Wicked Wednesday

Ok, here we are again. And I will try and put in as much as possible that was deleted yesterday if I can remember.

So, anyway, we had our team meeting and the exams have been brought forward a week and the Speaking and Listening exam will now be included inthe kids overall english scores on their permanent records. Scary stuff, of course the younger ones dont have a clue what that means yet, but I am sure some parents will start moaning soon.

The trouble with exams is that we teach from one book and the exam is based on another course - the Cambridge exam. Brilliant, this means they are tested on some words that we just dont teach them. So the last week before the exam is frantically preteaching them all the stuff that they dont already know. Also the Cambridge divides students into 3 levels, Starters, Movers and Flyers. Trouble is, we teach over 6 Prathom levels. So Prathom 1 & 2 get the same exam, 3 & 4 get the same, 5 & 6 get the same. Its stupity, the higher level have that extra year of exposure to English and vocabulary so they always ( ok, 90% ) do far better than the lower year. For example, this year the P3s have to know stairs, basement, bank, cinema, lift, library and zoo. Not only as words but also as concepts.

As well as that the exam papers they will get are going to be in black and white so the agency has to change some of the questions - they can no longer ask "what is the blue monster doing?" because they all look grey!!!

As well as that they still havent told us when our holidays are. Maybe the last 2 weeks in October. I mean for Petes Sake, we are talking about only 6 weeks away. Its not as though some of us dont want to go away, a lot do and its not just local flights as well, its international ones that can be booked up very quickly and its now far too late for any deals, so we will pay over the odds for the fare as well. The school hasnt told us. Right ! My arse. The school knows exactly when it is closing, it is again a power trip by somebody so we the poor sods at the front line get to know last.