BTEC Update - 30/06/2020

Students, please click on this link to veiw an update from Pearson about BTEC courses and results. 

https://www.pearson.com/uk/learners/fe-and-college-students/supporting-fe-students-parents-covid-19.html? 

Some frequently asked questions can be found here:

https://www.pearson.com/uk/educators/fe-college-educators/supporting-the-fe-sector-during-coronavirus-covid-19/btec-learner-faqs.html?

Thanks, 

Ms Jackson 

Examination Officer 

Results Day Update - 29/06/2020

Dear Parents / Guardians,

You may be aware that we are having to organise a virtual results day for students in years 10 to 13 this year due to the restrictions that are likely to still be in place. We have emailed all students in years 11 to 13 with details about how to sign up to SIMS Student and most of them have done so. I sent another reminder to them yesterday. Using SIMs Student is the quickest and safest (in terms of ensuring the correct results are published to the correct students only) system we can use to do this.

Please check that your child has signed up to SIMS online (an email from StudentITSupport will be sent shortly with details on how to do so) as soon as possible. Most students have but not all. If you, or your child, require any help with this process then please contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more help.

We will aim to have the results published on your child’s SIMS app by 9.00am on 13th August (AS and A2 results) and 20th August (GCSE results).

Kind regards,

Stuart Davies
(Deputy Headteacher)

Centre-estimated grades - 22/04/2020

Dear all,

I hope you and your families are well and you are finding ways to engage yourselves productively with school work or preparing for the next phase of your education.

I emailed you before Easter to explain that exam boards have asked the school to provide them estimated grades which they will then use as one piece of evidence in deciding your grades for the subjects in which you would have received an overall grade this Summer.

I am emailing today to clarify a few points that students have asked in emails to me or their teachers in the last few weeks.

1. The estimated grades will be decided upon following conversations and moderation between your class teachers and other teachers of the same subject as well as the Raising Standards Leader for each area. They are not the judgement of one member of staff alone.
2. The school will use a wide-range of evidence in deciding what estimated grade to submit. This will be slightly different in each subject depending upon the way it is assessed. It would include, all classwork since the start of the course, the regular assessments that teachers carry out over the course of the GCSE, any mock exams you have undertaken, any prior external examinations you have done for the subject, any coursework you have submitted and the effort you have made in class. The school will avoid relying on one piece of evidence alone in making the judgement.
3. The exam board for each subject (which is the WJEC for almost all subjects) will use this estimation as one piece of evidence when awarding the final grade. They will carry out a process to standardise the estimations they receive from schools across Wales. The purpose of this is to ensure that you are not unfairly disadvantaged compared to last year’s or next year’s students in the award of your final grades.
4. Only the exam board can award the final grade for this Summer’s exams. Neither the school nor your teachers will be able to influence that grade once the estimations have been sent away.
5. Teachers, Raising Standards Leaders and the school are not allowed to tell you what we have estimated. Qualifications Wales and the exam board have explicitly said that this is not allowed. Please do not ask your teachers to tell you. It is not their fault, they are not allowed.
6. Some of you carried our mock exams prior to the end of school and have not had your results. I have said that teachers can tell you what mark you got but they should not put a grade on that as the exam board could interpret that as us telling you your estimated grade. Remember that your estimation will not be based solely on the outcome of one mock exam but from a range of evidence.
7. A number of pupils have asked if they can complete any more work for us to influence the estimated grade. Unfortunately, Qualifications Wales and the WJEC have stated explicitly that the school should not take into account any work completed after 19th March in arriving at an estimated grade.

I know that this is a stressful and worrying time for you all, especially as you have worked so hard in preparing for these exams. Please be reassured that all of your teachers and Raising Standards Leaders that I have spoken to are determined to do their absolute best for you and want to ensure that you have the best possible grades whilst also being a fair reflection of your work, effort and progress in the subject.

I would advice you all to carry on with work that will help to prepare you for when life returns to a greater degree of normality. Year 10 and 12 students should be working on those activities that teachers have set to cover contents and skills for next year.

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Stay safe and we look forward to seeing all of you again soon.

Thanks,

Mr. Davies

(Deputy Headteacher)

A message to Years 12 & 13 - 30/03/2020

Dear Parents / Guardians,

I hope everyone is well and keeping safe. We have had some further information regarding the AS Level exams your child would have taken this year and how it will affect the A2 exams they will take in 2021 at the end of Y13.

1. As AS Levels are stand alone qualifications they will now be issued in Summer 2020, based on a teacher estimate, calculated using a range of evidence, and then standardised by the exam board. This includes all AS Levels but not BTEC qualifications.

2. In Summer 2021, current AS Learners will have 2 options for their A Level award:
    a. Only sit the A2 units, with the A Level grade based on their performance in the A2 units
    b. or sit both the AS and A2 units.

