Preparing for Senior Phase: Supplementary FAQs
Various questions were submitted by parents after the recent “Preparing for Senior Phase” Information Evening. These have most helpfully allowed us to explain a range of new topics in the answers below. Please read this in conjunction with the earlier FAQs. Together they provide a very detailed overview of the new Senior Phase
Q. Will universities in the rest of the UK take the new qualifications into account?
A. All qualifications awarded by the Scottish Qualifications Authority are internationally recognised. The SQA regularly issues information to all potential users, including of course universities throughout the UK. The new National 3, 4 and 5 Awards, plus the new Highers (National 6) and Advanced Highers (National 7) will be graded according to the SCQF scale (for a more in-depth explanation see, for example http://www.scotland.gov.uk/Topics/Education/Schools/curriculum/qualifications ). This is enables all Scottish qualifications to be located very precisely within a set of international comparisons. Students with SQA qualifications who attend English Universities have always found themselves particularly well prepared, compared with those who have studied A Levels.
Q. Will employers be aware of the qualifications and what they mean?
A. The SQA likewise makes detailed information available regularly to employers. Since the new qualifications completely replace the current award system (rather than being an alternative to it that will run in parallel for some years), all users including employers will adjust very quickly.
Q. If you fail a National 5 exam with a D, do you receive a National 4? Is it graded?
A. The SQA has recently issued guidelines for what it refers to as “Recognising Positive Achievement”. These are fairly complex, but broadly indicate that a Grade D in National 5 is still regarded by the SQA as an award at National 5. There is therefore no compensatory National 4 award given. A National 4 award will only be given to a candidate undertaking a National 5 course if he/she falls just below the level of a Grade D and has passed the National 5 internal assessments, and completed the relevant Value Added assessment necessary for a National 4. Our school, like all others, will of course ensure that SQA guidance is followed closely to give all pupils the very best opportunities for success.
Q. If my child fails one part of the internal assessment within school during N5 will they still sit the final external exam?
A. The current arrangements for Intermediate 2 and Higher qualifications are similar in this respect to the new National 5 courses. Candidates are given the chance to re-sit a Unit Assessment (popularly known as a NAB). In the relatively infrequent occasions when the re-sit is also unsuccessful, there needs to be analysis of what this indicates: is the pupil experiencing such a level of difficulty with the course that it would be wise to drop a level, or is it safe to continue, sit the final exam and (assuming success), then re-sit the Unit Assessment in late summer? We anticipate that the new courses will work in a similar way.
Q. What is the difference between ‘value added’ unit to ‘added value element’?
A. While different terms may be used, the key is “Added Value”. As the SQA website states, “Added value is what makes the Course more than the sum of its parts. Added value assessment combines different elements of a Course into overall assessment which learners are required to pass in order to achieve a Course at National 4 to Advanced Higher.
The Added Value Unit in National 4 Courses selects from one or more of the other Units in the Course to provide the added value for the Course. A course award National 5 is assessed through an examination (marked by SQA) and an assignment completed in school but marked by SQA. The weighting of marks between the examination and assignment varies between subjects.
(see http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/58409.html for a fuller, and very helpful, explanation)
Q. After choosing subjects, will pupils be streamed into ability classes thereafter?
A. The mix of pupils will vary from class to class, just as has always been the case with Standard Grade courses. If a large number of pupils opt for a particular subject, they may be grouped according to predicted attainment, although educational research tends to be cautious about whether this has much benefit. The SQA are designing the new National courses to be taught in parallel, so mixed ability classes are fully practicable in most subjects.
Q. Will a pupil be able to sit a subject like Home Economics at National 5 even though he/she has not taken it in S3? Likewise, is it possible to sit Spanish National 5 exam, after only limited time studying it in S3?
A. The curriculum is designed so that pupils’ choice of courses in S3 will not prejudice their ability to choose their S4 subjects. Their likelihood of success in National 4/5 is instead influenced by the way that they have built up skills across a range of subjects, while effort and homework are key indicators of a young person’s interest, commitment and potential. Pupils have historically picked up a second language (Spanish) at the beginning of Standard Grade without any previous experience. Similarly pupils have taken Home Economics/Hospitality without any further experience since S1.
Q. What strategies does the school have to encourage all pupils to engage in “wider achievement” activities? What about those who are not “joiners in”?
A. Curriculum for Excellence is designed to support young people in developing key skills and capacities throughout their lives and in every situation. Schools, therefore, help them analyse and reflect on what they can learn from their wider achievements outside the classroom, and indeed outside school. The key to the school’s support is the creation and ongoing development of the young person’s Portfolio and Profile, which record their activities and emerging strengths.
Monifieth High School has always offered a particularly wide range of out-of-class activities and if a pupil wishes to pursue such activities there are always plenty of opportunities, though he/she may sometimes need to choose an alternative because of high demand. (All out-of-class activities are run by staff on an entirely voluntary and unpaid basis.) Advice to pupils is that:
· It is particularly helpful for you to join a uniformed organisation (Scouts, Guides, BB, Cadets etc.), and/or a voluntary and community group (churches, charities, environmental action groups) or a sports club.
· Employers, colleges and universities alike want enterprise and initiative. If the school’s Duke of Edinburgh group is over-subscribed, for example, seek out other groups offering the same/similar awards (e.g. uniformed organisations) – to do so will actually gain you extra credit for initiative.
· If the school does not offer a club in your particular field of interest, look wider in the community, or take the initiative and ask permission to start a new school club (this is done with great success by pupils most years).
· Always ask how you can serve others. There are so many needs: environmental issues, people with disabilities, the elderly, international poverty, etc. Each one has voluntary groups which work hard in our area, and if you give time to one of these you will be doing something immensely worthwhile for others – and for yourself.
· Think laterally. You may not be a “joiner-in” who likes sport, or who wants to join a uniformed organisation. But the range of possibilities is so vast that you will always find an activity that will suit you. Learning involves going outside your comfort-zone: push yourself in your classroom studies and equally in your out-of-class learning.