Starting Year 11-GCSE2021 (title edited by MNHQ)

I had a chat with ds this morning about what they’ve done so far in computer science, he said so far they’ve just covered pseudo code - how to do it and translate it so others understand. He says because he’s done python and other coding he is comfortable with how the teaching/learning is going but knows if others in the class who aren’t as happy as they’ve not really had much prior experience. To be fair though, this is what he enjoys and is good at - maths, further maths and computer science are his strongest subjects, he doesn’t have to put much effort in to do well. English however and German are his weakest subjects and are the ones he really needs to put more work in to get good results.

Hi troppibambini
I empathise with you re Computer Studies. My son’s final subject choice was Economics or Computer Studies. Our approach was a negative one; we chose our least worst subject as opposed to our favoured one. We still haven’t got our head around gcse aqa Economics , and it’s the the one subject I’m learning- in order to help my son.

Toobuktim I think it's the speed of class combined with the fact she doesn't have a natural flare for the subject.
She chose it because she thought it would balance out her options a bit as she hadn't chosen triple science or further maths.
I think she's just finding it a bit hard going.
She had a chat with her teacher who was pretty supportive.

@troppibambini my ds is doing computer science, he doesn’t say much about it really. We haven’t had our parents’ evening yet for him, just interim reports and he seems to be doing ok. What is your dd struggling with?

Is anyone's child doing computer science? Dd is finding it really tricky.

Indy69 dd is assessed a lot they seem to do one every other week. I'm not sure if this is because it was the run up to us receiving predicted grades.

It's useful I suppose to see where she needs to put in some extra work but my goodness she takes it hard if she doesn't do well.

Portico yes they start a week on Wednesday she's on half term this week, goes back on Monday and then they start on weds.

Our parents evening was in November and we don't get another which is a bit bonkers.

We get an effort check and interim report after Easter then final report at the end of summer term so I suppose they still communicate but you just don't get chance to ask any questions..

Dd is supposed to be revising over the hols but she seems to be talking about it rather a lot and I'm not seeing any evidence yet...

troppibambini, hi, did you say your Y10 child has exams in Feb. My Y10 sin has exams in June. In fact, his only parents evening will be in March.

I like your school’s style.

Yes agreed @gingerchaos the regular exams and tests do help a lot with figuring out what works. Dd has done a lot of mind maps in the last week which she says helps her the most for remembering (and they will be useful in the future for revising).

Her exams start tomorrow apart from art which she did on thursday and Friday and is unconvinced she messed up. The piece will be used as part of her coursework so she's not happy about that.

She's been revising an hour a night for a month and it hasn't been enough for all subjects so i think she'll have to start in April for her June end of year exams. No rest for these kids!

DD2 has y10 exams straight after Easter. It will be a big test for her as she gets very tired just with a normal school day. I've had a first look at the maximum revision she might be able to do over the holidays and it's really not much per subject. I think the results from them will be much more indicative than end of unit tests.

Sorry bold fail there when quoting you Teen

What they can't tell is whether they can actually learn retain and apply everything for 9 or 10 subjects simultaneously, and whether they have the stamina for long exams.*

This is what I worry about, DD is getting 6s &7s in most of her end of unit tests which she thinks means this is what she is going to get, it's combining all this together across all subjects at the same time so when I say I'm not sure it's indicative I mean it's a good indicator of where they are at at that point but so many factors come in to achieve this on the day.

I think/hope they can be indicative. e.g. if DD2 can write a grade 6 answer for an RE test then there's no reason why she couldn't do it in an exam. (Whereas DD1 couldn't even write a grade C answer with her books open so she had no chance).

(I certainly currently have the expectation that, as DD has been getting 5s in higher science tests, if she can't get a 6 in her full y10 science exams in May then she should do foundation papers in y11.)

What they can't tell is whether they can actually learn retain and apply everything for 9 or 10 subjects simultaneously, and whether they have the stamina for long exams.

DD has these too and keeps telling me her grades, the tests are useful to revise from not too sure how indicative of their actual overall grade they would be though.

I think they are useful for your DD so she can see where the gaps are in her knowledge and work out a plan to revise those topics. My DS has them as well.

Hello all can I please join?
My eldest is in Year 10 and I am not really involved with his school work, he has always done fine with me leaving him to it. However I am starting to think I should crack down a bit, I don't want him to be stressed but I think with a little more input from me his grades could improve.

Hes doing all the normal subjects plus art and photography.

Yep roll on half term, everyone needs the break. Lots of exams first next week for DD including a big maths one, sick of the sound of my voice telling her to revise!

Thank you teenplustwenites for suggesting I come on here

Hi my eldest is in year 10 she's just received her target grades and her y10 exams start a week on weds.

Her target grades were really good she wants higher for history and computer science than she was predicted and seems pretty confident she can do this...

Her only problem is she just never stops bloomin talking!! Teachers have commented on it in the past but she just can't seem to be quiet

One more week, can't come soon enough here!

DS has exams, Chemistry today, Maths tomorrow. Titsy it's hard to know if they are revising effectively isn't it? Still, they have time to work out how they are doing it and if it works for them.

DS had parents evening and his physics (or might have been chemistry) teacher said he'd done well in a test and what was different about that one. He was puzzled as he got the same grade as last time and so just said he'd revised so she took it to mean that he hadn't revised for the others

Hellohah sorry to hear about your Grandad, I hope it's peaceful when it does happen.

Dd has her exams next week and seems to have been revising although I'm not sure how effectively. Her art exam is Thursday and Friday this week. Im still concerned she isn't putting in enough time on her art coursework but the more i ask the more stroppy she gets and she says she knows what she is doing . I guess if she doesnt do well on these exams it'll give her a kick up the arse!

Not long now till half term Teen.
DS has both English and Maths "mocks" today. I did offer him the day off as it is likely my Grandad will pass away very soon. He wanted to go in though as he should have PE last period and didn't want to miss that!