Year 9 support Thread

[ToadMum]

Oops, just re-read and noticed the 'phone-isms'

.It also told us a couple of other things about each subject, but I haven't got it wgt of and I can remember offhand exactly what.

...with me...

[Stroller]

Oops, just re-read and noticed the 'phone-isms'

.It also told us a couple of other things about each subject, but I haven't got it wgt of and I can remember offhand exactly what.

...with me...

Was this a phone-ism too?

Options evening appears to be scheduled for heart week in February.

I heart that name and wish we had an expanded emoji set. Schools around here took ‘heart week’ off btw.

[kenyancowgirl]

[ToadMum]

Oops, just re-read and noticed the 'phone-isms'

.It also told us a couple of other things about each subject, but I haven't got it wgt of and I can remember offhand exactly what.

...with me...

Was this a phone-ism too?

Options evening appears to be scheduled for heart week in February.

I heart that name and wish we had an expanded emoji set. Schools around here took ‘heart week’ off btw.

I do try to keep up with them, but Samsung's software upgrades are definitely something to be feared, I've learnt. I've just had notification that my phone would like to 'improve' itself again, please - I am not rushing to take it up on its kind offer...

[berks_mum]

I have more information about the levels now. In case anybody finds it useful ...

8-9 ---> A*
7-8 ---> A
5-6 ---> B
4 ---> C
3. ---> D
2-3 --->E
1-2 ---> F
then G and U.

[berks_mum]

Went for parents consultation expecting teachers to say DD doing well in Maths and Science but needs to work harder in English, MFLs and Humanities. Reality was different.

Maths: Inconsistent performance. Best scores came in tests which were after school breaks. Probably she needs time off from school before exams.

Sciences: slightly trailing, focussed in lessons, great subject understanding and verbal answers. However, it is not reflecting in written tests. Has any parent gone through similar situation? What did you do to help your DC?

English: I was worried English being third language would be her weak point. Teacher pleased with her work, consistently 7A or over. Don't know if she meant 7A of the new GCSE levels? She was talking about 'film review' piece of work and something about Steinberg's novel. No idea whatsoever it is. Any English teachers here?

Other Languages and Humanities: Similar feedback.

Other common theme, does well on hard, challenging questions misses on easy questions. This is quite frustrating.

GCSE options: doing 3 languages in addition to English will be hard but doable if she likes it and is organised.

How do the new levels relate to raw mark? My understanding of older levels was an A* was over 90%, A over 80% , B over 70% ... ? Does it vary by subject?

[Tinkers]

I have more information about the levels now. In case anybody finds it useful ...

8-9 ---> A*
7-8 ---> A
5-6 ---> B
4 ---> C
3. ---> D
2-3 --->E
1-2 ---> F
then G and U.

The percentage will vary from test to test as well.

[mystery]

Can't be a GCSE grade 7 in year 9? If so that's a fab English score if she marked it as an exam board marker would. The proportion that get 7,8 and 9 in year 11 is low. Your school should explain its grading system on reports etc. Ours does - it has its own which don't relate to GCSE 1 to 9 or the old NC levels.

Improvement in tests? Best thing that worked here for school tests where child had not done as well as one might have expected was to ask the school for the question paper and child did it again at home. They then had the ability to see whether they had just got in a flap in the school test or if there were certain knowledge or skill areas they needed to do a little bit more practice on. It also helped them realise if there was any way they could work differently before the next test. Sometimes it 's a timing issue?

I find they sometimes have tests when they're desperately tired, not quite well etc etc. Teacher can't be expected to know this.

Not sure that grade boundaries at GCSE ever were as you describe.

Missing on easy questions --- which subjects do you mean? Can relate to that. It's quite natural either to think it's too obvious to say or that the question can't be that easy so one must have misunderstood it --- or just to dream one's way through the boring easy question. It's a good weak point to have ... but I guess the top grades at GCSE do depend on high marks across all questions. Mine are the same in this respect so I do sympathise. Practice is the answer ... as with everything ... on easy questions!

Steinbeck - Of Mice and Men perhaps?

[Guest55]

How do the new levels relate to raw mark? My understanding of older levels was an A* was over 90%, A over 80% , B over 70% ... ? Does it vary by subject?

No - it didn't work like that. Raw marks were converted to UMS and then the UMS translated to grades.

You can find the grade boundaries on exam board websites - they were quite low last year but that may be a one-off. There were rules on the % of 7+ and 4+ as they had to match the previous % of grade A/A* and C+.

The new grade equivalents are not as you posted, see here:
https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/q ... g-9-1.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[kenyancowgirl]

I have more information about the levels now. In case anybody finds it useful ...

8-9 ---> A*
7-8 ---> A
5-6 ---> B
4 ---> C
3. ---> D
2-3 --->E
1-2 ---> F
then G and U.

Our school relates the GCSE scores slightly differently with 9 being "equivalent" to an A**, 8 being an A* and 7 being and A. Which sort of makes more sense as the point about a 9 was that it was the very highest A* so "above" an A*. I like this version - I don't like the government one which is a bit wooly around some of the grades - it makes no sense to have two numbers 8/9 representing one grade A* and two numbers 5/6 representing a B. Pick one and stick with it, I say....!!