Y11 2023-24 thread 4

7 more to go 9 days to go and it's all over. Booked holiday for DS and DH week later so one week to catch up with mates gym then week away. Might ship him of to nans etc as he is going to drive me nuts about possibile grades till results day. Bad enough after every paper.
Today was all about missing shading for for an answer on Geography question.

My DS is the same though this is his week subject had school revision class today asked if he could do a bit more with teacher not sure if he did as out now with DD at club but he is looking at past papers and anything he can find online.

@AIstolemylunch lol at the driving theory book and Highway Code being untouched! Ds1 has just sorted his room and proudly passed his gleaming copies of both down to ds2!

WJEC geography today was ‘pretty good’. English language tomorrow before a full week off ready for music and Additional maths before finally finishing on June 19th.

keep plodding on everyone

I think the thing about not revising for English Lang is that it is more beneficial to work on other subject. DD had a few hours break and is now singing away to music making MORE history flashcards for next week.

She had OCR geog today which was good. 7 more to go.

She came into town with me as I had an errand to run at lunch, and there was a gift shop advertising a 5 hour a week Saturday job - absolutely perfect. But she’s determined not to work all summer .I’ve increased her allowance significantly from the end of month but she now has to pay for all of her own clothes, gym going out etc , so it won’t actually go far at all. I’m only paying her phone. Now that she’s refused to apply I’ve made it clear I will not be paying for anything else on top! College is not uniform so I’m sure soon she will see the value of a part time job, but they are few and far between so she should have snapped it up but I can understand the attraction of 3 months of doing nothing at this point !

Bad Geography was Edexcel B if anyone is in similar boat.DD is very sad that her teacher will be disappointed and then went “oh well” Too many 12 markers, compared to previous exams, which took 20 minutes to write. I am glad she is getting it off her chest 😂 Business went considerably good, and finished few minutes before the exam ended and very happy about finally cracking the timing.
@DominoRules it is brutal. How do they expect to sit all in one day :( let alone revise the night before.
@Waspie I only paid for Quizlet subscription last month. To be honest, while she was in bed sick for two days during HT, still managed to listen to videos and did some quizzes, these are all good side of it. Getting up to open the laptop/sit and write/read from a book was not something she would do in that situation. I also always eye roll when seeing her scrolling on phone, but only way is for us to learn to accept I think 😂

DD was happy with her business paper but she's told me some of her answers and tbh I think she's completely missed the point of the question! She's got form for not reading things properly and goes off on random tangents...

Still 9 more to go for my DS (next Tuesday is Chemistry, History and Further Maths - brutal!!) and it feels never ending……

Thats a great link @Techno56 thank you, mine is definitely in the don’t need to revise for English Lang camp but I’ve told him he needs to at least watch some videos!

Waspie

@Mummyoflittledragon wishing you all the best for tomorrow's appointment.

DS reported Geography went well this morning (OCR?).

Thanks for the new thread.
AQA geography was hard but OK, business went well, even the maths bits!
The "unrevisabable" English Lang tomorrow and Biology on Friday.
Chin up parents and kids. The end is in sight

DD is doing AQA English Lang tomorrow - she insists she can't do any revision but I would like her to at least watch a video. Can anyone recommend something?

Thanks for the new thread by the way.

DS's psychiatrist once told him 'whatever happens, don't let school undermine your mental health. Results aren't worth you developing issues.' So true, but easier said than done when the entire system is built to rank, compare and funnel out children. And DS's best friends are all super performers. I am certainly guilty of worrying about his grades too much and putting some pressure on him. But like another mum said, he will kick himself if he massively underperforms and I have to be motivator-in-chief for this low-drive ADHD kid. It's such a balancing act. HUGS TO EVERYONE! and @Mummyoflittledragon I have everything crossed that the appointment tomorrow brings hope and solutions!!!

@Waspie quizlet on phone has suddenly become very popular with DS and I am no fool as to why....🤔

On English Language - DS took it last year did very little work, also tried to convince me that practice was unnecessary and he got a better grade in exam than any time during the year. Key tip from my DD (now 19) and DS was to take a bit of a risk and argue something unexpected. it worked out for both of them...Other tip - if your DC gets an unexpectedly bad mark, get it remarked. I have heard of kids going up three grades on remarking as marking can be quite subjective!

We still have 7 to go including 4 on Monday and Tuesday. So crammed together 😕 so nearly there. My eldest still has three a levels after today but they are more spaced out

AQA geography here, too. DS's bete noire. He thought it went well, especially the 1-markers [sigh].
He just does not get geography. He is fine with everything else 🤷‍♀️

I agree @tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz there is always something you can prepare.

DS says doing past papers is almost impossible as you don't get the texts (copyright issues or whatever) and without knowing what the text was it's impossible to answer the questions. I have sympathy with this so I said that I'd provide the text and adapt the questions to fit that text. He flounced off back to his room (via the fridge). I'll take that as "no, thanks mum but so kind of you to offer"

@BestsellingWine thanks for sharing that, seems like a mixed response so far.I only got a message saying it was very hard.
And there is more Geography to go next week.
I am so jealous of those who are finishing now, we have 6/7 more to go. And all core subjects too. Same as @BlackBean2023
Obviously there are bigger things in life, we would all forget this stress and days of 5am wake up, until the next DC go through this same phase!
English was a concern for a long time here and we are doing Eduqas managed to find someone to help with writing, but then it seems more like time management than content. And the school apparently didn’t even do one lesson on Eng Language, which really surprises me. They should atleast guide them what to look for?

@Mummyoflittledragon I hope things improve for your DD. I totally agree, there are far more important things. I don’t think my DD is revising enough but she’s cheerful, and there was a point in the autumn where she wasn’t and I worried she might do herself serious harm. Things are much better and her results don’t matter.

I agree @tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz there are techniques etc that can be practised.

Course you can... but try telling a 16 year old that!

My DS was predicted 6s in both English's was worried about getting back into 6th form with that. So chose which English to revise for. They double your best English and Maths to count towards attainment 8 score at their school and have to get over 60 to get back in. So he chose to revise for English Lang. Went to a couple of after school sessions and revised Youtube videos and got an 8! Didn't revise much for English Lit and got a 6! DD is currently alternating between revising English and Biology.

I don't get the "can't revise for English language " thing ... DD is at home today (no exams) and has been doing practice questions?

I mean I get there's no content in the same way as maths or science as you don't know what you'll get but you can certainly practice speeches, letters etc to time?

Very jealous of those down to three left! DD is currently in her Business Studies P2 then still Eng Lang, Biology, Maths, History, Chemistry and Physics to go before she finishes next Friday.

I hope this will be a turning point now the exams are finished. Its a lot of stress hanging over them which can't be helpful for trying to manage an ED. Fingers crossed things improve now.

I'm glad the exams are over for your daughter @Mummyoflittledragon . I hope the session goes well tomorrow. There are way more important things in life than GCSEs

1.75 speed - 😂Thanks I shall tell DS.

There is certainly a generational divide - I go into DS' room and give him my best Pooh stare followed up with "why aren't you revising?" only to be told that he is, but on his phone watching videos or doing app quizlets.

@AIstolemylunch - oh god, driving lessons! That's next, although DS shows no interest whatsoever in wanting to learn to drive.