Dear Parents and Carers
In between celebrating our good news on getting a school rebuild, we have been pushing and pushing a particular exam board to get adjustments for our Year 11 music students. Alerting the exam boards to our RAAC situation was one of the first things we did, and they all went straight to their default offer of extensions for coursework. We have taken advantage of this where needed but for our musicians it isn’t that simple, they have lost their facilities and for the first half term couldn’t access any of their coursework at all so an extension is of little use, particularly extending into the GCSE exam season.
Of all the experiences this year has given us, I have to say the attitude of exam boards and particularly JCQ has been the most disappointing. JCQ are the Joint Council for Qualifications, they are a membership organisation made up of the exam boards and provide a voice for administration of exams, including any requests for adjustments. After a term of going back and forth regarding our music students and explaining multiple times how an extension is of no use when there are no facilities, we changed our tactics at Christmas and specifically requested a decrease in the volume of coursework they should complete. This means they are assessed on the same skills as their peers nationwide but with reduced volume, so they have a chance of completing the coursework (it is made up of compositions which were trapped on the MAC computers for the first half term and performances, but we have no practice rooms). We thought this was fair and we had very quickly been granted a similar adjustment last year following the ransomware attack. Unfortunately, our optimism that this could be sorted rapidly faded with multiple messages saying that JCQ have yet to make their decision so please wait. Even the DfE have been frustrated and have been trying to help as they have seen the school and know what we have lost.
However, time dragged on this term with no conclusion, and it caused me to reflect on discussions we had with the DfE and one of the Ministers from the Government in the Autumn. I spoke at that time to someone very senior who was part of the visiting entourage and vented about exam boards and adjustments. He then made a comment along the lines that the exam boards can’t just grant us what we need as schools will claim for everything. This stopped the conversation dead as it was such a clear indication that the culture in education, led from the DfE, is to not trust schools and school leaders, and what a dreadful way to set up anything. As I’ve said before, all the power is centralised, and it is only the responsibility which is delegated by our current leaders in education. We pushed back on this, and he did backtrack a bit, but it left us with an uneasy feeling which has grown over time. And even though JCQ is somewhat independent to the DfE and even though the DfE have actually now been really pushing our case, this culture is so firmly embedded that JCQ are still “following their process”.
What sparked this latest rant was the email we got this week from the exam board, as we asked yet again to be updated, which said this…..
“I regret that we are unable to confirm any arrangement at this time. All partners are prioritising, it is however a complex matter.”
Well, I’m so sorry to bother you as you grapple with this complex matter. No bother that our Head of Music, Wendy Harrisson is having to deal with distraught kids and parents every day, no matter that this endless process is just heaping ever more pressure on children, you just take your time, locked away wherever you are, so far removed from any of the kids your appalling lack of urgency is affecting. And let us just reflect for a moment on schools around the country who have so many more issues than Myton. There are schools in this country where this is every child in Year 11 and every one of their GCSEs. I forwarded the email to our contact at the DfE with some of my opinions and they asked if they could forward it directly to JCQ so they could understand the frustration. I wasn’t too sure about that as, even by this year’s standards it was pretty rude, but why not.
As it happens, we did get another call just this morning which was more encouraging but fell short of a definitive decision. I am more optimistic after this call, but even more frustrated at the time this is taking to make a decision, they are in the exam hall in 7 school weeks! We will relay the details to our Year 11 musicians as I hope they will find some cause for optimism and we, along with our friends at the DfE, will continue to push. And it’s not complex, so just hurry up!
Best wishes
Andy Perry
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