I have never put candidates in for January exams and never will if I have my way. Perhaps we're in a fortunate position here but I prefer to think of the education process as being more important. To have January mucked up with more exams than are necessary seems to me to be counterproductive. Will they REALLY revise over Christmas? Isn't holiday time then better spent reading a couple of decent books and developing a deeper interest and understanding in the subject than revising for an exam? Even for the weaker brethren? Learning in all subjects is to a greater or lesser extent incremental and develops with time, experience and a chance to think. June is quite soon enough for exams. If I could have my way I'd not do any exams in the L6 and return to a year of intellectual development, academic curiosity and sheer fun. The remorseless nature of the testing regime in this country positively mitigates against encouraging students to spend time thinking about things.
Rant over, sorry.
Roger Loxley
Academic Deputy Head
RGS Newcastle
-----Original Message-----
From: Economics, business, and related subjects on behalf of Richard Young
Sent: Wed 14/01/2009 16:43
To: [log in to unmask]
Cc:
Subject: feedback on the new AS syllabuses
Nicola’s posting on the January modules is made me think that perhaps now is a good time to discuss initial responses to the new AS syllabuses.
I'm teaching both AS business studies and AS economics, and both with OCR. And we have opted to enter candidates for the January exam if only because some of them need the experience of falling off a bike to appreciate how different AS is to GCSE.
So famine followed by feast:
· do you regard the new syllabuses as an improvement over the old.
· Is it best to put AS candidates in January, or wait until June
Regards
Richard Young
Director of ICT & Business Education
Deputy Head of Sixth Form (Year 12)
Wood Green School
Woodstock Road
Witney OX28 1DX
Tel 01993 702355 (switchboard) 01993 899549 (direct) Fax 01993 774961
www.woodgreen.oxon.sch.uk Preferred work email address [log in to unmask]
Blogs: Economics Teacher <http://business-studies.typepad.com/economics_teacher> | Business Studies Teacher <http://business-studies.typepad.com/business_studies/>
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