Year 11 2023-24

Hi folks
please can I join you , I have a very stressy dd heading into mocks in next few weeks
she is already prescribed anxiety meds
she’s bright and confident in many ways but really anxious about tests / exams
I am literally dreading the next few months ahead
yet working real hard on being supportive, non pressurising
and surfing the emotional rollercoaster!!

Merry Christmas to you all DS was up at 5am yes the one doing his Gcses in 2024 😂.

@Tebheag @TeenDivided @Aaarghthepancakes @CactusPeach @Littlebluebird123 thank you all.

What’s frustrating is that I did sit down with her at the start of the holidays (way back - she broke up on 7 December!) and carved up the entire syllabus in all 9 subjects into 45-minute mini-topics. We then marked up the calendar so that she had enough slots to accommodate all the topics, plus some spare capacity and time for exercise and rest and Christmas and what have you.

She wouldn’t let me allocate mini-topics to slots as she Did Not Need To Be Micromanaged. So there!

Ah well. We’ll make the best of it for mocks once the Christmas festivities are over, but I am seriously thinking I may need to take a month off work to supervise the runup to the real exams. She’s bright and perfectly able to do well, but she needs high grades for her chosen 6th form and has a marked tendency to rabbit-in-headlights syndrome when the pressure is on.

Wishing you all a peaceful and grump-free Christmas! 🎄

Mine is good for getting themselves organised and plans for revision. Absolutely not the same for the next so reading these tips in preparation for them.

Sending strength to those that need it.

Hope everyone manages a reasonably stress free day tomorrow and the teens aren't grumps.

@Marisquita oh that's tough to have mocks on 3rd Jan, my dd's the same insisting on doing it her way, you have my sympathies

@Marisquita I echo what @TeenDivided says (who always speaks a lot of sense). Make a very clear timetable and stick to it. Also, if the subject teachers have suggested certain topics to focus on then that's useful too (school intranet, friends in class who remember hints from the teacher etc). Our A level mocks start 4 January so I do sympathise.

Done for Christmas yesterday. It's been a long and stressful term.

We had a letter with important dares from school. Revision starts in school 8 Jan, mocks 18 Feb, which weirdly is 2 days before half term.

DS has a dental hospital appointment on 18 Jan, which is freaking me out. He has a rogue canine wandering in his gum, which needs to come out. I'm hoping they will do it in one of the holidays!

Sit down and help her timetable what time she has left allowing for a 4/5 day proper break.

Each 45min (or whatever) session to have a clear goal, not just Chemistry, but 'properties of ionic and covalent bonds' not just History but '10 points on the Treaty of Versailles and 5 reasons why it lead to WWII' (or whatever).

@Marisquita oh dear that sounds so awful mocks on the 3rd of January wishing her good luck. . We just applied for 2 6th forms today.
Though not looking good with a teacher predicted grade 4 for English. Better than the mock 3 though !

Oh dear. Lots of tears here this morning (not all of them from me!). DD has mocks starting on 3 Jan and has insisted on revising “her way” which so far as I can see has left her miles behind but with a small number of very beautifully designed revision cards covering about 3 topics. Now she’s in bits because she wants a Christmas break but it’s all going to be ruined because she can’t stop thinking about how much she still has to do. Send help!😫

@Panic71 I have 2 yrs before doing it all again with DD2 but that will be so different as she is nothing like DS.

We are February too. Feels very soon already.
I can’t believe I have to do all this again with DS2 🤣🙈🙈

He failed English only got a 3.
Finished today and was given mock timetable for February mocks. Starts 1st of Feb.

Science sounds great! How was English?

If mine was still at school til Friday I think we might both have collapsed in a heap 😱

My DS is shattered can't wait to break up Friday. Had a really good online parents evening. Even got called a success and one of his favourite pupils by one teacher as he had really improved in separate science scoring 7s in mocks. Seems to have given him a push as he started planning extra revision over Christmas break. Fingers crossed we don't fall out too much over his English. Hope the rest of your kids are doing well.

Thanks, hopefully they may be wiggle room to work around stuff

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz oh no your poor DD hopefully it's over half term not during an exam.

@MrsHamlet sorry panicked after seeing DS report thought I could send a screen shot of English teacher comment but didn't work. Sounds like he is struggling more than we thought in English. And teachers feedback wasn't impressed.
Even his Electronics where he got a 4 said it was marked hard so no bother him getting a 5! Not much use all 6 and 7s maybe 8s for rest if he fails English.

I've just remembered (forgot as it's been so long in the waiting list) that DD is having considerable dental work done from Jan to remove milk teeth that aren't budging coz adult ones above are impacted and brace to.correct an overbite.

I bloody knew it would end up timed for this spring/summer We really could do without that.

I better increase my wine subscription ..:

Seconded! Thank you lovely teachers

I have sent the science link to DS as I think he might benefit. He is thinking of Biology as his reserve/alternate A level so really wants to target a good grade.

Best wishes for a peaceful and relaxing Christmas to you all, and your students. The first half of 2024 is going to tax us, and our year 11's

Does anyone have any useful websites for French? In particular French writing. Thanks in advance

@Panic71 I think it's more 3 to 5 or 6 and where she got 4's the teachers think she can achieve a 7. When I asked her history teacher if that was really achievable he was confident and said he's seen students raise that much in a shorter time frame but it really depends on how the time is used, it can be enough or it can go in a flash and be nothing. I think they're also taking her class work into consideration in whether it's possible. The thing is, I'm thinking okay it might be possible in one or two subjects, but several? The school does provide a lot of resources and they've been doing an hour of revision classes each day since just before half term plus have Saturday tuition available on an invitation basis so we shall see.

They have more mocks in Feb so hoping to see slighter higher results then 🤞🏼

@Littlebluebird123 my DD is using that science website and finds it really useful. She likes the fact that it has the videos, the quizzes and the exam-style questions all in one place. She hasn’t needed any help with it, so that’s all I know I’m afraid!

This thread is so reassuring. We're all facing similar things.

Mine is doing ok. Was a little disappointed in mock results for a couple of things but nothing below a five so really think they're being hard on themselves. What do I know though??

Someone shared this website
https://www.my-gcsescience.com/

Does anyone have any experience of using it? I studied in Scotland so completely different exam board/set up.

I want to be able to help with biology in particular. I don't think the content is the problem, it's answering it in the specific way.

Any help appreciated.

3s to 7s is incredible if they can get the students there. The staff sound really positive and aspiring which is lovely. I guess so much is mindset and exam technique.