Y11 2025/26 The Final Stretch

@NotDarkGothicMama so sorry about your cat. I hope your son has had a good night's sleep despite that.

DD off to school early this morning (7.30) for a pre-exam booster. Can't decide on what I think about those. Good perhaps to have a few last minute thoughts from their teachers but it did feel a bit of a rush getting out over 45 mins earlier than usual. I don't know whether a relaxed up and out might have been more beneficial at this point.

Eng Lit isn't one of her strongest subjects but she's done a lot more revision for this than previous mocks so hopefully that will make a difference (none for paper 2 next week yet though 😬). Hopefully she comes out thinking it was ok and it doesn't knock her confidence before her stronger subjects later this week (biology, comp sci & maths).

I hope everyone's DC do ok today

Tried to keep a usual morning routine this morning or actually calmer than usual. I think ds needs the normality and routine.
Im going to feel nervous all morning!
Good luck all

@Anonymousemouses that’s so sad about her classmate. But I actually think it’s lovely that her name remains on the leavers hoodie as she was part of their high school experience & never forgotten.
After stressing all year i feel each day is just closer to them all being over finally

My DS is rather calm and got up really early to go through notes.
House is calm, his calm, I'm calm.

Good luck to all!

I’ve not posted on this thread before but I am feeling sick to my stomach this morning with nerves. Terrible sleep last night too.
DS however is chilled as can be, begged for 15 mins extra screentime for snap this morning so he could do a “pre-match photo”
They have no study leave which is great because he definitely needs motivating.

Good luck everyone!!

to your family @NotDarkGothicMama about the loss of your little cat.

Good luck today! We’ve (they’ve!) got this!

Reading previous posts about study leave - DD's leaver's day was 1st May. Then she was on study leave until last Friday, when she had the written Drama exam. That's her first full subject over with.

I've been ill since Friday, I never get ill and don't leave the house much, so thought I was safe, it's made my asthma bad. My main concern is DD catching it. She had a nasty cold a few weeks ago, so am panicking about her catching it (although the only time I went out was to a car boot sale, and she was there too). I'm a very anxious person, so this whole period has left me spiralling.

I'm afraid that I cried on her last day, they had a lovely assembly and also paid a wonderful tribute to their classmate who tragically died a couple of months ago.

The leavers hoodie has the girl's name on, which Is heartbreaking.

I think I've struggled more as DD2 would have been leaving in two years time, so this is it. Seems like yesterday DD(1) started. I was sad when DS left, but that was 18 years ago, so I was young enough to be able to do it again.

Hope this week goes brilliantly for all y11s, I hope it's as stress free as possible and all their hard work pays off. ❤

Pretty sure DD's school does Edexcel, thanks.

Calm child here although still up eating sandwich & milk with revision book. Not a breakfast eater so fuelling now. Macbeth & Christmas Carol I think tomorrow.

Those are both on the the Pearson Edexcel Paper 1 spec so it's more than possible. Your DD will also be doing a 20th century book and the friend's DS will also be doing a Shakespeare play.

More schools do AQA than P/E and paper 1 for AQA pairs Shakespeare and Victorian literature.

Place marking , DS very relaxed, me - not so much …

My friend's son is doing An Inspector Calls, DD is doing Macbeth - not sure why, pretty sure they are the same exam board.

Really nervous about tomorrow, although DD had her first written exam on Friday.

I am going mad though at the BLOODY FIREWORKS GOING OFF RIGHT NOW - they've been going off for ages (an hour to be precise), so a lot of kids in Aylesbury will suffer tomorrow because of the selfish arseholes!!!

It’s so strange everyone having the same exams tomorrow (well, different boards but same subject). I know of course that’s always been the case but when I did mine pre internet there was no way of comparing notes with everyone else around the country! Not sure I am making sense. But good luck to everyone for English lit in the morning.

so sorry @NotDarkGothicMama . What rotten timing.

DS now thinks he is going to take a fair bit of study leave this week - he’s going to come home after English tomorrow to cram biology, then not go in at all on Wednesday to spend time on maths/German/citizenship/history which are all within 26 hours on Thursday/friday. Tough week!

DD tucked up in bed after a Sunday roast and a long bath, hopefully going to sleep. My heart is so full - of hope and concern for her tomorrow, of wishing I could take away her nerves, of amazement that we are here, when just a blink ago she was labouring over sounding out c-a-t. My heart is also with all the lovely Y11s everywhere. I hope tomorrow is OK.
This feels like a big moment. I might have to take an antihistamine to sleep 😆

My oldest, who is doing A-levels now, loved An Inspector Calls, really taken by the message. I will be interested to see how DS takes to it next year. Shakespeare and Jeckyll & Hyde not done much for him, but I wonder if he'll relate to AIC more.

I’m so sorry @NotDarkGothicMama I’m so sorry xx our son would also be devastated if anything happened to our cat

Ahh I totally agree, I went to watch an inspector calls with my daughter, yes I did do it for gcse 35 years ago but had forgotten most of it.. and I was struck by the incredibly timeless message of the play that continues to be so important for us all, and even more so in the current times. Those kinds of messages around social responsibility and awareness of how our actions affect those around us are so vital, and where else do they get taught it apart from English literature? I do hope the teachers get time and space to look at the relevance of the message in current contexts.

Candidates answering every question on the lit papers is very common.

Not sure functional maths has a specific exam date tbh.

I think if students are finished on 5 June they can only be taking a very small number of exams. The vast majority of year 11s will be sitting at least combined science and maths, which have exams well after 5 June.

FWIW my DD (first year of new spec) wondered to me about answering the qu on Pride and Prejudice (tho she did love Frankenstein which she studied). I talked her out of it.

Btw a general warning – a friend who teaches English told me once about a student who answered (or tried to) the question on every question Shakespeare play, So tho it sounds ridiculous, make sure they know they don't do that!

Good point. Maybe some students sitting functional maths have their last exam on the 5th? Weird.

Thanks for the tips @MayasJamas. I've screenshotted and sent to DS. Who, fingers crossed, will answer the question on the play he's actually studied 🤦‍♀️

I agree about the social capital in studying Shakespeare. I feel the same way about Classics - if you haven't had the opportunity to study them, you will miss some nuances in public life. I went to a state school that didn't offer triple science, let alone classics, and taught myself some of the content when I found myself at sea in some conversations.

@NotDarkGothicMama so sorry to hear about the cat. I hope your DS can still get a good night's sleep without his friend in the room tonight.

Got English Lit tomorrow…then double exams Tuesday (morning and afternoon) so it begins!
Had German speaking, listening and reading already
The 1st day in her secondary school, it was all stand outside the school? bit of social distancing ? My memory isn't great-brain fog
Going to the uniform shop, trying it all on, have a photo of her wearing a mask too.
Managed to keep the blazer going for the 5 years, a few repairs!
She’s our last child through education , been in the school system for 22 years
Hope everyone gets through it all ok, roll on a lovely long warm Summer

For anyone going through it - any good/bad experiences using flashcards for English Literature, especially kids who are young in the year/have ADHD and find this sort of analysis and remembering quotes difficult?

DS actually mentioned off his own bat that he'd seen people using pre-made flash cards and was wondering about using them. DH was immediately 'Pre-made flash cards are not as good as ones you've made yourself because you've written them your way', but my view is DS will have difficulty assessing what is a meaningful quote and that a flashcard set he has and uses is more useful than one he might not manage to create.