Year 11 GCSE Exam Support Thread 2

DD did her Art prep today and it went "fine" which is good. She seems quite upbeat but this is probably because she has a whole load of social stuff lined up to do on the weekend

Am liking the idea of a to fo list for after the exams!

I bought DD's clear pencil case in Wilkinson's and it was

I had no idea about clear pencil cases!

Have had many conversations with English teacher about which tiers DS should be entered for but it's done now. No going back.

Ah, I understand about the Further Maths / Additional Maths thing. For a minute there I thought your lot had skipped A Level maths and gone straight to FM! My dd is doing the Additional Maths route.

Glad to hear things are going well with your mother SugarPlum. I remember things getting a while lot easier when my PIL (both dementia) went into a care home.

Good luck with the jobs / new contracts.

They have checks at local school to see whether any teens have written information on their skin (under clothes). Never mind writing on the water bottles!!!

Thanks for the reminder about clashes. I've just asked DD if she has sorted hers and had the reply 'I'll do that tomorrow' so that's a no then! A bit like her 'I haven't really been revising' from earlier. She was home late as watching friend's drama thing, which meant I had to rearrange Japanese tutor.

Her school sell equipped clear pencil cases for £2.50 which is handy. Friend's DD is doing an extra Maths something, friend a bit vague what it is but her DD is freaking out. Apparently other parents have tried to get their DCs out of it but the school won't let them. This was only sprung on them about a month ago.

I haven't updated after my epic moan a couple of months ago, things are much better. DH is nearing end of 3 month trial and fingers crossed all going well and he will get a permanent contract. I'm getting to grips with my little business. DS much happier (think he was anaemic) and no more panic attacks or requests to change school. Things quiet on FIL front for now. My Mother is in the new Dementia Home. Things haven't been smooth with that but I've done what GP said and am standing back and feel all the better for it. Brother still going on about possibly moving he but let it was over me now. Thank you all for your support during what was rather a shit time. DD's school disaster feels a lot more manageable without everything else piling in amd I feel fairly philosphical now i have a plan for her. WF, great news about the contract, fingers crossed.

Oh yes, clear pencil case, I have to get DD a new one, her current one is falling apart.

DD is doing AQA Further Maths. Apparently useful for A Level Maths, which she has chosen to do.

Thankfully she has no clashes, but a few days with 2 exams in a row and an afternoon one.

I'm off to test her on her French vocab now.

Oh, as well as the clear pencil case, she says that if they take bottled water the labels have to be removed! (I seem to remember back in the day we managed O-levels without having to drink during them...).

We got DD a clear pencil case in Smiths during the easter break, a long one which should fit a 30cm ruler. We've also got some good staedler erasers and pencils (cheap ones which break readily are a no-no) and a selection of different black pens because she says that if she's doing several hours of writing in a day she likes to be able to vary the grip. I think DH also got her a spare calculator identical to her usual one, and she says she's got geometry set stuff (remarkably, though I did get her several protractors a year or two ago as they kept going missing).

The different maths qualifications are confusing. The were originally supposed to be doing a 'free standing maths qualification' Additional Maths but the exam was on the same day as she has Computing, german reading and listening and geography - most of the others had two out of those three. So they're doing AQA Level 2 cert in Further Maths instead, which apparently is easier. There was one year 9 prodigy in their class who is going to do the Additional Maths - and then she'll do the normal GCSE at the same time as her cohort which is a bit odd but I suppose it would be a bit hard to accommodate her differently.

DD is pissed off about that day with clashes and another with Electronics, Drama and the othe geography paper. Apparently they're not allowed to do more than 3 hours together and both days the timings have too much in the morning (the german awkwardly totalling 1hr35 plus 1:30 computing) - so she'll have to be sequestered a lot of the day and get 3 hours on both afternoons which is a bit grim.

That's funny WordFactory
Glad I've found this thread before we kick off - I can see
it's going to be good company

Definitely need a transparent pencil
Case!

DS didn't tell me for maths and had to rock up with a sandwich bag!

Oh yes, apparently they need transparent pencil cases only
Do people use a kind of clear document wallet?
Perhaps she can get something suitable in the school shop?

