Ever Shortening School Skirts

Number 13 - Unlucky for some?

Weather 4 U

Technology Taking over the World

PE Lessons

Home Cooking is Good for you

A tweet from Si of "The Hairy Bikers" said that to encourage more home cooking, kids need to "Get in the Kitchen!"

Teenage Sterotypes

Toxic Uniform

 

Technical Issues

We have had some problems uploading videos from yesterday, please keep looking at the blog, we hope they will be resolved soon! Y8 school reprters, please check the message that I have sent you on Moodle.

Thanks, M Rutherford

Beloved Leisure Centre Threatened with Closure

The New and Cool Place to be... WBYPC

Mars Mission is Just Over the Horizon

Rowdy Racists

Glaciers Retreat

Does Cracking Knuckles Causes Arthritis

WHERE DID ALL THE SHOPS GO?

Where did all the shops go?  by Oliver

In the past months many shops have been closing down in Britain, but why?

Recently shops such as blockbuster, Jessops, HMV, and Comet have been closing and there’s someone to blame.

Tesco and amazon have been constantly driving down prices to be the best, but this is making smaller shops also have to do so to be competitive but at such low prices they have to sell more to make profit and survive the high street.

Neal Gingell said:

This shop and many more are set to close.

“I am very disappointed about the closure of blockbusters and Jessops as I am a big fan of not having to use the internet to do my shopping. I think that major supermarkets shouldn’t be allowed to drop prices too low.”

 

Jai, a child from Nottingham said:

“I am upset that shops are closing down in my local area, as I used to enjoy knowing that all my products are in good condition, whereas online shopping you have to trust that your sellers are selling the product you require. It would also be a lot harder to return items if all our shopping was online. It is also good that people get out of their houses to do shopping otherwise they might just stay in their houses all day long and do their shopping via computer. I think this is happening because we as a public are not going to these unsuccessful shops as often as we should.”

Unfortunately the amount of shops closing is resulting in thousands of jobs being lost. It has been recorded that on average 32 shops are being closed every day, this includes high street singular shops and major chain shops like blockbusters.

Shops’ closing is also causing problems to the public who disagree with using internet sites and do not have access to the internet. Some people that don’t have access to the internet and with blockbusters closing they will find it very hard to get access to a variety of films.

 

GOVE TAKES A STEP BACK TO THE PAST ON A LEVELS

Gove takes a step back to the past on A levels

 

Michael Gove, the current secretary of state for education, has announced that in 2017 A Levels will

be changing back to what they were before the year 2000. They’re scraping the AS level and just

basing your final A level result on a final exam.

 

The change means that the students for every A level will have 2 years to revise. The first teenagers

to start the new system will start there course in 2015 and then in 2017, they will take their exam.

These changes will first impact on the existing year ten pupils.

 

The current, soon to be old, system enabled A level students to re-sit modules in order to improve

their final A level Grade. This is one of the reason that the A level results have improved over the

years.

 

Are the changes necessary?

 

Most Universities have been concerned about the academic ability of the first year students in

subjects such as Maths and English and their views on the increase of results in A Levels has been

that parents has helped students with their assessments and course work, which has increased

their level. The resulting grade of theses assessment not necessarily reflecting on the ability of the

student.

 

However, some universities, such as Cambridge will be considering their own entrance exam for

evidence that the student is academic enough to enter their university because universities usually

rely on AS levels. The new system will take out AS levels therefore they need different evidence

about the current level of the student.

 

Does the proposed Change better prepare students for future employment?

 

Whilst you are in a working environment commonly, an employee will have a meeting with their

boss and assess over a period of time how well they’ve done and what they’ve achieved. The A level

system will now take away the first annual assessment for the two year course.

 

Because there will be less exams to revise and prepare for, could it mean that it will enable the

Students to gain deeper understanding of the subject?

 

What is the view of a student affected by the Change?

 

Pupils may be influenced by their own ability. Some pupils prefer a big three hour exam whereas

others like modular work and tests. The system change may also affect Males and Females

differently. For example, in 2006, when maths course work was abolished from GCSE, Boys pulled

ahead of girls in the rankings.

 

A year 10 student (year 10 students will be first to be affected by the change) told me ‘

 

How are parents likely to react?

Some parents will welcome the system with open because it is back to the A levels as they new

them. The first year of the two year course being a no pressure, relaxed and a year without exams

after the previous years studying for GCSE’s. But in the January of the second year there will be

mock exams.

 

A parent, Matt Dring, has said, ‘I think that my son will suffer from the A level changes but I will support a standalone AS level because I think it will enable pupils continue with education’.

 

However, another parent, Karen Rolfe, who is a parent of a college student, has said’ In my opinion, students get it to easy these days and that the government have made a correct decision.’

 

What are the teachers’ views?

 

A teacher at the west Bridgford Academy has quoted ‘I think that the change is not necessary, and it is unfair to base 2 years of learning into one 3 hour exam. It doesn’t show any understanding that the students have on the subject.’

 

However the head of Torch Academy Gateway Trust, which run Toot Hill School, agrees with the changes telling this is Nottingham, ‘I Believe that the current picture for learning at A levels is inconsistent. For students, it feels like they’re taking one exam after an other. That is why I feel it is better for them to sit their exams at the end of the two years.’

 

This massive change will affect everyone in education, all having different views on the change and one that will rumble over the years.

 

Jordan