The 2017 Exams thread.

[WankersHacksandThieves]

I think we all found the thread last year useful and supportive so I've set this one up for us all to share our woe, angst and (hopefully) joy for the 2017 exam season. I'm also trying to have something on Scotsnet that isn't politics. I'm trying to avoid that tbh as it just all makes me too angry...

Anyway, I have two going through it this year, DS1 in 5th year sitting 5 Highers and DS2 in 4th year sitting 7 Nat5s.

Studying has been underway since the prelims ended. They are doing 3 x 25 minute Pomodoro sessions on weekdays and 4 sessions each day at the weekend. To be honest it's mainly been used for the coursework up until now but the last piece is due in today for DS1 and DS2s is all in now so proper study can commence.

How is everyone feeling?

Dd said Biology went much better than expected but she is struggling with Manchester. Girls her age not coming home has hit home hard. She's 17 too. They always need their mum or dad really x

Good luck to those sitting exams today. Dd is finished and as a higher dance student is teaching 140 kids from the cluster primaries dance today.

Dd1 still twiddling her thumbs in the limbo between exams. She's really quite shaken up with the girls from Barra being injured/killed as we used to live in the Outer Hebrides. Luckily this weekend is the Glasgow Feis - a Gaelic music festival where kids can do music tuition, crafts etc, and she's face painting at that for 3 days for actual money!

Roll on 2nd June!

Anyone doing Higher Italian today? DD has text upset and said it was 'horrific'. Wondering if anyone else thought the same?

Fire alarm went off and college evacuated half way through my Higher Sociology exam yesterday

Fire alarm went off and college evacuated half way through my Higher Sociology exam yesterday

Not good about the fire alarm, hope it didn't put you off too much!

Higher Geography for DD today, last one (thankfully!!!). She's put yesterday's trauma behind her and hopefully today will be much better

Good luck to everyone doing geography today! Last exam for DS. Hope it's a good exam for your DD SwiftAnchor after the Italian one.

Last exam for ds today too. Then more than a week off; technically starts back in S6 on the 6th but actually won't be back at school until the 7th as he's in the school team for the Adventure Race on the 6th.

It's the exam he's most confident about as he considers it just to be a memory exercise.

In the afternoon he's off to Glasgow Uni with a group of friends and their favourite teacher to visit some "non-echo room" (?) and then out for a meal to celebrate.

Dd is enjoying her downtime. She's worked hard. Cannot believe she's going into S6 and Ds in to S4!!!

We had dinner out last night to celebrate the last exam of 2017 - 12 this year between them. Will seem so much quitter next year with just the Highers and AHs :)

Busy weekend next weekend with both away doing DofE training weekend and practice weekend and then back into S5 for DS2 on the 5th. I don't think DS1 goes back into S6 proper until 20th June though he may pop up to get his timetable during the Work Experience week.

Schools in Glasgow stop at lunchtime on 27 August so at least he gets 3 weeks of his S6 timetable.

I'm presuming he doesn't have work experience the last week of term like he did last year, as he hasn't mentioned anything not that that means anything

He's already been telling me about the study schedules ("little and often") he's planning

Presume you mean 27th June :) - we don't break up until lunchtime on the 30th but then we are not back until 22nd August.

We are away for the first two weeks so it can't come soon enough. DSs will have hyper sun sensitive skin due to the drugs for their skin so an abroad holiday probably want the best choice but we didn't know that when we booked it. UV clothes and factor 50 hopefully enough.

DS2 went out yesterday in his shorts, which he wears all year round, a t-shirt.....and a bloody thick hoody!! Think I might need a can opener to get it off him before we go away.

I'd love to hear how people think geography goes!

Dd1 is out facepainting today, not at all bothered about Art on Tuesday. She says she knows everything there is to know about Van Gogh and Picasso and she'll study on Monday. Luckily Gaidhlig is listening and textual analysis and she's done every past/example paper there is, so again not much to revise. She's been meeting friends from school and speaking Gaelic with them.

Dc all off out today so I'm having a friend over for lunch and intend to sit and drink wine on the deck all afternoon :)

I did of course mean 27 June

They're back on 15 August (cue heat wave for the 2nd half of August )

Ultrasun do a good Factor 50 - not cheap but a once-a-day application (although I tend to top up mid afternoon with a "ordinary" one). Used to be difficult to get hold of, but now M&S sell it.

We are going abroad (don't go every year) so the first two weeks of July will be scorchio - happens every time :) It only rains when we book a UK holiday.

Yes, I've been recommended that as an option pb- possibly that would be particularly useful for the DofE outings. DH and DS2 have allergies and DS1 will be more sensitive than usual so it needs to suit them. I can use anything and everything so I tend to use stuff that the rest find they can't use :)

Iirc, the F50 is a sensitive one for families - but it obviously depends on what you're sensitive too.

...and that is the golden question. If we were able to isolate that exactly then life would be so simple :o

We usually have to take about 12 bottles (1 bottle per day) so it becomes a costly exercise - was much cheaper when they were small and had less skin to cover :)

Thanks for the reminder - just got dd2 to take suncream to her friends house as she's going to be playing in a pool (?) this afternoon. heres hoping she remembers to put it on. I reminded dd1 yesterday but she sat in the botanics in Glasgow yesterday afternoon in a slip-like top. ouch!

DD has come home delighted from her exam. That's her last one, so we are away for the weekend to celebrate!

Hope everyone has a good weekend ☀️☀️☀️

DS2 also pleased with H Geography this morning - "easy" rather than his usual "awright". One more to go for him - Politics next Friday. However he's having afternoon off and has gone to buy a prom suit.

Ds came home really happy from his Geography exam. Says that the malaria question (worth 10 marks) was a gift. Think the other question he chose to answer in that section (Global Issues) was on climate change, which was also one of his favourite topics.

He said he did make up the answer to one question (in the Human Environments section, so no choice) but it was only 4 marks and it sounds like he should get at least a couple (if not all 4 ) of points.

Question was "Evaluate the effectiveness of the strategies used to manage traffic in a developed world city you have studied" . He used his experience of cycling in Glasgow to talk about the cycle routes and how they've not been effective at reducing traffic by encouraging cycling due to bad design because they're not properly linked in the centre, the Nextbikes which aren't used as much as they could be due to bad weather, the Clyde Arc (also known as the squinty bridge yes he did mention its nickname in the exam) which hasn't reduced car traffic as much as was hoped as people still use the Kingston Bridge. Can't remember the other points he made (he said he made sure to put 5 points in as it was a 4 pointer) but he didn't mention the one-way system which he probably should have

He's brought home an exam paper which is why for once I can describe a question precisely.

He says he's totally confident of getting an A in it.

Thanks for that - sounds like a good paper. Prettybird, yes he probably should have mentioned the one-way system but if he wrote a lot of other relevant stuff it should be ok! (ex-marker!!)