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He Caved!!

Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
edited March 27 in Work & Study
Wahay!! Result.

The head of department at my college has finally agreed, through gritted teeth to allow anyone over 19 a choice over whether or not they attend Key Skills.

I made a hoo-har about doing key skills back in Sept at the beginning of the course and asked to be released from Key Skills as it's written down in the student's handbook that it wasn't compulsary for over 19s to partake in key skills.
A few of the girls expressed a wish to pull out of KS, but backed out when confronted about it. I was the only one who stood up and said I simply didn't want to do it and therefore was granted 'immunity' so to speak.

Only now, 6 months later, the girls are so fed up with KS that they've finally taken a stand and made a formal complaint about Key Skills and the over 19s.

On Wednesday, the Head of dep finally agreed to make it officially optional for over 19s.

I feel proud that the girls finally said something. It pays to speak out. I'm also pleased because the only reason why he was so begrudging was because he was losing out on funding for every girl who quit Key Skills.

Result :thumb:
Post edited by JustV on

Comments

  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Power to the People :thumb:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    what was key skills about?
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Teaching people how to write proper, like.

    Waste of time, to be honest.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Key Skills is a government based add-on qualification that is compulsary for anyone in further education who's under 19.
    It's basically 'how to tie your shoe laces, levels 1, 2 and 3' and 'how to learn your ABC's, full stops and capital letters'.
    Key Skills has different parts: ICT, Communication, Number etc.

    They gave us spelling tests with words like 'actually' and 'beautiful' in Key Skills Communication and asked us to put the commas and full stops in where appropriate, in a set of paragraphs...

    It's absurd. IMO.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru

    It's absurd. IMO.

    Mine too. I hate Key Skills. I did a level 2 Key Skills in ICT last year, which as far as I can work out is the equivalent to a grade C GCSE in the subject - yet I already have two A grade GCSE's in ICT?!

    This year, I'm supposed to be taking level 2 in Application of Number and in Communication (why they can't call it Maths and English I'll never understand), which again is equivalent to a grade C in Maths and one in English. I already have grade B at GCSE for both. Surely it defeats the point of me doing it in school just to retake the same thing now?!
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I passed Level 3 ICT Key Skills without going to a single lesson. I didn't put it on my UCAS form though, because I couldn't be arsed going to the portfolio lessons. Fuck that.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Franki wrote: »
    I passed Level 3 ICT Key Skills without going to a single lesson.

    Exactly. I've already passed my level 2 Application of Number, by doing an assignment I had to do for my NVQ anyway! I'm exempt from the exam, so thats it, I'll have the certificate in July.

    I do actually have to do a tiny bit of work for my Communication one, but I've failed it, and I don't understand why. My tutor wont explain it as I "shouldn't have been ill" when she explained the assignment (despite the fact she'd sent me home that day but never mind:mad: ) and she's making it so hard for me just to finish it that it's not even worth it.

    I have nothing to do in ICT this year as well, because I completed it last year and our college wont let us do the level 3 :rolleyes: I still have to go to the lessons though. It's ridiculous.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    So this is compulsory for all those in further education?! So even if a pupil got 12 A* grades at GCSE and could speak 8 languages they would still have to do it?! :eek2:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BumbleBee wrote: »
    So this is compulsory for all those in further education?! So even if a pupil got 12 A* grades at GCSE and could speak 8 languages they would still have to do it?! :eek2:

    If they were under 19 then yes though they would be exempt from some parts, such as I don't have to take the end of year exams because of my GCSE grades. I still have to do the lessons/coursework though. (And the mock exams :grump:)Though I'm not sure if people who go solely to sixth form instiutions/stay on at their schools have to do them do....
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BumbleBee wrote: »
    So this is compulsory for all those in further education?! So even if a pupil got 12 A* grades at GCSE and could speak 8 languages they would still have to do it?! :eek2:
    At our college, if you got A*-C in Maths, ICT or English at GCSE, you do Level 3, if you got below (or you fail Level 3) you do Level 2. People who do Maths/English/ICT based courses for A-Levels or whatever don't have to do it, which is why I only had to do ICT (because Maths and English are compulsory for IB). IB students get a bit of leniency though, because of our workload, so we don't *have* to do the portfolio, and I got out of going to my lessons because I emailed my teacher to say I was an IB student so didn't have time to go to lessons :o.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I'm 18 and have never done this Key Skills malarky...
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    BumbleBee wrote: »
    So this is compulsory for all those in further education?! So even if a pupil got 12 A* grades at GCSE and could speak 8 languages they would still have to do it?! :eek2:

    I didn't have to do it, and at my college most people don't. The people who *do* are the ones who missed their 5 A* - C grades, are doing retakes and so are doing keyskills at the same time. It does sound a bit like a waste of time though. I had to do general studies, I mean technically I didn't but the school forced you to either general studies or millenium volunteers, I volunteered but it was very informal, so I had to go along once a week to a general studies lesson.

    It was quite funny actually, we had to read a newspaper and say what we thought about the article. The teacher was going on about terrorist bombings in Israel, so obviously I had to point out there was a complicated historical context that it had to be put into, and it wasn't as clear cut as terrorists are insane people who just like killing.

    Then we had to form a fake political party and hold a fake election. The people who won said they were going to shoot chavs on site. *shrug*
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    I didn't do anything like it when I did my A levels, but I stayed on at school to do them. I took General Studies (as in the exam), but spent the general studies lessons themselves doing extra maths, or music practise, of preparing for debating competitions, or shopping, or gossiping.
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Nikki* wrote: »
    If they were under 19 then yes though they would be exempt from some parts, such as I don't have to take the end of year exams because of my GCSE grades. I still have to do the lessons/coursework though. (And the mock exams :grump:)

    What's the point of that?

    I think they're a waste of time - I got Cs in Maths & ICT (and the teacher teaching ICT knows about this) yet I've still got to do them.:grump: :banghead: And the stuff I did at GCSE ICT is basically the same as Key Skills. So basically, I'm doing the same piece of work twice, when I could be doing research for my course or finishing off my course work.
    They gave us spelling tests with words like 'actually' and 'beautiful' in Key Skills Communication and asked us to put the commas and full stops in where appropriate, in a set of paragraphs...

    Which you should've learnt in primary school.:rolleyes:
  • Former MemberFormer Member Posts: 1,876,323 The Mix Honorary Guru
    Sofie wrote: »
    What's the point of that?

    I think they're a waste of time - I got Cs in Maths & ICT (and the teacher teaching ICT knows about this) yet I've still got to do them.:grump: :banghead: And the stuff I did at GCSE ICT is basically the same as Key Skills. So basically, I'm doing the same piece of work twice, when I could be doing research for my course or finishing off my course work.



    Which you should've learnt in primary school.:rolleyes:

    That's my point as well. It's a waste of time, which is why I'm not putting any effort into them, other than attending the lessons and rolling about on my chair. I only attend the lessons bcause if I didn't I wouldn't qualify for my EMA, which I find ridiculous in regards to my ICT lesson, because I'm not even taking ICT this year :grump: I maybe should listen in my Application of Number, but I've done the portfolio already... and I'm not taking an exam, I've got my exemption letter through to prove that... so if they wont give me something different to do in that lesson, or allow me to go to the library, I'll just sit there.

    Luckily, the lessons are quite light hearted (the teachers can't be bothered either) so when I was rolling around a salon talking to other exempt people, the teacher found it amusing. I'd much rather of done some work though.
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