GCSE revision - it feels like Ds is learning everything for the first time

[bloomsburyavenue]

I posted this earlier in Secondary Education but have no replies yet.
Ds started revising before Christmas and has been working through topics as listed on the syllabus for each subjects. I’ve been helping with sciences and am now worried about the time it’s taking. It feels like everything he’s learning is the first time he’s seen it. This means it’s taking ages to go through everything. He’s currently only covered about 3 full topics in each science so there’s loads more to do before he even starts past papers etc. We’re using YouTube videos (freesciencelessons etc), followed up with revision books but only manage a couple of sub topics a session as it’s so much to take in.

Not sure what to do, I’m starting to panic!

@bloomsburyavenue From after half term hols you need to split the work, some straight revision and some past papers.
You also need to divide the remaining time/days available and allocate revision time to each unit accordingly. Then you have to
trim the revision to fit the scheduled time otherwise there’s a real risk if not covering the syllabus.
Revision can be like housework, you always feel like it can be improved on, it’s never all done and it always fills all the time available!

If you are cycling through everything and then plan to cycle through it again you will need to factor time in at the end for that as well.

I’m so pleased I started this thread, the replies have been so helpful and reassuring I’m really appreciative. I’ve dug out the cgp revision cards to reinforce what he’s learning, thanks for the tip. My sympathies go out to everyone else who is struggling with this now it’s really hard.

I thinks it's an anxiety issue. They have lost a lot of confidence in themselves since lockdowns.
They find everything so overwhelming.
School have been good, they sit exams away from the main hall in a small group, and have a timer to stop for a bit if they get overwhelmed.

They want to stay at the school they are at but are petrified they will be told no. We did look at another sixth but even that caused a huge panic attack so we discounted it.

I'm sure school will be fine but I fear the more they don't succeed they less they believe in themselves.

I do understand about whole year groups staying behind a year but I don't believe everyone needed that. I've long since thought our system of moving on a year despite not attaining the scores they should is really damaging and would prefer an American style system if achieving grades to move up

I'm glad I'm not alone in thinking that

My parents never helped me revise. Didnt even do cards with me, like question and answer. we just did it ourselves.

My friends and I would get together for revision sessions and none of them had help from their parents either.

Can your kids not do the work themselves? If they cant do it then academics maybe just isnt for them. Not everyone can be academic.

And OP, this is revision. He should already know they work. Surely has been revising every week throughout the course?

If it really is like the first time he has seen the work then he hasnt been working correctly over the last couple years. Again, some people just arent academic.

There isnt anything wrong with that. Pushing kids through exams when they're not capable isnt helping anyone.

Past papers and making their own revision cards - not bought but actually summarizing the information themselves. Also helped doing revision timetables so he had structure leading up to the exams with plenty of off/hobby time incorporated, Son 1 needed little help, son 2 needed more help and encouragement.

It's bizarre right? Myself and 4 siblings went through GCSE, a level and degrees and I can't ever imagine my mum saying 'weve GCSEs this year' ir whatever. Are children allowed no autonomy anymore?

Watching with interest for ds2.

"My 4 siblings and I."

Not myself. It is almost never correct to use myself. If you're saying, "I wrote that article myself," then that would be correct but anything else is I or me.

To test it, remove the other subjects.

Myself and 4 siblings went through our GCSEs. Becomes
Myself went through my GCSEs.

That isnt right, is it?

You would say, "I went through my GCSEs." It does not change just because you add other people.

Similar to, "Return the document to myself."
No. It is, "Return the document to me."

If anyone is helping their kids with English this yeah, please teach them how to correctly use me, I and myself. Because almost no one on mumsnet ever gets it right.

Blimey, this post is dripping with back-handed bitchiness. I’m quite impressed.

I do agree it’s not supposed to be mummy and Johnny passing the GCSES together though. Let him show what he can do on his own. Surely that’s the whole point?

I can't see what's so peculiar about parents tutoring children who need it and talking about "we". I remember my mother drilling me on times tables and reviewing my spelling list as a small child. My son who struggled with maths had years of tutoring and surprised us all with an A- in a first year university maths paper. This was a child who was in the lowest 10% of students in maths and whom the school were suggesting should do "cabbage" maths. (It was known as that by the students and the teachers but they probably have a more woke name now for it.) It's not much fun after a day's work to start tutoring year 13 maths for an hour or two. My husband took over cooking dinner so I had the time to do that. Sure my son sat the exams but "we"all worked for a common goal.

Erm... Are you studying for a GCSE just now 🤣😂🤣😂

I'll admit my qualifications are in biology and I am a clinician not a writer 😂

Why do you need the 'we'? For your son's achievement? So strange and somehow narcissistic yet also coddling. Just so strange to me.

