GCSE results my synical mind

[Lord Tyrion]

Arnieboy - So true. My mum was a primary school teacher for 40 years. She used to laugh about whether she was currently in or out of fashion. Maths was one example, phonetic spelling another. She was old school and tried to stick to that but every few years she had to bend a little bit when she had no choice. Inevitably after a few years of experimentation the system always went back to the old school way again and she was back in fashion. She retired 10 yrs or so ago but as my kids are going through the system I am seeing the same cycles happening.

 

[Hacker Khan]

Is this the annual 'the exams are not proper exams like they were when I was a lad' thread? Despite the fact that the world is moving on at an ever faster and faster pace with new discoveries, inventions and technology racing ahead. Most of it driven by the kids who did these allegedly easier exams, got taught by new fangled ways of teaching that apparently don't work blah blah blah?

 

[Hacker Khan]

The comment about politicians and others interfering and making constant changes is so true. You will no doubt shoot this old codger down but what was wrong with the teaching methods of years ago? Boring stuff like tables, spelling from primary school through to proper exams at a later age. All the interference over many years has done a great disservice to our population.

Because we now live in mostly a knowledge driven economy, not a mostly industrial manual labour led economy in the good old days?

And sorry to burst any uninformed prejudices but they do do times tables at primary school spelling at primary school, to such a level that I can guarantee a lot of adults would struggle to do as well in the spelling, punctuation and grammar tests as the 11 year olds did this year. As many posts on here prove....

 

[Deleted member 18121]

I'm glad you've mentioned phonetic spelling Lord Tyrion. My wife is a teacher and over the years my opinion of phonetic spelling has deteriorated to the level that I think its farcical.

My son is 3 and a half and is starting to learn some phonics in school..... a few months ago I noticed that he'd started to stutter (stammer /whatever you want to call it). As a child and throughout secondary school I had a very bad stutter that stopped me from being able to interact well with the other kids, I couldn't join in conversations etc. So when I heard my son stutter my heart dropped....it got to the point that he'd be trying to talk only to say "I cant get my words out daddy".

I'm aware that a stutter for kids growing up is quite common. Something to do with their brains taking in so much information and they have so much to say but don't have time to process it. So I put it down to this and though no more about it....it's just a phase I was told. Until I heard one of the phonics learning songs that they've been using in school. This tape physically makes the kids stutter when pronouncing words, if I had my way he'd learn to spell etc the old school way. But it's progress I'm told..... :sbox:

 

[Lord Tyrion]

Phonetics is only good for teaching kids how to text. For real world writing it is useless.

 

[Ross61]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37178008

give it a try mate. No cheating

6/7 for me Considering I left school 39 years ago I'm happy with that.
Like several others on here history was my downfall, but I still think my history is good, just an obscure question in my opinion.

 

[IanM]

6/7 got the Binary one wrong, rest easy peasy!

My nephew got what he needed to get into his preferred 6th form and chosen A Levels............. My sister was more stressed than him, anyone would have thought she took the blooming things. She didn't text me any more info, which means its wasn't straight As! But so what.

GCSE are like the first hole of a Stableford! 3 points doesn't guarantee a handicap cut... and a blob doesn't necessarily 0.1 either!!

 

[stokie_93]

GCSE are like the first hole of a Stableford! 3 points doesn't guarantee a handicap cut... and a blob doesn't necessarily 0.1 either!!

they're not even that relevant. I did my GCSE's 7 years ago and couldn't tell you what I got in them nor where they've got me.

A lad I know left school with much worse scores than I did, went straight in to an apprenticeship and is now on about £35000 at 22 years of age.

Uni is becoming less relevant if you ask me, I dropped out a year in and i'm doing pretty well for myself also. I know people that have been uni and are working in a supermarket at 32 years of age.

Saying that, it is relevant for certain jobs. Teaching, Medicine & Law are a few that spring to mind.

 

[Deleted member 18121]

Saying that, it is relevant for certain jobs. Teaching, Medicine & Law are a few that spring to mind.

That's how my opinion is now also....I think I could be where I am today without having gone to uni. For me it was a growing up experience...albeit a very expensive one.

I think you only "have" to go to uni for certain vocations.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

3 years of a load of fun though. It changed my life. I moved to a city I would most likely have never visited in my life, ended up marrying a local and stayed. It is not just about 3 years of studying although you do want something to show for it at the end. What it is important to remember is that it is not for everyone and there are plenty of alternatives now that were not necessarily there previously.

 

[louise_a]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-37178008

give it a try mate. No cheating

Got them all right, the Queen was an educated guess, I didn't know but was pretty certain it wasn't the other two

 

[Deleted member 18645]

My daughter took two of her GCSEs a year early and got an A and an A*. Very proud parents and one very happy 15-year-old ahead of next year.

