DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

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Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Guest55 »

The EBacc is not a qualification ... it is one person's idea of a rounded education and the best schools ignore it.

Imho, it is just as bad that Technology is no longer compulsory at KS4 ...
Rags
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:43 pm

Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Rags »

Guest55 wrote:The EBacc is not a qualification ... it is one person's idea of a rounded education and the best schools ignore it.
Indeed it's not a qualification - it's something the schools get measured against. At the point it was introduced, they started making a MFL a required subject again. I'm not sure entirely what you're getting at with this comment.
And it may have been 'one person's idea' - more likely a government department's idea, I suspect - but when that person happens to be minister for Education, that idea carries a fair bit of weight, rightly or wrongly.
'Best schools' - is again, an opinion - and I suspect the 'best schools' generally met the criteria anyway. It was the 'other schools' that were being manipulated.

Guest55 wrote:Imho, it is just as bad that Technology is no longer compulsory at KS4 ...
Technology is too ill-defined, IMHO. Those who wish to be 'technologists' will take technical subjects anyway - those who don't will likely have had plenty of experience in working with and using technology, without any requirement as to understanding how it works (similarly, most drivers have only the vaguest understanding of how a car work, yet some of them can drive quite well.) You're not going to get enough from a school subject to make any significant difference to your understanding of technological devices, as applied in the real world, I feel.
Guest55
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Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Guest55 »

The EBacc sets some subjects above others - why is Geography a 'better' GCSE than music? or RE? or resistant materials?

Children should choose GCSEs that they enjoy and, incidentally, when the farce of EBacc was introduced the first cohort measured had already sat their GCSEs.
Rags
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:43 pm

Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Rags »

Guest55 wrote:The EBacc sets some subjects above others - why is Geography a 'better' GCSE than music? or RE? or resistant materials?
Vocational applicability?
(Not that I'm arguing in favour of vocational applicability for academic study, but you did ask ...)
Geography isn't specifically required, of course - History (or ancient History) will do ...
Personally, I think music is important. But I'm not sure I could argue that it (or RE, Or ResMat) is more relevant than a Humanities. I would have liked to have seen Economics on the list, mind.
Guest55 wrote:Children should choose GCSEs that they enjoy and, incidentally, when the farce of EBacc was introduced the first cohort measured had already sat their GCSEs.
At least that produced a baseline to measure against. Given that the EBacc was supposed to influence choices, it's as well to know where you're starting from, to see if it's had the desired effect.
It is a blunt instrument - practically every government tool is, by nature. But, in terms of increasing the uptake of MFL, it does seem to have worked .... farce or not...

Suppose a child doesn't enjoy science (or Maths, or English) ... should not be required study them at least to GCSE?
One can argue about what ought to be on any given list, but would it make sense for someone to be able to only study things they're interested in? Could lead to some horribly skewed education, I fear.
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Guest55 »

I deliberately chose the word 'choose' as Maths, English and Science are compulsory ... beyond that children should choose freely.

I totally disagree that geography is 'better' than music or PE or drama or Graphics or any other option. Once we go down that route we are doomed as a civilised country - many techological advances started in this country.
Last edited by Guest55 on Sat Jul 11, 2015 6:09 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Rags
Posts: 130
Joined: Mon Oct 20, 2014 6:43 pm

Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Rags »

[quote="Guest55"]I deliberately chose the word 'choose' as Maths, English and Science are compulsory ... beyond that children should chose freely.[quote]

If you're arguing that they should be free to choose what they enjoy, why limit that choice at all?
(I'm asking what the boundary should be, not advocating totally open choice) - excuse my reductio ad absurdum - it was only to illustrate that you seem to advocating some limits - just different limits from what someone else (who was in a position to make such a decision) made.
If you accept some limits, well, then the issue becomes an argument over which subjects - not that there are limits.
The EBacc is just another set of limits. (Not even compulsory ones.)

And yet, still, wandering vaguely in the direction of topic - it did have the desired effect regarding MFL ....
Lillie
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Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:34 pm

Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Lillie »

Some of the upper schools get appallingly low percentage of kids to achieve the ebac. The reverse is true of the grammars which get an amazingly high number through. I suspect the low uptake of languages ( or choosing the one language on offer) is a big contributory factor with the uppers plus the fact the ebac is completely geared to academic subjects.
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Guest55 »

Not all the Bucks GS make MFL complusory in KS4 ... you don't need the Ebacc for any future uni.
Lillie
Posts: 231
Joined: Tue Jan 25, 2011 2:34 pm

Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Lillie »

You don't need the Ebac for any future uni......but you do need a modern language for some courses at some universities. This is the recommendation at WHS.
Guest55
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Joined: Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:21 pm

Re: DCHS Parents Information Evening - MFL woes!

Post by Guest55 »

Very few beyond the obvious MFL degree ... which degrees other than those need one?
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