School Results Sotogrande International school IB and response to my complaint from IBO

MY IBO COMPLAINT YR END 2015 My daughter attended Sotogrande international school for just over 8 years and during that time we have been very happy with her development and her enthusiastic approach to learning and wanting to do well.

However some serious downgrading on course work by external examiners seemed to totally contradict marks given by a number of teachers. My wife spoke emailed and dealt with the school over the summer and I took it upon myself to tackle the IBO making a formal complaint about the level of discrepancy between two of their experienced examiners (one who marked my daughters work as a teacher) who marked the same piece of course work 6 and the external examiner giving it a 3.

There have been many exchange of emails between myself and the IBO over the last few months but i have copied and pasted the two most relevant please read below.

International Baccalaureate discrepancies reveal problems My daughter recently completed her school year and was disappointed with the 35 points she achieved 4 below predicted. She was figuring exams didnt go that well. However on finding out exam results were good she was horrified to find out the low marks had come from the course work.

'That cannot be she announced my course work was graded quite high by my teacher'

So here you have a student who worked hard under what we believed was good tutelage and submitted her course work well in time allowing herself the possibility to make amendments if deemed necessary. The teacher made recommendations and adjustments were made and 6 points were awarded by the tutor. This equates to an A. The said work was submitted to the IB for the examiner to mark and the examiner awarded a 3. The result was complete shock for all of us. How can a teacher who also is an IB examiner get it so wrong and if the teacher did get it wrong who has failed. In my daughters words 'Had I any inkling that the work was to be scored so low i would have stayed up day and night to improve it. Instead we trust our teachers to know the standards required'

The teacher an experienced IB examiner is totally bemused and in his response to head of secondary replied 'i am well aware of the standards required to do well and would not dream of submitting work of Level .. 3 standard'

Here is an extract from IBO where school is questioning the whopping gap between the marking

'I do not believe there is enough evidence to suggest the marking of the essays are incorrect and warrant a re-mark and unfortunately we do not offer a re-mark service for individual components. In order that we can resolve any injustices in the final grades awarded to candidates, we offer the category 1 EUR service to schools (re-marks). As you are aware this service involves a candidate's externally-assessed components being re-marked by the most senior examiners available to ensure that the grade upon re-marking is fair and correct. If you feel that the grade awarded to any of your candidates is incorrect, I would advise you to request a category 1 re-mark of their work. You will not be charged if the re-mark results in a change of grade.'

We feel very agrieved by this situation as if the teachers get it so wrong its the student that suffers. Surely the IBO should be looking at Teachers own marks for course work done and where such huge discrepancies exist a formal inquiry should be set in place. My daughter is 2 marks short of either University due to her course work that she was told was excellent

I have tweeted my disdain over this situation on the IBO twitter page many times in last 2 weeks. Its very frustrating and annoying and you have to ask who has failed the pupil is it the teacher or the system. Whatever way you look at it the student has been duped by the system.

Our youngest is just starting secondary so it maybe a good time to bail out of International Baccalaureate system

The final email (there were many more between these) is below

Dear Francis, Your complaint has been forwarded to me to respond to as Head of Assessment Principles and Practice.

I appreciate that your concern is now about the apparent difference in marking standard between two of our examiners, and so I will discuss that issue. If you would like to discuss your daughters grade then please let me know.

I completely agree with you that we need to be confident that students will get the same outcome whichever of our examiners marks their work. Occasionally when a candidate is borderline between two grades then we may have a situation where 1 mark difference between examiners results in a different grade, but that is substantially different to the situation who are describing when two examiners have very different views of the quality of students work.

If I may I would like to explain the approach the IB takes to examiner reliability, which is the technical term used to describe the concern you raise. We have two different approaches to monitoring that examiners are marking to the correct standard, “seeding” and moderation. We are currently moving away from the moderation approach to what we call “dynamic sampling” which has many of the advantages of the “seeding” approach.

With “seeding” we ask the examiner to show that they have a good understanding of the correct standard by marking a number of “qualification scripts.” These have already been marked by the Principal Examiner (who sets the correct standard) and so we can compare their marks with those of the Principal to check they are accurate. They then start marking candidates work, but every 10 scripts or so we give them a “seed” which the Principal Examiner has already marked so that we can check they are still working to the correct standard. This means we can immediately stop any examiner we are concerned about.

