Blog entry by Carol Harvey Barnes
Hello, I’m Carol Harvey-Barnes and as Holly told you last month I will be covering Holly’s maternity leave. On that happy note Holly gave birth to a beautiful baby boy Madison on September 26th, 2014. The proud parents and baby Madison are all doing well.
A little about me, I’ve been an examiner for Trinity College for over fourteen years and a teacher of Drama and Musical Theatre for even longer! Besides running a performing arts school in the Midlands, most recently I spent five years in a further education college originally as a teacher of A Level Drama and Theatre Studies and then BTEC Level 3 to 5 in Acting and Musical Theatre. I firmly believe that my knowledge and experience, professionally and personally, can support your delivery of Trinity College exams as I understand the challenges we all face in both formal and informal educational contexts.
More Pupil Premium.....
Following on from Holly’s September blog, I attended the book launch of, 'A Practical Guide to the Pupil Premium' on Thursday 18 September at St Joseph's Primary School in Covent Garden. The morning launch was an informative, interesting presentation and an opportunity to hear other teachers’ experience of the Pupil Premium and the wider experience that the author Marc Rowland, Deputy Director of NET, had in order to research the book. Tim Coulson, Regional Schools Commissioner launched the book and gave his views on the Pupil Premium. We at Trinity are particularly interested in how the Pupil Premium could be used to support your delivery of Trinity examinations in the curriculum or as enrichment activities to support arts education for disadvantaged learners. As always email your thoughts to dramateachers@trinitycollege.com
Changes to accreditation.......
Ofqual the exams regulator confirmed on its website on October 14th that it is changing the way it regulates vocational qualifications. Chief Regulator, Glenys Stacey said that the accreditation requirement for most qualifications will be removed from 3rd November. The announcement also clarified that awarding organisations will be audited and checked for the duration of a qualification in England and Northern Ireland. The aim of this is to ensure the quality of a qualification is ‘valid and reliable at the design, delivery and awarding stages’. GCSEs and A Levels will remain accredited as they are checked against detailed and specific criteria. Ofqual suggest that the changes will provide employers and students with more trust in vocational qualifications and their reliability.
Whilst we are on the subject of Ofqual, a consultation document is in progress on the proposed changes to GCSE and AS/A Levels including Drama, in 2016. You can comment via the Ofqual website, the consultation closes on November 19th. If you feel these changes might impact upon your teaching of the Drama curriculum or your delivery of Trinity examinations then this is an opportunity to share your knowledge and ensure that change works for all. If you have any thoughts you would like to share with us at Trinity then please get in touch.
To the Bard.......
The Shakespeare Schools Festival (SSF) is in full swing… with the promise of some great innovative performances and interpretations of the Bard’s work on offer and many schools are taking Trinity ‘In Production’ exams too. I will blog more about the festival in November so watch this space.....
So, I’m signing off for now as I get ready to see lots of exciting performances….have a good month.
Best wishes,