Normality of a sort returning to schools – but big questions remain

To say it’s confusing is like saying climbing Everest is akin to going for a wee dander.

However, with the general feeling that the Covid dust is finally settling, it’s probably a good time to take a look at where we are in the world of learning, so let’s take stock.

The first part is simple. By the time all the over-packaged Easter eggs are digested and all the excess wrapping is sticking out of the corners of well-filled bins, the waiting game is over for all pupils.

If you haven’t already been back before Easter, then it’s time to iron your uniform, pack your schoolbag and join your mates.

In short, Strand 2 of 'the roadmap’ is kicking in ‘no earlier’ than April 12 – the key date for swapping your mouse for a pencil.

With June 17 scheduled for all social contact restrictions being lifted – again, with the ‘no earlier than’ premise – social distancing protocols in schools will remain as they were prior to the second spike.

In all probability, schools will remain ever-cautious and continue to use digital resources, use masks, keep social distancing and maintain many of the tried and tested remote learning methods, at least until the Chief Medical Officer gives the green light for society to ease off.

Once back at school, don’t expect all subjects to be the same, then.

The resumption of school sport is one such area that has been under question a lot, not only in the NI Assembly but by society in general.

A fitter and healthier nation is perhaps one of the best forms of immunity we could have for future pandemics so, with this argument very much in the public eye, Minister Weir has promised that sport will be back on the agenda as soon as public health permits.

Theoretically, sport is at Strand 4 of the return, but mitigations for some sports, especially non-competitive team sports, are being discussed at the time of going to press and, of course, some forms of public exercise are Strand 2.

So much for life in school, but what of formal assessments, the gift that keeps on giving?

Starting with the younger children, the first issue facing primary schools will be what to do with their Year 6s.

Already, some grammar schools are starting to announce that they will not be requiring academic selection for 2022.

With this backdrop, Year 6s are now in the invidious position of not knowing if they will need to prepare for a transfer test, and if they do, will it be reduced, amended, likely to be altered or dropped entirely at the 11th hour? Watch this space ...

In post-primary, Year 10s will be returning, having made their subject choices for GCSEs, built on their experiences of a year of not having had very much face-to-face teaching.

Potentially, this is going to be a trying time for the teachers of practical subjects as their class sizes for next year could well take a hit. Class sizes mean viable timetable slots, which ultimately means jobs.

For many pupils and their parents, it’s too big a risk opting for, say, Music, if they have little or no experience performing or composing, or likewise, choosing Technolgy, when the last time they held a saw in their hand was in the weeks after Christmas in Year 9.

For Year 11s, it’s a case of having another stab at starting their GCSEs, but for Years 12, 13 and 14, it’s a case of welcoming in a new buzzword: 'Centre Determined Grades' (or 'CDGs', as they’ve become jargonised down to).

The birth of these CDGs occurred because of the cancellation of exams announced on March 5 by the Minister of Education.

Instead, pupils’ grades will be based on teachers’ professional judgement with a whole raft of criteria ticking away in the background.

To the outsider, what a student has to do to get their qualifications seems vague, and probably is, but by all accounts it’s better than last year’s infamous algorithm.

To quote CCEA, teachers will base their grade on “the student’s performance in the CCEA Assessment Resource; in any non-examination assessments (including practical examinations, controlled assessment or coursework); other class tests and mock examinations; or any other work completed by students (for example, practice examination questions, extended essays etc)”.

The interesting word here is ‘may’; in other words, CCEA, at least theoretically, seems open to other interpretations were the pandemic to make life more restrictive.

CCEA are at lengths to point out that students do not have to complete a specified amount of content and make it clear that evidence can be gathered from all work that is in line with the specification.

There’s lots of bold font usage in this instruction, to allow schools some flexibility, but despite this, there remains criticism from parents that some schools are over-assessing their pupils to give as many as possible a chance to get a high grade, or simply as a form of control.

This, in turn, is putting quite a bit of pressure on teachers who are being expected to mark, re-mark and re-mark again, many more examples of work than are actually required.

The bottom line from CCEA is that any evidence completed by students while they are doing their programmes of study can be used for assessment, even incomplete practical examinations, controlled assessments or coursework.

In addition to this, teachers have been supplied assessment resources to use with their students and many schools are using them as unseen exam questions in the units or modules they would have taken, had the exams been held.

This seems especially true in the grammar school sector.

These assessment resources are very different from external examinations as they will be marked by a teacher and will be only one piece of evidence used to inform or support the assessment.

Indeed, in their own words, CCEA says ‘it is not high stakes like an external exam and will be used alongside a range of other activities’.

Schools are also free to omit parts of the assessment materials they haven’t covered in class, and even if schools were to close because of further lockdown, all grades can be achieved by work set at home.

Schools, of course, are free not to use these Assessment Resources, and CCEA have suggested to schools that if they have enough evidence already then they may use the time to cover areas of the curriculum not yet taught, but needed to jump up on the next rung of the ladder.

This would certainly be true at GCSE and AS Level where pupils specifically need a set of skills for the units that follow in 2021/22 and so on.

A small number of pupils in Northern Ireland do examinations from other boards, and although their criteria are different, there is a broad brushstroke of commonality in that students are given topics from which options can be taken and adopted, and their work is marked by their own teachers.

For BTEC students, the vast majority of subjects are coursework-based, with the few units that are formally examined being done by using teacher-assessed grades.

For students doing AS Level and wondering how their data will be used for overall grading, then it’s a case of wait and see, as Mr. Weir has yet to make that decision.

Moving through to higher education, university places will be offered exactly the same way as in previous years, but everybody is keen to see a system whereby third level students or their parents aren’t asked to fork out thousands of pounds for deposits or accommodation, only to find out a few weeks later they’re going to be sitting at home staring at a laptop.

Our young people at university deserve a better deal and their parents, many of whom underwrite or pay for their offspring’s study, have had a rough deal this past year.

In this respect, it’s no great surprise that applications to both NI universities are up this year as more students want to stay at home ... just in case.

Who knows how all this will pan out? But at least in the meantime, the younger generation will now see their peers, re-establish their friendships, and begin to see some degree of normality – whatever that is.