advice re ks3 results and mock gcse foundation paper

welshgirl78

susancs wrote: »

Movement between sets studying for GCSEs is not flexible anymore as the top set usually cover coursework at a faster pace and take exams earlier than lower sets in a lot subjects. A student who is moved up a set after a GCSE course started would usually not have covered enough work to allow them to keep up. For example in AQA GCSE triple and double Science, both groups study the same first module but the triple group take their exam after three months of study and the double study it for nine months before taking their exam. Top sets in Mathematics take exams early to allow them to concentrate on the extra statistics GCSE they do.

Coursework? Modules? Not any more!

If he is sitting 2014 (a "normal" 2 year course) then there will be one linear paper at the end - and I would be very surprised if there was no flexibility in the 2 years as to whether it was higher or foundation over this time. From the sound of it OP's son is not top set and the suggestion of sitting a year early doesn't seem relevant.

6a at the end of KS3 and a D in a mock 3 months later seems pretty reasonable to me. I imagine the teacher is capable of aggregating what he has got for the half paper to give a percentage that can be converted to a grade - assuming he continued working at the same level for the rest of the paper. I doubt they just said ok, that's 25 out of 100, must be a D!

Personally I would check with the school there is scope for set movement in the future and then leave him where he has been placed for now - they have taught hundreds of pupils before and are obviously setting him where they think is appropriate. By all means work on some exam papers at home and ask the school to keep an eye on him and look at the sets again when they do their next assessment - possibly in January.

Just my 2 cents - HTH!!

carebear13

Thank you for all your advice/opinions everyone.
small- he wants to do a techinical job- we live close to mira and for a long time he has dreamt of working there, and one of the reasons we liked this school was the involvment that have there.
we had a meeting with the principal friday afternoon, and he has allayed a lot of our concerns.
he advised about sats scores,fft scores?? etc. where they expect him to be, that the tests are just a small part of placement etc. he is going to get my son to finish the maths paper as well as follow up on a couple of other points. he was glad to see that we were concerned enough to see him and was really good at explaining how the school works, what expectations they have etc. so for now it's all good. there is a parents meeting on thursday so will be going to that too, to meet ds teachers .

carebear13

welshgirl- is that change in place now? or is it for the next ones starting? funny how they are going back to how it used to be isnt it?
the principal said that there can be movement between sets, and they will be very proactive - it is a very small school- just 75 across the year, so with classes of 25 there is no reason for any child to get left behind/not reach there full potential.

welshgirl78

Cool, sounds like the school are being pro-active so just needs you to keep an eye.

Yes, the exams are changing far too often, but if he has just started year 10 and is sitting a 2 year course then he will be doing a linear paper at the end, with no contributing module exams. If he sits a GCSE this year then it can be linear or modular. Good luck with supporting him

carebear13

yes very pro active- it'sa brand new school so they have a lot to prove to keep their funding.
i was hoping education would be easier by this age, how wrong was i.lol.

thank you.:)

daisiegg

I don't know so much about maths but with English, we don't decide whether to enter students for higher or foundation papers until a month or so before their actual exams at the end of Y11. We wait until we have all possible information and make an informed decision as to which paper will give them the best chance of getting the best grade possible for them. I doubt the decision as to whether to enter for higher or foundation would be set in stone at the start of Y10.

For those saying there is no coursework anymore....true, but there are still Controlled Assessments, which are done throughout the two years, so not every subject is based just on papers in the summer of Y11.

It sounds like your meeting with the head helped to calm your worries a bit. The best of luck to your son!

carebear13

Thank you daisiegg- it did help alot. i never knew it was all so complicated.