Three year sixth form at Colyton

[Guest55]

Ofsted do not like early entry if the result is not A* and it is commented upon in RAISEonline.

[spider]

This seems like one of those sad anti Colyton posts.
Universities don't seem to mind the three year sixth form because the exams are taken in year 12 and 13 just like any other sixth form. I rang and asked half a dozen or so. The only medical school for which this is a problem was Trinity College, Dublin. This year I think most of those (and there were a lot) who applied for medical school got places. Actually I know of only 2 children out of the 19 taking a gap year who are possibly reapplying for a place at medical school and in neither case was the three year sixth form anything to do with it. Two of the gap year students actually have places at medical school which they have deferred.
As far as I can see from this forum Colyton actually has a very stable sixth form and in most years most pupils stay on. A few join from outside (2 I think in my child's year). Obviously it varies a little from year to year. Colyton tends to do relatively traditional A level subjects so if a pupil wants to take music tech, textiles, law etc. or if a subject does not have enough pupils to run an a level class then they leave to do it elsewhere.
As for the GCSEs, even though all the pupils take all their exams a year early they still made it to the top of the league tables despite being compared with children taking their exams when they are a year older. The school do not have an especially able intake for a grammar school. Although you have to pass the 11+ to get a place it is not a superselective (roughly 1 in 3 get in). The headmaster says that the thing that they do best of all at Colyton is to raise the level of the less able children. I hate that old chestnut that the brightest children will do well anywhere. The brightest children, just like all other children, do best in a school that suits them.
They do their GCSEs early because the pupils are ready and clearly able to do fantastically well. This gives them space to do curriculum broadening. Since they have changed to taking their GCSEs a year early the results have improved rather than dropped which seems to imply that there was no benefit from taking them a year later.
G55 I don't think there has ever be a problem with Raise online or Ofsted for that matter. Could it be that the teachers at Colyton just do it well?
Will it change in the future? I don't know but I imagine the Colyton staff spend time reviewing what works and what doesn't so that if the changes brought in by Gove and his ilk cause them to think they need to alter anything then they will.

[moved]

TBH, the disadvantage of a shorter time for very able for GCSEs would seem to be outweighed by the opportunity to study more subjects at A level for longer. Some other countries offer a broader range of subjects at a higher level and take three years to get there. Five/six A levels taken over three years would seem better to me than hours spent mastering markschemes and jumping through hoops at GCSE.

[spider]

And that is what they do. In the first year of the sixth form they take an AS level in critical thinking and an A level in general studies. Which can be can be criticised on content but provides wonderful practice at working for and taking A level exams. Alongside this they usually begin 4 A levels one of which can be dropped after AS if the pupil is finding it hard. The real work on the A levels takes place in Y12/13. Many take 4 A levels through to completion, some, particularly mathematicians who add further maths, take 5. The occasional pupil takes 6! This gives you scope, for instance, to pursue a scientific career with 3 science A levels and take a humanities or arts subject as balance (and vice versa). It also means that although they choose their options early they can still keep lots of future options open and have time for those extras like DoE, Mock trial, chamber choir and sport. They also use this time to do an EP (Extended Project).
No school is perfect for every child and if Suedonim doesn't like the three year sixth form at Colyton the most sensible thing is to send his/her child to a different school.

[Averagedad]

Ofsted do not like early entry if the result is not A* and it is commented upon in RAISEonline.

I've found the quote about Ofsted funny.

Does every 'normal' entry get a A* in GCSE?

Would Ofsted not happy with the fact that CGS, proportionally, has more A* than 'normal' entry schools?

Funny also because everyone accepts it's normal that every child learns at a different pace, and yet not everyone accepts a child can take a test at a different time.

Average Dad
Accepting Difference, Focusing Relevance

[Guest55]

I don't live in Devon so have no axe to grind here but I do think they would be well advised to stop early entry as most schools have. No, of course everyone does not get A* in Year 11, but it has been well researched that outcomes in Year 10 are lower than they would be a year later.

Universities prefer to see exams taken together ... that's a fact.

[pooplechair]

I don't live in Devon so have no axe to grind here but I do think they would be well advised to stop early entry as most schools have. No, of course everyone does not get A* in Year 11, but it has been well researched that outcomes in Year 10 are lower than they would be a year later.

Universities prefer to see exams taken together ... that's a fact.

Universities do indeed prefer to see exams take together and that's what happens at Colyton. Students take 12 GCSEs in Y10, 4 AS levels in Y12 and 4 A levels in Y13. The fact that they do the EP, and the critical thinking and Gen studies A levels too is irrelevant to their uni offers, although very relevant to their own educational experience, which is why the school does it that way. Since the school has topped the GCSE tables for the last 2 years (and was close to the top in the previous years) I don't think they would be well advised to change anything. Why would anyone advise the school with the best results in the country to change the way it does things?

[Guest55]

What is progress like? Progress from starting points cannot be as high as it should be.

It's not attainment but progress that is the most important -

[Averagedad]

I don't live in Devon so have no axe to grind here but I do think they would be well advised to stop early entry as most schools have. No, of course everyone does not get A* in Year 11, but it has been well researched that outcomes in Year 10 are lower than they would be a year later.

Universities prefer to see exams taken together ... that's a fact.

I've found the quoted research funny.

According to the quoted research, not only CGS should not take GCSE a year early, but also every school should take GCSE LATER, in Year 13 instead of Year 11, because the outcome would be better if taken 2 years later?

Because following the quoted research's logic : a C in Year 11 would automatically become a B in Year 12 then a A/A* in Year 13?

Someone is missing the point : In Reality, there is always some are more ready than others.

Does everyone marry at the same age?

Does everyone have their first child at the same age?

Does everyone retire at the same age?

So why do ALL students have to take the same test at the same age?


Average Dad
Different Ability, Different Necessity - that's a Reality

[Guest55]

Average dad - the research compares early entry to 'normal' Year 11 entry