Anyone else's DC got mocks in New Year and doing NO visible revision??

kitnkaboodle, warning it might not get any easier when it comes to the real thing. From what I could see DD probably did no more than a couple of hours revision for her mocks. The real thing was hit and miss, sometimes she'd be up late revising, other subjects (especially the sciences which came at the end), she did very little for. However, she did put a lot into her homework/coursework. Lucky for her mock results were pretty much as expected, about four subjects before predicted grades. She actually did slightly better than predicted/expected by her in the real thing, funnily enough she did better than predicted in two of her sciences - I guess at that point most of them had had enough of revising so were in the same boat.

Hope it goes okay for your DS. If results aren't what he'd expect, hopefully it'll encourage to do more revision nearer the time. You'll hear many tell you they're kids are revising in March, have to admit mine didn't start until a few days before the real things.

Mocks finished. All have been declared 'fine' or 'easy'. We don't know the results yet. Mind you, I have no idea how the teachers are judging the grade boundaries as they were rather low for the actual maths last year so hope they are not judging all subjects on those grade boundaries

Dd has done 6 so far. 7 more to go .

She hurt her wrist on Friday because her drunk friend fell on her at a party. She claims that if she's done badly it's because her wrist hurt.

The complete absence of any revision has nothing to do with it. Obviously!

Yesterday she was quite upset with how the day had gone. Particularly English where she got muddled up and misread the question. I think she realised she was starting to panic because she was so unprepared so she did actually do a couple of hours of revision for one of today's exams.

The magic wore off though because she's got German tomorrow and she's done absolutely nothing for that.

Fortunately maths has been going great. I think she's hoping she'll get an 8 overall. They are sitting all 3 papers.

I have completely left her to it apart from testing her when asked. I don't know if I've done the right thing or not. If she does nothing in the summer I will be removing all devices and chaining her to her desk. I think she'll be alright though. She just knows these ones don't count.

Just seen this was Dec - ignore me .

To be fair I never revised for GCSE and did well. If his grades are good he should do some but might be fine if he’s a lazy bugger like I was.

Thanks for the words of wisdom all.

DD's plans is to go to the local 6th form. She did want to originally go the selective and super academic one but has changed her mind and now wants to go to one that's a bit more nurturing, which I think is probably a good idea for her. She needs 5x level 4s to get into the college, but a level 6 in English language for one of the subjects she's chosen. I think she'll be fine getting these results whilst coasting and doing very little, which I guess is the main thing and the point I need to keep reminding myself when I'm getting frustrated.

We had a good talk last week which led to her choosing going to two revision classes at school on a FRIDAY! Small steps and all that!

I'm going to take her on a stationary shopping trip next week to see if that helps with motivation.

It is such a hard balance of leaving them to be independent as you you know they will need to be independent in any future studies and offering support/advice/nagging for GCSEs.

My parents weren’t around much when I sat my O levels so completely left to my own devices.. I didn’t do particularly well in my O levels, if my parents had taken more of an interest, would I have achieved more?

What is the “right” approach? Sit back and let them get on with it or be on their back 24/7, I think I’m somewhere in the middle though obviously DD would probably disagree!!

My DD has IT and Music exams lasted this month and next month, the real ones not mocks....... Not much revision done for these...

As a note, A levels are a huge jump regardless and the first year is often a bit of a shock no matter what, especially with science or languages. Its good to be forewarned of this as otherwise it can cause a lot of concern/panic! (I found this out the hard way haha)

Anonymous I agree although it's easier said than done!

Dd is likely to do ok in her mocks. She needs five 6s to get into sixth form plus a 7 in maths. She's likely to get it on no revision and will be happy enough with that in August I think (although she wants a 9 in maths). It'll get her where she wants to go.

Of course it won't look good on an UCAS form and you can't brag in the PS that you did it on zero revision.

Also I worry that if she coasts to acceptable GCSEs she won't have learned how to work and A levels will be a disaster.

But as I say it's her life and I'm not going to get too worked up about it. I spent my teenage years being told I wasn't doing enough even though I worked my arse off. It didn't make me work harder and it caused serious damage to my relationship with my parents.

Don't panic about mocks - if kids don't revise enough it's a great wake up call when they subsequently don't get good marks and will likely cause them to be far more self-motivated for the real thing. It's a valuable life lesson and sets them up not to need nagging in the future.

I hated it when my parents got too involved in my studies (which didn't happen often) but I was top of my class. So don't worry about their reactions being a sign of anything, although it's not pleasant!

Ps - hard not to feel so invested in it all, only natural that you want your DC to do as well as they can.. Does your DD have plans for after GCSEs? Mine is aiming for a super selective 6th form (her choice not ours), which only adds to her stress

aaaggg welcome! - your DD sounds like mine. I can’t mention anything to do with school without one or all of the following: eye roll, slam door, tears, defensive, blaming DH & I, shouting ....

She too is anxious about it all but refuses to let me help her in any way as apparently I make it worse... I’ve bought her a relaxation CD and some books to help with teenage anxiety

Oh my god I'm so glad I found this thread. I've just looked at the GCSE thread too and got scared!!

My DD is predicted 6-9s, had some mocks in Oct, which went fairly badly across the board due to lack of revision and exam technique (1 in one subject). Has another set of mocks in Feb, but the Oct exams have not given her the kick up the backside that I was hoping!

She doesn't let me even mention school work or homework with out rolling her eyes and getting defensive. I think she's totally overwhelmed but not willing to share any of the stress with me (apparently me helping "stresses her out") and pretending it's happening instead.

I need to stop feeling so invested and bite my tongue but it's SO HARD!!

TheDonald Was your DD and my DD separates at birth? They sound so similar! My DD predicted at 8 at Maths and intents to take it at A level, however she too is heading for English resit if she doesn’t get it together for May 🤦🏻‍♀️

This thread is reassuring. I also got scared off the gcse thread.

Dd is also coasting towards reasonable grades but not really doing any noticeable work or revision. Predictions are 6-8 except RS which is a 3. Her mocks start on the 8th. She has been revising this week but despite working out a lovely timetable with lots of fancy colours she has ignored it and only done maths.

Maths is her best subject and she's currently working at an 8. Of course it would be nice if she got a 9, but it would also be nice if she didn't have to resit English!

I'm keeping well out of it. She doesn't react well to nagging and I'm just telling myself that at least she is doing maths. Up to this year she never revised maths because she thought it was too easy and there was no point.

kit
So my DD has two younger brothers who currently share a bedroom, one of them has decided he wants to move into the spare room. Fair enough, he is 14! Anyway DD kicks off because she wanted to use the spare room to revise in as her bedroom is a mess! This has not been mentioned by DD before DS decided to move in and whose fault is it that DD bedroom a mess, I have offered to help her clear it up several times!! A firm no was the answer, she has bedroom and the dining room!

DD has actual real exams in Jan and Feb (Music and IT)... She seems to spend most of day in bed .. occasional outward signs of revision, books, highlighter pens....

NotAgainYoda

As the green Jedi master himself would say “Do or do not, there is no try”...

No revision here either

Revision: what is that?

DS is revising full on, everyday. I have asked told him about possible burn out but he says he's advancing work for the real thing and everything he's doing now will help later on. I guess there's some truth in that?