You mentioned getting a new maths set and some black pens bigTillyMint

• dd has asked for pens - black I think? And I guess she should check she has a maths set (ruler etc.), pencils (esp for art?), rubber, calculator ....

Littleham, dd is doing additional Maths. I know, confusing, isn't it. I I got screamed at for putting Further maths on her college application.
I think dd is looking forward to reading books for pleasure afterwards too.
I'm not sure how much time she will want to spend with me, but she's coming on our 16 day family holiday

Eleven GCSE's here (but has already sat English Lang. at beginning of year 10 / got an A). Just English Lit to go, which she dislikes. Also doing Advanced Maths alongside GCSE Maths, but she really likes it. Are your schools really doing Further Maths or do you all mean advanced maths?

No Latin at their school although they have always wanted to try it. Older sister has managed to incorporate starter Latin into her degree choice, so it nice that universities are thinking about added extras.

Hi QOD - fifteen GCSE's must be a nightmare!

Double checked with both girls about stress levels after reading the sad story on here and they both said they feel fine at the moment.

Our treats are - ice cream, DVD's, friends coming over on May Day (going to May Day Fayre), start of study leave party, meal with grandparents and the biggy...a trip away with friends at the end of exams.

I don't suppose mine will want to do anything with us on the bank holiday monday, but she's going to see a film with her friends after school this friday which I'm really pleased about. Living at a distance from the school she doesn't really socialise enough.

We've also started to make a Things To Do list for after the exams.

Films we've been meaning to watch, books to read/listen to, places to go etc.

I didn't think of little treats, just food ( trust me). I did ask her if she wanted to do something nice over the bank holiday for a couple of hours and got my head bitten off.
She did a 7km run last night and came back in a slightly better mood. Sometimes she likes to curl up on the sofa and watch a movie. Friday night is her night off and she sees her boyfriend.

T&T I am watching for ideas! Are you thinking non - edible treats?
DD would like dry shampoo (also v useful!) and spray deodorant (I only buy roll-on)
Will look 9ut for other ideas
Have ordered her a new maths set and black pens as requested!

Yes it is very close!

WF my feelings exactly on the Latin in Year 10, they had one lesson a week for 4 years and then they expect them to do a brilliant GCSE in it. She got a B.

T&T we have accumulated a number of "keep going" treats, some expensive, some cheap. We got tickets for a concert (in half term), a few nice pens, a T-shirt, some funny socks, etc. We buy sweet treats regularly just for her.

I think we wil just use them to randomly cheer her up and distract her a bit. She made an A3 countdown calendar with the remaining days and exams in, it is really almost upon us, isn't it?

DD only doing 8 GCSEs plus an ICT thing, and that seems to be plenty for her.

I need to buy her some inexpensive treats to randomly give out over the next 6 weeks when she starts flagging. Any suggestions? Also I'll probably need equivalents for her 10yo sister who is already feeling neglected so ideas for her too would be appreciated.

Oh it's a big fucking bug bear of mine!

I'm involved in the widening participation scheme and I get so frustrated when perfectly good candidates have had their chances scuppered by early/too numerous/badly chosen GCSEs .

In other news, it seems I may have got the project I was angling for in LA, but will have to go out again to finalise things. Am hoping they don't want me bang in the middle of exams.

QOD, that's even worse than my DC's school - DD was originally doing 15 in total (14 plus an extra), but dropped one and the extra one, so 13 but she took 2 last year, so "only" 11 this year.
I am surprised at a GS having them take so many - I thought they preferred them to study less, but in more depth so that they are better prepared for their A'levels?

Completely agree, Word and others. Sadly that was/is the culture at most comps. Hopefully with the new rules, it will change.

DD has gone off to do her Art prep day...

She's fine, she was doing 15 but has been allowed to drop on as was predicted barely scraping a C ... PE haha. That made her really happy!

The school gets 100% C to A* and that's all they care about

DS's school don't allow early entry for maths nor do they offer further maths but do let them do the Level 3 certificate in algebra alongside GCSE if they are more able.

It is interesting to see how different schools do it.