Posted by coffeekid
Yesterday (May 8), kids up and down the country were sitting Standard grade English exams. I’m sure that in a lot of schools, teachers were inconvenienced by having to give up space for kids with special needs who were receiving the assistance they were entitled to. And it got me thinking . Why are people who cannot read and write their exam unaided SITTING an English exam? Getting support for other subjects, fair enough. However, a pass at Standard grade English tells a prospective employer that a young person can read and write and implies that they can function at a normal level of literacy. If someone will be unable to function in the real world, does it help to give them a piece of paper which implies they can? Does it help the young people who receive this extra support? If it does, they are welcome to it. I can’t help wondering if it makes a mockery of Standard grade English as any kind of qualification.
Posted by st joseph
Surely the same is true of maths, etc? Is it not also ironic that the people who help these pupils are learning support teachers who should be ensuring that these pupils are equipped to work with some semblance of independence where possible?
Posted by coffeekid
The help these candidates will be getting are readingscribingICT (for kids with dyslexia or motor-skills problems, with disabilities like arthritis); prompting (for some with autism, Asperger’s) and extra time. The exam’s not being done for them. I do wonder what becomes of these kids when they get jobs and there isn’t a kind lady sitting next to them giving them support.
Posted by Archimedes
As long as our system of qualifications for access to employment and furtherhigher education is controlled by a set of exam results, I am happy for kids to be given whatever help they need. It’s up to employerscollegesuniversities to look at the person in front of them to assess their true potential.
Posted by lizardbhoy
Inclusion? I used to be a fan . I’m now against it. Some folk have it, some don’t. There are social and other inequalities involved, I recognise. But, in secondary, it’s too late - the dye has been cast.
Posted by Frecklefeatures
I can’t take the levels awarded in Standard grades seriously, for any pupils, given the level of “help” I have seen pupils with NO additional support needs getting.
www.tes.co.ukcommunity, click on TES Scotland, then opinion.
