Dear Gina
Here at Djanogly City Academy Nottingham, we've had students (all
non-native speakers) doing GCSE (4 skills) for 3 years. The results
range from F to A*. Last year there were C, D and A*. All the students
apart from the one receiving A* had done 5 years with two 60-min
sessions a week. The one who received A* (his mark is 96%) is an
exceptionally good student. He did it while he was in his year 10. He
worked very hard and we also offered him lots of individual help.
This year, I've entered 2 year11 and 3 year 10 students. Again, my year
10's predicted results are better than my year 11's. I do agree with
Michelle that this to a great extent is due to their ability range.
In my school Mandarin is a compulsory subject for about 140 students at
KS3, but at KS4 I've only got about 10 this year! I know there are many
factors affecting students to carry on with their language learning, but
I do think the hardly achievable result is definitely one of the
important factors which drag our students (and their parents) away in
the case of Mandarin
This year we did a survey to our year 7 as for what language they would
like to learn. Between the four languages offered at Djanogly (French,
German, Russian and Mandarin), Majority opted for Mandarin. I just want
to say, there is a great demand of Mandarin, we should do everything to
keep it (e.g. giving them hope to gain a good result for their GCSE
instead of warning them of a possibly disappointing mark).
I am thinking of introducing Asset Language, but not giving up GCSE. Due
to our settings in school, I can only get mixed ability groups (about 24
students in each groups). Has anyone tried or thought about doing both
Asset Language and GCSE within a same group? Any ideas, advice would be
appreciated.
Best wishes
Xiaoming
Djanogly City Academy Nottingham
-----Original Message-----
From: Mandarin Chinese Teaching
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of MTATE
Sent: 31 January 2006 09:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: GCSE GRADES
Gina,
We entered 7 non-Chinese native students for GCSE two years ago when the
grade boundaries were higher than at present. We had a range from B to
F, the F being achieved by a student who did not put in much extra time
at home and wasn't fully committed to Chinese. The B grade student
should, in my opinion, have achieved an A grade, as she is exceptional.
In fact, if she had taken Japanese that year she would have achieved an
A* on her percentage mark!
We did not enter anyone last year, but are about to put 20 students in
for the GCSE this summer. According to the mock results, I can expect
grades from A* to F, because of the ability range.
If your students are keen, put in the extra work and are pushed hard
enough, then I think the upper grades are achieveable for some, but not
a walk over!
Hope that's been a little bit of an insight for you.
Michelle
----Original Message----
From: [log in to unmask]
Date: Jan 30, 2006 21:25
To:
Subj: GCSE GRADES
My year 9 students are making option choices and many (along with their
parents) are worried about the grade they may expect to be able to
achieve at GCSE. Has anybody put a group of truly non- native students
through in 2005 and how did they get on in comparison to their other
GCSEs? I still encourage able students to stick with the chinese as I
believe one 'lower' grade will not change their futures but having the
qualification in Chinese at all can only be a positive thing for them.
It would be nice to know how others are dealing with this.
Gina Edens
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