Possible developments and updates
November 14th. It is now time to end this particular blog or else it will go on forever!. Schools did indeed return in September and in my view teachers and their representatives, and pupils and parents have all done a great job in keeping the show on the road, at the time of writing, in difficult circumstances At this stage exams in England are going ahead, delayed a little to June or July, but it seems inevitable some changes such as reduced syllabus or exam questions options will be introduced. What is clear is that one aspect of education has changed forever, namely the use of on-line technology, which surely will be a permanent part of the mix even when things return to normal.
August 17th. At this stage its is likely that schools will return in September but still not certain, with Case numbers creeping up. But the real story is A- Level results and the move to stick with Teacher grades. Comparing these to previous year actual outcomes versus predictions indicates significant grade inflation will therefore take place. The infamous algorithm actually did its’ job in bringing the broad sweep of grades back to where they should be. However: two problems. First, when applying correction factors, the algorithm produced some ridiculous individual results such as fails when no exam was taken. And second, it seemed to favour smaller class sizes, which are more common in private than state schools.
July 7th Various announcements have been made that schools will indeed go back full time in September for all Years which is good news. The emphasis will be on hygiene, from washing hands to cleaning surfaces, and minimising contact through staggered timetables, one way systems etc. Rather than a strict 2m rule throughout school, though avoiding 1m still seems required. This will be difficult, but the alternative of further virtual schooling may be worse. I think it will happen, but with nuances like cutting back on aspects of the syllabus content, shorter exams and perhaps still some virtual learning (after all, some of it has been very fruitful)
One aspect of the lockdown not much talked about is the loss for Year 11 and 13 of the “going into school to get results” day, and the leaving events like Proms, and so many end-of-school holiday trips have been cancelled. It is so sad for that generation.
June 19 Primary Schools have been back since June 1, years 1 and 6 at least. Years 10 and 12 have just begun to return, a few 2-hour lessons per week on face to face, mostly focussing on core subjects. Its is a slow start but we’re getting there. Some schools are really pushing on-line work rigorously, others less so. One school I am in touch with are setting exams at end of June for Year 10’s, not far off mock GCSE standard that’s good. I can see that the on-line novelty will wear off and we need to find a way of getting children back to school, safely of course but with an attitude of “we’re gonna do this”. If not for this school year then certainly in September. I think year 10 parents are the most worried the GCSE’s will be affected and why demand for Year 10 tuition remains very high.
For year 11’s (the forgotten year) two things are happening. First, yes we know their predicted grades will be formulated into actual grades in August. Some surveys have suggested they will be half a grade higher than last year. Perhaps the final examiners will bring them back down a touch but it seems reasonable. The issue for me is that children need four go’s at really learning a topic but Year 11’s missed out on the final pre exam revision push.
So that means that the if they take a topic forward to A Level they will have missed out on that final embedding of knowledge which forms the beginning of AS Level. Which is why – the second happening – it is a great thing that schools are beginning to use the June/July hiatus for Year 11’s to begin year 12 AS Level, even if its is with videos and on-line learning. (And why I am running Maths for A Level science courses for Year 11’s! )
Today we had the publication of plans for NTP the National Tutoring Programme and it certainly seems to have had a lot of thought put into it. The website is up and running and the aims and resources are clear. I think we should wish them well in trying to do the catch up of lost time, and maybe even at the other end of the programme providing a permanent means for disadvantaged pupils to keep up.
My tuition for International students continues about the same level but there’s just a hint that some are hesitating as to whether the British international schools will be open in September. We shall see.
May 11 The beginning of the end. Or the end of the beginning. The Prime Minister announced that some restrictions will be eased and said he hoped first and last year of primary schools could open from June, with secondary perhaps seeing some face to face teaching July. But I think it will take a lot to persuade parents and teachers alike to believe it is safe. I believe it is 50:50 whether any schools reopen before September – or at least more than they are now because we shouldn’t forget technically they are open to a small number of vulnerable pupils and those of front line workers.
