On-Line Marking

The demise and downfall of ETS this summer has sadly led to the abandonment of KS3 tests, much to the delight, I've no doubt, of thousands of 14-year-olds, not to mention their schools and teachers.
Personally, I've never really understood what the schools and teachers had against KS3. From the pupils' point of view, they gave an indication of where they were in comparison to where they wanted to be in two years' time at GCSE. The scores achieved at KS3 were of no significance in themselves and were not recorded on UCAS forms, nor indeed did any future employer require, or want to see these results. Thus pupils received only a boost to their confidence or, possibly, a warning shot across the bows.
Schools, and all those who had access to the results, knew where the school was in relation to other schools. Many Heads, although they would not admit it, were not unduly worried if the KS3 scores were lower than might be expected. They could firstly blame the Primary schools, and, more importantly, in two years time they could claim credit for the "Value Added" when there was a vast improvement shown at GCSE. Whereas good KS3 scores meant less "Value Added".

However, I suppose I should stand by the title of my blog, even though I'm faced with a disappointing drop in income next summer. With that in mind, I have recently gone back to my ex-employer, Edexcel, and applied to do some on-line marking in February.



A few years ago I swore I would never again subject myself to the horrors of on-line marking. Those of my readers (are there any?) who have ever marked on-line will know what I mean.
For four years or so I tried to get into online marking but I'm afraid I found the whole process soulless, boring and irritating.
I missed the empathy one can achieve with a candidate when marking a complete script, some excellent and scoring very high marks, some with little aptitude for the subject but trying really hard to achieve something, and others whose despair overflowed into sad and desperate pleas to the marker.
Then there was the irritation of having to click on three blank pages and insert ten zeros in the appropriate boxes, when a candidate has omitted a complete question: or inserting ten ones when the candidate has scored full marks. When on a real paper a ringed nought or ten is sufficient.
And the deceit of the marker who, on coming across an "awkward" response requiring some thought in applying the mark scheme, simply logged off and marked a different question for a while, knowing that on return some one else would have taken the "awkward" question.
Then there was no longer a need to hold a standardisation meeting, with the chance to meet and interact with other markers, discuss the nuances of the mark scheme and meet one's team leader face to face.
I appreciate that the system is more efficient and less costly, but I for one was quite happy to add up marks and enter the total on the script and the mark sheets, and my checker enjoyed her role even though the board had not acknowledged the work of checkers for some years.
Thus, when I was offered some marking by another board involving "real" candidates submitting "real" scripts from "real" centres, I finally deserted Edexcel and have marked ALevels for Cambridge, winter and summer, ever since.
In fact, I am off to an Examiners' Meeting tomorrow and will spend the next six weeks or so considering the, often excellent, offerings of young mathematicians from Singapore.

Just heard I've been offered some marking on-line for February. Something to look forward to .... not!

Single in Sicily

Just got back from a week's package holiday in Sicily (naturally paid for with the fees received for my part in the downfall of ETS). This was the first holiday I have ever taken on my own and I am grateful to family and friends who encouraged me on this venture.



Having been on a number of these holidays with Voyages Jules Verne, I know that the great majority of holidaymakers are middle-aged or elderly couples, with only a few singles. These tend to be widows, widowers and divorcees, with a few younger people of either sex, often schoolteachers visiting places of historical interest. Mealtimes can be a problem, with most tables being for four, a pair of singles often get lumped together, sometimes for the whole week. Accordingly, I chose a hotel which only offered B&B and decided to fend for myself for lunch and supper at suitable bars and/or restaurants.



My daughter, a seasoned single traveller, offered some good advice. Always carry a newspaper or book and avoid eye contact if you wish to discourage the unwelcome attentions of strange men. I have to say that this ploy proved to be successful on every occasion.



There were four excursions on offer and I signed up for all of them. First we went to Syracuse, a sleepy port with a fine Greek Theatre nearby, at which, we were told, the first performance of Aeschylus' "Persians" was staged. Syracuse was also the town where Archimedes lived, and met his death at the hands of a Roman soldier. Apparently Archimedes was doing a maths problem in the sand on the beach (as one does) and failed to defer to the passing soldier quickly enough. I was sorry that there did not seem to be any statue or memorial to the great man.

The next day to the top of Etna .... or The Etna, as the locals call it. The coach took us to 1900m. and the remaining 1400m. were climbed by cable car and land rover, for the exhorbitant extra cost of 50 euros per person. There we saw a couple of smouldering craters, clearly on the point of erupting, and acres and acres of black ash.
There was only one place for lunch and the whole party went in so, apologising profusely, I plonked myself down at a table with a couple from my hotel. They were very nice, him particularly when we realised that the litre of wine provided with lunch was meant for four, so we did well. Conversation was easy and they weren't too nosey. They reminded me very much of Howard and Hilda, characters from the excellent "Ever Decreasing Circles" with Richard Briers. Howard and Hilda were the couple next door who always wore matching jumpers and were endlessly enthusiastic and positive about life. At one point they were discussing their intended bus journey to Messina the next day, and worrying about the hills and sharp corners. She (Hilda) then said that it might be nice to go by train, it would be flat and fewer bends. "Howard" was clearly taken by this. "That is a very interesting suggestion, Hilda, and you may well be right. It certainly gives us another option to consider."

Next day to Agrigento to the Valley of the Temples where the impressive Greek temples, one in particular extraordinarily well-preserved, stood on the hillside overlooking the plain down to the sea. During this tour I became aware of another "single". She was a keen tourist and bustled about questioning the guide and chatting to others in the group. She looked a bit like Judi Dench but without the twinkle and was, I decided, a retired headmistress. Lunch was at a restaurant at the beach, and I thought about it, and then chickened out. Sandals off, I walked along the sand at the edge of the water for half an hour, had a quick beer in a bar and then walked back just in time to catch the coach.

The final excursion was a boat trip to the volcanic islamds of Lipari and Vulcano. "Judi Dench" was there again and lunch was in the only restaurant on the extremely smelly island of Vulcano. This time I plucked up courage, followed her in and suggested that, as we were the only singles, we might as well share a table rather than sit separately. She agreed and, for the first time in nearly fifty years, I found myself having a meal alone with a lady other than my dear wife.

It wasn't too bad! I didn't talk too much, we told each other about our families, she was a divorcee of 64 with a son of 26 who suffered from MS, she told me of the years she had spent in Washington when her ex- had been awarded a fellowship and said I really should go there. We shared a bottle of wine and the bill and went our separate ways, perhaps deliberately avoiding further contact for the rest of the day.
She came and sat next to me at the airport a couple of days later and we chatted about the holiday, and we waved vigorously across the baggage reclaim at Heathrow. It probably meant little to her but, for me it was something of a milestone.