For teacher marked internal assessment and a few essay based tasks, including the literature written assignment, we are currently using a moderation approach. This means that we provide examiners with clear guidance and examples of the marking standard but do not have a “qualification” process before they start. Instead we collect a sample of their marking and have it remarked by a senior examiner. By comparing the two sets of marks we decide whether we can accept the marks, need to remark all of the student scripts that they have done or whether a mathematical calculation can be made to bring them in line with the Principal Examiner.

As an example of the latter case, if we know that one examiner is always 5 marks more generous than the Principal Examiner, but is very consistent in always being that generous we would simply reduce their marks by that amount. This means that all candidates would get the same outcome whether marked by the “generous” examiner or the Principal Examiner.

If there is no clear pattern when we look at the examiners “moderation sample” we will simply remark all of their work, and we do this every session. If however a particular examiner is consistently harsh or generous in their decisions we can still get a reliable result by applying this correction factor. I agree that a better solution is to monitor the examiner as they carry out their marking (i.e. the seeding approach) to make sure they match the Principal Examiners standard and this is what dynamic sampling will allow us to do.

Neither approach can identify an occasion when an examiner marks one particular script incorrectly, but the rest of the scripts in line with our expectations. We do identify candidates who are receiving an overall grade which is radically different to their predicted grade and endeavour to have these reviewed by a senior examiner. We call this the “at risk” process and typically review candidate work which is two grades below their predicted grade. We also have the EUR process as a final opportunity for schools to bring such cases to our attention.

It is not appropriate for me to disclose the performance of specific examiners with you, and so I am not able to provide evidence to expand on the particular case you raise – however I would reiterate that I agree with you that a 3 grade difference of opinion would be cause for concern and justify further investigation. As you acknowledge it is not appropriate for us to ask a teacher to mark their own students work, but our experience is that even examiners who are very reliable markers find it difficult not to be influenced by their wider knowledge of the candidates when marking their own students. It is not uncommon for senior examiners to have a correction factor applied to their IA marks, sometime to correct over generous marking sometimes to correct marks that are too harsh.

I hope this response will provide you with some confidence that the IB takes the reliability of marking very seriously and are continually monitoring and looking to improve. If you would like me to expand on any of these points, or explain part of the system further I would be very happy to do so.

Regards

Matt

Dr Matt Glanville, Head of Assessment Principles and Practice International Baccalaureate Organization (UK) Limited

IB Assessment Centre

Peterson House, Malthouse Avenue, Cardiff Gate

Cardiff, CF23 8GL, United Kingdom

Tel: +44 29 2054 7818 | Fax: +44 29 2054 7703

Spanish Agents - Estate Agents you gotta hate them or just go in prepared

BEWARE

or should that be

BE-WARE

12 things to avoid when property hunting in Sotogrande Spain

(Applies to Spain generally)

• The agent whose website has 100’s property most of which are no longer on the market

• Estate Agents that show you lots of property you are not interested in

• Estate Agents who forget you are even coming

• Estate Agents that still show Illegal property

• Estate Agents that show you blighted property

• The bankrupt Estate Agent that’s desperate and very pushy

• The part time have a go Estate Agent that does not know the market

• People who claim to be experienced property agents who are not

• Estate Agents who work out of a car & have no base

• Estate Agents who book you too many appointments simply to stop you going elsewhere

• The notorious dodgy Estate Agents there are plenty in Spain

• The estate agent that when you arrive does not speak your language

This list may sound silly but 70% of people who come to Spain to look at property will run into problems due to one of the above or even several of the above. So often client’s looking at property on websites arrive here expecting to see 20 homes and find out that most of the website are old listings.

Why Our Bespoke Service will save you time and money

As an agency Tailor Made source property based on your exacting requirements . You tell us what you want or send web-links of property you like. Tailor Made offer our clients a finding service at no cost to you the buyer.

Tailor Made estates will source your requirements directly from good local Agents and evaluate each property with you long before you arrive to view.

When you do arrive we will chauffeur you to meet each estate agent at each property and after the viewings a coffee to discuss what we have seen and consider values.

