GCSEs 2012 support thread

Dd is being very clingy and snuggling up for cuddles. Its most odd. Poor dear.

Day off today. P&R and french again tomorrow.

Thanks for the good thoughts Kez. I definitely think I need to learn the stpes of the low boundary mark dance!
Welsh Lit went well today - Yay! Have declared a revision free night as nothing now until Chemistry on Monday. Good luck to those who have exams tomorrow.

Been through the stand up row bit a couple of weeks ago when I was called a crazy psycho bitch by DD! I still cannot get through to her that she has to work, she leaves everything til the last minute. She is very able, but thinks because she got A/A* in the mocks and controlled assessments she will coast it and I don't see how she can without actual revision. She goes to a very academic school and that will be taken into account when she applies to university. In the end I decided to leave her to it and be there if she needs support. Hopefully if her grades are not as she hoped she will pull it together for her AS levels but may have to aim a little lower when thinking about University.

Had a stand up row with my DS this morning - ugly - needed lots of evaluative talking afterwards. Wanted to do studying later , at midday after 20 mins in morning was going for revision sessions at 1.30pm. He does seem to study better at night but I'm trying to establish a model of studying - 6th form and all!

My first time thru with all of this - takes oodles of patience and assertiveness!
This is my grimace to signify it's hard going

Dd has her second 5 hours of Art today- not helped by the fact that the Art Department hadn't finished cutting her board til an hour into the exam yesterday!

Ds has citizenship today. Then nothing until next week

DS semed pretty pleased with his biology. Haven't heard much about his RE though, which is a bit of a worry, as it's his only possible hope of an A*, and it's one he definitely wants to do at A Level (Can I use this --> face to mean worried ?)
Has no exams tomorrow and then the last of his French on Thursday. I suspect there will be a ceremonial burning of books after that - he hates French!

Agree about ASs early daffodilly - only worth doing if you can get the highest marks first time, especially if they are being certificated (and if they are not, then what's the point?). I think it's only Cambridge at the moment that look at all the resit marks, but that could change. With maths in particular, the earlier modules become easier the later you sit them in any case so C1 seems hard when you've just covered the work for it, but by the time you've done the work for C2, 3 etc as well it seems very easy, so worth taking later.

No experience of drama here.

Anyone's DC doing Drama on Friday. The evaluative writing is quite hard. We've been working on it.
My Ds has been allowed to withdraw from some AS Maths as he is not quite ready to get the grade he needs and is revising for all other GCSE subjects.

ASs early is a bit tough I think wedged between the end of KS4 and all other public exams. Unis look at how many times you take them I think.

So glad about revision sessions though - fairly new initiative.

DD was quite cheery about the iGCSE biology (not always a good sign in the past when she has said something is easy she usually does terribly... )

She said there were no questions involving labelling various biological organisms but lots of longer wordy answers (where she tends to waffle and not necessarily answer the question.)

She claimed ethics (RE) was straight forward- hope this optimism isn't misplaced. She has worked so so hard for these exams- can't help worrying about her.

He says RE went well. Question about capital punishment and another about whether religious people should try to convert others. Plenty to go on there.
No exams tomorrow just extra English lit revision classes.

Oh dear, that doesn't sound good.

DD wa re-sitting last years module. I assume this means she's doing the full GCSE. I'm kinda losing the plot on what she's doing tbh. Far too many modules and CA's! Anyway, she did OK she says. There was a question on abortion, which she hoped for, as she did her case study on it in Science. So she had plenty of pro's and cons.

So, RS did not go well. Motivation was not there due to the fact it is only half a gcse! English Lit in one week. Practise exam question done yesterday but teacher had no time to mark them so a student from the foundation group marked it! That's really going to help dd know what improvement is needed, been battling this for 2 bloody years. :(

Just asked DS if his friends had found exams hard so far. Apparently yes, although he said that if the January 2012 exam was hard in a certain subject then so will the June as they are written at the same time. Not sure if this is true to but it would apparently explain the tough french. Having said that I think grade boundaries will be low if exam is hard.

My dd's exams not till next week ... however, she is enjoying the freedom of going to & from school at non-standard times for revision lessons. So today, she & friends went out to lunch at Greggs.

I sniggered and thought 'That's not a mnet-approved lunch choice you know'

RE and biology for DD today. Biology fine but she didn't quite complete one answer in RE as she ran out of time.

*worked really hard

DD thinks she may have stuffed up her Biology today - she's worked really, got A* on the first two modules and COntrolled Assessment and wants to take it for A Level. SHe seems to have had a bit of a mental block today. Oh well, no point dwelling on it! She had RE (through the medium of Welsh) this afternoon and says she wrote loads but it is hard to tell whether it was good or not.
Welsh Literature tomorrow.

Today... biology and p&r. Both ok according to dd. she's quite cheery anyway. Phew.

Nothing tomorrow.

Anyone gearing up for physics module 2?

His last 3 papers were all a C But TBH with the marks he was getting in school I guess it was quiet a relief.

Those french papers sound a nightmare! DS's german isn't until after half term but I think I'll prompt him to get learning some of the more obscure vocab!