Y11 2025/26 The Final Stretch

Good luck for those starting today!

Good luck @Wincherand @Funkylights!

@Wincher hand hold! DD first exam tomorrow & one she needs a good grade in for As. She seems calm but I’m anxious she doesn’t sleep / starts texting mates now etc as I just want her to be fresh & not late

Well, here we go - DS kicks off his proper written exams tomorrow, with a clash too - German and Citizenship. So he does first lesson and a half then gets taken out to do German early, then is in isolation until Citizenship in the afternoon. Going to pack him a really tasty packed lunch as although they can be escorted to the canteen while in isolation, they won’t have much time and I think a packed lunch will be easier!

Just hope he can get to sleep ok tonight…

@FlyingPandas my DS1 gave up his rowing at the start of year 11 - I was a little sad about it , but he was doing it fir social reasons mostly and he liked being on the river ( apart from the poo) . He stuck with the gym so definitely a good call for an ex rower . That and the running - remember DS1 came quite high in the school cross country which was a huge surprise to him .

DS2 enjoyed the gym and I have been body doubling to ensure some ICT was getting done . Not sure I’m going to get much ‘work’ done over the next few weeks

I’d actually guess they’re at the same school!

Anyone else get the 'nearly 3pm anxiety'? Wondering whether they'll be in a bad mood when they walk through the door after school as everything hasn't gone to plan? It's going to be a long couple of months...

Hello everyone. It’s my son’s last day of year 11 today. They finish at lunchtime (so probably finished by now but he’s going to a friend’s house). We took a photo in front of the front door this morning. End of an era!

He seems very anxious is transferring that anxiety to other things - worried his computer has a virus or there are transactions on his bank card that he doesn’t recognise. I really hope that once the exams start it will feel easier in a funny way.

He has his first proper exam on Friday - Latin.

@Caddycat I thought I'd share my snack idea because I hadn't done this since my 2 were younger but it's proving a hit. If you cut up some carrots, cucumber and peppers into sticks, pop them into jars and fill the jars up with water, they keep for several days. DD wasn't reaching for veg as she didn't want the prep time, so I've got several jars in the fridge and now she can have fresh veg without having to prep. You can replace the water every time, or as DD does, drink it :-) I also have hummus, cubbed cheese, crackers and frozen grapes.

Great idea thank you. Exactly not for years but it works again now, I'll do that too x

@clary you are so kind with the tips. Good luck to all the children starting exams. DD has drama on Friday, then next week is full on (English, biology, maths and history)

DD hasn't gone to dance much, but we manage to group 3 of her classes on a friday night so she doesn't feel too guilty about not revising and they are some of her favourite. We haven't paused it - I should have as it's expensive and she's missing quite a few - but she felt better knowing she could go if she had time or needed the break. I think she is so exhausted that it wouldn't help. She's gone from 6 times a week to 3 times a week, but realistically only goes on a friday for 3 hours, so quite a drop.

I thought I'd share my snack idea because I hadn't done this since my 2 were younger but it's proving a hit. If you cut up some carrots, cucumber and peppers into sticks, pop them into jars and fill the jars up with water, they keep for several days. DD wasn't reaching for veg as she didn't want the prep time, so I've got several jars in the fridge and now she can have fresh veg without having to prep. You can replace the water every time, or as DD does, drink it :-) I also have hummus, cubbed cheese, crackers and frozen grapes.

Good luck to all DC sitting exams today and that the art exams go well.

IGCSE English Language for DS this afternoon so must be same exam board as you @IrishPetal

Thank you for the German tips @clary

DS has had a nice boost getting his DT NEA back yesterday, he has scored in the mid 90s (out of 100) for it so he’s very chuffed. I’m also chuffed as I’ve managed to persuade him to get the school coach in in the mornings when he only has an afternoon exam (he originally wanted to stay home and make his own way in later on those days). The problem with making his own way in is that it takes three times as long as the school coach and there’s always the risk that the trains will be delayed/cancelled etc. So, morning coach it is! Thankfully his paranoia at potentially being late overruled his desire for a lie in.