Our clients then receive the benefit of our specialist negotiating skills in order to buy property at the price you want to pay that is not way over the going rate.Think about it if you went direct to an agent that agent is being paid by and is working for the owner

To start the process put us to the Test

We ask you to find a property in or around Sotogrande and send us the link and we will provide our evaluation and response

Let just recap - By instructing Tailor Made estate agents you will arrive in Spain be collected by us on the day of viewings and only shown property that you are interested in seeing,working to a schedule of timed appointments and dealing with good agents.

Easy reliable and efficient use of your time and it will not cost you a penny.

Finally at the end of your inspections you have someone to analyze what you have seen and an agent that will work hard to negotiate the best price.

At Tailor Made estates we speak English & Spanish and have good connections through family and personal experience of local golf, International School,Boating,Tennis as well as other family hoobies and sports

Tailor Made estates Sotogrande www.tailormadesotogrande.com

Tailor Made estate agents . Office in UK www.tmea.biz

The Sotogrande urbanization of La Loma affordable & so much to offer

La Loma de Sotogrande

This urbanization is located inside the Sotogrande estate. It is very central being part of Sotogrande Costa and minutes from the beach. Sotogrande itself is one of Europes largest upmarket private estates a haven where well heeled Spanish rub shoulders in a very friendly community of wealthy European expats. The main reason for the success of this community is that there is a very popular school at the heart of it for children from 3 to 18 yrs of age. Hence many families live here full time enjoying the many upmarket facilities and sports and surrounded by stunning Andalucian Countryside. Sotogrande does not have the congestion and over building that one see's in Marbella 40 minutes east of us.

La Loma is well known to all of us who have children that have grown up here. It is one of the children's first steps towards gaining a little bit of independence & some short lived stress for parents. It was only a few years ago we as parent buckled under the daily requests 'dad dad can i go to La Loma today' the reply in the early stages was often a NO! but guess what as you would expect our child was the only one not allowed to go (that old chestnut). Anyway we started to relent and were often dropping off then collecting again after couple hours. We soon realised it was a lovely bunch of kids meeting up there to mess about in the acres of parkland that surrounds La Lomna. The kids also had a good number of friends who lived there so as well as the park our kids meet up to swim and play tennis. Much healthier past times than hanging around the local village shops which is the next stage of growing up in Sotogrande.

The picture shows a typical style La Loma Town House

I would add that the park area is large enough that the groups of children are often tucked away and no bother to local residents and for those with children living there it may save you a lot in fuel as we did many a mile dropping off and collecting over a 2 year stretch of children hanging out in the recreation fields.

La Loma itself comprises of several streets of town houses mainly 3 or 4 bedroom although some have joined two houses together. Front gardens are open plan with enclosed rear gardens. Some properties have converted their garages to form added living space. They vary in finishes and I have seen some very dated houses clearly in need of reformation refurbishment whilst others have completely refurbished to a high standard. The properties provide good affordable homes in Sotogrande and whilst many are holiday homes there are a good percentage of permanant residents.

The community is well established and as a result it is properly looked after. At the time of writing this I understand that the tennis Courts are about to be upgraded and the gardens are to be given a wc facility on site.

Looking out toward tennis and park from a La Loma house we have on market Aug 2015

For location it is very central La Loma is about 2 minutes from Paseo del Parque, a 7 minute cycle ride to the beach by Trocadero Beach club, a 5 minute drive to Sotogrande Marina and port. The Shops supermarkets at Pueblo Nuevo village a few minutes drive. The Sotogrande international school is 7 minutes drive Here is a link to a beautifully modernised La Loma home one of the best I have seen La Loma House for sale with Tailor Made estate agents

The luxury apartments of Sotogrande Spain

Sotogrande a beautiful private estate at the entrance to the Mediterranean

The estate is approximately 4 kms wide fronting the Sea and extends inland up a mountain approximately 7kms. A private security gated estate with its own Port and Marina, 2 beach clubs, 2 tennis clubs, 3 hotels,2 equestrian centers, a yacht club and beach on each side. For this article I wanted to concentrate on the 3 residential upmarket apartment developments within Sotogrande.

Whilst there are many apartment urbanizations these three are the ones which offer a more luxurious lifestyle with more spacious living.

