Year 11 GCSE Exam Support Thread

I want DS1 to sort all his books and papers out now. he has files and box files and just reams of notes and papers. they are everywhere. I don't think he wants to let any of it go.

Glad you've all survived the week!

DD has a load of course-work for Citizenship and ICT to finish that she now wishes she had done in Y10

DS1 all done now except for a German 1 hour something or other on Wednesday next week. Feels weird.

DD has more mocks Mon-Wed next week. Drama teacher went dramatic because they'll all (except 1) be in a mock when she wanted to set a piece for controlled assessment.

Done!!! Apart from Art on Monday. She decided against a duvet day today because there is an extra art session after school she wanted to go to.

Sparkling, sympathies - I have one of them too!

I wouldn't be surprised Tilly. It feels like he is mulling the papers over a long time after and starting to doubt himself IYKWIM. He is a major worrier.

Thank you all, I feel a big better now. DD is getting a fair bit of stick from the Ethics teacher as she only did one paper instead of two somehow and she is trying to get her to contribute more on class. DD is very hormonal this evening and eyeing up her advent calendar for chocolate.

DD isn't doing GCSE art but I have friends saying their children have a huge work load with it.However she is planning on doing it for A level if she goes down the A Level route *and I am currently feeling the love for the BTEC route right now ). She is doing Photography now but work load seems fairly manageable. Would like the results to hurry up for that as they all got C and above apparently and some encouraging news would be good.

DD'S form tutor who she has had since year 9 has just gone on maternity leave. She is replaced by 2 tutors then in Science by some woman who is teaching from the text book as she doesn't know the syllabus. That's just great for year 11 and fills me with confidence, not.

Sparkling, maybe it was teens dicuss in on social media last night? Or a panic in the night? I do feel for them.

Same here sparkling. Lovely way to taint christmas

First time in her life DD is getting a duvet day on Friday. The lessons have been continuing throughout the mocks. DD has been battling a cold and is so tired. Friday she has no exams. When I suggested she stay home on Friday her eyes lit up - She wants the extra time to 'practice' for her 5 hr art exam on Monday!

My ds is getting his in an envelope like the real thing too but just before they go home for Christmas. I think it's designed to get them to study hard over the Christmas holidays.

DD gets a marks envelope in January too. She texted me after French this morning ... Not happy.

Checking in here.

3 days into mocks and she's coping. we are taking a " hands off but supportive" attitude as we did with the other 2. In that if she isn't working well/enough we have time to pull things round. She's the most organised so should be fine. She's feeling pressure from herself and her own high standards, we don't need to add to that.

School trip to the jersey boys last night though! Fortunately today she hasn't any exams.

THis is my last set of GCSEs and I can't wait to see the back of them!

DD1 did GCSE art. It was a terrible experience, so many hours and so little enjoyment.

Tranquillity it's all about the games that you play to get the easy marks, and knowing exactly what is required in terms of words used etc. AS and A2 are the same. It's a really vital skill .

Oh no Eve that's not good. Christmas revision?

I have heard about the Art. DS isn't taking it.Is it that bad?

we have mocks after christmas so a holiday of revision.

Anyone elses doing Art? ...how much work is needed for that! its non stop!

Tranquility DS has to wait til January for his results. They will be presented in an envelope the same as the real thing.

He has come back today saying the Maths one was okay. Four more exams to go......

My DD finished her mocks last week and is starting to get results back. She was disappointed to get a B in Maths and was 10 marks off an A. However, they have been through the paper in class looking for what the new maths teacher calls "muppet marks" and she has seen an extra 23 marks she could have got with little additional effort. I guess this is partly the point of mocks - not only have they not covered the whole syllabus but they also need to learn exam technique and all the little tricks which maximise their chances of success.

Sugarplum like Littleham has said I think the issue is that they may be being examined on subjects they might still not have covered, the maths teachers said to us they would expect a rise of around 1 grade from what they are achieving now. A thought about the maths grade, did she take the foundation paper? If so you have to get a pretty high % to get a C, some kids find it easier to get a C on the higher paper, more difficult material but you don't have to get as much right.... seems crazy they don't all do the same paper!

DS1 has a Maths paper today all done by 11am. I can't understand what happened overnight for him to suddenly think it's all gone wrong.

DD had maths and 2x English yesterday. She said she didn't have enough time for the English and had finished all the maths she knew in the first half hour . Problem for the day was that they were locked out of the exam hall when they arrived in the afternoon, so the exam started late and they all missed their buses! How to add extra pressure .

Anyway, biology French and it today. She has always struggled with french, hates it (conpulsory subject) and wants to take biology a level, so let's see how it goes.

No more until next week after today.

DS1 has been doing mocks since Monday. Came home Monday, and yesterday saying all was ok. then he got up this morning saying he's worried he's done terribly in all the mocks so far.

Sympathies to all of you whose DC are going through mocks/getting results. I think it is better if they mark hard in the mocks - then hopefully no nasty surprises when they do the actual GCSE's like DD got in Chemistry taken last year.
I am not looking forward to the run-up to DD's mocks after Christmas - she is already on her knees and out of her mind with CA's and ISA's.

Homework, that is what DD's school do

Got an email from one of his teachers saying that there doing another set of mocks after Christmas , god why ? They just did a set after the October half term , why do they need to redo them .
He's got a btech exam to do anyway , when do the actual real exams start , as there seems no let down from the constant revision .
At least we found a couple of courses and sixth forms that he likes the look of , now to find time to fill in the forms , also have interviews to attend with these .
This year eleven just seems to be full of stress not just for them but for us poor parents too.