 

[stokie_93]

3 years of a load of fun though. It changed my life. I moved to a city I would most likely have never visited in my life, ended up marrying a local and stayed. It is not just about 3 years of studying although you do want something to show for it at the end. What it is important to remember is that it is not for everyone and there are plenty of alternatives now that were not necessarily there previously.

totally agree with you mate, I had a great time in my shortlived time in Uni

 

[Tashyboy]

This has been an issue for years, ever since GCSEs came in. When I were a lad, I started studying for O levels then the change was made to GCSEs. The difference was chalk and cheese with the O level syllabus being far more difficult. The move to A levels was then a shock for years below me as the syllabus had not changed and assumed an O level set of skills and knowledge. There were no A* grades back then but so many people started getting a grades that they had to add a higher level to differentiate the educational cream of the crop.
As for university, the kudos of having a degree has pretty much disappeared. There is a massive issue in trying to convince parents that if their kids’ skill set fits or the style of learning is more suited, an apprenticeship is a far better way of starting a career. We are in the process of starting a charitable trust in the name of my dad to help promote and fund apprenticeships in Rutland as parents there really do look down on them as a viable way of kids getting on in the world.

and that last sentance is a fantastic way of leaving a legacy. Well done GB me man.

 

[chrisd]

I got 9 out of 7

Lucky maths was my second best subject .......

 

[Simbo]

It seems now to have gone the full cycle and now going back to actually making the kids work for their results as oppose to practically giving it to them for the last few years. kids leaving school after doing the draft, redraft, redraft, final draft- well done kid here's an A for you, after 4 attempts at it. Can't keep going on as has been said its making average kids look like geniuses. The government want it due to the wider circle around the grade status, schools with good grades get bigger budgets, house prices in the area go up as people move to get their kids into an area with a "better" school. Local,business become more profitable because more people,are moving in. The local council look great because they are producing bright kids, so on and so forth. Big vicious circle.
Our apprentices are coming in from school/college now and we won't even look at them without a minimum of 8 standard grades at an A or B pass, but the reality is thy are no better than the kids that started 20 years ago with 4 o levels. They are even telling us if you leave school now with any less than 6 standard grades you're considered a bit of a doughnut. The country is saturated with kids with lots of grades and doing nothing out of the ordinary for a job.

 

[HomerJSimpson]

Took English language a year early and got a grade A. Unfortunately the powers that be assumed that being good at English meant I could count and put me in express maths. I couldn't and got a U and dumped in the "dunces" class. Fortunately, the teacher was a real gem and spent the time and effort and although it was only CSE I got a grade 1 (O level C equivalent). Other than that, two advanced O levels (a one year course between standard O and A levels) and two other O levels.

We were one of the last years (1982/83) where course work didn't come into it. Not sure how I felt as I feel course work is a better overall picture of a students ability rather than their ability to cram and retain knowledge for a specific exam

 

[Kellfire]

Not sure how I felt as I feel course work is a better overall picture of a students ability rather than their ability to cram and retain knowledge for a specific exam

Only if the parents/teachers/the internet doesn't help to complete said coursework, which it almost always does!

 

[Rooter]

I'm glad you've mentioned phonetic spelling Lord Tyrion. My wife is a teacher and over the years my opinion of phonetic spelling has deteriorated to the level that I think its farcical.

My son is 3 and a half and is starting to learn some phonics in school..... a few months ago I noticed that he'd started to stutter (stammer /whatever you want to call it). As a child and throughout secondary school I had a very bad stutter that stopped me from being able to interact well with the other kids, I couldn't join in conversations etc. So when I heard my son stutter my heart dropped....it got to the point that he'd be trying to talk only to say "I cant get my words out daddy".

I'm aware that a stutter for kids growing up is quite common. Something to do with their brains taking in so much information and they have so much to say but don't have time to process it. So I put it down to this and though no more about it....it's just a phase I was told. Until I heard one of the phonics learning songs that they've been using in school. This tape physically makes the kids stutter when pronouncing words, if I had my way he'd learn to spell etc the old school way. But it's progress I'm told..... :sbox:

my kids at school are 4, 7 and 8, phonics have gone out of the window now and its proper spelling. learn how to spell it and move on. My 12 year old neice's spelling is awful, writes everything phonetically.. i think how they are doing it now is better.. we shall see.

 

[GB72]

and that last sentance is a fantastic way of leaving a legacy. Well done GB me man.

Thanks mate, scary as hell, never done anything like this before so hoping it all works out.