Valgrande in Sotogrande Alto (check out the Valgrande community page on Facebook)This community is Possibly my favorite because of its facilities which include an indoor swimming pool and spa, flood lit padel tennis court, a golf practice area. The three free-form community swimming Pool's are stunning and the grounds are manicured to perfection. Many of these apartments enjoy golf course views of San Roque golf or Almenara golf.

The development is walled in with 24/7 manned security and a concierge like administrative office. The apartments themselves are spacious and beautifully fitted, most people love the large balcony terraces. Whilst there are a few 2 bedroom apartments the majority have 3 bedroom 3 bathrooms. For the people that really love space then the 4 bedroom 4 bathroom duplex penthouses are grand living at its best. There are also 4 bedroom 4 bathroom apartments all on one floor with some of the best terrace balconies I have ever come across. The Valgrande apartments are well maintained and well administered and whilst community fees seem high lets reflect on the many facilities that come within that price. The entrance is directly opposite the entrance to world famous Valderrama golf course.

Ribera del Rio apartments This urbanization is just across the Road from Sotogrande's waterway marina. The development fronts the river and across on the opposite bank you will see some pretty impressive riverside villas one belonging to Eddie Jordan of Formula 1 fame. What I like about these apartments is that the grounds are extensive. Beautiful lawns run down to the river edge and in the centre of the lawns a large community swimming Pool hedged in to offer sun bathers some privacy. The apartments themselves are well built. There are two parts to the development.

The smaller apartments 2 or 3 bedrooms are beautifully finished and have great water views. However the apartments in south facing block are larger and offer great living space and the beautiful terrace balconies all have plunge pools. The 4 bedroom apartments are triplex with room on the lower balconies for lounge suites dining tables all can be laid out at a good distance from the pool. Some of the upper balconies have hot tubs superb for star gazing on those hot summer nights. Ribera del Rio is a walled in secure complex in Sotogrande Costa close to Octogano tennis club, almost opposite the yacht club a few minutes riverside walk to the beach so location is wonderful. There is a security gate but the caretaker is there part time and gate is not manned at night.

Polo Gardens This development is built in 2 phases. The apartments directly in front of you as you enter security gate (manned security 24/7) are the larger spacious homes. Minimalistic in design and feel beautiful finishes and very spacious all on one floor with very large patio doors allowing wonderful light to flow into the apartments. Some of the ground floor apartments have walled in gardens and front gardens overlooking Santa Maria Polo with plunge pools.

The quality and finishes here are as good as it gets in Spain. I love the large 4 bedroom apartments on one floor where master suite is huge and love the his and her en-suite bathroom. The downside in this block is that they have built a series of town houses at lower level in front of the block and you look onto the green flat roof of these properties. Space between the various phases of the development is tight. I do like the gymnasium in this development and the sauna steam facility. This property also has a large communal pool and padel tennis court. The development is on Sotogrande Costa and is very popular with Polo lovers due to its proximity to the world famous Santa Maria Polo club.

A naughty Landlord in Sotogrande. Renters be careful

Looking for a rental villa in Sotogrande Interestingly I have now come across two people who have rented off the same Spanish Landlord in Sotogrande who has played the same awful game twice now.Whilst for obvious reasons I cannot give you exact information I know there are lessons to be learnt from this story.

The trick he plays is to initially demand a large deposit. In the first instance 4 months deposit was paid over. The owner hides the problems of the property which is riddled with damp. The tenants move in realizes the walls are ringing wet and they soon turn moldy. This Landlord rarely deals with anything in writing very friendly and prefers verbal arrangements. Within 8 months the tenants hit winter weather and the problems of damp get worst. Various remedies are tried and then the walls cleaned and repainted within 2 months mold is back in the bedrooms. Tenants complain as they do not want to renew tenancy. The Landlord offers a rent reduction for the inconvenience which the tenant unwittingly accepts whilst continuing to complain beyond the expiry date of the fixed term.

The tenant being nice people say they cannot stay any longer and give 3 months notice feeling that a long notice would be generous of them. However the Landlord then demands tenant to leave within 3 weeks telling them he will get major money for summer lets. Tenants being nice people move heaven and earth to be out within the three weeks. They wash down moldy walls they clean the house top to bottom polishing floors and even a fresh coat of pain to many rooms. They video the house as they close the door behind them to go to their next home.

