Low grade GCSE

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Tue May 05, 2009 5:58 pm

Ooooh Pensby sounds like the school is 'bending' the rules a bit - no wonder coursework is being phased out!! It should not be marked more than once by a teacher - you can share the criteria for marking but not re-mark ...

The board only moderates a few - it does not mark them.

delta · Post by **delta** » Tue May 05, 2009 7:30 pm

All our local schools offer feedback more than once. A friend had a piece of work that went through five drafts, each time with very specific comments by the teacher. These are state schools. I'm astounded at how much 'support' these kids get!

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Tue May 05, 2009 8:43 pm

Delta - there's a difference between feedback and re-marking - the rules are very clear.

The pupil asks 'What should I write/do next?" The teacher should NOT tell them but get the pupil to say what they could do - focused questioning can help the pupil evaluate which option is best without telling them - it's called 'teaching'.

delta · Post by **delta** » Tue May 05, 2009 10:57 pm

In that case, what I've seen is re-marking. Where are these rules - what do they say exactly?

Pensby · Post by **Pensby** » Wed May 06, 2009 8:03 am

Hi
Having read these comments I think DD has not had project "marked" her teacher just looked through it and gave her a rough score,it was up to her then to work out how she could acheive extra marks .DD said project is sent off after half -term and she didn't really know how to change it to get more marks so I don't think the teacher has bent the rules.
It's all so different to when I did my gce's I find it a bit daunting sometimes!!
Pensby

solimum · Post by **solimum** » Wed May 06, 2009 9:03 am

I don't know whether ICT (especially the "double" ICT my son did) is particularly hard or just particularly badly taught, but having failed to find any relevant revision guides or any sensible advice from his teacher my son resorted to printing out the entire specification to try and work out how he could get good marks on his coursework. It transpired that a lot of it should have been based on the IT systems at his work experience months previously (although he hadn't realised that at the time) and in the end a completely imaginary version of the company with all the appropriate ICT features was devised. Seemed to do the trick in the end...

Of course back in my day, there were none of these new-fangled computer thingys, we did our sums with an abacus and kept out databases in an overflowing filing cabinet, lived in a cardboard box etc etc...

Guest55 · Post by **Guest55** » Wed May 06, 2009 5:51 pm

Delta - the rules change in September to 'controlled assessment' so it's not worth me quoting from the specifications.

Jiff · Post by **Jiff** » Thu May 14, 2009 4:07 pm

Thank you for all your comments and advice, they were very helpful. We have decided not to enter DS for the ICT GCSE exam. The school is carrying out a review of what has happened, which should make interesting reading in due course!