GCSE Support Thread 2013

Three times in the last year I have thought I was going to lose her, Moving. If we've lost 5 GCSEs instead, I think I can bear up.

Your poor DD has had it really tough in the last few years Cory. But as you say, she is alive and any formal qualifications can be made up later if necessary. I know several DC who are going off to university in September having had to take a year or two out of formal education to deal with various things (anorexia, ME etc) and while it has been hard for them and their families in the long run, recovery is the most important thing and exams come a very distant second to that.

Not looking so promising here. Dd was supposed to do 10 GCSEs + one BTech, and was predicted top grades, but has missed the best part of the last two years due to severe anxiety and depression and is atm trying to pull herself together to get 5 GCSEs as that is what she needs for college. It will look rather bizarre on her CV as she will probably still be getting A*s for English and English lit (the only subjects she can do without having attended classes) and then hopefully scrape three more passes. She may have to do her maths GCSE in Sixth Form. But every exam depends on whether she is well enough on the day to sit in the exam room and not pass out.

Still, she is alive and she might have died. GCSEs aren't everything.

Russians, your poor DD, that sounds awful. Good for her for keeping on going. Bad luck on the birthday front too, you'll just have to do something nice when its all over. DD turns 16 well after the exams finish, luckily for her.

Moving - my DD1 is in Y10 and doing practically the same as yours - 3xscience, 2xEnglish, 2xMaths, French, RE, History, Music and Geog. The RE is only short course though. She has a fairly even split of exams - 12 before half term, 12 after. Sadly for her, her 15th birthday is on one of the exam weekends, and she has 3 exams on the Monday immediately after. So, not much celebrating then. :(

She has an injured hand - broke most of the fingers in a fight with a door at school, the door won, the breaks are healed but two of the fingers also dislocated and although they are back in place one has a tendency to pop out and there is ligament damage, so it is in a bad way. She is therefore typing most of her exams, but not all of them sadly. It's all a bit of a disaster really. But she is giving it a go. She really doesn't like being beaten. So, we shall see what we shall see.

DD1 is in Y11 and doing 3xScience, 2xEnglish, 2xMaths, German, RE, History, Music, Drama - I think that's the lot. 12 in total.
She seems to be quite calm at the moment, though we had to drag her out today for a country walk and pub lunch as she said she had too much to do. Pointed out that fresh air was a basic requirement.
She has been revising Of Mice and Men and Animal Farm this weekend and I found some big lined sticky notes in The Works that she has found really handy for revision notes - they are A5 size and well worth getting if you have a Works near you.

Ds1 doing Lord of the Flies, To Kill a Mockingbird and A View from the Bridge - so all long texts too. (R&J and poetry for CA, not exam.)

What about you?

Mine's got Of Mice And Men, An inspector calls and Heroes which he loved.

WJEC English Lit here too .
They're studying About a boy , Of Mice And Men and An inspector calls ( though I'm not sure if one is for English Lang )

roisin, DS is doing WJEC Eng Lit too. Which texts is your DS studying?

wave DD has only revised for a couple of hours all together! I'm so stressed about it. She says she's concentrating on science which is fair enough as its the 'real' exam and not a mock. How she'll cope next year when all the exams are ' real' I just don't know.

I'm pleased it's a no text exam (I only found out a couple of days ago, tho ds1 knew!)

As many students waste a lot of time in AQA exam flicking through text trying to locate particular fact or quotation.

Unfortunately for DD, English is her worst subject. They can take the texts in, but that's not really the issue for her, she jut cannot write an essay under stress. Got in a terrible state over the CA, glad thats over with. Better with the poetry though.

So pleased she got Language out of he way last year, or it would be double stress for her.

She does WJEC Geography and from those she speaks to doing other boards, sounds different for that too.

DS did an English Lit mock exam last week and did very well on the Romeo and Juliet questions but not quite as well on Animal farm. Going through it chapter by chapter sounds a good idea.

A closed book exam is unusual these days Roisin I think I still remember some of the quotes I learnt for my English lit exam!

ds1 is revising for Lit; he has re-read all the texts and discussed them chapter-by-chapter with dh. Also making notes on key themes and characters and doing practice questions.

His Board (WJEC) has a closed book Lit exam, which is unusual. So he also has quotes to memorise.

DS doesn't have study leave and so they stick to a normal timetable during the exam period but as soon as an exam is done that lesson becomes a "revise what you want" lesson. It worked well for DD2 even though I was a bit dubious beforehand.

We have study leave here from 20/5.
Told there will be 'some' revision sessions during that time, but no timetable yet.

Not heard that about Eng Lit. Must ask DD1 later if that's true.

I'll be interested to see what they think of revision in the lessons that they go in for in between exams (as mentioned in the other thread recently). If they haven't got study leave that is. Sounds good in theory. Forces them to get up etc.

TheWave At the moment DD is leaving the revision of the exams after half term too. Partly because they have still not finished controlled assessments on Physics & Chemistry, so she is having to go to lunchtime and after school sessions for those. And she needs to revise for French & Music before half term which are well underway now. Also has Eng Lit before half term, but claims no revision needed.

She is fortunate though, that she has no exams the first week after half term, so effectively two clear weeks to revise. But it is still 4 revision heavy subjects, 3 sciences & Geography.

Yes that's what we've got I think roisin so I had the same thoughts that it might be a good plan to forget those later ones for now.
doin not necessarily. There is a balance? Has she got down to something in past weeks?

Hi can I join.
Dd year 11, doing more exams this year.. Did a few last year, still got a few more to go this year..Emailed school on Friday to find out what is happening. Still no timetable for exams, and students told that around exams will be regular classes.. Hoping this is a wind up. Older siblings did exams, and just went in for exams. Rest of the time, they were chilling and revising at home on study leave, which I am sure started a week or so before the exams.

DD came home , has done an hours revision and has gone out again! Aargh. She will fail won't she ?

TheWave - it depends what the post holiday exams are, and how many.

After whit half term ds1 just has English language, Maths and History. He doesn't need to do any Maths/Eng revision (as they are skills-based and he's doing extremely well already). So he has 10 days to revise the first History exam; and another 7 days for the next History exam.

It is therefore very sensible for him to do no history revision for the next 4 weeks and concentrate on the 5 revision-heavy subjects for which he has exams before half term.

I said DD could go for a sleepover last night on the understanding she comes home and starts revising. She's not home yet! How on earth do I get her to understand that it's just a short while of knuckling down and then it'll all be over.

I think DS is starting to focus on the exams before half term now TheWave and his drama practical exam (I could have a moan about how much time that is taking up ).