GCSE Drama With Armer
We got an exclusive interview with Ms Armer to discuss the new GCSE papers and her personal opinions of them.
Interviewer:
BBC News Team, Deyes here with Ms Armer from the English department.
Ms Armer:
Good Afternoon
Jack: So
what do you think of the new GCSE’s with the 1 to 9 grading system because I know
a lot of students have voiced their concerns and have discussed how confused they
are.
Ms Armer: I
think your point is fair, Jack. You’ve actually asked me two questions there.
One, what I think of them and then hinted that students are slightly confused
about them and I think that’s a definite possibility of any time anything is
introduced that’s new, there is an element of confusion there. I think for a
little while, they will be slightly confused as we get into the new scheme. I
think eventually though, for people like yourselves in the higher sets, you
will be very good with the new exams. It will allow you to flourish
beautifully. Having looked at a lot of the syllabus now and looked at the sort
of things you’re expected to do I actually quite like the new GCSE’s from the
more able point of view. I do have a slight issue though with the students who
do struggle more with their reading and writing. I think accessing some of the
criteria that is expected from them will actually trouble them slightly. I
think they will struggle with their expectations most definitely.
Jack: We
know this was originally brought in by a certain Michael Gove
Ms Armer: Yes
(laughs)
Jack: What
are your opinions on him and how he’s done this?
Ms Armer:
Okay, Mr Michael Gove then, our favourite character. After watching him in his
role as education secretary I did seem to think that maybe he made many
decisions and they seem to be without thought. They possibly weren’t without
thought but they did seem to appear to have been made without much preparation and
the ideas were implemented without saying, implemented very quickly, without
time to prepare, without time to make it work properly, so I think he is someone
who is very indecisive, very quick to think, definitely what I thought of him when
he was in power at that particular time.
Jack:
Everyone I’ve spoken to seems genuinely worried about this new GCSE because it’s
such an important thing with it being harder for the students. Do you think it
is harder overall?
Ms Armer:
Having looked at it carefully now, I don’t think it’s actually harder as in the
questions they ask you. Some of the texts you have to study may be harder in
the fact that you haven’t got the opportunity to choose a slightly easier one
or a slightly smaller version of one. The texts that you’re asked to study are
definitely more difficult or rather the choice of having the more difficult or
the slightly more accessible has been removed. I think the questions are very
similar, some of them. I think they’ve introduced questions which haven’t been
asked for a long time now so we’re slightly out of practise bringing them in
from a younger age. One in particular is the language paper 1 question 1 and
the structure question. That hasn’t been asked from candidates in many, many
years now so it isn’t something that’s in our teaching anymore but obviously it
has to be now so we’ve had to resurrect from many years ago. I think it’s
accessible to again the more academic, more easily and the less academic less
easily. So I do think it creates a bit of a divide, I have to say.
Jack: You
used the word ‘resurrect’ so would that mean it’s not necessarily new
questions, more bringing them back from past papers.
Ms Armer: I
think that’s definitely what’s happened. I think it’s gone back to how it was
when those of us who took ‘O levels’ all those years ago. What Michael Gove specifically
said in a lot of his speeches was he wanted it to be more rigorous whereby
there was less areas where people could still get a good grade for not doing
something quite so strenuous. The indicator for that is some of the texts that
he’s insisting that we study. There aren’t the slightly easier texts there so I
think definitely; he wants it to go back to something that was more prevalent a
few years ago.
Jack:
Thanks for your time.
Ms Armer:
It’s been a pleasure thank you very much.