May 8. Still full. I lost my first Chinese pupil whose parents understandably were hesitant to continue lessons in the uncertainty about resumption. But the place was quickly filled by an extra UK lesson. Zoom works well on Waiting Room but slightly annoyingly when 1 person is Waiting and 2 are in the lesson that counts as 3, which means maximum 40 minutes so you sometimes have to restart. I have found a way of helping with student’s school web tasks but feeding the questions back into a mix of past paper questions to check they can do them without help. I’m also extending Maths for A-Level Biology to Maths for A-Level Chemistry.
Still no sign of at-school restart : safety has to be guaranteed, so if not straight after half term, that would mean end of June earliest – and what would be the point for a few weeks. Are we into Alice Cooper territory? Schools Out for Summer. Schools Out Forever? The lyrics are eerily appropriate.
April 24 The first full week after Easter and it looks like all the pupils in my schedule have returned for on-line lessons. I have adjusted Zoom to include a password and the excellent waiting room feature. For GCSE students the Maths for A Level Biology programme seems to be working well; while continuing GCSE work is useful just in case resits are needed and to keep a learning focus, I’ve offered a programme which looks forward rather than back.
Still no sign of the plans for restart: these could vary for a phased resumption before half term on geographic and yeargroup basis, to a more widespread resumption immediately after half term, to a wait till September. My instinct is for the middle option, but we shall see. Years 10 and 12 will probably be a priority.
April 3 The second week complete and all my pupils have now used Zoom with me successfully , albeit I’ll adjust some settings during Easter. Some schools now looking forward rather than back, beginning A-Level introduction early for GCSE students rather than continuing GCSE work for which there’s no exam and its now become clear today that current work will not count towards GCSE because “schools have also been told not to set extra work to inform the predictions, because young people may not be able to do themselves justice if they are incapacitated by illness or have a difficult home environment”. Likewise with some of my GCSE students I will begin “Maths for A-Level Biology” early.
March 28 The first week of shutdown has completed and Zoom is working pretty well for my remote tuition. There is a boom in Zoom round the world it seems. Schools have been using Microsoft Teams, Google Classroom, Show My Homework, Hegarty Maths, Kerboodle among others to set on-line homework tasks which vary from watching videos to answering questions and entering answers. It looks like Year 13 A-Level students’ tasks do indeed still count towards final grade; with Year 11 GCSE it is a little less clear how important their continued diligence is.
March 20: schools have shut down. Some clarity received from Government that cancelled exams will NOT mean that GCSE s and A Levels are not awarded: rather that the criteria for allocating grades will be determined by predicted grades, mocks, and coursework which teachers will collate and inform examining boards of their recommendation. These grades will be awarded earlier than usual in July and so appeals may be received and possibly an optional Autumn term exam will be arranged. What is not quite clear is whether tasks submitted on line over the next few weeks will count towards grades. Until informed otherwise we have to assume they will.
For year 10’s who are not yet taking exams the objective must be to take on- line tasks, teaching and tuition seriously and diligently to ensure the prolonged absence does not adversely affect their chances at GCSE next year
Today’s various announcements marked a Rubicon so from now I will be doing on-line tuition only till further notice, which some of my UK pupils have already started with me using Zoom. My Chinese students already do this and it works well.
March 19 : update: schools beginning to shut down and set up homework and revision material on the web systems. Some are timetabling the issue of new material to when their normal lesson times would be and some are planning to run live webinar lectures at lesson times. I am beginning to do on line tuition to UK students in the afternoon (already plenty of Chinese in the morning) and finding so far Zoom better than more well known Skype.
Still no word on decision of what might replace exams as a qualification.
March 18: update: announcement that all schools will close Friday and that exams will not take place in May/June. An announcement will be needed as to whether this means postponement till September, or waive through on Precited Grades. PM’s phrase “pupils will get qualifications” could indicate the latter. I am beginning to see how schools will keep their pupils busy: good on line portals like GCSE Pod or Show My Homework are places to set tasks.
