Y11 2025/26… come and join

My DS1 gave up rowing for year 11 - defo recommend joining the gym - DS1 eased off on that too in the last few weeks - he put on a bit of weight as a result - it’s gone now - but something to look out for as they need a lot extra food when rowing . DS2 goes to the gym and I think it provides a good balance … though I do wish he’d done more revision this holiday I can’t force him- I suggested 4 hours a day - then compromised on 3 - racking he’s doing 2 subjects a day about 2 hours

It’s so unfair on them that they can barely cover the content then - bang - exams

Wow impressed with how much studying some have done well done.
DD seems to have really lost her spark for learning and revising. Has loads of homework, loads on sparks for Chemistry Biology that they ain't been taught yet as they are behind in class she said there was a message from teacher saying they needed to do a topic on their own as no time to cover in class. DD thinks there will be at least 3 or 4 subjects at least that they will not finish the syllabus in class. Hoping school revision classes are helpful as she has 7 of the them this week.

A few hours afternoon and eve here. Slow starts plus gym early eve or some cooking or similar. She’s very much focusing on the ones she needs grades for

@Walkingbkwrm my DS takes similar breaks to yours I think! 15 minutes can very easily drift into 45…and then of course he ‘just needs to go to the loo’ (cue another 30 minutes) before he gets started again…

DS started the holidays with a grand plan of sticking more or less to the school timetable in terms of revision, starting at 9 and working till 4, with breaks. However this has inevitably drifted a bit! Like others he would sleep to 11 ish if left but we are compromising on getting up around 9 and starting somewhere between 10 and 10.30. Getting a couple of hours done in the morning and then 1-2 more in the afternoon- I’d say he is averaging between 3 and 4 hours a day and the afternoons are definitely a bit hit and miss.

(Back in the day I was an uber organised girl student who worked 9-12 and then 2-5 without fail every day, giving myself the evenings off, but I need to keep reminding myself that DS is not me!!)

DS still seems quite relaxed about everything - I think the fact he took one GCSE a year early has helped here because he knows what to expect in the exam hall (and has already got one grade in the bag so to speak). He’s also already done his MFL speaking exam, so that’s one thing for this year ticked off the list. However he’s also still got some DT NEA to do (grrr) so is trying to fit that in too. I’ll be breaking out the champagne once that project is finally handed in 😁

Mine isn’t working as much as some of yours and he really likes getting up late in the holidays and a relaxed start. So no revision in the mornings- up by 10:30, and time to do other stuff, then an early ish lunch and the plan is revision 2pm - 6pm (with short movement breaks). We have not yet managed this and the “short” breaks have not been very short but that was the plan!

Back in the day with DD1 she did approx 9-1 with breaks, and then 4-6 with breaks. So she took every afternoon off and we went out somewhere.
It came to around 4.5 hrs daily.
(We worked out what worked for her during y10 and then y11 mocks.)

So a variety of what people are doing.

My DC has also got into the routine of doing 15 mins of French speaking every night. We came up with this idea for her first lot of mocks. It’s manageable and in her last mocks paid off!

He does have a revision timetable but keeping to it isn’t happening !

DS doesn’t commit to any pattern, he tends to do an hour or two in the morning, then won’t do anything until late afternoon when he does another hour or two. He’s not doing as many hours as many or as the school have suggested but I think burn out more of a risk than anything else atm.

@TheBeatlesWhoaretheydd is up at about 9.30 and will start work by 10.30. Breaks for lunch and will do a dog walk, or run/swim with me then back to it. She’s doing about 6 hours work a day I’d say.

DD won’t quite commit to a full day off! But we had a lovely lunch and really long walk through a beautiful country park which was nice.

@TheBeatlesWhoarethey DD has been asking me to wake her each day at 9, she naturally sleeps till about 11 if we leave her and she didn’t want to do that. She’ll come down and make herself some breakfast and chill out for a while, then she gets ready and makes a start on whatever her plan is for that day. Has lunch then I try to make sure she comes out for a walk or pops out with me wherever I’m going just to break the day and then she’s back to it. She has met up with friends a few times too but no where near as much as a normal school holiday.

She seems happy with how it’s gone so far, she worked on the remainder of History last night as she knows they are struggling to finish it at school and she said she’s completed the course and made all her Gizmo cards so she feels good about that.

This week she has a few appointments and one in school session for computer science to go to.

Question to everyone, what time do your DC start revision? I’ve been waking mine up at 9ish as she would sleep till 11 if I let her! She then fafs around for an hour or so starting revision at 10.30ish. She does a couple hours in the morning, has a break and a couple of hours in the afternoon.

Just wondering what others days look like?

Top tip I’ve been given!…

If you want to go to a specific restaurant etc to celebrate on results day, particularly for brunch time, book it now!! A friend who went through this last year told me yesterday and I didn’t believe her until I looked on the website and there was only one brunch slot left!

Dd is a rower too! We’ve paused since February and will return in June.

Day off here too but back to it tomorrow. In awe of your self starters as mine needs definite prodding but think the day off was good for him. Feeling increasingly despondent though but nothing to be done but keep at it.
No speaking exams here but he does have a drama assessment on the first week back. He claims he is all ready for this and can’t rehearse without his partner (whose number he does not have). Sigh. On the plus side it’s on the Friday so hopefully some rehearsal will be done that week.

Oh that's good. The speaking exams seem to come around so fast - DS did his (iGCSE) earlier in March which felt stupidly early!

I'm going to try to get DS to join a gym I think, he has a tendency to sit gaming on his phone or watching TV when not working...he gave up his main sport (rowing) at the start of Y11 and hasn't really replaced it with anything else so far. Tbf he is seeing friends tomorrow - but that's for a trip to the cinema so is still technically sitting on bum watching a screen!

Yeh she’s at the very least walking the dog each day and she’s coming for a swim with me a few times next week. She’s seeing friends on Wednesday. But her Spanish speaking is in two weeks so I’m pleased she’s being so diligent.

No revision for DS today, we designated it as a day off but he'll be back working tomorrow. Hope your DD is managing at least a bit of chill out time each day @36and3, that sounds quite intense. Does she ever leave the house or is she literally refusing to stop working? I am trying to get DS to at least go out for a walk or a run every day and am also trying to encourage him to have a break and meet up with friends from time to time - but that doesn't seem to be happening. It worries me a bit tbh. He's the kind of character who could very easily become quite socially isolated.

Same here. Just enough break for roast lamb and an egg hunt today. But she’s had no days off at all since finishing for the holidays. She’s had a dinner out for a friend’s birthday but otherwise she’s “locked in” all day every day. Super proud of her.

DDs school starts the GCSE syllabus in year nine for some subjects, which I’m all for.

How has Easter Day gone for everyone? DD has enjoyed getting her eggs and her lamb roast, but is otherwise treating it as any other day and is working with everything laid out around her on her bedroom floor, bless her. I’ve been helping with French speaking, but she’s mostly been doing science, it’s such a dull time isn’t it.

It’s no wonder a couple at least of the private schools near us do gsce options in Yr8 and start gcse curriculum in Yr9

I also don’t think they’re earlier. Not sure if there are more of them tho - feels like it!
We only just finished teaching the English Lit content before Easter, leaving just 3 weeks of time to revise in class before Lit Paper 1. Squeaky bum time! But there’s so much content, it’s a toss up between rushing through it and leaving more time for revision, or doing it in depth and finishing closer to exam time.
Essentially, it’s on the students to take control of their own revision now, supported by school of course.

I think I was the same @Littletreefrog Started later but 2-3 weeks with 2 a day mostly. Agree it’ll be better spaced out