General starting Y10 Sept 21, GCSE's 2023 thread

@Silkiecatz great news on triple science and Head's support for this

DS1 has only just started most of GCSE options including Sociology which is a new subject rather than a continuation. But in spite of everything his cohort actually started on the GCSE Science curriculum in the middle of last year - I emailed about a scheduled test at a time when everything was up in the air and was told it was postponed until they were all back in school from lockdown, but that they'd really covered all the KS3 work so were beginning the GCSE syllabus anyway. As my sons' school is not really the choice of pushy parents (though I think that some kids can do just fine there) and the last two years have been very testing for everyone, this was great news.

Hi all,

Id like to join if that's ok?
I see a lot of your teenagers are doing GCSE's for three years, wow! Do you think this helps reduce pressure of adds it to by starting earlier? x

Remote parents evenings are about the only good things I've found to have come out of the pandemic (that and the fact that my older daughter has learned to cook because she was so bored!) Hope our school continues them as well.

Thankfully we got the notification from school yesterday that all parents' evenings at DD's school will continue to happen remotely. Several friends were told by their DCs' schools at the end of the summer term that this would be happening but we heard nothing until yesterday. DD also very happy as used to hate being talked about sitting in real life in front of her teacher(s) and would fidget like mad.

Thanks Mini and glad things are going well for your DD.

Ouch Silkiescatz - hope you all recover fast.... and well done to Tiggles' son.

DD1 has gone into Year 10 with a spring in her step so far, though is finding the requirement to show lots of people round (in-person Open Days, and she's a prefect) takes her out of lessons a lot. Lack of a current head of music (issues with recruitment I think) is showing a bit so I'm grateful she does most of that after school, but everything else seems fine.

Thanks Tiggles Well done to your DS in getting into set 1s. Head sided with me so now DS is in triple science top set and said any issues with them can go straight to her. So sticking with school for ehcp.

He is starting to speak in lessons and going in happily, he is top set everything now though not sure what grades he will get as he does not write at all. He is very clever. Now his y11 sister is covid positive, sure Dh and i have it to but ds is holding out atm. Hope everyone had a good weekend.

@silkiescatz that is appalling. Your poor DS.

My DS is feeling proud of himself as he has gone up to set 1 in lots of subjects. This is his 3rd secondary school so I am never really sure anymore how academically able he is as it takes him a whole to settle and get going. now we just need to crack actually doing some homework when it isn't actually set.

My DD has just moved up into year 10, unfortunately it’s such a big school they have just reshuffled everyone and she literally has no friendly faces in any of her classes. She’s gone from a positive resilient child in the last 3yrs to crying after school every day since last week I’ve now contacted the tutor to see if anything can be done. They have multiple set classes in the same stream where she had upto 10 other friendly faces she could have been grouped with but hasn’t been - we aren’t sure if it’s just very bad luck or her option combo. It does feel like they are literally just numbers in a system and expected to suck it up but I’m hoping they can find some movement in the classes or her confidence is going to be in tatters by Xmas.

Hi - can I join in please? Mine has been back just over a week, wants to change one of his options (finding out tomorrow whether he can) but it's all going OK apart from that. He also has had no homework yet (and very little ever) - I wish they'd set some, just to get him into the habit of working outside school hours, or revision will come as a horrible shock later on!

DS has today informed me that he can do another subject, by fast tracking triple science. He is keen to do this but worried it may be too much! He would do RS or geography.

So far so good with DD's first week back. Seems happy with her (limited) option choice and the teachers she has this year. She is particularly happy with a different Geography teacher having spent three years with an "awful" one (her words not mine and awful as in lazy). Despite the school warning at option choice time there would be limited opportunity to change subjects in Year 10 it would appear that several students are actually doing this - one of DD's friends wants to change from German (too hard) to Latin and from RS (too boring) to Geography.

DD started year 10 last week. Triple Science, 2 English 2 Maths French Drama and Music. There are only 2 of them doing Music and she is far more advanced than the other one, and already helping him out. I don't want her spending all her time doing that though.

