Countdown “T minus 25”

I’ve joked from the very introduction of the new GCSE that I wanted to sit the exam with the year 11 group that would be sitting it for the very first time … well .. I’ve only gone and flipping entered! The idea is not to prove that I can get a 9 (but shouldn’t … Read more

Dual entry ?

Back in December 2015 the DFE published a document ->  GCSE_Early_Entry_Guidance that clarified some rules about “early entry” – you may remember when new early entry rules for key stage 4 qualifications were announced on September 29 2013 (I remember it well!) that only a pupil’s first entry to a key stage 4 qualification would counts towards their school’s … Read more

Thinking

Whether or not you agree with the 4/5 change that was announced last week (some people do! read the comments at the end of my blog post -> here ), the fact is that Nicky Morgan (and yes I know she’s gone!) together with Nick Clegg (him too!!) pledged as part of their commitment to teacher workload that … Read more

A little every day – APRIL 2017

Here you go … APRIL’S calendar. The original post containing the sheet for March 2017 can be found here and the Solutions (for March 2017) are available here – > Monthly Maths – March 2017 – SOLUTIONS PS: Solutions for April will be published when I do the one for May!

Seriously

Gobsmacked. That is the only word I can use to describe the announcement today that Justine Greening made via a letter to the Education Select Committee. (BTW If any of the committee are reading this I suggest you clear the diary in Autumn because I suspect you will be opening an enquiry into this Summers GCSE … Read more

Mel’s digging her hat out again!

COMPETITION IS NOW CLOSED … THANKS TO EVERYONE THAT ENTERED I’ve only gone and convinced Mel it’s about time to dig out her hat again and offer some free tickets to the JustMaths Conference in June. Back in the Summer term when we were about to launch the ‘Super 60’ we wanted to celebrate the … Read more

From the coalface 5

Occasionally I open up the blog to others to write a post or two … (don’t worry Seager isn’t getting another chance … EVER!). Some of the motives for doing this stem from being able to offer a different view on life at the coalface but also because I find other people’s views fascinating and … Read more

H v F ..

No-one knows what the boundaries for any grade are going to be next Summer; There is lots of second guessing going on and I’ve seen some things that are glaringly wrong and I’ve seen some things that are founded on good common sense but what is obvious is that the make up of the papers … Read more

Get involved!

This idea came out of our last Edexcel network meeting at Alcester whereby we discussed the impossible task of allocating grades given that none of the exam boards are able to give the slightest guidance. After a discussion we agreed that it would be useful to share anonymous student marks for the secure mocks to … Read more

H v F … What if we make the wrong decision?

A couple of weeks ago, whilst wrapped up with my quilt, suffering with a bout of manflu I used the opportunity to have another look at the SAMs, specimens and practice papers alongside marking and collating the results from my year 10 class following their recent assessments. Additionally, I spent this down-time looking at the similar … Read more

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