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Dec. 20th, 2010 02:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
caz963A real life post! Blimey :)
Well, I knew my luck couldn't hold. I've actually managed to go the whole of the autumn term without going down with the lurgy - until now. I think it's "just" a cold, but I feel pretty crappy nonetheless. I didn't sleep very well because of that horrible dryness at the back of the nose and throat that I always get at the beginning of a cold - and I'd designated today a "work day" because there's stuff I need to do that I don't want hanging over me for the rest of the break. I feel pretty ropey, but I've managed to mark the one set of assessments I had left, and I'm now looking at the scheme of work for the year 9s next term. Mind you, looking at their books, I don't know why I bother because the majority of them don't seem to have learned anything since year 7.
If we go by National Curriculum levels (grades), then kids are supposed to be around Level 5 in most subjects by the end of year 9. Some will be higher and some won't but that's the average. The vast majority of my year 9s are still around the level 2 and level 3 mark in French, and some of them are even lower than that. In some cases it's because they didn't even bother to do the assessment so of course, I gave them zero. And those kids who did bother, but not very much and who've got lower than the last time will just give up now. They don't have the resilience (one of the current buzz words!) to be able to think, "right, I've got to pull my socks up and do better next time" - because for many of them, French isn't something they're ever going to do again and they just don't care.
And of course, I'm sure there's someone out there somewhere looking at these grades and thinking it's my fault.
A few weeks back, the government published its White Paper on Education in which one of the changes outlined was the move to introduce an English Baccalaureate. This would be awarded to pupils who gain a pass (A*-C) in Maths, English, a science, a language and history or geography. So there's been a fair bit of debate around some of the blogs and fora I frequent as to what this means for languages. There's no plan to reintroduce it as compulsory at KS4 - thank God; the apathy of the year 9s is bad enough, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have to teach uninterested year 10s and 11s as well - but the EB is also going to replace the way that schools are represented in the league tables. At the moment, schools are "measured" according to the number of pupils who gain A*-C in five GCSEs including Maths and English - but from January 2011 the EB will be applied, so my school will have the proud total of 0%! Needless to say, tptb aren't happy. At the moment, their stance is that they're going to ignore it, but I imagine that when they find out they can't we'll be under pressure to get kids to take French at GCSE. We've got a class this year of about 17 - a couple of whom have clearly only taken it because their mates have and hopefully will be able to get about the same this year, although my boss being on maternity leave when the kids choose their options might have an effect on numbers.
Finally, for anyone who thinks that teachers have an easy life, with long holidays and very short working days this blog post makes interesting reading. The OP's estimates on how long we spend on different things is, I think, quite conservative, so you could probably add a quite a few hours onto the 60-hour week he's come up with!
And speaking of work, I'd better get back to it.
Well, I knew my luck couldn't hold. I've actually managed to go the whole of the autumn term without going down with the lurgy - until now. I think it's "just" a cold, but I feel pretty crappy nonetheless. I didn't sleep very well because of that horrible dryness at the back of the nose and throat that I always get at the beginning of a cold - and I'd designated today a "work day" because there's stuff I need to do that I don't want hanging over me for the rest of the break. I feel pretty ropey, but I've managed to mark the one set of assessments I had left, and I'm now looking at the scheme of work for the year 9s next term. Mind you, looking at their books, I don't know why I bother because the majority of them don't seem to have learned anything since year 7.
If we go by National Curriculum levels (grades), then kids are supposed to be around Level 5 in most subjects by the end of year 9. Some will be higher and some won't but that's the average. The vast majority of my year 9s are still around the level 2 and level 3 mark in French, and some of them are even lower than that. In some cases it's because they didn't even bother to do the assessment so of course, I gave them zero. And those kids who did bother, but not very much and who've got lower than the last time will just give up now. They don't have the resilience (one of the current buzz words!) to be able to think, "right, I've got to pull my socks up and do better next time" - because for many of them, French isn't something they're ever going to do again and they just don't care.
And of course, I'm sure there's someone out there somewhere looking at these grades and thinking it's my fault.
A few weeks back, the government published its White Paper on Education in which one of the changes outlined was the move to introduce an English Baccalaureate. This would be awarded to pupils who gain a pass (A*-C) in Maths, English, a science, a language and history or geography. So there's been a fair bit of debate around some of the blogs and fora I frequent as to what this means for languages. There's no plan to reintroduce it as compulsory at KS4 - thank God; the apathy of the year 9s is bad enough, I can't even begin to imagine what it would be like to have to teach uninterested year 10s and 11s as well - but the EB is also going to replace the way that schools are represented in the league tables. At the moment, schools are "measured" according to the number of pupils who gain A*-C in five GCSEs including Maths and English - but from January 2011 the EB will be applied, so my school will have the proud total of 0%! Needless to say, tptb aren't happy. At the moment, their stance is that they're going to ignore it, but I imagine that when they find out they can't we'll be under pressure to get kids to take French at GCSE. We've got a class this year of about 17 - a couple of whom have clearly only taken it because their mates have and hopefully will be able to get about the same this year, although my boss being on maternity leave when the kids choose their options might have an effect on numbers.
Finally, for anyone who thinks that teachers have an easy life, with long holidays and very short working days this blog post makes interesting reading. The OP's estimates on how long we spend on different things is, I think, quite conservative, so you could probably add a quite a few hours onto the 60-hour week he's come up with!
And speaking of work, I'd better get back to it.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 03:10 pm (UTC)When they announced the EB, someone - probably a Labour MP - said it was "elitist". I'm searching my brain because I'm sure there's a WW quote about being elitist. FFS, do we think so little of education in this country that getting 16 year old kids through level 2 qualifications in Eng, Maths, Science, a language and a humanities subject is so friggin' hard? If anyone actually valued learning, we'd be thinking that was the absolute minimum, not what we think is a good level of education. What on earth is going to happen when these kids have to stay on until 18? A first diploma in Health & Social Care or Travel & Tourism is going to be the pinnacle of their ambitions. And until schools can stop substituting something like a FD for a GCSE, we're never going anywhere. Anyone outside secondary schools isn't fooled by the whole "Oh, but it's worth 4 GCSE grades".
In our day, you had to have a language at O level to go to university. One of Bro's friends was offered a place a Cambridge, but kept failing O level German. Fortunately, he passed at the 4th attempt.
I'm seriously coming to the conclusion that we should split schools at 14. Anyone who can't cope with real subject should study basic English and arithmetic to a proper standard and do learn practical skills. If this is deemed decisive, ask parents whether they want their kids to learn something or not. If they do, it's up to them to make them put the effort in.
no subject
Date: 2010-12-20 03:23 pm (UTC)We need to STOP trying to get all kids to do the same things. To be honest, it's pretty much a waste of time trying to get half the kids I teach to learn French because they struggle with English to start with!
But as usual, economic factors are in the driving seat - we have enough trouble recruiting and retaining English teachers as it is, without taking out half the kids from MFL to do extra!
And you're absolutely right - any employer is well aware that a BTEC Diploma in PE is NOT the same as 4 GCSEs... and what use is 4 GCSEs in PE to someone anyway?!