Is there a good teacher of Computing in Sheffield who can help me?

[Hesther]

I've just learned that my child who was predicted an A at GCSE has just got a D in the mock exam, due to not being taught according to the syllabus and is basically going to have to learn an awful lot from scratch for this summer.

 

As my child wants to have a career in computing and do either computing at A'Level or BTEC next year, it is very disappointing to say the least.

 

I am desperately looking for someone who can provide one to one tuition in line with the OCR GCSE Computing syllabus.

[sgtkate]

Can't help on the teaching front I'm afraid but how on earth did that happen? Are you saying the school taught your son the wrong curriculum? If so then you need to be taking this up with the board of governors if you haven't already done so.

 

Can you give some more background to what happened?

[999tigger]

Thats rubbish, but theres still enough time if he gets cracking. Never underestimate the value of doing mick exams. IMO he should do one ever 2-3 weeks as a measure of progress and to familiarise himself with weak and strong points. If there has been a teacher error, then make a complaint and they can report that to the exam board for when its marked.

[Hesther]

Thank you for your interest sgtkate. It is appreciated. I have no idea how this has happened and I haven't made my mind up yet about what I am going to do about it.

 

At the moment though, my priority is salvaging what I can out of the situation, so I would prefer the focus on this thread to be on finding a tutor, rather than on how this situation has come about and any specifics.

 

---------- Post added 14-01-2016 at 09:50 ----------

 

Thank you 999tigger. That is good advice.

Edited January 14, 2016 by Hesther

[Hopman]

I suspect that the syllabus has changed but someone failed to notice this. The OCR website will have details of the old and the new. This should tell you what your child is lacking.

[Hesther]

Thank you Hopman. That could be the case.

[Ghozer]

What sort of things is it he's learning, or rather, missing?

[sgtkate]

Thank you for your interest sgtkate. It is appreciated. I have no idea how this has happened and I haven't made my mind up yet about what I am going to do about it.

 

At the moment though, my priority is salvaging what I can out of the situation, so I would prefer the focus on this thread to be on finding a tutor, rather than on how this situation has come about and any specifics.

 

---------- Post added 14-01-2016 at 09:50 ----------

 

Thank you 999tigger. That is good advice.

 

I understand and I can only imagine your and his frustration. As someone who works in IT, I can try to help ease your mind a little, in that the majority of people I work with have no formal school IT qualifications, having earned all of theirs as post-education certifications. In my opinion these are more valuable for your son than his GCSE IT results, but I accept that that doesn't improve the current situation for you. If he really wants a career in IT then it's well worth looking into MCSE qualifications or programming qualifications too, alongside his A-Levels/BTEC. The exams aren't cheap though, but any employer looking at an 18 year old with an MCSE is going to be serious impressed! Equally, I suggest he looks at the apprenticeship route. BT offer many IT apprenticeships all over the UK and they are highly regarded. I'm sure other companies do the same.

 

This website seems to have a large number of tutors which you can filter down. This guy is an IT tutor and is local:

http://www.tutorhunt.com/users/~8801135244588/

[tzijlstra]

Did he tell you that he wasn't taught the curriculum? Doesn't sound like the sort of thing a school would say about one of their members of staff. In fact, I find it entirely impossible to believe and it sounds very much like a cop-out.

 

Sorry for being critical here but having worked in a school and encountering parents who put the blame for failure with teachers on a near daily basis, despite realising that their darlings simply didn't do the work, were pains in the backside in class and getting high/drunk outside the school on weekdays does that to you.

[Annie Bynnol]

Agree with sgtkate and GCSE Computing is a new course (since 2012) and is very different and much, much harder* than the previous IT courses at GCSE or BTEC. It is ranked as a science subject equivalent to physics, biology or chemistry.

 

Also there is a Specialist teacher shortage as most IT teachers came from a Business Studies background and not from a engineering, maths or science background and are struggling with the programming, modelling and application.

 

Also a "career in computing" can mean many things and specializing at 16-18 would be far too early for most unless going on to do HE degrees or apprenticeship in engineering. Most teenagers have little idea of what "computing" means and usually think of game, special effects , web or graphic design - for which this course is not suitable.

 

Be careful which and where you choose for A level and do not be afraid to ask about the number, qualification and experience of the teachers as many schools have had to draft or coerce staff from other subjects or use short contract or retired teachers.

 

*harder in that they do not realise how much maths and science is involved compared to the previous IT courses.

Edited January 15, 2016 by Annie Bynnol