The development of the Welsh Baccalaureate has been praised by one of the schools piloting it.
Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni, near Fleur De Lys, was one of the first schools to trial the new look qualification.
The revised Baccalaureate will be introduced in schools across Wales from September this year following a review of exams.
As part of the new system, pupils are expected to complete various challenges to help them develop key skills for further or higher education and employment.
Cwm Rhymni trialled the new Global Citizenship Challenge and looked at the energies of the future.
According to Dyfrig Huw Jones, who is responsible for the Baccalaureate in Cwm Rhymni, it was good to see the qualification being developed,
He said: “At Cwm Rhymni we’ve been very supportive of the Baccalaureate since the start as it offers alternative experiences for pupils and it consistently provides pupils with crucial lifelong skills.”
As part of the qualification, students also undertake enterprise and community challenges.
Urgh, the Welsh Bac. An easy A-level with a load of nonsense added on.
Sounds like that to me, not a bit like the ‘French Bac’ so why use the word Baccalaureate to identify it?
They need to make it sound decent. I took a look through what it involves, I was not expecting much, but I was shocked at how terrible it was.
There is a big long diary of 24 pages containing the same question over and over for the different topics. The question is “In no fewer than 100 words comment and reflect on what you have learnt from this topic.” – The topics are things like the 1980’s minor strikes.
If this is not bad enough the example answers are things like “I feel it was bad because the miners needed a job. I think the miners should have been paid more and the government should not have closed the mines. I feel lucky I am not living in the 1980’s. Etc…”
All of that, for a pass.
“example answers are things like “I feel it was bad because the miners
needed a job. I think the miners should have been paid more and the
government should not have closed the mines. I feel lucky I am not
living in the 1980’s. Etc…”
Sounds about right to me!!
I am amazed at how juvenile this sounds, this is the sort of level that was expected of us at eight years of age in the, good old, Hendre Juniors.
By the age of sixteen pupils should be able to pen an answer briefly and in a lucid fashion. Asking them to answer in “no fewer than 100 words” is easy, it would be better to strictly limit the length of the answer.
The principle of a short, cogent answer was explained to me by a lecturer when I was studying for ONC when I was sixteen. He gave the example of scientist Blaise Pascal who wrote “I am sorry this explanation is so long but I did not have time to make it shorter.”