Do we pull DD out of her show to focus on GCSEs?

What does she need to get for the 6th form?

GCSEs should be about three things - getting the grades you need for the next stage; building good attitudes and habits around learning and organisational skills; and practicing the stress of exams.

Getting 9s in GCSEs matters to very, very few students in terms of their future careers, and so it should be. These are 15/16 year old children. It would be madness to think that their arbitrary academic achievements, or lack of, at that age is a robust measure of their adult potential.

It's much better for children to keep doing the activities they enjoy.

Revision done effectively shouldn't take all day. Far better to do focussed revision and then get on and enjoy life.

GCSEs shouldn't be to the detriment of their physical or mental health.

(I got straight A's , two first class degrees - I never worked more than a 9-5 day with a lunch break and kept up a very active sport that required at least 1.5 days a week of my time, often more)

Most year 11s do pull back on the extra curricular in the run up to exams.

I'm slightly surprised the club cast a year 11 as they have a high chance to getting overwhelmed and pulling out, however given that she has been cast and she wants to do it I wouldn't be taking it away.

You'll need to watch very carefully for exhaustion and anxiety though. Gcse exams are absolutely exhausting and there aren't many kids that keep up a full schedule through them.

Presumably there are other options if she doesn't get the stellar grades that she wants for the sixth form she wants to go to.

In some ways if you are prone to procrastinating the worse thing you can have is the luxury of time.

It gives you the opportunity to put things off and faff about.

Learning to utilise the time she has available effectively is an important life skill.

She's got the lead. That's big. She'll gain a lot from that.

Teach her effective revision strategies. I never understood people spending loads of hours doing it. There's only so much that will go in.

I condensed my notes as reminders and did it this way. I also found going to bed early before exams and getting up early more effective. I could sleep because I knew I still had time and that last minute look over really helped. Never understood the 'i was up til 4am' lot. Go to bed at 10, get up at 5.30 properly refreshed.

What difference will it really make if she gets a few 7s instead of 9s? If the college she wants to go to requires straight 9s then that is quite an insane requirement!

Meanwhile, withdrawing her from the thing she's passionate about will have a massive impact on her wellbeing.

Bear in mind that when she comes to university applications, they don't just look for top grades; they want young people with interests who can demonstrate soft skills, such as team work, commitment and confidence.

I had a bright procrastinator - he worked so much better if time was pressured.
If he had a whole day to do something, come the end of the day, it would still not be done.
If he knew he had school, and a music rehearsal and scouts, the thing to be done would be done somewhere in the middle.

The school he went to always said that those that did lots of extracurricular always came out with better results. It teaches them time management, organisation and responsibility.

And yes - DCs definitely need down time whilst in exam season.

I cant believe you even considered it for more than a nano-second. Ds2 is a bit too laid back for my liking, and only just finished 2nd mocks yesterday. He still plays football, and goes out with his mates for Nando's piri piri chicken. I'm expecting a lot more effort and revision in the next 8 weeks, but I wouldn't even consider stopping the football.

Is this private? I'm assuming so. Ds2 needs a 7 to stay on for A' level. Our school is very good and even they encourage a balance of all studying, sports and downtime.

It would be a disgusting thing to do and so glad you are not doing it.
She has got a decent grade. Not the top grade but a good pass. Assuming she does not want to be a biologist! Extra curricular are vital for tens and forcing her to give up the lead role in a play she is passionate about is something she will never forget, yet she is unlikely to remember what she got in a biology paper when she is in her 30s.

What does she need for 6th form?
DS hopes to go to an excellent 6th form college and they want 6's and 7's.
He got those in his mocks and I almost wish he hadn't as he is being a bit complacent now but if your DD is prepared to knuckle down now then i see no reason to stop any extra curriculars. Its good for them to have something else other than just academics bothe for their MH and for their CV/college or uni applications

My DD was doing 10 clubs at school and 10 GCSEs. They need to do other things. A bright child will be absolutely fine. A teacher rang a parent??? Good grief! My DD had a few dips on the way to exams but got great results in the end. Mocks are there for a kick up the backside!

it is quality studying over quantity and letting them have a well rounded life

This is so important it's worth repeating.

Honestly anyone crying, thinking their life is over or being disappointed in getting a 7 probably needs more extra curricular activities so they realise there is more to life than getting a higher A in their GCSEs.

Mine isn’t she dances 3 times a week plus works at 2 other classes and is preparing for a show over Easter. Dancing relaxes her and gives her focus away from studying and actually means she finds it easier to study. And barring Spanish got 8 and 9s in her mocks

it is quality studying over quantity and letting them have a wel rounded life

Exactly. They're giving 9s to the small subset of A grade students who achieve the very highest. It's quite statistically not achievable by many...

