HSC 2020 & COVID: Where does this leave us? (1 Viewer)

[1-99]

Hey guys,

I was sure there would be a thread about this (maybe I just can't find it lol)

NESA announced last week that the 2020 HSC is still going forward and we would still be getting our ATARs.

Are any of you still in school/at home learning online/or using some type of tuition on the side to supplement your learning? My school still allows people to come in and work from their laptops, but most ppl are now at home.

I'm a bit confused on where to go from here tbh... as if this year wasn't stressful enough

 

[dasfas]

You're gonna have to self learn. Khanacademy, textbooks, notes from the 2019 cohort --- anything helps

 

[unclestevesboomerang]

I've been learning at home with textbooks, youtube videos and past papers. Don't go tutoring so don't have access to their resources but our cohort just have to stay motivated and focused for the rest of the year, although theres lowkey too many distractions at home lol. But if they take year 11 marks for our atar then im probably screwed...

 

[#RoadTo31Atar]

Hey guys,

I was sure there would be a thread about this (maybe I just can't find it lol)

NESA announced last week that the 2020 HSC is still going forward and we would still be getting our ATARs.

Are any of you still in school/at home learning online/or using some type of tuition on the side to supplement your learning? My school still allows people to come in and work from their laptops, but most ppl are now at home.

I'm a bit confused on where to go from here tbh... as if this year wasn't stressful enough

Especially considering they said this bs is gonna continue for another 90 days minimum, I don't know how the HSC will work unless they make us do a longer school year than normal(which is actually ok) or cut the syllabus down.

I've been learning at home with textbooks, youtube videos and past papers. Don't go tutoring so don't have access to their resources but our cohort just have to stay motivated and focused for the rest of the year, although theres lowkey too many distractions at home lol. But if they take year 11 marks for our atar then im probably screwed...

I don't think they'll take Y11 marks because "no student will be disadvantaged", I just don't think it would be fair since Y11 is not supposed to count. I didn't even do the same subjects in Y11 as I do in Y12.

 

[ewjfiwhelowaeoplg]

Term two is already pretty much gone. As for term 3, we'll see how this situation evolves. I see them delaying the HSC by several months, and making adjustments to the syllabus.

Australia is one of the few places which has a decent response, this means a flatter peak and potentially a longer epicurve. Modelling varies; we may peak anywhere between early May and November.

What's your schools assessment schedule like now?

 

[#RoadTo31Atar]

Term two is already pretty much gone. As for term 3, we'll see how this situation evolves. I see them delaying the HSC by several months, and making adjustments to the syllabus.

Australia is one of the few places which has a decent response, this means a flatter peak and potentially a longer epicurve. Modelling varies; we may peak anywhere between early May and November.

What's your schools assessment schedule like now?

So far, before my school went online last Tuesday I had time to do 2 tests under normal conditions and will be doing an assignment as an upload from home. They've postponed all exams and teachers don't know what will happen in the future, a head teacher said they might make the first 1-2 weeks back assessment weeks to make up for the tests we missed and then keep going with everything else like normal. Only thing is if this lasts longer than the beginning of the next term this will not work so idk what will happen then.

Extending the school year/cancelling holidays might be alright too, at least for year 12 students.

 

[NG43]

I've been learning at home with textbooks, youtube videos and past papers. Don't go tutoring so don't have access to their resources but our cohort just have to stay motivated and focused for the rest of the year, although theres lowkey too many distractions at home lol. But if they take year 11 marks for our atar then im probably screwed...

They shouldn't take our marks from Prelim as some students don't take Prelim as if its the HSC, so there would be a big change for some students.
Myself personally, I'm taking Prelim pretty chilled, we use the pathways model, so I don't burn out at the end of the year. So I would hate if they took my Prelim marks....

 

[NG43]

One approach would be that of the Black Death, in terms of an economic response, students themselves become more powerful and able to incur change in society and essentially we COULD redevelop the entire education system etc.

 

[ewjfiwhelowaeoplg]

Obviously a lot of what happens has to do with how this pandemic plays out within Australia.

I see it proceeding in one of 3 ways:

• The government successfully contains the virus by bringing the case numbers to zero for an extended duration (very difficult), with a graded approach of lifting restrictions (e.g China).The virus is eradicated. Return to school term 3 or late term 2, complete trials and HSC modified to remove content and adjustements to major works e.g Design & Technology, Visual arts.
• The government brings down the virus to managable levels with the restrictions (e.g Japan, Singapore, South Korea) with a low (~50-200) increase per day. The restrictions are in place indefinitely, to avoid a second wave. All further exams potentially cancelled or at least until summertime (December), when the pandemic is expected to ease.
• The government brings down the virus to managable levels with the restrictions (e.g Japan, Singapore, South Korea) with a low (~50-200) increase per day, but loosens restrictions. Resurgence of virus, and immediate reimposition of restrictions. All further exams potentially cancelled or at least until summertime (December), when the pandemic is expected to ease.

