Year 11 GCSE support thread 4 - more exams

Old girl cat needed to be put down this morning.

I knew it was coming, but am very relieved it's half term rather than a busy exam week.

DS is more upset than I'd anticipated.

Wah, prom suit shopping SO painful!! Currently in River Island, trying on the first one he looked at!

mummytime, the schools round here only seem to let the Y11's actually at the school go to the Prom. I think a friends DD who is at an all girls said if they wanted their boyfriend to go, the boyfriend would have to be interviewed

Dd's brothers are 9 and 10.Most of her friends are only children or from families of girls.The local boys round here all have girlfriends .

 Yes of course she will still have fun with her friends but it just seems a little strange.Probably more to me than dd.

The girls schools around here tend to have a "date" for Prom, often a friend, brother, or friend's brother. DD will be going to hers with a group of friends.

Not been on the thread for a few days but exams going well here (8 down, 10 to go) and DD1 seems quite relaxed and got into the swing of things. Still only getting reports back that exams have gone "all right" at the end of each day so hope that's a good sign.

Exam release has started now and she's brought home a personalised timetable for when she has to be in. Looking at it, she seems to be at school most days over the 2 weeks after 1/2 term, as there's a mixture of exams and extra revision lessons for the exams that she's got left. There are only a couple of days where she needs me to pick her up after a morning exam or take her in for an afternoon one.

She also seems to have brought home all the writing books/notes/revision booklets that she's ever used over the last 2 years. They've been in 2 piles in the utility room up 'til now and I've just asked her to take them up to her room as we had to keep moving a pile when we wanted to use the microwave!

Hope all exams are going well with everyone else.

I don't think they need boys for a prom, unless they are going all American (as some of the teens at DD's school seem to think is the way to go) - arriving with a "date", etc. Surely they can have fun with their friends?

We have a Prom dress and silver sandals .They are so high dd1 can't walk in them and has to practice.Dd2 is however really dainty in them ( dd1 definitely not).The only problem is dd goes to an all girls school .How do proms work in that scenario?Given that she is in the swotty crowd and none of her group of friends have boyfriends it will be a bit of a strange prom.
No revision after the exam yesterday - watching wall to wall Merlin episodes!

DD and her mates are just getting up - off to school for revision!

No proms here either. Though DD does have a school garden party where the girls wear a nice frock, so that will have to be found!

Actually that might be the wrong link to the AS one. Anyway onwards and upwards.

They say there is also a new youtube video against the recent geography paper they did too which again was pretty awful like the maths - both ed-excel.

The geog had the unusual field work study set in an urban area ( apparently it is usually the usual countryside ox bow lake kind of setting).

Never had children at a school with a prom. It sounds very American. I bet my boys are glad their school doesn't have one as they are not into dancing. Mind you they need to buy a suit for sixth form and I have said I am not buying it 2 days before they go back in September and it will be bought in July so they need to start thinking about what type.

No sign of my 2 yet but one wants me to wake him a 9 to revise. Their worsts are over particularly as they are doing double not triple science so all science (their worst) is all done and the dreaded French I think unless there is another paper.

Everyone still asleep here.

After yesterday's exam, DD and some friends went for afternoon tea. They are such a bunch of grannies .

I think over half term, DS can take his foot off the peddle (he's done his worst ones) but DD will need to crack on as she will then have maths (her worst subject) and history (which is one of her A level choices, so she'll want to do the very best she can).

Oooh, looking forward to a pic later!

DD is wanting to have a dress of mine altered for her prom, so I need to find out how much it would cost. Not that we have had any official information about there being a prom

No revision this morning; we are off PROM SUIT shopping!!
Can't wait to see him all dressed up, he always looks good whatever he wears, so will be lovely to see him in a suit.

Do you know what sort of question it was they all had difficulty with, lynnette? If it really was something that wasn't on the syllabus nor something they could be expected to deduce from what they should have known, then pretty much no one will have got it and it'll lower the grade boundary.

So DS had read the unseen poem last week. Lucky.
Says Eng Lit went fine.

Came home with names on his shirt. Another Mum tells me that due to some kid setting off the fire alarm the prom has been cancelled. I very much doubt they'll do that!

Him and his Dad went to the cinema this evening and he brought me back 4 chocolate mice.

10 more exams to go!

I think I'm a bit concerned after the nearest high school to use failed their students miserably last year by not covering the syllabus in several subjects, resulting in poor exam results.

I trust DSs school, though....even though he's had changes of teachers, I trust that everything which should have been taught has. But hearing that potential A/A* students haven't been able to answer all questions is concerning.

I've often been told by DSs school not to rely on revision guides, as these will only help students achieve a C grade...those who want higher than that will have to think for themselves. I've bought all the guides, in my bid to be a "good parent" but DS reads them once, says, "I already knew that" and tosses them aside.

The boy is bloody bright, but whether he can put it down on paper and his hideous scrawl can be deciphered is another matter.

Sorry, I'm late night ranting now.

Lynette, ' How can an exam, such as Biology have questions on stuff which hasn't been taught? Should I be really cross with the school? Or the exam board?'

I doubt that the exam would have something that wasn't in the specification for that board. Unless it was actually an 'apply knowledge in an unfamiliar case' type question (as with the example of Chemistry igcse the other week , they weren't supposed to already know what Indium was).

It is possible for a school to miss something (or for a student to somehow miss a particular part). I think my DD has found one or two things when going through the revision guides which she didn't think had been covered in class (e.g. changes of teacher for a couple of subjects left a few gaps). TBH I think that pupils really are expected to use revision guides (and do their homework) not just rely on absolutely everything being fed to them in class - so the hardworking ones who've put in the graft are less likely to come unstuck than the wing-and-a-prayer ones.

No, no, memories are much more important than geography!

I have old school friends I can still laugh with today about the antics we got up to, but knowing what a drumlin, or a glacial valley is has never done me any good.

I know this because I visited a friend in the Lake District once, and pointed out some drumlins behind her house, and the nearby U-shaped valley. The whole family looked at me like this ->

We still fondly remember the time her brother drank to much, threw up and her mum blamed it on me though....over 20 years later.

spudmasher that sounds fantastic!

If your DD and her friends can be that funny in Hyde park, they will all go far...regardless of their GCSE results.

Making memories not marking erodes.....which sounds like geography, which would have been preferable.