Year 11 GCSE support thread 5 - finishing off the exams

I heard DS get up at about 3.30am. He's going to be knackered for Maths this morning.

I then woke up from an anxiety-laden nightmare at 5am. I don't think I can take another two weeks of this.

Last exam today! Fingers crossed for the final Maths paper. Then a long wait till August 20th to see if DD has achieved the grades to stay in her current school. We have a few
back up places sorted but she would be devastated to have to move.
She has worked soooo hard for these exams- very proud of her.

Fingers firmly crossed for a better paper today.

Hopefully all our little lambs to the slaughter are going to get some sleep tonight.

I've been telling DD that people have been saying the igcse Edexcel maths had a tough paper 1 but that paper 2 was ok - there's a fair chance theirs will be likewise. But in any case they're all in the same boat.

DT tomorrow afternoon here. Hope all the stressed out offspring get a decent night's sleep. for me.

well he'll (hopefully) go on the taster day in july and will have had a couple of weeks of winding down by then so may be able to look at the prospect of A levels differently. bloody hope so

I changed my mind on A level choices when I got my O'level results back in the Dark Ages and I bet loads will this year too. He's normal Poppy!

Don't worry poppy. My 16 year old changes her mind about her A Level choices and doesn't know what she wants to do.

i've just run him a big bubbly bath and added a few drops of essential oil. hopefully it will relax him (or at least help him smell a bit fresher).

please tell me i'm not the only one with a 16 year old who has no idea at all about what they want to do next?

Another here with an anxious DC - DD had a bit of a moment earlier (after appearing fine an hour before) and has gone to bed. I so hope she sleeps through and wakes up a bit more positive.

I think they are all exhausted and that bloody maths paper hasn't helped worried the calc paper will be just as bad.

thank you littleham. he's my only child so i have no experience of how college works (i left school many moons ago after O levels and worked then went back to study when i wanted to).

managed to get him to fill the taster session form in and he has vet begrudgingly put down 3 A level subjects, only one of which remotely interests him.

he looks awful, seems tired and fed up, i don't think he's eating properly. i'll be so glad when these wretched exams are over as they seem to have dragged on forever.

Simbo, NCS has about 8 different start dates throughout the summer, so your DD would probably be able to find one suited if she was interested.

I think that they have all had enough of exams poppy. The sun is shining and they just want to be young and free.

Maybe he will be able to decide on A Level subjects in August. Don't forget that they can change subjects up to Autumn half term. Both of my older ones changed one subject at sixth form.

i've been dipping in and out of this thread as DS is also in the midst of his GCSE's. seemed to have started off ok but its getting to be very hard work now. he goes out or sleeps. says he's revising but i fear he isn't.

out of the 3 A levels he'd chosen for college, he decided a while back that he wasn't doing 2 of these so needs to choose some more. he won't talk about it or think about it. he seems so disinterested in everything these days and i really don't know what to do to help him.

Simbo - DS had a month like that before the exams started. Paralysed with fear, unable to even open a book, crying constantly etc. I was extremely worried about him and concerned that he would fall apart in the exams.

I think each child needs to work out for themselves what is the best exam technique for them. DS has discovered (rather late in the day) that he prefers talking subjects through with a friend, rather than reading on his own. At least he'll know for exams in the future! One of my friends with a DS with the same problem, reads the revision notes out loud to her DS with him lying in bed, when he is so overwhelmed that he cannot even bring himself to look at it.

I have been making sure my DS eats well and giving him a daily multivitamin with iron, as well as liberal doses of "Rescue Remedy" as required. I have been trying to coax him out of his room - not always successfully; and switching off the modem and taking away his mobile phone at night to maximise the chance of him sleeping.

As soon as the exams are over, I'm going to sit down with him and construct a list of learning points re exam technique and revision, so that hopefully he doesn't get himself into such a state in the future. I have also booked him in with some sessions with a counsellor so that he can thrash out these issues with someone objective.

Hope you can get through the next week with your DD. (It is only an extra week, isn't it?) The thing is she probably knows more than she realises. At this point I'd say a BBQ and a big bowl of ice-cream sounds like a really good plan.

I heard about NCIS from her but only because she told me that she couldn't do it as our holiday plans fall in the middle. I will ask her again though. Thanks to everyone who has made comments/suggestions. I'm sure we'll all be back tomorrow.

Yes, I was going to suggest that ono - keep getting ads on FB!

Simbo, major sympathies

My DD has also claimed that she has done nothing/ been taught nothing/ got nothing right / didn't know any questions on more than one occasion since the exams started, but in actual fact, it has just been her expressing her exasperation - exactly.

She is a drama queen and it think she has used me to try out 'worst case scenarios' etc - exactly

I am going to be terrified all morning of getting a phonecall saying she has flipped out or passed out or something - exactly

Hi Simbo, have you thought about National Citizen Service for the summer? www.ncsyes.co.uk/about If my DS wasn't going off to Tanzania for 4 weeks, I would have enrolled him on this as it is quite cheap and I think employers rate it highly.

I feel for your DD but I really admire the way you are handling it and just being concerned for her mental wellbeing. When DS had his wobble yesterday I said that if he hadn't got his predicted grades then I was sure the school would let him into sixth form as they could see he'd worked hard all year and just reacted badly to the exam stress.

No wonder the rate of antidepressant prescribing for young people has increased, they are under such stress poor things.

The funny thing is that my ds is the one I usually have to coerce into doing school work. She has to set a positive example to him. I will be going through all this again in a couple of years!
Just been on another visit upstairs (pretext of taking in clean laundry to see what she is actually doing); on facebook and drawing.
I actually think that if you have an exam in the morning there is quite a lot you can be doing the day before to prepare, and that all the stuff that can be committed to short term memory is pretty useful. Hopefully she has done enough. I hope she can manage to do some revision for chemistry tomorrow. I think that I may try and take her to work with me so that I can keep an eye on her after that.

If she has maths tomorrow perhaps true to say there's not so much anyone can do to prepare for that one anyway? So perhaps you'll be able to persuade her to come outside for a BBQ which sounds a great idea on this lovely summer evening. Be kind to yourself too as I'm sure what she said was very unexpected and takes some adjusting to for yourself as well.

Thanks to all for your supportive answers. I have not yet persuaded her out of her room but dh has already bought bbq stuff. I will try and get her to help prepare salads etc. She seems immune to all suggestions and even treats. I do think she has hit a bump in the road mentally. I frankly don't care about how she does, only about how she feels. Though the two are linked, especially as she has some v. bright friends. It will be no comfort to her in August to look back and say to herself " I would have got those grdes if I had been able to revise". And things don't exactly get easier in 6th Form. do they? There may be fewer subjects, but there will still be exams. She has never been bothered or fazed before. This is just so unexpected. I am doing as much as I can to reassure her, but she does rather cut herself off.

I think just lots of reassurance and praise for keeping going tonight simbo, and also for letting you know how things are for her
She's worked hard throughout her courses and she's doing her best to get through the exams.
I think put predicted grades to the back of your minds and hopefully she's done what she needs overall to move into sixth form doing her chosen subjects
Even this is a bonus compared to their well-being
Love and best wishes to you both x