Year 11 2023-24

DD is finishing off her mocks this week. Last is tomorrow. She has History and DT today. She has been doing 2 hrs most nights and goes to revision sessions after school. This is including homework

@Panic71 my youngest is also yr9 she has been helping her DB to revise.
Think I will have the opposite problems with her as she wants to be a high achiever and stresses out on missed 8s or 9s even on subjects she is dropping for Gcses!

Thank you
My youngest is Year 9 and it’s making me think start revision now!

@Panic71 well done to your DS that's a great improvement on his Biology.

Really proud of DS. Got his biology mock back today. He’s gone from a 3 to a 7 - he’s tried so hard but really regrets not doing more in Year 10. Computer Science got a high 5. Nothing else back yet.

His week is
Monday - 2 hours science revision then hits the gym
Tuesday - 1 hour English, 1 hour of either history/computing and Tassomai
Wednesday - gym and no revision
Thursday - maths tutoring and Tassomai
Friday - 1 hour English

Weekend - catching up on Tassomai revision for about an hour or so.

With not long left now, will have to up this a bit.

@Waspie thanks. She has 2 more mocks tomorrow, then dolce far niente... This long weekend will be probably the last free weekend until 18th of June for us.

I've just realised that there are only 9 weeks left until exam starts. Then 3 weeks of exams, 1 week half term, and 2 more weeks of exams.

@Waspie think they definitely need a break wether sport or hobbies.
My DS it's the gym so far his way is working he got a G5 in Eng Lit for P1. G7 in P1 geography disappointed as he hoped for 8 again they did P1 P2 in February mocks for Geography.

Thanks @TeenDivided that's useful to know.

That's a good idea @Tebheag I shall do something similar.

I think 3+hours of revision each night is too much after 6.5 hours at school. DS' school have suggested about 1.5 hours.

DS has extra curricular activities on three evenings during the week and both days at the weekend. However, he does stay after school each day for at least an hour and work through past papers/questions with his friend and various subject teachers. All of his teachers have encouraged them to do this and I think the boys enjoy the support and the more interactive style of revision.

They are also only revising in classes now as all of the course work is completed. As a result I'm not really stressing too much about how much he's doing on week day evenings.

He is revising for a few hours (or doing homework) around his sports fixtures at weekends. I'm not going to ask him to give these up as I think it's important that he gets fresh air and exercise.

Off to google "Pomofocus" now!

I hope those last mocks have gone well for your daughter @anoukis and that she enjoys her weekend off 🙂

The expectation from DS’s school is 3 hours a night after school and 4 hours a day at weekends, to include homework. They have also been told that this should increase over the next few weeks.

Tbh I think the 3 hour figure is reasonable if challenging and I would expect most year 11s to be doing this.

Anyone else having to choose A-level subjects soon? It is actually more stress than the GCSE prep.

It depends surely - my son revised all of year 10 content before end of year 10 exams. Then he revised it again with more Y11 content for November mocks. Now he is revising content learned more recently, and also going back over earlier content. That's not cramming and it takes some children more time than others. Plus normal homework is set all the time which isn't revision, and then there is art and music coursework.

Cramming in my mind is trying to do the whole lot for the first time in April!

Thanks, TBH I think it's not that high... if you translate it to hours, it's something like 2 hours each weekday and 4 hours each weekend day.

I'm hearing from other parents at our school 3+ hours during weekdays and 6+ hours at weekends...

@anoukis Very impressive timetable!

PS. Last round of mocks will be over tomorrow and DD is taking the rest of the week off - as in no touching any school books from Thu afternoon to Monday. Hopefully the school won't set any homework. We are all looking forward to it😁

My DD's timetable is below, it shows the number of sessions. This includes homework but they barely get any now and if they do it's usually revision / past papers.

Sessions vary from 30 to 45 minutes, depending on subject. She is taking 9 GCSEs and the Add Maths FSMQ exam. Friday is her easy day as they finish school as 2pm and she only does Art, drawing or painting with headsets on.

She plans to take Bio-Chem-Maths-FM at A-levels. She is doing 2 sessions per week for each of Eng Lit, Eng Lang, History, German, 3 per week for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Maths, Add Maths, and 4 for Art. (Art is time consuming but that counts as relaxation for her).

Mon 3
Tue 2 + athletics
Wed 4
Thu 4
Fri 2
Sat 6 + tennis
Sun 6 + athletics

Oh, and I created two rules which we try to stick to:
Mon-Thu no study after 9pm and Fri-Sun no study after 5pm (sees friends).
No phone checking during sessions.

We are mid mocks (only set). DS did 4-5h most days over HT, he's doing 2-3h after school this week.
We will probably go back to 2h after school and 3-4 at weekends from this weekend and then up it at Easter and after.

Thank you @Angrycat2768. I'm going to download for work too.

Just type pomofocus into google and you can get a free one. I use it for work too as I'm prone to procrastination. It just runs in the background. It's embarrassing really how having an electronic clock in the background means I get so much more done!

Pomodoro timer?! What a brilliant idea. I'll def get one of those.

DD is doing second set of mocks this week. She seems to be doing OK. I've just told her that Easter hols are only 4 weeks away (plus a few days) which made her smile.

Yes mine is doing 2 hours including homework. Sometimes it goes over and I have to call him for dinner. He has a Pomodoro timer to break it up into chunks. Surely they need a wind down time before bed, or they won't sleep, and cause more issues.

3 hours a day, if that includes normal homework, is still at the upper end of manageable or sensible. It's a marathon, not a sprint!

If it's on top of normal homework, it's crazy!

Mine is doing mocks and certainly not three hours after school! Ridiculous. One - two max, and more on the weekend, but even then 3-4 hours in small chunks at the very most.

They need to make it to May and not already be absolutely exhausted and fed up.

Anybody with a child not doing a 2nd set of Mocks, how much are they revising at the moment for the real exams? My DD has been told she should be doing 3hrs a day after school, which seems far too much to me.

Schools will let you know exams officially when they have done the entries.
They will give you / your DC a formal copy of the exam entry to check. It should be this side of Easter I think.

When checking pay attention to:
. the name (which needs to be the same as birth certificate)
. tier of entry for maths / science / MFLs
. the right number of exams per subject