A thought: one of the world’s most valuable Apps in moral terms is “Nextdoor” where you can find out what is happening locally, and who knows what its now worth in financial terms. Other Apps whose time has come include Zoom and Skype.
March 17 : update: Teddington has moved to closing most of the school but keeping Year 11/13 open. The reason is associated with shortage of staff, self isolating or on sickness.
Similarly Waldegrave is closing except for Year 7, 11 and 13 which remain open and Orleans Park is open for years 7,9,11,12 and 13 only.
This leaves keeps things moving for GCSE and A Level and leaves open the possibility of completing those exams but of course things are fast moving and may change.
Parents from year 10 are beginning to ask about possible extra tuition.
March 16
My personal opinion is that after this weekend the chances of UK schools having to close due to Coronavirus have moved from below 50% to over 50%. Whatever the science says, peer pressure may become irresistible. If closure happens, the length could be perhaps 4 weeks, 2 of which luckily are at Easter holiday; all the way up to 6 months including summer holidays.
With a short stop, perhaps pupils in Year 11/13 who would be most affected could receive remote schooling, reassemble for exams, and examiners might lower the grade boundaries. But for an extended outage, the question would then be, what about qualifications for 6th form and University, assuming that no exams would be possible in May unless on-line exams were mobilised quickly? I don’t believe that everyone repeating their year would be an option; firstly I do not believe pupils would want that, and second the capacity is not available unless you roll all the way back to nursery and delay the very first year of schooling.
Even a half way house of taking GCSE/A Level in September would be problematic as it would mean starting the next Year after Christmas, and requiring pupils to maintain “mental fitness” all over this summer. So an interesting alternative compromise is nearby Teddington’s plan to close the school except for Year 11/13, which at least keeps things moving.
If exams were to be cancelled altogether and yet pupils progress to the next level, that then implies that coursework and predicted grades at GCSE and A Level would come into play, as a means of determining 6th form and College admissions. But this is speculation. We shall see. Currently isolation for over 70’s seems to be the focus, but certainly schools are beginning to plan – for instance my school at Waldegrave is encouraging pupils to take more books and equipment home each day in case a sudden instruction comes.
As a tutor, whatever happens, I will offer options to parents of continuing as normal, or moving to on-line, or (and I hope not) stopping altogether. Note that better than Skype for on-line is a purpose built free programme called Zhumu, which I already use extensively with my morning Chinese students and remote Europeans and the tutoring works very well using this system. Needless to say we have already introduced handwashing.
Biology
The Biology of Coronavirus is interesting to say the least; at GCSE level we know that viruses, despite causing so much grief, are not actually living, as they do not have enough of the MRSGREN characteristics (more on that in future updates); they only live when a host is found, where they can rapidly replicate; and antibiotics do not work, instead a vaccine is needed to prevent infection rather than cure ; and at A Level you would know that the reason that soap and water is so effective is that the hydrophobic part of the soap can rupture the lipid membrane of the virus (see below)
On a lighter note
Regular readers will know that a pop song is never far away. Let’s hope the outcome is less of John Lennon’s “hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease” in Come Together, or Depeche Mode’s “you know how hard it is for me to shake the disease”; rather Paul McCartney’s “Its getting better all the time” (he always was more optimistic), a song which originated when Ringo fell ill in 1964, and was temporarily replaced with drummer Jimmy Nichol, who played five concerts before Ringo was well enough to return. During Nicol’s tenure John and Paul constantly asked him how he was coming along, to which he always replied, “It’s getting better,” In 1967 Paul made this into a song for Sergeant Pepper.
Medical advice might be, as the Police say, “Don’t Stand So Close to Me” (and that was actually at school) or remain as X-Ray Spex would say, a Germ Free Adolescent.
As events develop I will update this blog. Auto updates are possible if you complete the subscription form