Unintended consequences.
Oct. 7th, 2013 06:26 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
woolymonkeyAnother episode in the tragicomedy of Mr. Gove...
Squirrel has brought home a letter from Monkey Federation Academies TM. That Maths GCSE he was going to take next month so he could get it over with and concentrate on Additional Maths? Cancelled. Thanks to Gove's campaign to raise standards, 60 kids at MFA will now be learning less Maths rather than more.
Mr. Gove has ruled that only the first sitting of any subject GCSE can be counted towards a school's league table place. So the school has decided not to risk early exams at all. Better to wait until June, when they'll have had more Maths lessons, and bugger the Additional Maths since it's not a GCSE and doesn't get counted towards anything (apart from being massively helpful for Maths A Level next year).
Thing is, kids can sit GCSE as many times as they like and still keep the best result - it's just the school that has to stick with the first grade awarded. The conflict of interests is as obvious as it is unhelpful. The school has made it clear they are pissed off but all they have to suggest is 'Write to your MP'. Maths geek kids are talking about protests and lesson boycotts. Maths geek parents have yet to react. Personally, I'm planning to sigh a lot and have a hot bath.
Dear Mr. Gove,
Did you ever think that maybe the reason schools want multiple shots at the 'same' exam is because the marking and grading have become so erratic? Might it help to make the system more predictable rather than less? Maybe? Or that it might be helpful to consult on new ideas for a minimum of 5 minutes before implementing them? No, of course not. Why would you?
Yours
PissedOffMonkeyMum
Squirrel has brought home a letter from Monkey Federation Academies TM. That Maths GCSE he was going to take next month so he could get it over with and concentrate on Additional Maths? Cancelled. Thanks to Gove's campaign to raise standards, 60 kids at MFA will now be learning less Maths rather than more.
Mr. Gove has ruled that only the first sitting of any subject GCSE can be counted towards a school's league table place. So the school has decided not to risk early exams at all. Better to wait until June, when they'll have had more Maths lessons, and bugger the Additional Maths since it's not a GCSE and doesn't get counted towards anything (apart from being massively helpful for Maths A Level next year).
Thing is, kids can sit GCSE as many times as they like and still keep the best result - it's just the school that has to stick with the first grade awarded. The conflict of interests is as obvious as it is unhelpful. The school has made it clear they are pissed off but all they have to suggest is 'Write to your MP'. Maths geek kids are talking about protests and lesson boycotts. Maths geek parents have yet to react. Personally, I'm planning to sigh a lot and have a hot bath.
Dear Mr. Gove,
Did you ever think that maybe the reason schools want multiple shots at the 'same' exam is because the marking and grading have become so erratic? Might it help to make the system more predictable rather than less? Maybe? Or that it might be helpful to consult on new ideas for a minimum of 5 minutes before implementing them? No, of course not. Why would you?
Yours
PissedOffMonkeyMum