Three months later the Landlord finally announces he will not return the 16k deposit as they left the place in a mess and creates a fictitious list of damages and cleaning. He also tells them that he agreed with them a new 12 month term as from the date the rent was reduced and they must now pay him 18.000,00 euros to the end of the contract this is in addition to keeping the deposit.He denies asking them to leave immediately.

The tenant soon receives a denuncio {court order} to pay a further 18.000,00 in rent. The tenant cannot believe it and spends 10.000,00 euros to defend and counter claim in the San Roque Court. The first shock for the tenant is that they were told in Court photo or video evidence is not accepted by the Court unless a notary was present when film was taken. Second shock for tenant was that he finds out that by accepting a reduced rent to stay on the Court decided a new fixed term had been negotiated. You will recall the Landlord had verbally told him he could stay on a month to month basis during which time the builders would be curing the damp.

The tenant made the mistake of not confirming everything in writing and insisting the owner responded to written requests or arrangements. The awful thing is that I have found out that the same Landlord has played virtually the same game with the next tenants. Beware of this Landlord from Madrid and incredibly the same agency who put the tenants in is still offering the property knowing the history Article by Francis Payne of Tailor Made estate agency www.tailormadesotogrande.com

Renting in Spain then don't get it wrong - Follow our advice guide

Find an apartment to rent in Sotogrande Spain

Advice for Long term rental apartments Sotogrande Spain.

Rental apartments are readily available and the standards vary. Price is not always a mark of quality as there are many owners who may have not been here for a number of years and are not aware of price fluctuations in rental values. A very nice basic 2 bedroom waterfront apartment can be rented for an average of 850.00 euros per month and whilst some may have rented for lower its usually a case of very fortunate timing and who you know. If your looking to pay 500.00 to 600.00 euros a month then you will probably need to search for an apartment in one of the surrounding villages close to Sotogrande such as Torreguadiaro, Pueblo Nuevo or San Martin. For around 900.00 to 1000.00 euros a month you will find yourself a very nice 3 bedroom waterfront apartment and these depending on apartment specifications can be up-to 1500.00 euros per month for say a 145m2 on the Sotogrande marina. We are currently offering a very special 2 bedroom apartment which has its own gated garden and swimming Pool, in the marina Sotogrande but fronts the Port. Here is the link to find out more about this property Port Marina apartment to rent

If its high specification luxury apartments you are seeking then the most popular choices are the Valgrande gated community, the Polo Gardens development or the Ribera del Rio apartments. These tend to have higher specifications than most developments in the area and are little more spacious. In the last year we have rented several 3 bedroom 3 bathroom Valgrande flat in the region of 1800.00 euros per month. Because its near to Christmas and market is quiet we currently have a 3 bed flat listing in Valgrande at 1400.00 euros per month click on this link Valgrande for more info. The Valgrande development enjoys 3 outdoor swimming pools, 1 indoor heated Pool, a Spa area as well as Gymnasium, steam room & sauna and my blog link describes the community facilities in more detail. For those who enjoy the Polo then Polo Gardens apartments have good specifications and there are some very beautifully presented apartments in the development with good views of the Santa Maria Polo pitch this picture shows the location

. The flats are also very central and not far from the Port and beach. The rents for the large luxury apartments range from 1600 for a 3 bedroom to 2500.00 euros per month for a 4 bedroom 4 bathroom with own plunge pool. Following round the marina towards the Octogano tennis club Ribera del Rio fronts the River. Of the two blocks the one with South aspects has the larger higher specification apartments from 3 bedroom ground floors with plunge Pools and 3 bedroom triplex penthouses with magnificent partly covered balconies. In Ribera del Rio rents for the luxury end of the development can be around 1800 per month for a 3 bedroom ground floor or over 2500.oo per month for a triplex penthouse.

