subjects at GCSE:

https://analytics.ofqual.gov.uk/apps/GCSE/9to1/

Thank you @JemimaTiggywinkles That's really helpful and a great link.

On another note how will the strikes affect all of this. Will teachers have to play catch up then, can't be easy!

Note: it's toe the line and lose not loose (as a verb).

Are we going to see the answers and opinions in this thread in a newspaper article any time soon?

So do teachers have any idea what a 9/8/7 grade boundaries might be this year?

No, they are set after the exams have been sat. They are usually around the same sort of ballpark figure each year but given the disruption of recent years, who knows?

I would have more sympathy were it not for the fact that the majority of teachers on here seemed to want longer and more comprehensive school closures than actually happened; I think it should be fairly obvious that the time kids spent out of school is a huge part of this. Not just knowledge gaps but also getting into bad habits, excessive screen time and, frankly, depression and mental health issues caused by isolation.

I thought most teachers on here wanted measures put in place in schools that would help keep them open.

We didn’t get them, and schools not only closed for a second time but have been blighted by high levels of sickness absence since then.

This has undoubtedly contributed to the gaps in knowledge and lack of consistency in learning.

A lack of qualified teachers due to recruitment and retention issues and teacher absence due to sickness have also contributed.

Unfortunately there have been some poor teachers at my son's school. A lot of it boils down to 'do as I say, not as I do' which really doesn't wash with a bunch of 15/16 year olds. On the flip side, he has 2 incredible, consistent, enthusiastic teachers for the two subjects he's performing best in, which I don't believe is a coincidence.

Behaviour is a big issue at my son's school, so many parents who don't back up the school. And apathy seems to be rife, my son included.

I think it should be fairly obvious that the time kids spent out of school is a huge part of this.

I don't think that even comes close to the impact of repeated individual absence of both kids and staff. Which was (in part) due to the government's refusal to fund anything which would have limited the spread of infection within school. The closure of a whole school you can plan for and mitigate. Repeated random absences are much harder and much more disruptive to overall learning.

Unfortunately there have been some poor teachers at my son's school.

And because there is a huge recruitment and retention issue, the school will have little choice but to appoint people who aren't very good, and keep them because they cannot be replaced. I work in a shortage subject where I'm seeing jobs advertised repeatedly because the school couldn't get anyone at all. Nobody would sack a poor physics teacher (unless they did something to get banned from teaching) because the chances of getting someone to even fill the post in many schools is pretty low.

To be fair there are a lot of shit teachers out there too, as well as difficult kids. I'm always gobsmacked how out of touch they can be with progressive ideas about how children learn and their weird priorities. It starts with reward charts/ dark cloud, rainbow, sunshine charts in primary and never really moves on. Yes they are stretched/ under pressure and squashed by the system, but I'm constantly shocked by how clueless they are on stuff i thought was common knowledge these days. One teacher (who insists on being addressed Dr ) at my child's school spent the whole of the 1st maths lesson of year 7 having them draw margins in their book, FFS! and threatening detention to those who weren't neat enough. My kids loved maths but happens to have dyspraxia. That lesson ruined all natural enthusiasm and excitement for the subject. And what did the class learn from that lesson? Nothing positive.

To be fair there are a lot of shit teachers out there too, as well as difficult kids.

It is a vicious circle. Behaviour is worse as some kids and parents don't respect teachers as professionals. Many good teachers leave and people who would be good don't even train. Good teachers who are left are then struggling to fill the gaps. Quality of teaching lowers, impacting behaviour and respect for the profession. And it continues ad infinitum.

The cycle can, of course, be broken. But it would require a huge shift in priorities and rhetoric from the government. I'm not Tony Blair's biggest fan, but I acknowledge I was fortunate to be educated during his focus on improving education.

One teacher (who insists on being addressed Dr)

Presumably because that’s her title?