OK - GCSES. Parents and teachers, tell me the truth.

I would say it's something to monitor once she is in year 10. If she's coping with everything, then there's no need to drop stuff. If she's struggling time-wise, then she will probably see that for herself and make her own decisions about what she is willing to give up for a while.

About two years ago I posted a very similar thread. The advice given was that the workload would go up and something would have to give. I have to say, the workload did not go up - rather the opposite in fact and the last two years have been quite relaxed relative to year 9. Ds still does a stupid number of extra curriculars and has joined a couple more music ensembles since then - seems to thrive on it. His work doesn't seem to have suffered.

I think everything is moving to controlled assessment next year.

I think, in practice, this will mean that more conventional learning will have to take place at home. They are not reducing the specifications.

fine art does tend to require quite a lot of extra hours 'creating'. With the new 2010 syllabus I think English will be far less pressured wrt coursework/homework. Three science is pretty full-on. Is this an option - ie does she get extra timetable time to do it? You might think of getting a subscription to Focus Magazine, or similar, to help her read around the subject and so on. I also tend to record Horizon and similar programmes to inspire passion.

History, again, used to be very full-on with coursework demands. But I think most courses are now moving to in-house controlled assessments and similar. Some courses are modular too, which helps spread the load.

Seeker your DD sounds a bit like my DD2 - she was a whirlwind of activity as well.

Throughout her GCSE years there were times when all her deadlines conspired and she ended up with too much to do and too little time but she got through it. I think she did a bit of a gradual reduction of activities through year 11 because she started to need some more time to relax but that happened quite naturally. She did do very well in her GCSEs with nearly all A* and so being busy didn't make any difference to her results. She is now in year 12 now and since joining the sixth form her workload has shot up so now is the time that she is starting to give things up.

Dd got a*'s and a's with very little revision.last minute mostly.
She is bright but also gets stuff done when it's needed which is the important bit I think.
I did make sure dd wasn't on msn and facebook ( by removing pc from her room)when she should be revising which I think helped matters
A levels different kettle of fish though.

GCSEs aren't hard for a bright, motivated student.

Your DD does not have a lot of free time, though, and this could be a problem as homework is a significant part of the overall workload at GCSE.

The number A they get is important, and you can't get an A just by being bright. You need to put the work in too.

I think it is something just to monitor and check she is keeping on top of things: particularly not-so-easily-measurable-stuff like vocab learning in MFL and reading round the subjects a bit.

But - IMO - busy people tend to be far more efficient with their time. We have boys at school who spend hours and hours and hours on the XBox every day (which I don't class as busy), but don't manage to get homework done.

Many subjects are moving now to modular courses, where you have to keep up and have exams as you go along. Also coursework is mostly being phased out in favour of 'controlled assessments', which take place in school time.

What courses is she doing?

I'm sorry but I'm confused as to why her attainment is low in relation to the other girls doing well. Is this one of those very american systems where e.g., there can only be 2 As, 3 Bs and everyone else gets a D no matter what their actual "mark"?

It's a tough schedule, but there's some truth in that saying, something about "if you want something done, ask a busy person". GCSEs are not difficult at all - especially not for someone at grammar and she'll need those extra-curricular activities to set her aside from every other Tom, Dick & Harry with 12 A*s.

What levels equate to years in secondaries then? So when should they be level 5,6,7 etc - sorry seeker just interested!

Is she Y9 at the mo?
She is clearly very bright so will prob find the academic side of GCSEs straightforward - they are not that hard. I think it is way easier to get an A at GCSE than it was at O level - A* is a bit different and requires talent/flair rather than just intelligence and hard work. However there is a lot of coursework and it kicks in straight away (some schools even begin it at end of Y9).Her time management would have to be exceptional to stay on top of of work if she continues as she currently is.
I'd warn her during the summer and let her see how it goes but with the proviso that she may have to drop a riding session or something.