Also I'd definitely offer my children any help they needed but not for a second would I think 'we're studying for kiddos GCSEs' I'd think 'i wonder what assistance I can offer if they need it for their exams'

@Forgooodnesssakenow in fairness DS could revise by himself but he asked me to help him, specifically with sciences which I think were overwhelming him. He just needed me to print off the syllabus and breakdown the subjects into more manageable chunks. I am happy to get involved and to be honest it’s quite nice to spend the time with him as he’s normally busy with friends and hobbies.

As a teacher I’d advise a slightly modified version of this - I always tell kids to get ambers to greens rather than reds to amber.

Id also advise doing past papers - the main issue I see is kids not knowing how to answer a question. I’d advise 5 minutes reading notes, then answer the specific question they have studied, mark their answer, and then look at what they still need to learn to get full marks, move on to a different question and then move back to the first question.

I have twins doing their gcses and I have been a bit shocked on occasion too. I think the most important thing is identifying what grades he needs for his A level application or uni application if he wants to go. And make these subjects and achieving these grades essential. No point getting a high mark in science if he does not need it but what he does need is a 7 in english or whatever and he is spending more time on science and not enough on english.

Agree with previous poster about the maths skills in the science paper and lots of marks lost through poor exam technique. I skimmed back and couldn’t see what syllabus his science is- this is advice for AQA - apologies if not his course:
Make sure he can draw a graph they are usually 4 marks- in pencil, both axis taking up over half the space on the graph paper, both axis labelled with units. The dependent variable (results you found out) should be on the Y axis. The points have to be plotted VERY carefully and usually a line of best fit which- unlike in maths- is often a curve .
He needs to be able to calculate a mean- and if the question says calculate a mean - 2 marks rather than 1- check there isn’t an obvious anomaly that needs leaving out.
He needs to be comfortable with calculating percentages.

He needs to be completely clear the difference between describe the graph/ data and explain the graph/ data - I would get him to start underlining the command word in a question.

He needs to be able to format an evaluation so that he compares the pros and cons of whatever he is being asked about - making sure he clearly says which is better and why for each point. Eg ‘dialysis involves hours spent at a hospital each week which impacts a patient’s ability to work or travel- whereas a kidney transplant would allow a patient to be free from this constraint’ . He must finish an evaluation with his opinion on which is better overall.

It is sensible to be focussing on the least familiar bits first but if it’s AQA science can I also suggest that he centres revision on the required practicals? At least one of these, usually two, have to be in the paper and this is where I advise students to start who are overwhelmed. This is particularly key in Biology which has much more unpredictable exam questions than the other two sciences . Revise the practical itself and the science around it. If eg the enzyme practical comes up it will be set in a question on related content such as the digestive system. He might be asked to write the method for this required practical, or to add to or to correct a given method. He might get data to interpret related to the practical and or a graph. The free science lesson bloke has done them all. It’s also worth watching YouTube of science teachers actually doing to the practical to help him remember. He should have done these practicals at school himself as well.

Sorry I’ve gone on a bit there! You will be making a big difference to him - supporting him with learning how to revise.

@Cathpot that’s incredibly helpful thank you.

Thank you to the poster who suggested Seneca and the YouTube videos, DD loves YouTube so that made a good impression even though apparently it's "peak nerd" stuff their brother likes. He actually suggested Over Simplified on YouTube too, great for history in a cartoon, quite funny way whilst giving actual facts.

Why do you need the 'we'? For your son's achievement? So strange and somehow narcissistic yet also coddling. Just so strange to me.

Schools use the 'we' to include the pupil, parents and the school themselves. Helping someone revise isn't claiming the credit for the exam.

OP, going by my child's recent mock exam experience, some of the Science topics were covered earlier than year 10/11 and don't get the same attention in the revision stakes. Definitely check the syllabus 😁

What do you suggest for the reds, @CherLloydbyCherLloyd ?

Leave them til last.

Say for example we turn the colour into a score. Let’s assume each question is worth 5 marks. I tell my kids green would be full marks, amber is half marks and red is ones they would struggle to get more than one mark.

Its easier to learn one or two marks from each topic to get the ambers to green than it is to get the reds to amber/greens, because there is already a stronger foundation of learning there.

I encourage them to reassess once per week.

Once they have turned the movers into green, then work on getting the reds to amber.

Also, in the actual exam it’s worthwhile reading through the paper and traffic lighting the questions, and answering them from green through to red. That way, they get a mental boost at the start. Then, if they run out of time at the end, they have only missed the questions they were going to struggle to answer anyway.

It works really well for my subject - geography - as we are fairly content heavy (would work with similar subjects like biology too)