Thoughts for the day.

My first or second set of year 11 results. One boy got his C grade to the dismay of the then HoD who, in disgust, turned to me and said “he doesn’t deserve to get a C”.

The boy had been disruptive for years, disengaged and underperformed in class tests.

Had his grade been ‘awarded’ he would have been at the mercy of teacher perception.

I have two boys I’m confident will get a straight 5 this summer. I’ll be recommending 5 despite all prior assessments poor, attendance poor, on site truancy and some extreme behaviour issues.

The only voice to champion these two lads is mine. Without that they will be subject to both the objective record of their (under)achievement and the subjective opinion of teachers unable to see through their conduct.

One only has to look at the variability of predicted vs actual grades to know there’s always an error margin.

What’s more, if left to teacher assessment, the pupils in danger of being ‘awarded’ a mismatched grade will very likely be the subgroups that traditionally underachieve

One of those boys had been excluded from a local school, rarely in class but incredibly able when on task. His mock performance (absent for the last paper) might have shocked some but knowing his aptitude in class I wasn’t surprised.

The other lad refused to work. Was sent to me. Often truants and only does the bare minimum in class, if that. Treats staff in the corridor with extreme contempt manifesting in the most acute defiance and abusive offensive language. Mock result confirms my belief he’ll smash a 5

So yeah. I’m concerned about awarding grades this summer.