My feed
Premium

Please
or
to access all these features

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Secondary education

KS4 English Teachers - long post: reasonable query to raise with school?

7 replies

Minx179 · 13/01/2011 23:56

DS sat early GCSE Language, he received his results today and has a D. Which on the face of it is a good result considering he has SEN and has had little/no support educationally. School applied for a statement Jul 10.

Asked DS if he was pleased with the result; he responded 'I don't think I got a D, I was predicted an E'. I also have my doubts.

BACK HISTORY

Yr 9 DS was recommended for a level 1 ADSAN/COPE/PLO cse, this would have given him the equivalent of one GCSE grade E-F for all functional skills incl maths and english. We opted for GCSE route.

DS gained L4 for KS3 English SATS (1 short paragraph repeated 3 times); Teacher Assessment 5c.

All Yr 9 Teacher assessed work was homework completed with varying degrees of parental support.

YR 10 - predicted D's in every subject. Head stated the school use upper levels of FFT data for motivational purposes!

Yr 10 Mid term report (Nov) has ds as 'on target'

End of Year 10 he was predicted an E. According to HOD this was based on his practice mock alone.
Thread about this here www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/1039039-Any-KS4-EnglishTeachers School advice was all he needs to concentrate on is SPAG.

Yr11 Nov report predicted an F. According to HOD this was based on his mock exam alone.

I was given the first of two pages of the Nov mock (typed). Showed it to DS the first thing he said was 'there should be two pages and I didn't put that full stop there or there, or that comma there!

DS is supposed to use a laptop for writing, but has only had access to one for controlled assessments and exams.

DS has had next to no homework for english during KS4. There appears to be very little independent work in his exercise books, most appears copied off the board. He has also lost a lot of motivation this year and refuses to revise; he wants to fail!

I'm aware the result consistes of (three?) controlled assessments, an oral and the exam and not the exam alone. Is it feasible that DS could have achieved a D, considering his start point?

Would it be a reasonable request to ask the school for an explanation of how he achieved the D?

OP posts:
Report
bellabelly · 14/01/2011 00:02

It is feasible, I think, due to the heavy weighting given to the Speaking and Listening part of the c/work. But some of the things you mention (like the typing up of his work) make me wonder a bit!

Report
emilielondon · 14/01/2011 22:29

Yes, it is feasible as on most boards Speaking and Listening is 20% and coursework another 40% - if he was getting Ds on his report at this time, it is likely these reflect his coursework folder grades. Teachers are often very generous on S&L to 'boost' the grades and if you teach C/D/E bracket children, there are lots of tricks to boost them towards the C/D borderline.

Report
Minx179 · 14/01/2011 22:51

Thanks.

He's never had a D for any written work. I know when we turned down the ADSAN route, we were told he would struggle with GCSE's esp EMS. He has struggled, but the school haven't been very forthcomming with information or support, so it seems odd that he has a D.

Apparently his teacher told him today that she is surprised he got a D, she expected him to get an E.

When you say S&L do you mean a comprehension exercise or an actual oral exam?

OP posts:
Report
emilielondon · 14/01/2011 22:55

It is a number - usually three - of oral assessments e.g. a short (drama) scene, a discussion and a presentation, usually of a persuasive nature. In my opinion, there's a huge difference betwen ASDAN and a E/D grade student. I'm surprised the school suggested it.

Report
Minx179 · 14/01/2011 23:14

Emilie - what level are y9 students usually working at to be offered ADSAN?

We tried asking questions at the time but school were not forthcomming on advice. I'm aware that some of the other children offered and now doing ADSAN were also considered low ability. A number of them had been at primary with DS, but they were always better than him academically, verbally and socially; most of them also did better than DS on KS3 SAT's. DS has usually been bottom of low ability groups/settings. It does make you wonder.

OP posts:
Report
emilielondon · 14/01/2011 23:24

In the three schools I taught English in, ASDAN students tended to be lower band children - so those children who might get F/G grades or lower. Perhaps it is because I teach inner city, but D/E grade results are sort of low middle ability to top lower band at my school (and every school I've worked at) and not the lowest of the low (aka ASDAN). I know some people are huge advocates of alternative qualifications like ASDAN so they might give you a different perspective.

Report
Minx179 · 15/01/2011 01:00

Ok. So you've essentially just confirmed what I discovered when I looked into ADSAN; it can be a good course for those children who have no hope of gaining traditional qualifications.

We're not inner city but I can't see the school offering the course to children who don't hit the criteria - only 30 children were offered the course, alegedly all carefully chosen.

But, say they were correct in putting DS forward for the ADSAN pathway. Would it still be feasible for him to have a D now?

OP posts:
Report
Please create an account

To comment on this thread you need to create a Mumsnet account.