Starting Year 11-GCSE2021 (title edited by MNHQ)

Hi, Oooh yes/ if the unseen is mandatory, then yes it will be better. All a guessing game at the moment

If unseen poetry is still going to be mandatory (I can't work out if it is or not) then it potentially makes sense to keep poetry and drop one of the other texts. The skills learned in poetry are what you need for the unseen section.

Hi Hellohah,

Am with you....my ds was so annoyed - he wanted poetry to be dropped but they have decided to continue and drop a book instead!

Not happy - the thought of learning 14 poems and trying to understand them!

@user1485813778 I'm not sure the tutor was a waste, DS came home yesterday after his first English lesson back and was told they were dropping Jekyll and Hyde. He was not happy, he wanted to drop poetry :(

Hello all, long-time lurker, FT poster on this thread. Have a laid-back Y11 DS who (thus far) has been good at pulling results out of the bag at the last minute, but would have benefitted from a reality check from a full set of mocks to see if his ‘technique’ holds up under pressure...he’s at a newly-established (state) school - 2nd year intake - so no exam track record, and he has 90% new teachers this year (suspect due to having to staff up sixth form for first time), which is not a good start. He just about did required work under lock down - nowhere near normal, but better provision than some schools, and literally nothing over the summer...English tutor has focussed on poetry so that’s likely to have been a complete waste of time and money (apart from the cultural enrichment, of course)! Reading today about possible cancellation of exams - just hope they make a decision soon. As Bette Davis once said - buckle up it’s going to be a bumpy ride! Good luck to all DCs returning, especially those who are anxious.

Thanks @indy69. Can I ask how much she has? I'm very worried about how much DD has done. She is a huge perfectionist and one A3 piece took months. The school have been massively vague about how many pages she needs and what she needs to have in there to get the marks. They also spend the first half term of year 10 doing something completely irrelevant so they didn't start the portfolio until November last year.

Hi all,

Hoping for a better day today for DD! After she calmed down she did tell me a few good bits ( a big one being the girl who bullied her in year 7-9 gone to another school!).

I'm not understanding exactly what is happening with the guidance/proposals/ofqual situation. The things that were put forward (dropping one text from Eng Lit, speaking from French etc) - are these not definites? It's not even clear from what the teachers are saying - her history teacher has said they will be dropping one topic yet her french teacher has said they don't know if the speaking will go ahead or not and art is still acting like the exam will be happening .

I'm so pissed off at the art dept but I'm not sure how to sort things out without getting their backs up. Anyone here have a DC doing art as I'd like some advice. Thanks :)

Can I hop on here please? Need to get my head around GCSEs 2021. Eldest is about to go off to university with her CAGs awarded A levels and I've now got a y11 and y10 to look to.
Y11 received her GCSE English language this year as they sit in y10. Usually they'd be straight into extra y 11 revision sessions over lunch and after school. This year they've gone back hoping just to keep school open. First day in school here. Hoping there's not too much "look at what you haven't done" talk today.

Cat was lovely. But displayed some behaviours they hadn't seen before, so now they and hence us aren't sure.
Maybe it's all too much just as school restarts.

DS1 goes back tomorrow and I think is getting very nervous, not about Covid but about how hard they are all going to have to work. He had to get up very early this morning as he has got his first football match of the season today so at least he’ll be prepared for tomorrow!

The cat sounds lovely. Our cat died just before Christmas (he was 19) and then just before lockdown we got a new kitten which had been dumped in a box outside a cat rescue place! He is honestly the cuddliest cat ever, think he realises he was abandoned and is just so grateful to us for rescuing him!

TeenPlusTwenties bet the cat is gorgeous

Thank you ISBN111. Yes i think you are correct . Thank you

Teen a cat sound great! How did it go? I’d love a cat but my dc are allergic.

Hope you get to know what the plan is for your dd before Tuesday.

bluebell i think taking away the oral exam is one of the proposals that ofqual have consulted on. Like Ineedaholiday i’m not clear whether the results of this consultation have been published, so it’s likely but not yet certain that the practical elements of many qualifications have been reduced.

Sory to hear about bad day, titsywoo, hope things settle down soon

I'm really worried about next week. I have asked school for DD (who more or less had a breakdown in lockdown) to not attend full time (or even lessons) to start with, but we don't have an agreed plan yet. She is due to start Tuesday.
She also needs to not hear every teacher banging on about how important this year is, so missing the first lesson or two in each subject will be helpful.

On the plus side, we are going to meet a cat today (for DD's mental health), so fingers crossed.

Sorry to hear about the bad day titsywoo. I work at school and have been in this week. It has been strange/odd getting to grips with all the new ways and teachers , staff and students have all felt out of sorts. Hopefully having the weekend to calm and recharge the batteries will do us all some good.
Got a call today that DD's surgery postponed from March is now happening on Monday. She starts school on Thursday so I'm hoping she will be ok to go in. She was apprehensive for school and now worrying about surgery. Ahhhhhh!
We decided to go for a Nandos and watch a Harry potter film, again. Feeling better!

Have the exam boards published any guidance yet?

Well DD came home from her first day in tears so that's a great start!

She felt very pressured as apparently they kept reitterating that there are only 154 days of school left and how this year is so important blah blah. Then her entire art class got in trouble for not bringing in their portfolios (we saw something on FB saying the kids don't need to bring anything in on the first day) and the art teacher told them their portfolios need to be done by 15th Dec as they will be starting the exam work then. I thought Ofqual said there wasn't going to be an art exam? . A bit pissed off this evening tbh. DD is a very sensitive soul and she may have taken things more seriously than necessary but the last thing she needs after a difficult 6 months is more stress. Even her French teacher was saying they are not sure if they will do the speaking exam (again something I thought Ofqual said was no longer happening!).

He might be thinking of his September exams with the excitement- not his best subject rather than the actual GCSE! Thank you

Hi,

My ds was told he does not have oral spanish AQA board GCSE. Has he heard correctly...do you know where I can find out if this is correct?

Thank you

Glad your ds doesn’t have too many changes iheart
Dd yr 10 said yesterday was basically a lecture and being shown the one way system, so only seen her form tutor.
Ddyr11 much more anxious about going back today. Fx

DS1 goes back Monday. He has his full 2 week timetable and it looks ok, same teachers as before apart from one which is good.

Hi All, hope first days are going ok all round.
Rhubarb, sounds like your ds knows what is going on! Projection just a little?

I have seen my yr 10’s teacher list but not timetable.... more than half of her teachers are new recruits. Hope she comes back having met some of them today.
My yr 11 has her first day tomorrow. Her teacher list is worryingly short of any science teachers...

I just want them to get to October half term without any local lockdowns.....