Year 11 2023-24

When checking exam timetables / entries, don't forget to check tier of entry where appropriate, and the right number of exams per subject.

Can I urge people to double check their DC’s exam timetable against those published online by the boards. I checked the one sent out by DD’s school and they had put one exam in the wrong half of the relevant day. At least it can now be corrected, so no harm done.

DD finishes lessons on 2 May and after that they will have their subject teachers available according to the usual timetable but can be revising at home or at school as they wish. She’s doing well with her revision these holidays and maintaining her sense of humour. Wishing everyone well.

Good for you @wonderstuff. I think the best thing we can do for our children is support them through this period. I have heard from many different sources that teachers tend to mark the mocks hard to stop the students becoming complacent. So a 4 in the mock could easily become a much higher grade in the actual GCSE. Always good to have the alternative options available though.

DS still hasn't heard from his school about his exam timetable or their plans for study leave (if any) or what happens during exams. DS has 22 different exams/papers and 15 of them are before the May half term break. I hope that the students will have a timetable structure similar to that which @MrsHamlet describes, rather than revise topics in their scheduled classes, but no confirmation of this yet.

DS' MFL speaking is in three weeks time and we had an email from head of MFL yesterday that the Saturday before they will be running speaking revision workshops with all students. Of all his subjects DS finds mandarin hardest and it's not a subject DP or I can help him with in any way.

We operate a revision timetable once the main subjects start - they're planned around giving students access to their subject teachers before the exams. Once a subject is complete, they bring their own revision.

Not a silly question 😊DD will be getting on with self-directed revision during what would have been her art lessons. They'll be in the art room for the lesson time and supervised by their art teacher but not taught. I'm slightly hoping they can pair up with a friend doing one of their subjects and work together. It's a long slog through GCSEs and a bit of yeast to leven the dough isn't a bad thing.

Silly question perhaps... once they finish their exams for a particular subject, what do they do during timetabled lessons for that subject? Revise for other subjects? E.g., DD is supposed to attend all lessons (when not in exam) until Fri 24 May, however her Art exam ends on Tue 30 April and her German exam on Tue 21 May. (They get study leave only in June after May half term).

Thanks.

Thank you. She has a place at her chosen 6th form, their published requirements for psychology are 4 English and 556 in science and maths, but she says at interviews they said she needed 5 for English. She’s on track for 668 for science and maths, and I do wonder if that will make up for a lower English score. She got 4 in her mock and actually went down a grade with ET but was able to complete the paper. I have no faith in the English teacher and her tutor feels he grades harshly, but who knows if she’s right?

Anyway, worse case we’re looking at I think is they want 5 for psychology and she gets 4 and she looks to do economics or sociology or something else instead of psychology. Maths and Spanish are fine and the 6th form place is fine as long as she gets a 4. I just think this has knocked her confidence further and it’s not exactly been a great lead up for us. I’m so frustrated with them, I don’t think they’ll bank down even if we escalate (HT is notorious as someone who digs his heels in). I’ve expressed my dismay to the SENCO, I’m now going to focus energies on supporting dd best I can.

I totally agree with @Gazelda @wonderstuff - your DD (and her cousin, you and the rest of your family) are going through such a lot at the moment. Everything is stressful without this added pressure. Can you escalate to the SLT, or is it too late to get extra time now?

Has your daughter fixed on her college and the course she wants to do yet? What English Language grade does she need to move to sixth form college? I think you said previously that she has an English tutor so hopefully they can focus on techniques to maximise points in each of the questions with a minimal amount of writing. Children put so much pressure on themselves on top of the pressures they get from school

That sounds heartbreaking. Your poor DD.
However, she's obviously got a great parent who will help her to achieve her best under the circumstances.
I wish I could offer better support that doesn't sound like platitudes. Keep reminding her you're proud of her and that she needs to be proud of herself.

