Starting Year 11-GCSE2021 (title edited by MNHQ)

A small bump as this is getting lost behind all the indie 11+ related threads.

DD is struggling on, had a 2hr Eng Lang exam today, I'm desperate for half term.

@Hellohah - yes I agree. I got the hump a bit yesterday and wrote an email to the head of art saying how concerned I was and that DD seriously needs some guidance as she has no idea what she needs to be doing and when. All the art teachers are saying different things and it's just a shambles. The kids who have the head of art as their main teacher seem a lot more organised than DDs class.

@Blubell46 - DD is taking french and uses vocab express and quizlet. She's doing very well with it and is getting 7's and 8's.

Thank you all.

Ds is taking the usual core subjects including triple science , computing , business , geography and RE

It's the vocab he doesn't know...so will need to work on that.

He is not keen on languages either but it is compulsory in his school

Oh well !

Bluebell DD is doing Italian, we haven't been given any online resources, she's doing fairly well, currently working at a 5 and predicted a 6. Her school test constantly in all subjects so it's just the norm for her.

Science is going surprisingly well especially Chemistry and Physics although she struggles a bit with Biology.

Seneca is used in her school and we have the revision guides which she finds useful.

Hi ginger My DD is doing RE, Geography, Food & Drama as options. No idea really how Food, Drama or Geography are going so far, but RE is going surprisingly well at the moment.

In general though DD is getting a bit overwhelmed, we have pastoral care helping out, but I suspect dropping Geography might be the way to go at some point. She's a 'grade 4ish' person with some SpLD and the sheer volume of stuff is only just manageable (or not on some days).

proggy DD started Science syllabus in y9 as well. She seems to be about 2/3rds through Biology, half way through Chemistry and 1/3 through Physics so far. (Combined) We've been working with 'flightpath' grades from y7 so haven't seen a drop.
Lowther I've seen some good things re PrimroseKitten. We're currently using the revision guide and Seneca online.

Blubell DD2 isn't doing languages though DD1 did 2 under the old system. She definitely found some online listening which helped her. Was it vocab or grammar that let him down?

Can I please does any of your dc study a language? If so do they get tested weekly and can you suggest anything online to help...ds had a test on everything they have learnt and got 35%- so need to pick it up a gear!

Any ideas on line so I can load it onto his phone...assuming he will do it, languages are not his thing!

DD (Yr11) started the GCSE science syllabus in Year 9. We were warned that reported attainment grades would drop from those of Yr8 -they certainly did-as they were now working within a KS4 framework rather than KS3.
Could this be the case for those whose grades have dropped from Yr9 to 10?

Thanks for the welcome.
DS is doing triple science, geography, PE GCSE and engineering plus the standard ones.
What are your DCs doing?

Hello
May I join too. My DD is in year ten and is finally starting to settle down and take things a little more serious. Regarding science Oxford press have just brought out a set of revision guides by Primrose Kitten including revision, exam practice and interleaving questions which our science teachers like. Not in all shops shelves yet but I ordered from Waterstones today.

@Tistywoo Science is an absolute nightmare I think everywhere. When we went to parents evening, the 3 teachers all explained the whole triple science class were behind because of inadequate teaching in KS3 (they had so many teachers over those 3 years). 2 of DS's closest friends attend a different school, so I'm friendly with their Mum's. Apparently both their DS's 'working at grades' have gone wild, one report will be 7, the next 2, the next 5 and so on! They have no idea how their kids are doing. Hopefully things will improve for your DD (but know, it's not just her).

Wow re: Art. Fortunately DS can't even draw a very good stickman, so there was never any chance he'd take Art. My experience of Art teachers isn't very positive (maybe I'm being unkind) but they all seem to take on such self-importance and have always been a nightmare to talk to.

@Hellohah - DD has dropped hugely in science this year. I'm hoping it's normal for this stage. It's her worst subject anyway but she tends to get get 5/6's and last term got 3/4 which is a worry. I've signed her up for Tassomai which she is doing every night for 15 mins and hopefully that will help!