What's good is we most definitely will not be heading down the path of Italy or US. The govrnment controls appear to be substantially more effective than most countries, and comparable to countries like Japan, Singapore and South Korea.

If all further school exams are cancelled, then they will to likely our previous year 12 assessment task, given that NESA now allows schools free control over all tasks, or implement replacement assignments.

 

[throwaway2318]

My school is assuming that we'll be online for the next term, and already made adjustments to the weighting of future assessments (our trials for some subjects are now 50%).
We are definitely doing better than other countries, and hopefully this downwards trend will continue. However, we still gotta wait it out.
I wouldn't mind a slimmed down syllabus to be honest, though I don't know how hard it is to implement this if topics are connected.

 

[ewjfiwhelowaeoplg]

My school is assuming that we'll be online for the next term, and already made adjustments to the weighting of future assessments (our trials for some subjects are now 50%).
We are definitely doing better than other countries, and hopefully this downwards trend will continue. However, we still gotta wait it out.
I wouldn't mind a slimmed down syllabus to be honest, though I don't know how hard it is to implement this if topics are connected.

Yes, barring exceptionally (stupid!) decisions to hold mass gatherings in spite of governmental rules, the downward trend is fully expected to continue. The question however is how do we come out of this crisis (before a vaccine is discovered) without a second wave occuring.

Topics generally aren't substantially connected, for almost all humanities and even most sciences. Math extension 2 is a bit more problematic, but the new syllabus does tend to be significantly more compartmentised compared to the old syllabus. I don't imagine this being too big of a problem to implement.

 

[studiesofboard]

how would our trials work though? trials are June-July I think

 

[ewjfiwhelowaeoplg]

Well, if schools are still closed in term 3 I imagine they would have to cancelled. When schools reopen, that is up to debate (see one of the previous posts).

 

[theboys57736]

My school is currently doing online learning for an unknown period of time, will this result in my exams (term 2 week 6) being cancelled or postponed?

 

[B1andB2]

i was wondering the same thing...

 

[ewjfiwhelowaeoplg]

Every school is different, but from the way I see the situation right now, it is unlikely that any term two exams will proceed and indeed my school is preparing for that eventuality. (Apparently, the government's own modelling puts the peak at October.) This doesn't mean your school can't substitute with take-home assignments (not something to get excited about, as they are generally more painful and tedious than exams).

Obviously, still continue to study in case. I also reckon there's better than half odds that the final HSC exams will proceed in some form

 

[#RoadTo31Atar]

Every school is different, but from the way I see the situation right now, it is unlikely that any term two exams will proceed and indeed my school is preparing for that eventuality. (Apparently, the government's own modelling puts the peak at October.) This doesn't mean your school can't substitute with take-home assignments (not something to get excited about, as they are generally more painful and tedious than exams).

Obviously, still continue to study in case. I also reckon there's better than half odds that the final HSC exams will proceed in some form

That's actually alright if we do assignments instead of tests since it still keeps the internals kinda normal for everyone, if they cut out stuff then the actual HSC exams will be worth too much of our ATAR.

 

[ewjfiwhelowaeoplg]

Traditionally, the school would be obligated to provide the full 50% of the final HSC mark (pre-scaling of course), which would mean adjusting the weight of completed assessment tasks. E.g school had completed only term 4 exam, as scheduled term 1 week 9-10 exams were cancelled, but if future internal tasks are also completely cancelled, term 4 task would be weighted at 100%, rather than dropping the school contribution of 50%.

I say traditionally, because these are obviously unprecedented times and require unprecedented decisions. In some instances I can imagine NESA indeed allowing school contributions of less than 50%, e.g if a school has no internal tasks completed, then what? Surely using year 11 results is not appropriate! Their website, (previously) claiming to expect schools having done at least one assessment task, however implies that re-weighting internals takes precedent over reweighting the HSC exam contribution whever possible, supported by this: "NESA has given principals and system authorities the power to determine the number, type and weighting of tasks for HSC and Year 11 school-based assessment.".

 

[NG43]

They may even force students, just seniors to come in to sit the exams and space the timing and placements out.

 

[Accurate]

They may even force students, just seniors to come in to sit the exams and space the timing and placements out.

That would take way too much time though, and it doesn't prevent cheating. Someone could leak the answers.