I do need to get DS back to doing some kind of exercise-agree is so important. He was a rower until the beginning of this year but has stopped permanently as it had become such a source of stress for him, he was getting no benefit from the exercise in the end because he couldn’t sleep for fretting about erg tests! Going to join him to our local gym instead I think.

Dd is a rower but we’ve paused for now because she was training 6x a week! She’ll go back after exams. She is taking herself for runs though gladly. It’s so so important to maintain exercise amidst all the hard work.

@Lemonthyme i agree - the older son stopped going to the gym last year and he was burnt out by the end of the exams .

agree on the running .. I’ve just been myself 😂

I think that working out is under appreciated as a concentration tool. Your brain never stops thinking anyway and sometimes when I'm running it gives me time to reflect and think of something creative about work. I'm sure the same is true of revision. I wish my son would do a bit more active stuff in between revision sessions.

Good luck to your DC today@3GoldenLamps @BeasKnee @IrishPetal and any others taking exams.

Thanks for the top German tips @clary!

Shirt signing here today. Last minute panic search for a Sharpie ( which I didn't buy in stationary haul yesterday) but managed to find an old silver one so drama averted.

Good luck today to all DC in today .

ICT for DS tomorrow here … he wants to go to the gym today … at least he’s worked hard since study leave started I guess

I hadn't realised some of the 'proper' exams start this week (not classing art as a proper exam even though I'll be glad when it's done!) I'm glad DD's don't start until Monday as I feel like we need the extra few days! The first couple of weeks until half term are so packed with exams though, it's going to be tough.

Good luck to everyone today and the rest of the week.

English language IGCSE here rhis afternoon, and history tomorrow. Wibble. Strangely Geography IGCSE isn’t until next week for us!

Ahh good luck to those kicking off tomorrow!!

Good luck everyone.

to @BeasKnee DD.

Great advice @clary!

❤to everyone's DCs going through this.

Depending on board, and IGCSE or GCSE, German is on Thursday (Pearson Edexcel IGCSE - both written papers; AQA GCSE – listening and reading papers; Pearson Edexcel GCSE - just the listening paper).

So all the best to those sitting it. A few top tips:

• Watch out for different words to the ones you may be most famiiar with – Federball instead of Badminton, Klamotten instead of Kleidung
• Listen out (or look out) for negatives – Ich spiele nicht Fußball, ich habe keine Schwester, ich gehe nie ins Kino– so don't jump to "oh it’s football/his sister/cinema!"
• Words like "aber" and "jedoch" indicate a change of view – also listen for ToV
• In both listening and reading there will be passages that you don’t need to understand to answer the question; so don’t worry if you don’t know those words
• Check your umlauts in the dictation questions

Lots of luck to everyone 🙂 - 1st exam is on Thursday here.

Good luck to all those doing art and geography tomorrow. Anything else?
First one is Thursday here but we had an extra stress this evening as we have the Senedd elections also on Thursday (open to 16 year olds) and he hasn’t decided who to vote for. So this evening instead of revising Sociology he read election pamphlets….. And I think he still hasn’t made his mind up :(, Wish he was a Summer birthday!

Halfway through art now. Apparently not going to plan at all and DD feeling quite down. I'm hoping that it's just the pressure of it and she goes back in tomorrow and finds it's better than she remembers. She had such a great plan for it and amazing small prototype but she said she's struggling to get it looking good at a bigger size and rushed things. I'm hoping it's salvageable as I was hoping it would be one good one out the way early. I guess in art a lot less depends on the exam though - I looked it up and although exam is 40%, only about 30-40% of that is the actual exam and rest is exam sketchbook (which I think she's done well in).

I wish I was doing the exams as I would feel more in control!

Good luck! I hope he comes out satisfied that he's done himself justice and relieved that his least secure subject is behind him.