quote:

Originally posted by disley21:

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:
e.g. x % would get a c... then they divided the rest up and down the scale... so you could only ever get 12 % of students getting the A.

That seems to have changed.

That change was a good idea. It's unfair to say only x percentage can get a certain grade when you may have far more attaining the necessary marks.

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

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Originally posted by skive:


I think there is definitely some 'tweaking' done by the QCA ditty but there are still regression graphs for allocating grades and I can honestly, hand on heart, say that Eng Lit now is as hard as it was when I did it 20-odd years ago.

I suppose I can't comment really on the sciences etc but I guess the subject content would by necessity be somewhat different purely because our technology/knowledge evolves.

Thats good to know. So if its still done on regression graphs... how come the news are reporting 26.7% pass at A grade.... is it a twisted statistic then? ( I wouldn't be surprised). Or... have they upped the upper percentage allocation.

LOL! Am I making any sense to you... given that you know the jargon.. and I am rambling.

Its some of the GCSE science content yes that I have noticed a difference. My daughter & I have the same areas of academic interest... so I notice stuff I remember sweating over in school.... now not included in GCSE, but is deemed A Level material.

But I am not saying they are easy... I know they aren't easy. My daughter may be bright, exceptionally bright, but she's still had to work damned hard over the past two years... whilst her mates went out and socialised... she studied every night.

ALso hubby was saying that at his school (some posh nobby boys boarding school) it was almost unheard of for a kid to get straight A's in A levels.

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Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:
I went to a pretty good grammar school (usually one of the top 50 schools in the country) and did O levels where we could only do 9 and it was almost unheard of for anyone to get all A's.

1 girl in my year did and she was thought to be a geeky freak.

Now you get loads of kids getting 11/12/13 A* at GCSE.

I can't believe they are so much brighter now than this girl was then.

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
One of my friends got an A with distinction in every A and O level he took and he took extra ones. Mind you he did end up at Cambridge.

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Originally posted by skive:

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Originally posted by SazBomb:

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Originally posted by skive:
And all of those working class kids off to Higher Education, most of them the first in their family to go. I'm dead proud of them.

that was me that was *tear in eye*

me too saz.

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
One of my friends got an A with distinction in every A and O level he took and he took extra ones. Mind you he did end up at Cambridge.

Is he still there?

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Originally posted by skive:

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Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:
I went to a pretty good grammar school (usually one of the top 50 schools in the country) and did O levels where we could only do 9 and it was almost unheard of for anyone to get all A's.

1 girl in my year did and she was thought to be a geeky freak.

Now you get loads of kids getting 11/12/13 A* at GCSE.

I can't believe they are so much brighter now than this girl was then.

They're not FGG but there are more subjects available - some of which reward practical and creative skills - and often a coursework component which does advantage students.

It depends what we're rewarding, the ability to do well in exams or the ability to apply knowledge or skill in different circumstances.

On the whole I would agree that some GCSEs are easier than O Levels but I don't necessarily think that's a bad thing.

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
One of my friends got an A with distinction in every A and O level he took and he took extra ones. Mind you he did end up at Cambridge.

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:
Still waiting for you Moomin!

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
One of my friends got an A with distinction in every A and O level he took and he took extra ones. Mind you he did end up at Cambridge.

Is he still there?

Lol Im not that young

No he didnt fit in being an oik and hated every living minute there. He was going to be a doctor but changed his mind and dropped out. I havent seen him for years so not sure what he is up to now.

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:
Still waiting for you Moomin!

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Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:

As for the 11+ people getting their kids tutored for it bugs me...If the can't pass it naturally, for want of a better phrase, then then really shouldn't be taking the place than someone else could use to better advantage.

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Originally posted by skive:

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:
Still waiting for you Moomin!

I hope she just reads the first page and doesn't feel obliged to plough through pages of ponderings on the state of education today!

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

quote:

Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:

As for the 11+ people getting their kids tutored for it bugs me...If the can't pass it naturally, for want of a better phrase, then then really shouldn't be taking the place than someone else could use to better advantage.

Some of my daughters classmates shouldn't have been there... it was cruel really. They had been hothoused to pass the 11+.... but had neither the natural ability, or the inclination to keep up to the speed and level of tuition.

I used to feel quite sorry for some of them. But you're right... there were kids who should have been there... who probably didn't even sit the 11+, as it has to be parent driven to even find out where its being held, and how to apply to sit it.

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Originally posted by skive:
ditty and FGG the BIGGEST factor in a child's success at school is the attitude of their parents - sounds to me like your kids are v lucky!

Right off for me tea, hope moomin's okay.

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Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:


When I took my son and his mate to sit theirs it sickened me to see the pressure some of the parents were putting on their kids who were mostly only 10 at the time...even as the kids were walking in they were shouting last minute instructions at them!

I just told mine to go and have fun with it.

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

quote:

Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:


When I took my son and his mate to sit theirs it sickened me to see the pressure some of the parents were putting on their kids who were mostly only 10 at the time...even as the kids were walking in they were shouting last minute instructions at them!

I just told mine to go and have fun with it.

Same!! I was walking into the exam centre with Mo, and infront of us was a mother sternly saying to this trembling 10yr old boy "you have to do this, you must pass... your future depends on it!"

I was shocked!

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

quote:

Originally posted by CaptVimes:
One of my friends got an A with distinction in every A and O level he took and he took extra ones. Mind you he did end up at Cambridge.

Is he still there?

Lol Im not that young

No he didnt fit in being an oik and hated every living minute there. He was going to be a doctor but changed his mind and dropped out. I havent seen him for years so not sure what he is up to now.

hahaha Cool! I like him now!

My daughter doesn't want to go to Oxford or Cambridge... cos she has this fear of getting stuck there... and wearing leather elbow patches... and discuss maths theorems over afternoon tea!