Thanks Tracy Yes they are being discriminatory and the LA has been in to tell them that several times but they have no power as its an academy. Been through the complaints route in y8 and it just went dead in school so went to Dept of Education who called in Ofsted and school got downgraded 2 grades and I thought that would be it solved but nope its happened again. So on the complaints route again and with Head atm. But if Head does nothing, there's not much you can do even though in theory its not legal. But I finally have an EHCP for him after 3 years of fighting for one but that slows down a school move as it now goes via LA. I think the Head wants him in triple but there is a shortage of science teachers. Will find out next week.

I wish DS's school would give them some bloomin homework. He has hardly ever had any all the time he has been there, I thought they might start year 10 and start to be expected to knuckle down and get some homework done but none set so far.

DD has only been in for 3 days, but is delighted with her timetable so far - she has music or art on 8 of the 10 teaching days per fortnight, and PE on the other two. Though she was unhappy to find that PE was still compulsory even though she didn't pick it as an option :o

Homework has ramped up considerably, first French vocab test is on Monday, and homework to do for physics, chemistry and art for early next week too.

My middle one with ASD started year 7 on Monday (different school) and has had a great first week thank goodness, such a relief!

@Silkiescatz that sounds awful not letting your son do triple sciences because he's SN regardless of the facts he predicted 9s for GCSE.
He has ASD not impaired intellect.
Surely the head of science is being discriminatory as on his reasoning he wouldn't have let Stephen Hawking do triple Science due to him having extra/sn.

Ds has had his first week in y10. He is asd and was mute for past 6 months or so but has spoken in some lessons at school which is great. But he is only attending 6 gcse subjects out of 10 or 11. In talks with school and other schools via his ehcp and hoping for a solution, ideally want him in sciences, he wants to do triple and is amazing at science but they have said as he is sn he has to go in middle set combined again despite getting projected 3x9s in results in y8. He is refusing all the science lessons now as they said before was just for a year. Trouble is the head of science is as awkward as ds. All good fun. One in y11 as well.

Survived first week and is very tired but pretty happy. A bit of a wobble over one option subject, but I think we're OK, probably... Almost all teachers declared nice so phew to that. Lots to take in though and bigger site with longer walks between lessons, and a longer walk to school. More fresh air good though!

My ds went back today. He seems mostly interested in who his teachers are and what friends he is with

He played football at lunchtime and didn't want to ditch his new trainers so played in his new white socks instead 🙄. Common sense is not one of his options🤣

Hi, I've posted on education threads before (is it really 3 years since my DS1 started secondary school? Wow!) but fell off a long time ago. DS1 was back yesterday, I also have a DS2 who started back in year 8 today (they both had to go and have lateral flow tests).

I think DS1 could do ok but I'm a bit worried about focus and getting him to spend some time on his homework after all the disruptions of the last 18 months. He's made a bunch of really good friends at school, which is so local it's a shorter walk than my kids' primary school to get there - 5 minutes instead of 8 or 9 (most of his mates went to 2 or 3 other local primaries). They like to hang out in the local park, which is luckily less than 2 minutes walk from our house.

It's ok today but I do think he's going to have to get used again to putting in regular time to his homework. If we go back to everything being on exams at the end of year 11 he'll be better prepared for them if he works steadily, and if they have to do centre assessment the evidence will be better if he gets back to better work habits. He was pretty good and self motivated in year 7 but the last 18 months or so have been pretty strange for everyone.

DS1 starting year 10 on Wednesday he is still annoyed that as he was deemed "able" he had to follow the ebacc route (despite people on MN loving to tell me it doesn't exist anymore) so could only chose 1 option as had to do Spanish. He wanted to do PE and Engineering as he wants to do either of these routes post 16. In the need he went for Engineering as its a Btec rather than a GCSE and therefore not so reliant on the end of year 11 exam.

@LetTheCakeCool Yes, we made sure DD knew about the theory in GCSE PE, especially it being predominantly science which she doesn't enjoy. However, she seems much more interested in science relating to the human body. Her other option would have been Drama, but she got put off that when the teacher advised there is a lot more writing in Yrs 10 & 11 than there was in Yr 9.

DS starting year 10, 2 year GCSEs. He only gets to choose 3 - compulsory is maths, English x2, double science, Welsh, some kind of general study and he has chosen triple science, history and computer science.

Another year 10 for the group. DD started back yesterday. 2 yr GCSE courses at her school. Options were Spanish, Geography, RS and PE. She is also taking triple science. They have baseline tests in a week or two so back to normal very quickly.