Year 11 GCSE Exam Support Thread

Teen sorry to hear that she seems to have been predicted high grades then . My ds is also dyspraxic and asd and had only been predicteded c grades and at present is getting a combination of c and d grades , so hoping that he can get to the c for his subjects , then move on . He also works really hard for his grades , and is fully aware that he's not an a grade student but works a lot harder than some of his friends who are .

Your daughter will at least know the value of having to work hard to get there , so will have benefit more long term and for her future

Crisps and chocolate in large quantities! That's good Woollyback. Feeling a bit nervous about DD's interview later.

Sorry to hear that SugarPlum. But good that you have sorted a Maths tutor.

Tilly all welcome I'll bring the if you bring the nibbles?

She has been offered a conditional place for 6th form so is very happy.

One miserable teen here ad they got the sheet with all the Mock results on and it was clearly sobering. She was only one in her friend group not to get 5 C ' s. One of her friend's was complaining about not getting A* and she said she wanted to punch him (just a wee bit hormonal )

A friend said today that the SENCO who is helping her son resist Maths GCSE has said that it is changing next year and will be harder. She said this before ism and I was quite proud that by 9.30 I had sorted a Maths tutor.

DD2 is in the middle of mocks now. She completely messed up the timings on the history paper today, getting all carried away with Germany and having to scamper through everything else. It is all a big learning curve.

She is convinced this is incredibly stressful and the real thing will be fine as she will be better prepared and will have more time between exams.

I am biting my tongue but thinking ha ha ha ha just you wait.

Woollyback (I am one too) can I join you with my knitting?!
DD also has a sixth form interview. Tonight!

Teen, DD dropped drama at the end of last year. Result as she now does extra maths in those periods!

Fingers crossed for your DD gardener.

Hi Teen, yes school will be fine with her dropping subjects but she already has a track record of taking herself off to the library or art rooms in frees as she has never taken a language and is the only one to be doing one science so I guess they are confident she won't be disruptive or demanding.
Amazingly flexible head.I also suspect they would consider league tables

English results today....teacher emailed last night to say all her hard work has paid of but no hint of grade,so hoping it is a C. She was an E at the end of year 10.

Errol a couple of Art subjects, Media and English Lit. They are all her 'best' subjects or follow on from them but it is still nerve wracking. Between GCSEs and DD1's university finals I just want to spend June on a deserted island with just my knitting for company.

Good luck to woolyback's DD. What subjects is she wanting to do?

Mine was bit worried yesterday - assembly was about their 6th form taster day, and included information that some A levels were no longer being offered ... she was stuck for 3 hours on the bus (big accident due to ice blocked the road) and missed it and her pals knew that some tech option(s) had been axed but not sure which. Anyway, when she got home and could check the website it looks like the one she wants to do (Systems and Control) is still available. whew.

Teen - people who are doom and gloom after they've done an exam IME often turn out to have done a lot better than they expected. Hope your DD is one of those.

Teen I hope the rest of the results are closer to what you expect It's bloody heartbreaking when they put in the work and things still don't go their way.

DD2 has her 6th form interview today. She wants to change schools as her current school only offers 1 subject out of the 4 she wants to do.

She has no 'Plan B' though. She's as stubborn determined as DH so 15 years of experience with her has taught me to ask her to do something once, maybe twice and then be there for the fall-out if it happens. Not good for my nerves and definitely not good for my control freak tendencies. All should be well on the basis of her last report - she's on target for everything but I'm one of nature's worriers.

fluffling Unfortunately I said not due to lack of work.
She is working hard. Recently had diagnosis of dyspraxia, confirming my view. She just has to put a lot of effort in to get half decent results.

Luckily her CAs have gone well which in some subjects will compensate for iffy exams, and her maths is good enough, thanks to a live-in-24-hour-a-day maths tutor.

Teen, I feel for your DD. But there is no way of knowing the grades until they have been marked, so fingers crossed.

DD is rabbit-in-the-headlights again. Not sleeping well (worries) and then wasted over an hour after school waiting to speak to her teacher who was busy with others, came out having sorted nothing and in no mood to do anything else. Mocks in 3 1/2 weeks

Well, DD has taken 4 mocks so far.
Not going well. I'm estimating from what she has said:
C/D - predicted A
C/D - predicted C
D/E - predicted C
C/D - predicted B
Sadly this is not down to lack of work on her behalf. I just think some predictions are way off. Maybe I'll be pleasantly surprised. (Please).

stay Is your DC really going to be allowed to drop a subject?

fourarms thanks, will trawl!

Just finished marking my Y11 mock papers :) They've taken hours and hours but it's a really useful exercise for them.

TES can be good for resources if you've got time to sit and trawl through?

Also, the college are being v helpful. Learning Support have offered to accompany him to the course interviews as he finds it difficult to 'sell' himself (or even speak to strangers at all sometimes!).

stayathome thanks, it's difficult isn't it. School can do the kind of 'admin'-like things such as 25% extra time, laptops etc but I can't help thinking it would be better to actually work out how to teach these kids! I'll check out your suggestions altho he's only doing Lang not Lit. Like the sound of music on DVD's though. Will start digging. Thanks.

Digit, I am currently waiting for DD to come out from her maths tutor. He has done wonders for her confidence. And her grades!

Fresh, you could be describing my DD dyslexic top 9% visually bottom 9% in language written and spoken.
Frustrating for her,us and teachers I guess.
Didn't find out till year six and still has not received appropriate help from school,they try but I suspect are out of their depth.

We do lots of support at home. Look at the DVD's for the English Literature books- some not all and some CD's with music that sticks the facts in their heads.
Geography BBC bitesize has short videos on subjects which were great refreshers.
We are considering dropping some of her weaker subjects when mock results are back,she only needs six A-C so why struggle with nine.
Also talk to your DS's sixth form college. DD has the option of presenting a portfolio if misses the grades for A levels and was told by the other Btec college that if her first choice didn't work out they would hold a place for up to a term even with low results.

We are getting her a tutor for maths, to boost her confidence more than the grade!

There's a huge jump to AS dingit - an E in Y11 is still good. I don't know how many doors it would open and close for her later though.

I'm sat here waiting for DS to come in with his mock results. He'd normally be home by now but has an after school prefect meeting so I'm pacing.

Results in, a bit mixed, and her best subjects were the worst grades! 2 A*, 3 As, B, 2 Cs and an E ( AS maths)