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
It really is that bad there from what he said. Sorry for anyone that has been there i can only go by what he said. He got on more with the Americans there than the brits, played for the American football team there. It was a few years ago now though

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
It really is that bad there from what he said. Sorry for anyone that has been there i can only go by what he said. He got on more with the Americans there than the brits, played for the American football team there. It was a few years ago now though

The school daughter has just left is outraged that she won't consider oxbridge. They think it is the be all and end all. She struggled with alot of the pomposity at her grammar school (as did I! ).... she see's right through snobbery... its not the place for her!

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Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:
I think they should be grammar schools...my son was a bit of a fish out of water at first when he went to the local comp (having been taught at home by me for 6 months cos the LEA gave him No offer of a place at all).

Although he did ok and was able to get to the Uni he wanted he got into bad habits and just coasted through cos he was always the top of everything up to year 9 and so never bothered really trying.

He needed to be at a Grammar School to have kids cleverer than him to make him work a bit harder.

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
It really is that bad there from what he said. Sorry for anyone that has been there i can only go by what he said. He got on more with the Americans there than the brits, played for the American football team there. It was a few years ago now though

The school daughter has just left is outraged that she won't consider oxbridge. They think it is the be all and end all. She struggled with alot of the pomposity at her grammar school (as did I! ).... she see's right through snobbery... its not the place for her!

Couldnt she get a place in Harvard or Stanford. Now thats where I would go now If I was that bright .

quote:

Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
It really is that bad there from what he said. Sorry for anyone that has been there i can only go by what he said. He got on more with the Americans there than the brits, played for the American football team there. It was a few years ago now though

The school daughter has just left is outraged that she won't consider oxbridge. They think it is the be all and end all. She struggled with alot of the pomposity at her grammar school (as did I! ).... she see's right through snobbery... its not the place for her!

Couldnt she get a place in Harvard or Stanford. Now thats where I would go now If I was that bright .

Thankfully not!!! (she'd love to go to uni in Japan). One of the terms of her 6th form boarding scholarship is that she continues to do a science based degree in the UK!

quote:

Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

quote:

Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:
I think they should be grammar schools...my son was a bit of a fish out of water at first when he went to the local comp (having been taught at home by me for 6 months cos the LEA gave him No offer of a place at all).

Although he did ok and was able to get to the Uni he wanted he got into bad habits and just coasted through cos he was always the top of everything up to year 9 and so never bothered really trying.

He needed to be at a Grammar School to have kids cleverer than him to make him work a bit harder.

See.... I knew it! You could have described my daughter there! When I was moving her to a different primary school I desperately tried to find one that would give her what she needed.... but if you try to define bright as a special education need... you get jumped on!

What you have just described... would have been exactly what would have happened to Mo, had she not gone to the grammar school.

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
Well I wouldnt sniff at the chance of duel citizenship and the opportunities....eek Japan

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Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

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Originally posted by CaptVimes:
Well I wouldnt sniff at the chance of duel citizenship and the opportunities....eek Japan

Capt her scholarship is sponsored by Toshiba, and she will be out of this country to pursue engineering excellence the minute she possibly can... I have no doubt she'll end up in the states at some point...

If it were me... Harvard would be my dream... would redo my MBA.... I can dream! lol!

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Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:

It really annoys my husband cos Joe would end up disappointed with result that he'd done absolutely no work for and and he would get told 'how do you think that makes the kids that have worked their arses off and not got what you have, feel?'

Once in year 9 he did the Maths GCSE and got an a and the topped the SATs for Maths, English and was about 3rd for Science he thought he could stop working and did.

Had he been at a Grammar school I'm sure he would have been jumped on but at his school like many other comps the main focus is to get the 'nearlys' up to the 5 A-C grades....cos joe was always going to get that it didn't matter...but he shouldn't have got B's he should have been one of the kids getting all A*s.

Half the time its all a postcode lottery.

quote:

Originally posted by skive:

quote:

Originally posted by CaptVimes:
One of my friends got an A with distinction in every A and O level he took and he took extra ones. Mind you he did end up at Cambridge.

One of my students who just got his results today got straight As at GCSE and A Level and wanted to do PPE at Cambridge. He is exceptionally erudite and a remarkably well read young man for his age. And yet Cambridge rejected him!

I can only assume it's because he's a working class lad from an average comp who was planning to get bursaries and grants etc.

I told him it's their loss the bunch of snobs.

quote:

Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:

quote:

Originally posted by Dirtyprettygirlthing:

quote:

Originally posted by FGG Aka Crocodile Rock:

As for the 11+ people getting their kids tutored for it bugs me...If the can't pass it naturally, for want of a better phrase, then then really shouldn't be taking the place than someone else could use to better advantage.

Some of my daughters classmates shouldn't have been there... it was cruel really. They had been hothoused to pass the 11+.... but had neither the natural ability, or the inclination to keep up to the speed and level of tuition.

I used to feel quite sorry for some of them. But you're right... there were kids who should have been there... who probably didn't even sit the 11+, as it has to be parent driven to even find out where its being held, and how to apply to sit it.

When I took my son and his mate to sit theirs it sickened me to see the pressure some of the parents were putting on their kids who were mostly only 10 at the time...even as the kids were walking in they were shouting last minute instructions at them!

I just told mine to go and have fun with it.

quote:

Originally posted by Moomin:
You're right Skive I did leave the computer on and on this page when I dashed off to school with my son.
Only just felt able to come back on here now, as it's not been a very nice day.

Thank you so much for worrying about me.

quote:

Originally posted by Moomin:
You're right Skive I did leave the computer on and on this page when I dashed off to school with my son.
Only just felt able to come back on here now, as it's not been a very nice day.

Thank you so much for worrying about me.