Year 11 GCSE support thread 5 - finishing off the exams

Makes me wonder if ds's school arranged last minute chemistry revision to cover missing stuff, hence the call asking where he was this morning.

DD also has chemistry tomorrow and physics on Friday. She is on her knees :(

I got a text this am about physics revision this afternoon. Didn't pick it up till lunch time when it was too late to get DS to school. He didn't know about it, so he says.

Bloody hell auntp, that's cutting it a bit fine!

I'm emotionally wrung out, feel shattered now. DS is glued to his Xbox

Well so much for a free day, DS has been at chemistry revision all day covering things they haven't covered yet!!!!!! OMG the exam is tomorrow and they still haven't covered everything. He said it went oK and doing it today will keep it fresh in his mind, fingers crossed. He's shattered and is flumped in garden listening to music and flipping through his revision notes. I agree with everyone else the kids are knackered just like their poor mums.

Oh well day of horror tomorrow for DS 2 papers and graphics is a 2 hr paper. Think he can have chippy tea tomorrow. Nearly at the end

DS said History went OK, no no clue about it really

This afternoon we started chucking out his notes/papers - he's kept everything since Yr7 !!! OMG, what a lot of paper; staggering to think how much paper/electricity for photocopying etc is used. We have almost filled a wheelie bin and nowhere near done yet.
Then, he brought out his elder brother's GCSE notes which he'd kept also !!

I am so glad his exams are done, just got another week of A levels and then I might start sleeping better!

I absolutely agree about how ridiculous is the number of exams our poor DC are having to put up with - and the way it's being stretched out as a result.

I suspect its being done this way so schools (some schools) can put on revision classes and bring kids up to higher grades than if they did exams ocvering alrger part of the sylabus as we used to. As a result, the powers that be can, genuinely, claim that kids are getting higher marks.

But I doubt it's actually led to better-educated kids - possibly worse, because they are spending so much time revising stuff, just for a series of short exams when they could be - learning. And it's such a haul for them - it can't be good for mental health.

I was quite surprised to receive a phone call about the revision session tbtc, especially as some pupils have now finished. Maybe the chemistry teacher went in especially for ds and was disappointed he stayed in bed. doubt it very much.

He seems quite chipper today so although a revision session may have been helpful, right now I'm far more concerned about his health and wellbeing than whether he could squeeze an extra mark or two tomorrow.

I've just started a thread in teens, a dd problem that's just reared it's head, and is causing her angst. If any of you lovely people have time, could you offer any words of wisdom? Thanks

I did refer to DD as a troglodyte the other day!

DD says history was awful but that she refuses to let it spoil her mood!

Mine too Errol! She will end up like one of those pale creatures that live in caves.

So sorry to hear about the history exam. No wonder they are fed up.

I think we probably had just as many papers, but we sat more than one paper at a time. I don't recall sitting any 1hr papers on their own, it would be maybe 1hr multi-choice and then 1hr something else.

We also often had one am and one pm exam, so the whole period was more condensed. Pros and cons to both, but either way I'm glad it's not me!

I've just been snappy at DS because I am having a rotten day.

32 is a helluva lot - mine had 22 too, and that's 12 subjects.

The AQA history was last week and the week before, AG. Looking at DD's timetable (which includes all the exams done at her school), I get the impression that AQA has done most of the common subjects by now - the only one which wasn't an 'extra' is the product design next week, apart from that just FM, latin, Polish and Italian.

dingit and linerunner, so sorry to hear your DC feel they haven't done well. Was it the Surgery paper for History? DD did that one this morning, but I haven't heard from her.

And at 32 papers. I thought DD had a lot at 23 plus 3 days Art and the 5 papers she did last year.

I'm panicking that DS who does history claimed not to have an exam today and loads on here do

Oh goodness, know it is early still but virtual for Linerunner, Dingit and Poppy.

32 exams is just ridiculous. I feel that we should be saying loudly now, enough, stop messing around with things from one cohort to another , wait to see the effect of one change before bringing in another. And why are so many children doing exams now needing CAHMs referrals ? Sorry to go on, I think I might have PMT.

This has been a bad week, and it's only Tuesday. Sending everyone good vibes.

poppy are the revision sessions not optional? Well, clearly not, but it seems a bit harsh to call the parents at this stage of the game.

Thanks all for the kind words. DS is in his room.

I had a call from school this morning whilst pushing a trolley around sainsburys. Seems ds didn't have a free day at all. He was supposed to go in for chemistry revision. Not good. He's adamant he didn't know about it

Sorry about the history not going well linerunner and dingit. Seems like a bad subject to have at the end - it must be the one above all others where you really do have to know facts, can't dig yourself out with logic.

DD is I think doing 'nothing' at the moment as she planned. That's fine by me, though I wish she'd do it outside for a while.