New Gcse Grades

[iloveglee]

can anyone help me out here. we offer our a grandchildren an inducement (well ok then, a bribe), do do well in their gcse's by offering £100 for an A, £50 for a B and £25 for a C. these new grades have me all flummoxed, as i don't now know what the equivalents are. when i was at school many years ago the grades were 1 -5 constituting a 'pass', anything below 5 a fail. simple as that. i realise the new grades are the other way around, 9 being the best, but of course these A* and A** didnt exist for us, nor for our older two grandchildren. want to be fair to all of them but i, and they are wondering what they are up to get (potentially), and what we are possibly going to have to pay out. we have 3 more kids, one taking gscs's next year, one taking them in 2019 and one in 2020. they are pretty bright kids, so i think whichever way it falls, we might need to get saving up!!

[Gizmonster]

This might help - there's a short video as well:

http://www.aqa.org.uk/about-us/what-we-do/policy/gcse-and-a-level-changes/9-1

[ummmm]

I don't think you should bribe them. Reward them for trying as hard as they can. Trying is what matters.

[iloveglee]

Yes i get what you are trying to say about only expecting them to do their best. largely i do agree with that, and that is what we always tell them, whether in competitive sport, or school work, you are competing against yourself, and only the best you can do is what is expected. this is why we are not putting on extra pressure to get A*'s. however, knowing as i do how they sometimes backslide, other stuff gets in the way, and sadly they sometimes get a bit despondent, something (and sadly money seems to work), to work towards does help. i know that what they should be doing is working towards high grades for their future, etc. etc. but i am afraid that kids these days are very aware of the world around them, and can see for themselves that high grades and degrees don't always get you a good job, or even a job at all. it's a hard middle ground to follow, but for the others it did work. the one who found things harder, and often did get the attitude that well who cares anyway, did find a monetary incentive something to push towards. i think it worked, after her first year of gcse work they were not very positive and said she'd be lucky to get 2 or 3 A-C grades. in the end she got 5, plus a near miss which she rectified the following autumn in college. i don't believe in pressurising kids the way they are pressurised at school, and if i felt that this was doing that, i would have thought twice. we do have a very open dialogue with all of them though, as we are fortunate enough to live near them and see them at least once, and sometimes twice a week. thanks for the link to the new grading system. i think we have it sorted now.

[iloveglee]

I would add actually, that they are bright kids, more than capable of the higher grades. we know them well enough to know when they are not trying hard enough!! if i thought for one minute that any of them were completely incapable of getting the higher grades, there would still be rewards for them. their schools are very good at picking up on when they are not trying hard enough. in fact, they spend their whole lives getting rewards for doing nothing, just for being themselves, which is a total joy!!

[ummmm]

I would group A-C at the same level as they are the equivalent to an O-level and maybe less for lower grades.

[goodgoalie]

I hope they know that sentences begin with a capital letter, and where to make new paragraphs :)

[ummmm]

Goalie - the OP isn't taking an exam!

[iloveglee]

I actually do, i passed very well in english. its sheer idleness when online to just put it in as it comes. i do draw the line at textspeak though!!