Year 11 GCSE support thread 4 - more exams

Sunny, sympathies from me too. It sounds incredibly stressful

I think people are just posting their relief/anxieties/issues, etc in their homes which may be less than what is going on in yours, but I'm sure no one is intending to boast.

I have no idea how DD got on as her phone has had it and she says she hasn't got time to switch all her stuff onto the new (second-hand) one she's got for her birthday. Still, either way, only 6 more to go here.

DS claims that Maths was easy, he finished well in advance and is confident of an A. He deserves an A in confidence, that's for sure!!

DD said maths was 'not too bad'.

Apparently something her brother taught her last night came up! Never too late to crib eh?

They've both had a McDonalds McFlurry to celebrate and are doing some biology for tomorrow.

DS' Maths exam finished at 11am, but I won't hear from him how it went until he returns from school. At 1pm I got a text saying "URGENT - there is a Maths revision list on the school website which might benefit your son"

That's a bit of a worry, isn't it? Makes me wonder if the school has seen the first paper and gone into a blind panic that they didn't cover all of the topics. I guess I'll find out more when DS returns, but I hope it was OK for him because he needs an A to do it at A-level

Sunny - sympathies from me. Have you spoken to the Examination Officer at the school about what your DD can do? There must be a protocol for DCs who miss an exam for any reason. Can she bank the paper you said she'd already done and just do the missing one in January or something?

An issue here as well with the cone and cylinder question.Dd did the first bit but forgot how to do the rest.She's remembered how to do it now though and is cross with herself!
Another one feeling Iike a incompetent mother today as I overslept and leapt out of bed to yell Good Luck as she was charging down the garden path at 7.20am today.
Sunny please keep on posting,it sounds as if you've had a diabolical morning.The day can only pick up!

Glad the second iGCSE maths was better Lotus.

My dc are all very different so I figure that we can't be to blame for these things. I was very quiet as a child but my uncle did say that my Mum used to be very feisty. She is eighty and off to Africa by herself this year - so the feisty genes come from her!

Maths paper 2 iGCSE much much much easier than paper 1 they said so all well here. Just music tomorrow which is easy peasy.

As for why children are calm, they are often born not made and parents shouldn't beat themselves up. The twins are ultra calm and yet I remember one of their older sisters literally stamping her feet like a 2 year old and swearing when she was 16 or 17 when I was about 5 minutes late collecting her at a tube station once. Pity I didn't record it on video.

I would be sent to the Siberian mines by dd3 if she knew about my ramblings. But we have to try to stay sane somehow.

Sunny no judging here. I think that all families have their problems, but some are better at hiding them.

Sorry it's been uber-stressful Sunny - and to elaborate on my shitty start to the day, DS1's dad came to pick him up to take him to school (we're separated) and blamed me for his disorganisation and lack of sleep.

DS2 (currently doing mocks) won't even talk to me about school (and certainly won't talk to his dad whom he currently loathes). Not a word. Any information I need has to be obtained directly from his form teacher.

I'm so pleased I found this thread (and was going to show DS1 before realising he'd recognise himself from my description of events)!

Sunny lots of us do have difficult circumstances - my DS is a teenage drop out, did okay at GCSE - but didn't get English because the boundaries were pushed up. On the plus side, he's not doing drugs, alcohol, getting girls pregnant or doing illegal stuff. On the downside he's not doing much - and doesn't know what he does want to do, we've tried tough love - we're now on a gentler approach, but something has to change sometime.

Back to exams - DD found higher Maths hard, which is a bummer as she wants/plans to do A'level. Today started off bad as she was angry with me, and then got angrier because she hadn't realised the exam was this morning (and thats why I was calling).
There was something about filling a shape that was a code and a cylinder....

Just catching up... Sunny you've had a crappy morning, no wonder you're fed up. Please though, KEEP POSTING, this thread is such a good place to share the trials and tribulations of our DC. It moves fast though and sometimes our comments can get missed, especially if people are dropping in and out through the day.

I hope things settle down for you, no advice to give really except Keep On Keeping On.

Sunny, we are all doing the best we can so don't beat yourself up. I think we find this way more stressful than the kids. Maybe your DD just couldn't face the maths and thought it would be easier not to do it than to do it and do badly

thank you everyone, I do appreciate your kind words.
I don't know, word, it might be me stressing them. Their dad has blown them out completely and I am struggling with money.
Seemingly on mumsnet, and definitely in my family, parents are judged on the academic success of their offspring.....

Couple of questions sunny.

Just thinking aloud.

First, does your DD need maths for whatever it is she wants to do next? If yes, then obviously there are some practical matters that will need to be resolved. MN is very good on practical advice, I think.

Second, did your kids act the way they did this morning, because they're both stressed out by the exams? Or is something else going on and their behaviour is challenging at the mo?

Oh Sunny you're really not. The teenage years are tough for everyone, teenagers and parents alike. You are hanging on in there doing your best for them and supporting them, but at this age they are making their own choices and they don't always choose wisely. All you can do is stick with them and be ready to help them when they're ready to accept it.

You are doing your best Sunny. Teens can be a real trial. My dd3 is very spiky at the moment - like a grenade with the pin pulled out. ((hug))

None of that sunny!

Sometimes stuff happens beyond our control. Sometimes even if we could control it, we might not know where to begin.

I'm sorry you had a worrying morning Sunny
We try to offer whatever support is needed and I've seen a lot of care and consideration on here
Anyone can need support irrespective of predictions and targets, type of school, subjects studied. Most of us know that's not what really matters - just that we hope to support one another as parents as we support our DC to do broadly as well as they can whilst putting their well-being first

thanks word. I feel like a failed parent i really do.

Hi Sunny. That all sounds very stressful. Hope peace and calm is restored tonight. I think we are all cracking open the at the moment.

Hackmum - very relieved that someone else's dc found the German OCR paper harder than usual as dd wants to do this at A Level.

DD said maths was 'fine'. She is good at maths so hopefully at least that one went ok!

I had to drive through sticky tarmac and have a five minute debate with road works people to exit my village this morning as it was closed in all directions.

I suspect sunny sometime people don't really know what to say, when things are really going pear shaped.

The problems you outline are way bigger than 'DD asked me if we had any highlighters at 10pm last night'. Which is our usual fodder here.

It sounds incredibly stressful and chaotic and tough .