Clearly, this is a lot to think about and you can be assured that teachers, Raising Standards Leaders and the Senior Leadership Team at Cathays High School will consider the advantages and disadvantages of both methods for each child in each subject. We will then support students in ensuring they make the best choice for them. We will also be happy to discuss these options with parents who have any queries and your children in school. We will be determined to ensure that your child has the best chance to achieve the best possible outcome in each of their A Levels by the end of Y13.

I will continue to share any further information with you as it becomes available.

Thanks,
Chloe Picken
(Head of Sixth Form)

A Message to Year 10 - 30/03/2020

Dear Parents / Guardians

I hope everyone is well and keeping safe. We have had some further information regarding the GCSE exams your child would have taken this year and how it will effect the GCSE exams they will take in 2021 at the end of Y11.

1. Any subjects where your child would have received an overall qualification will now be issued in Summer 2020, based on a teacher estimate, calculated using a range of evidence, and then standardised by the exam board. This would include English Literature and Maths- Numeracy. Students will be able to resit any of the subjects in which they would wish to improve their grade.

2. Any unit exams that your child would have sat that would not have lead to an overall grade but would have contributed to the final grade in Y11, will not be estimated by the teacher. These subjects would include, Science (Triple, Double Award and Single Applied), Religious Studies, Welsh and History. There are two options here for these examinations:
    a - Students do not sit these exams and only sit the units they would have taken at the end of Y11 in the Summer 2021.
   b - Students sit both the units they would have taken in Y10 and those they would take at the end of Y11 during Summer 2021. Where students use this method they will be awarded the best grade possible from either option a or option b.

Clearly, this is a lot to think about and you can be assured that teachers, Raising Standards Leaders and the Senior Leadership Team at Cathays High School will consider the advantages and disadvantages of both methods for each child in each subject. We will also be happy to discuss these options with parents who have any queries and your children in school. We will be determined to ensure that your child has the best chance to achieve the best possible outcome in each of their GCSEs by the end of Y11.

I will continue to share any further information with you as it becomes available.

Stay safe.

Thanks,

Stuart Davies

(Deputy Headteacher)

23/03/2020

Dear all,

We have had a message from the WJEC exam board with some details about awarding GCSE and A-Level grades for students. There is different information for Year 11 & 13 students compared to Year 10 & 12 students so please read the following information carefully for your year group.

Year 11 & 13:

You will receive a grade for those subjects for which you were entered.

Teachers will be asked to give you an assessed grade which will be based on your likely grade at the end of the qualification overall.

Teachers have been asked to base this on all the assessments you have done including your classwork and any tests you may have carried out. It will not be based on one mock exam alone as teachers will take into account a full range of evidence.

Teachers have also been asked to take into account the commitment of students to their studies and their ability in the subject when giving their assessed grade.

The exam board will then consider any other evidence they have in each subject such as any uploaded marks for controlled assessments or previous exam modules. This will be different in each subject depending on what you have done previously.

The exam board will also standardise this by comparing these too all the students in Wales due to receive a grade this summer.

Therefore, your final GCSE grade will not just depend on what grade your teacher has given you.

We will share any further information that we get.

Year 12:
It seems unlikely that you will be given an estimated grade for the AS modules you would have sat this Summer.

The WJEC and Qualifications Wales has not provided further details on how you will be assessed during the next academic year and we will share that with you as soon as we get more details.

Year 10:
You have two kinds of advice:
1. For subjects in which you were sitting a modular exam and not expecting to get the whole grade this year you will be unlikely to get an estimated grade. The WJEC and Qualifications Wales will provide more details on how this will be managed which we will share with you. This will include subjects such as RE, Science, History
2. For subjects where you were going to get a final, overall grade we expect you to end up with estimated grades in the same way that Year 11 and 13 will. See the advice above, under Year 11 & 13, for how that will work. This will include subjects like Maths-Numeracy and English Literature.

Students will have the chance to resit any subjects for which they get estimated grades in Year 11 if they are unhappy with the grade the exam board awards them.

Please email me if you have any questions about this information. We will share anything further as we get it from the exam board.

Thanks

Mr. Davies
Deputy Headteacher

19/03/2020

Dear Parents / Guardians of students in Years 10 to 13:

You will almost certainly be aware of the Welsh Education Minister’s statement about the Summer GCSE and A-Level exams from last night. In case you have not, all exams have been cancelled. The Minister stated that pupils in years 11 and 13 would be given fair grades based on the evidence we have to date. There are a number of questions around how exactly this will work which we are seeking answers for. Clearly this has been a stressful and anxious time for you and your children. The school will do everything it can to ensure that pupils receive the grades they have worked so hard to achieve. We have spoken to Year 11 students this morning and discussed this with them. We will share more information with students and families as we get it.

Year 10 and 12 students will not have estimated grades for the GCSE or AS exams they would have taken as far as we can tell and assessment arrangements for them will be organised for when they move into Year 11 and 13. Again specific details have not been made clear yet and we will update students and families as soon as that becomes available.

Thanks

Stuart Davies
(Deputy Headteacher)