Art is still annoying me. The art teacher just told them they are doing a mock art exam in two weeks which is 10 hours so they lose 2 full days of other lessons (the week before the main exam week so lots of helpful in class revision time gone) and they've just vaguely said do an A2 piece to do with your theme. Art really is so much work.

DD is really working hard though which is a blessing. She's suddenly taken note of my nagging and is putting in the hours for revision.

Welcome @gingerchaos :)

I only just found this thread, may I join you ?

DS feeling a little bit frustrated at the moment. First report of the year received and he's very much regretting picking Triple Science.
Parents evening in December wasn't particularly positive for Science (he was apparently working a good 3 grades off his "target" grade in Biology). So reports come this week and they decided to increase his target for all 3 Sciences ... I emailed school to check I'd got the right report and they've confirmed these changes are right. Absolutely crazy, and now I'm starting to doubt absolutely everything and getting a bit worried :(

Just had a google. Dentistry is tough.

DD needs to pass Maths, Eng Lang & Science to do the course we are looking at at Level 3. if she doesn't she can go in at Level 2 (which we might choose to do anyway if allowed), but I'd like her to have the option.

x-post. Why does Dentistry need high English grades?
Is it as competitive as Medicine?

… Is it to stay on at same school for 6th form in general, or a specific requirement for chosen A levels, or because aiming high for uni so you think straight 7+ is required?

He may end applying for Dentistry, so needs a min of 7s in the Lang and Lit.

7s! We are just hoping to get the passes!
Why on earth does he need 7s?

TeenplusTwenties

I have engaged an Eng tutor, too for DS2.. She is an examiner for the same board. This means nothing to me. DS1 went through two tutors, 2 of them were examiners for the board - all in the space of 12 months.

I just need ds2 to achieve 7s in Lit and Lang. This means improving vocal and grammar first. I used Eng Lang resources from Singapore and India to help in Grammar school prep; same resources are being reused for GCSE.

portico English is my biggest concern too. DD's SPaG has always been 'interesting', though it is improving, and her thinking isn't very 'deep' so she makes quite basic/naïve points. I've outsourced and paid for a tutor because I just don't have the expertise to help.

Language - what is required for each question is taught to them, they just need to do it. Literature - make sure they read/listen to the books, get a DVD of the Shakespeare, know some quotes. Go and see the Shakespeare if you can, and if doing An Inspector Calls go and see that too. I'm wary of film adaptations as they invent things which I think would be misleading.

Eng Lang and Lit are my big worries - especially writing. Getting DS to refresh himself on lower KS3 grammar and vocab. He reads The Guardian for 20 mins in the morning and evening, and ensure he checks meanings of words - he reads on his ipad. Still feels like putting an Elastoplast on a broken leg - but small steps. Any advise welcome on lang/lit.

Titchy Sat down with DS at the weekend and he wants to aim for 1-1.5 hours a night, splitting between 3 subjects.
Started this week and he's found that doing 20-30 minutes on one subject, then doing some Maths and another 20-30 minutes on a different subject seems to work for him. Maths is the subject he finds the easiest so it's less of a slog for him. Would it be worth your DD working the subjects she struggles with round the subject she enjoys the most? We find the Maths breaks it up if you see what I mean.

Agreed on the hour although once she has done 20 mins or half an hour she seems to give up for the day. I'm so sick of nagging but I'll keep going!

With art - no they all had to draw the same things in the same style. It really did just seem to be a big waste of time. DD is enjoying the coursework much more. They got to choose their theme and DD has gone for culture and diversity. The piece she is about to start is a Japanese lady wearing a very large and intricate headdress which she is doing in oil paint - since she can't do this at home she can get on with doing artist and culture research so hopefully the pages will start to fill up soon!

Our parents evening is early March, which I think is quite well timed. Then they have 'year 10 exams' pretty much straight after the Easter holidays.

An hour is a lot to do in one go. Does she get bored? Would either mixing subjects or techniques (eg some revision cards then something online) help do you think?
(DD struggles to do more than 20mins at a time, you have my sympathy.)

With the Art, do you think they wanted to give freedom to explore without the pressure of it being coursework?