21 C Science

What's the difference between this and normal science?

They've been trying to do that for the last 15 years!!

Integrated science, Double Award science and so on.....

All it does is to put off those genuinely interested in science from continuing to a higher level.

Rather like caffeine free diet Coke. You drink coke either because you need the 'fix' (caffeine) or the energy (sugar). Remove both and it's not worth having.You might as well drink mud (it tastes like that anyway)

Same with 21c science: it's science without any real science. But don't you lot get fooled: REAL science might be hard in places but well worth doing.

I realise that NOW, finally after I've been doing it for a yr and a half ! They marketed it to us as if it was something that gave us a reward at the end of it, and it was like 'privileaged students' do this.

Its essentially normal science, with irritating equations that you have to learn. IMO, I should've just stuck to normal science (''Double Award'') - I would've still got the same grades anyway, methinks.

On the whole 21C science - Good if you want a challenge, but unnecessary, IMO.

I found A level physics easier than GCSE as, dispite the syllabus i did being a "let's make physics fun" thing, purely because it gave a (slight) challenge and i found it more fun so paid more attention. That said, my A level course at times looked like an english course with the subject "physics", especially at AS. It also went into no depth (but had great breadth) and loved things that formuli wouldn't work for, only words.

I have yet to find a use for my GCSE geography (which was all social issues, and highly biased), and I'm a map and transport enthusiast! Ditto GCSE ICT (which was the most pointless subject ever) and I'm always on a computer and need to be highly skilled in computer literacy for my university course (where ohms law is second nature, and done in the head straight away even if you don't need to). In fact, the only useful GCSEs I took that are useful for anything outside my studies, is well....err....none! Actually, maybe English Lit (a subject i found most pointless - finding masses of meaning that probably wasn't intended in every word) which i use to sound cultured!

Simon

The worst bit I found about science at GCSE was the 2h 15m exam, particularly as the people who only did Double science went out halfway and proceded to make a racket outside.

Lots of the stuff on IT GCSE / Computing GCE is rather outdated - for example theory based upon 8-bit computers, the assumption that people use a bus network built with BNC cable etc. There's even a section on the Computing syllabus about ASP - not about dynamically generated web pages, about ASP. What happened to it not being biased towards any one company?

I did the triple science course, so three 2h 15m exams... uck.

Or just a stipulation that you must do one humanities subject (Geography/History/Business Studies/Religious Studies).

There appears to be a regulation stating that Sixth Forms should offer RE classes to any student who wishes to receive them, regardless of whether they are doing an A level in the subject or not.

Naturally, this is pretty much impossible to timetable, so tends to be ignored by head teachers, in a similar manner to the requirement to provide a "daily act of collective worship" (assembly) every day.

A sentence criticizing the governors for this oversight appears in a majority of secondary school inspection reports.

Is there any real oppurtunity on any aspect of LU to use a foreign language? I, for example, am doing a German GCSE. Where, apart from German Railway systems, would this be useful in railways?

Most planning and engineering functions these days pinch the best bits from other countries' practices. So if you can read their techy bits without it needing to be translated you are at a huge advantage

In my GCSEs (which are rapidly becoming ancient history) there were at least two syllabuses available within the short course (which was all my school chose to teach).

The A course focused on the more traditional comparative religion, while the B course (which I did) focused far more on morality, such as attitudes to crime and euthanasia.

With regards to assemblies, my school could only fit one year at a time in the main hall (and even then a quarter were perched up some steps in the canteen). A larger hall could have been built, but would have taken most of the sports field, so wasn't included in the major rebuilding work carried out in my GCSE years. In fact I think my first school had a bigger hall.

I was one of the student representetives on the school's assembly committee in my upper school, so I know all about the "daily act of collective worship".
The shool hall was only big enough for years 9&10 or year 11 plus the 6th form. So on a Monday there was no assembly and the time was used for notices, and other such things that actually benefited the school/students (e.g. time to do homework, extra reading, etc - or, in the case of my tutor group in the 6th form, play bridge). On a Tuesday and Thursday years 9&10 had the assembly and on Wednesday and Friday it was the other half of the shcool.

One rediculous thing is that to comply with the Act, the act must be held on school property. So on the 2 or 3 occasions each year we went to the local church (it was a C of E school) that didn't count!

As for other subjects: RE wasn't compulsorary after year 9, so I didn't do it as I've never been particularly interested in religion. I chose Geography in the humanaties box instead.

Science was a 'choice' of single science (3 lessons/week 1physics, 1 chemistry, 1 biology) or double science (2 of each). There wasn't really much choice as unless you were distinctly not academic or needed the time for something else (e.g. the deaf students had the time as extra lessons in the hearing impared unit) then you did the double science. This got you two GCSEs.

A language was effectively compulsory, and you could do a second in one of your general option boxes if you wanted. I chose to do German, but unfortunately was placed in the set that did the modular course with rubbish teachers.

We did a total of 9 GCSEs and mine were 2 science, IT, Geography, German, Art Graphics, Maths, English and English literature (I think - its getting a long time ago!)

This regulation effectively says that you should have an assembley every day. Supposedly this should be religious, but that's a bit taboo in anything other than a faith school these days (we sang hymns in my state middle school, but that was eight years ago.)

However, see the comments about hall size etc.

Supposedly you can also comply by having some form of "quiet contemplation" in registration, or something similar. From my experience, form tutors tend to have enough to cram in in fifteen minutes anyway, especially when the wonderous electronic registers crash.

The punishment for the heinous crime of not complying with this regulation appears to amount to an annoyed sentance in the ofsted report, and the performance of the governors being downgraded by one category.

It's interesting listening to all these differing views. I did double award science and French as another language, both to GCSE level (then AS chemistry and A level physics).

With regard to RE, I hated it! It used to get described as the 'doss lesson'. I'm not sure anyone there really wanted to be there. We didn't have to do it after year 9 unless we wanted to do GCSE RE. So I dropped it.

It's a funny world as, since then, I have become a Christian!