But A isn’t a synonym for top marks. It’s an A. And a 7 is literally equivalent to what would before have been a low A.
A* is top marks.

I feel sad this was an unintended consequence from adding basically A star and Astarstar. They're given out on a curve so it's not achievable for most people. Yet it's moved the boundaries.

7-9are all As. They are all "top grades".

Its a stupid system failing even the high acheiviers like your daughter if this is the message she is getting when she is getting A grades 😞.

Exactly this! A 7 is amazing.

I know several bright children that learning came easy to. Exams mock results then came out and the grades were not as good as they expected. It was a shook that along with being bright they had to put in the work to get the higher results.
Then doing timed exams and knowing how the papers are structured marks wise for the mocks helps them for the actual exams.
Their is a lot of study and what exams questions require to get full marks online. Then reading the question 2 or 3 time or seeing all the parts of the question helps.
Some times turning to the next page shows the last part of a question.

I would let your daughter do her play but she is aware now that she has to put in a bit more effort to bring her grades up. Ask her to get feedback from her teachers as well on how to improve her grades.
Also when she leaves school and university she will have to apply for jobs.
It's not just a list of a grades but it's the extras she did in school and how she comes across as a person in interviews. Having good people skills, being able to listen and getting on with other people are important to and doing drama helps with this.

She my feel at A level stage and in the few months before the exams to cut down on extra circular activities would be a good idea.

I currently know a girl doing a master's and previously she did a hard degree. She stayed on top of the study from day 1 and turned down events when it was coming up to exams or when papers had to be turned in. She learned how to manage both studying and having a life outside of study.

I know several bright children that learning came easy to. Exams mock results then came out and the grades were not as good as they expected. It was a shook that along with being bright they had to put in the work to get the higher results.
Then doing timed exams and knowing how the papers are structured marks wise for the mocks helps them for the actual exams.
Their is a lot of study and what exams questions require to get full marks online. Then reading the question 2 or 3 time or seeing all the parts of the question helps.
Some times turning to the next page shows the last part of a question.

I would let your daughter do her play but she is aware now that she has to put in a bit more effort to bring her grades up. Ask her to get feedback from her teachers as well on how to improve her grades.
Also when she leaves school and university she will have to apply for jobs.
It's not just a list of a grades but it's the extras she did in school and how she comes across as a person in interviews. Having good people skills, being able to listen and getting on with other people are important to and doing drama helps with this.

She my feel at A level stage and in the few months before the exams to cut down on extra circular activities would be a good idea.

I currently know a girl doing a master's and previously she did a hard degree. She stayed on top of the study from day 1 and turned down events when it was coming up to exams or when papers had to be turned in. She learned how to manage both studying and having a life outside of study.

I'm sure very large numbers of kids would work harder if they got personal calls from teachers.
I'm sure very many children could be more focussed. At 16 many are not independent learners and most schools alongside parents help them learn these skills.
Schools can only do so much and I'm sure many teachers are frustrated seeing their students not achieve their potential, but I don't think they should be doing bum kicking in the form of making calls home.

But GCSE year kids usually wind down activities from about now.

I don't see this in the competitive sports club I'm involved in. Kids who are motivated will balance their studies and hobbies. Just means they have to manage their time better.

I wouldn't ask her to withdraw from what she loves. It probably won't make her study more.

Absolutely this.

It would be a public humiliation to pulled out of a lead role at School, for the reason that her grades aren't good enough. That's why they have mocks... so that people can see where they need to improve in time for the real exam.

Plus.. this activity and her involvement in it will count in her application to 6th form and beyond.

i went to a top 10 uk school. Approx 50% of my year went to oxbridge.

DD is at Oxbridge and rolls her eyes at the students there who are melodramatic about not getting top marks all of a sudden (she never expected to go, and has a... varied set of GCSE results).

Some kids focus better if the evening looks like 'Uh oh, 45 minutes to get this French done before rehearsal ' rather than 'got all evening free so I've loads of time'. I used to do half my A level workload on the bus.

In terms of the school calling.. my dd got mostly 7s in her gcse and her mocks . The thing is she never bothered revising properly as the school always told them 7 was an incredible grade. And it is, but she herself could have done better. Instead she crammed. If the school had called it may have been the kick up the bum she needed but her school was more focused on getting kids to pass rather than to achieve highly

Surely it is up to her ?
By all means talk to her ,but the final decision should be hers
Is she very anxious,seems odd the teacher would alert you when she got what is still a good mark