Advice please from teachers?? Controlled assessments..

[Thegodfather]

Eldest son in Y11. The school have majorly messed up the controlled assessments for his Business studies GCSE. These were done at the beginning of Y11. There were a number of issues with the running including faulty laptops and not actually teaching the content of the course before they had to do the assessments based on that content. After this the teacher became increasingly sick and absent a lot. She finally left at Christmas and was replaced by a new teacher. We were told by the new teacher that the first teacher majorly messed up the controlled assessments (amongst other things) and they would be run again. Great I thought. Then last Wednesday the kids were told that they would not be run again (because it would take 10+hours) and they would instead concentrate on revising as the exams are worth 75%. DS has been revising since January anyhow so this is well underway at home. I emailed the school last week but it took until last night for someone to call me (after 3 follow up emails from me). The vice principle says that DS has got 1 UMS mark off a C (so a D/rubbish) but he shouldn’t worry too much as he’s doing alright in his other GCSEs. Basically saying they will not be run again . It also transpires that the second business studies teacher has also left so they now have the third teacher since Christmas.
DS wanted to do A level Business studies…
What should I do? DS wants to do it again as he says he is confident that he could do much better now as he has actually learnt the material. In Business studies you have to redo the whole lot you cant just redo a bit.

[omismum]

Hi Thegodfather,
I have very little knowledge about GCSE exam scenario but I just feel that school must take responsibility of teachers actions. after all it is question of students future.

You can speak to other parent and find out may be you all are in a same boat.
Good luck

[Thegodfather]

I could try but I don't know any of the parents of this group. I only actually know his girldfriend's parents. I dont think I'm being told the full picture either. I know the exam board advisor has been in but not what came of that.

[Daogroupie]

This is just awful. I would ask for a meeting with the Head and insist that the controlled assessments go ahead. They can hire external staff to staff the assessments , it does not have to be done by anyone in the school. I have worked in a school where all the controlled assessments were managed by external staff and I have been an external member of staff at another school brought in to manage controlled assessments when the workload became too much for the school. You could even contact the other parents and offer to staff the sessions for them. All it consists of is sitting in a class timing them and making sure they do not use any other notes than the ones written on the special sheet and making sure that they do not talk to each other. It is hardly rocket science so if the school does not have the teacher time to do it they must hire in the time. It was their fault for failing to monitor the teacher they hired.

If you get no joy from the Head go to the Board of Governors and also get it in writing that your ds will be allowed to go ahead with A Level Business Studies if he does not get the normal required grade as a result of the failure of the teaching of this subject in your school.

I hate controlled assessments, can't wait for them to go. It is too easy to cheat and it places a very heavy workload on the school. But in my experience the school can and should hire in temp staff to run it. Ironically my dd is doing one today, this is her third and she is only in the second term of Y10. The teacher will not be in the room, it will be managed by less qualified, less expensive staff. There is no requirement for the teacher to be in the room just to babysit the students.

Good luck. There is no way I would let this happen to my dd's. I would make a huge fuss and not shut up until they fixed it. Fortunately this would not happen as the school are very focused on getting the most potential from each pupil. Every school can be unlucky with teachers but it is how they deal with the fallout from it that really matters. This is a situation that can easily be fixed. They just need to throw a bit of money at it. DG

[Thegodfather]

I'm going to call again now....

[KB]

Def put your concerns in writing to Heeadteacher and copy to Chair of Governors. Either delivery by hand or recorded delivery.
Make sure to specify how you want the Head to respond and give a reasonable deadline.

GCSE is not required for A level BS but agree its worth getting written agreement from school that DC can carry on if staying at the school.

[Guest55]

Parents can't invigilate but these could be run in the Easter Holidays. I know of schools that do this for students who have been absent or want another go; it does not 'eat' into revision time.

If this can't be sorted then ask for him not to be entered for the GCSE so there is no grade for BS on his certificate.

[Bobmumof3]

How terrible. I too would write to the Head and Chair of Governors.

Someone should be able to organise the 10 hours in either after school sessions or in the Easter Holidays. 10 hours out of lessons isn't going to happen at this stage so they need to think out of the box a little.

A mention of Ofsted parents comment page should get things moving along!

[Guest55]

You could copy the complaint to Ofsted ...

[Thegodfather]

Still not heard anything! My Dad is a governor at another school. I've spoken to him and he has directed me to the school's appeal procedure for assessments (I had no idea such a thing existed). So I've printed that off and dropped another email to school saying that I'm considering a formal appeal and I will be at school at lunchtime to discuss it.

Not heard anything back but hopefully turning up in person may jumpstart things!

Thanks for your support!