Maybe you have children who will attend the Sotogrande International School and would like to live in a spacious flat near the school. There are not many as Sotogrande Alto is mainly Villas with some town houses. Literally on level walk to the school you will find Los Gazules a gated development with a community swimming pools overlooking Almenara golf and Almenara lake. In Los Gazules a 2 bedroom can rent from 800 per month, 3 bedrooms 950 per month and 4 bedroom duplex penthouse about 1500 per month. To see a penthouse currently on the market click on this link Penthouse apartment to rent Los Gazules Sotogrande

If you live in Gibraltar and would like find more spacious accommodation, save some money and enjoy the resort lifestyle Spain has to offer then Tailor Made estate agents has a choice of apartments within 20 minute drive of the border at Alcaidesa and San Roque. A very spacious 3 bedroom modern duplex apartment on San Roque golf 5 minutes from Sotogrande will set you back around 1000.00 euros a month.Compare that to your rental property in Gibraltar.

Article by Francis Payne of Tailor Made estate agents

office in Sotogrande Port tel. 0034 956 790 320

www.tailormadesotogrande.com

In Sotogrande Spain Tailor Made estate agents have more UK interest for Spanish luxury homes market

A upturn in the Spanish luxury homes property market and a strengthening of the Pound results in more Brits arriving and bargains being snapped up in Sotogrande Spain Signs of improvement in the UK property market and stronger Pound is having a knock on effect here in Sotogrande Spain. Am pleased to say the phones are ringing again as people revisit the prospect of buying a home in Spain.Having said that the hardest hurdle to bridge is the price difference between what owners will sell for and what buyers are willing to pay and with low interest rates continuing many owners in prime locations are holding their prices. Sales that have been happening have in the main been for bargain property. The press would have us believe that in Spain the market is littered with give away bargains and yes there are plenty of cheap homes around most areas. Having said that the press often fail to mention that a lot of these vacant properties in Spain were not desirable in the good times let alone a recession. Too many greedy developers over building and reducing building specifications creating concrete jungles many of which are half built or remain unsold. Here in Sotogrande much of the property that was for sale has been removed from the market because owners have rented them long term or simply decided to wait It seems to me that people are now street wise about buying in Spain and these days are asking all the right questions. As a country the South of Spain has tackled the huge corruption issues and many a developer, Lawyer, Planning officers and town Mayors languish in Spanish Jails guilty as charged.

The risk factor in the property market is not what it was and slowly but surely progress is being made. I feel people recognize the improvements and whilst many changes to the law are long winded, bureaucratic and frustrating the end result will be to stamp out many of the risks and issues Spain's property market.

As an agency selling property in Sotogrande Spain, the risk is further minimized simply because this area one of Europe's largest upmarket private residential estates is well established. The development was originally set out in the 1960s and has grown to become one of the main holiday home locations for many wealthy Spanish.

So there is no surprise that this estate with so much natural beauty and sporting facilities has attracted many city lawyers, top sports people and Spanish Government ministers to choose Sotogrande for their second homes.

My gut feeling is that Spain is about 18 to 24 months behind the UK market and for property in wealth locations particularly in respect of upmarket prime location homes.

Sotogrande does have its share of bargains although no where near the levels the generalizing press would have you believe. In the last 12 months property has been selling for me it is a reflection of some owners wanting to offload after reaching an impatience threshold.

On our books a 5 bedroom villa in Sotogrande that would once have been on the market for in excess of 1 million euros yet recently these owner have conceded to re-market the property inviting offers on 595,000.00 euros. In any given month you can find 1 or 2 such bargains but the truth is that with low interest rates many owners in wealth locations prefer to be patient. Trouble is that for some unknown reason Agents are still valuing property far too high and when presenting their values throwing in the old agency gem "We will put it on the market at price X but people will make low offers anyway so no point reducing" For me this is an outdated approach to agency, and any sales person worth their salt will know that if you establish a value close to your selling level then you are more likely to be looked at by a lot more prospective customers than you would with an extortionate unachievable price. This 3 bedroom waterside apartment once 760.000,00 euros has just exchanged contracts for 310.000,00 euros a real steel for a property on the waters edge and 100 meters from the beach.

Its not uncommon for a property in Sotogrande to go on the market at 1.5 million the owner knowing the reality that its not worth more than 900,000.00. Real buyers know their budget and may NOT look at property 100,000.00 over their budget so the closer a property is priced to the sellers bottom line the more chance there is of selling.

It is very frustrating for me as an agent when giving a true selling value that's a much lower valuation than provided by my competitors and then 2 years down the Road the property sells very close to my original indication.

Francis Payne Tailor Made estate agents Sotogrande tel.0034 956790320

Offices in Sotogrande Port