DD has been in tears, I feel awful but I don’t know what else I could have done, I chased and chased and just hit a brick wall from school. I don’t understand, when I’m put under so much pressure to keep parents sweet, why they get to just ignore me completely! I work so hard to ensure everything is in place for the kids at my school. Will just have to focus on ensuring what she can write is as good as it can be now.

dont feel bad @Midnightstar76 its not a reflection of her abilities. They give extra time even the playing field not to give an advantage. My own dd doesnt have extra time but has a laptop and is predicted mainly 8s but she was at a disadvantage when writing that affected her grades. Other students dont have the problem she has so giving her a laptop just evens out any extra factors and its the same with extra time

@LighthouseCat we have been given extra time in exams. I am completely the other side as honestly never knew DD needed extra help so was a big surprise. I always thought she was doing ok. Left primary meeting targets then suddenly here we are. Thankful she is getting the extra time she will need. She goes to a state secondary and it is in a deprived area.

@LighthouseCat @wonderstuff we have been in the same position nit had any answers from DS school I started nw Jo. A few months ago ft after pt hrs and struggling to get hold of people in the school. His English teacher is as useless as a chocolate teapot. He struggles with writing speed and making it eligible.
Currently on holiday but DS has done about 3/ 4 past papers and a bit of revision since he broke up. Electronics NEA was completed before they broke up so fingers crossed on that.

@wonderstuff we're in the same boat! No extra time despite many of her teachers adamant she needs it. She wasn't even assessed. We've been waiting now for two years for her ADHD assessment. Just feels like she keeps falling through the cracks.

@Gazelda and @Philandbill Less than three weeks to go so hang on in there!

DS is currently painting his Warhammer models like a professional - he can spend hours on the stuff he loves but GCSE art coursework is another matter.
To be fair to him, he has been revising Geography for a while this morning so that's a positive.

Plodding on with the course work. Art is not for the faint hearted! DD loves art so she's happy enough to do it thankfully, she's revising other subjects in the morning and doing some art in the afternoon. She's itching to get back to non course work art though.

Same to you @JustHereWithMyPopcorn!

We're away for a long weekend, then back to it from Tuesday.

Absolutely agree about Art. It's been DD's biggest regret. Her teacher has told her she's on the cusp of 6/7, so DD is determined to do whatever she can to get a 7. I admire her for that, but I'm desperately trying to get her to focus on her other subjects with the same dedication.

It's no wonder kids get burnt out!

How are all the Art students doing? I cannot wait for this to be done with so he can spend his time on revision!

DS has a revision course this week so at least I know some revision will happen this holiday.

Well done to your DD dinomirror

Thanks@Curlyshabtree

DS arrived home from school today saying that he won't be doing a formal revision timetable over the holidays but will be targeting particular areas/subjects where he is, or believes he is, weak. I don't know what to say to change his mind. He can be very stubborn when he wants to be. Hopefully he will start some wider revision once he's worked on these areas he has identified.

I hope your students all have productive Easter holidays

Dd got a 4 in eng lit which considering she only got 1h 30 min and no laptop is quite good. The rest are 7s and above except in maths which is a 6

@wonderstuff write to the SENCO again and copy in the head. Ask for a prompt response and then escalate to the governors. That's a dreadful response.

We test everyone for writing speed in y7 and again at the start of y10 .

Thank you - I will try, although I expect his teacher will be having none of it until they go back after Easter now (break up tomorrow and even he hasn't seen it yet)

Tearing my hair out today. Dd school has just said that they don’t believe she should have extra time. The JCQ deadline was last week, they haven’t assessed her, she’s on track for a 4/5 in English language despite getting 120 in her KS2 reading test, she’s 6-9 elsewhere. Before having extra time in the latest mocks she’d never finished an English mock.
I wrote to the SENCO early in year 10, repeatedly chased, I’m an assessor myself and I clearly stated the difficulties I thought she was having and what assessment I thought would be appropriate. They’re coming back saying no evidence of need. They’ve not done any speed of working tests. I honestly don’t know what to do. I’m so cross. I fear it’s now too late. So frustrating!

If you can get them and scan them, I'll happily cast my beady eye over.

Q5 often gets looooong and then they talk themselves out of marks because we just want it to stop because it's not crafted or structured enough.

Marks are for content and organisation.

Oh dear, I don't know which one, just that he felt one of the comparing ones hadn't gone that well, and definitely the last one (which was a speech about reducing the cost of public transport).

I never get to see his papers in English, maybe I should just leave his teacher to it...😬