Prelims 2018

[Groovee]

I know some people have already sat their prelims.

Ds started with English today. He has modern studies tomorrow (both Nat5) and Dd has higher business which is one she is crashing.

Ds got an A in Modern Studies. That's Nat5. He has PE this pm.

It's DD's 18th today. How is she 18? So meal out tonight.

Dd has her drama practical on Monday then it's over.

Wow 18! Happy Birthday to her :)

Happy Birthday to your Dd

Well done on the A in Modern Studies and a belated happy birthday to your DD!

Ah da only got 36% in maths. It appears to be just his class. Dd says she will help.

Ds got a B in chemistry, C in graphic communication, A in Modern Studies and D in maths. English won't be back til next week.

Dd did drama today.

Can anyone give any advice as to how nat 5 results translate into Highers? Eg do grades tend to be the same, or go down? I know there's lots of factors but my DD isn't sure about taking maths higher. She's got As in her nat 5 prelims in biology, French and geography. B in chemistry but only got 59 % in maths. And that's with a maths tutor weekly for several months and she revised for it! If she gets C or low B. I think she'd be better not taking it as higher because realistically she's unlikely to then get a B. And a C isn't worth much so I think she'd be better dropping it and try a new nat5 subject to then take as higher in S6.
Any thoughts? How big a jump is it to higher? Has anyone child spread it over 2 years? She's a stressy revisor at the best of times.

decena - depends on what she wants to do post-school.

There are some Uni courses/universities that, iirc, require a B in Nat 5 Maths. I think teaching is one.

She's hoping to scrap a B at nat5, it's whether to do it as a Higher that's my query.

If she only thinks she'll scrape a B then she'd probably be better doing a subject she enjoys. Again, it depends on what she wants to do post school. If she wants to do something that needs Maths Higher then she'll need to persevere. Also, if she is wanting to do certain Science subjects for Highers, some of them may assume a level of Maths knowledge that she might struggle with.

Neither Maths nor English Higher are now automatically required for Uni any more.

I mentioned the Nat 5 Maths because it is the one that can catch people out at a later stage. So if she doesn't get her B, then she may have to sit it again in either S5 or S6. Again, depending on what she wants to do.

Thanks.
She's definitely taking biology and probably chemistry at higher. Her chemistry prelim was about 65 %, can't recall exact.
Uni courses she's considering are nursing, radiography, biology, animal science, she's keeping an open mind. I've told her to do what she enjoys but it has to be something that leads to a job!

She has 2 maths teachers, one said that it's a big jump to higher and they are thrown in at the deep end straight from the start. The other suggested it can be done over 2 years but I can't see any advantage in that? Why not just do it and then resit if fail it?

I have to agree: I'm not a fan of the 2 year Higher. My mum was an English teacher and she was very against it. In her view it meant that if you flunked the exam, you had no second chance - and worse, that in some cases it meant that pupils and teachers took their feet off the gas and weren't as focussed

Has she looked at the entrance requirements for the subjects she wants to do at the Unis/colleges she'd like to go to?

None specify maths higher - some such as Aberdeen say 2 of science/maths so she's ok with biology and chemistry. Edinburgh needs B at nat5, no mention of higher. And others have less requirements so she's ok. The more we talk about it, the more she's happy to quit after nat5.
Does anyone pick up maths higher again in S6 after no maths in S5? She'd be a year older and wiser.

Well Dd got a B in English, a C in biology and failed the rest.
Arrrrrrrrghhhhhh.
fanny waxing at Clydebank college awaits

My DD is 3 prelims down now with 2 to go...one on Friday and one next Tuesday. She's given up on French but seems to think biology and English went okay.

. My mum used to threaten my sister and I with Clydebank college to make us study however fanny waxing hadn't been invented then.

DS2s best friend got similar at prelim last year but managed ABCDD. He's got offers (contextual) from various unis including Glasgow this year - so definitely not lost for your DD plus there are some great college courses.

Honestly I could bloody strangle her, she is so capable but she just won't.

@decena my Dd got C for maths N5 and re sat it and got 1 mark off an A. A number of her friends who got A's failed higher.

For biology A at Nat5 but a D at Higher. All we know is her whole class did badly and the teacher left.

So how they do in the Nat5 May not go brilliantly at higher.

DS1 got 98% in the Maths Nat 5 and got a B in Higher (1 mark of an A right enough but clearly nowhere near what he got in Nat5)

He got a Band 2 (just off a Band 1) A in Physics at nat 5 - he just scraped a B at Higher.

Other subjects he got an A for he also managed an A at Higher.

I don't think Maths is one of those subjects where it's easy to pick up extra Marks, it's either right or wrong, you either know it or you don't.

I know some people in DS2s Maths class where he is doing Nat 5 again, are from 6th year and are doing their Nat 5 after failing in 4th year and taking a break and they seem to be finding it better after the break but obviously that's still Nat 5 and not the jump to Higher after a break.

Thanks Wax, that's very interesting. I agree with your comments on maths - I think some kids (and adults) either get it or don't. No amount of work will change that - it may improve by a few marks and the straightforward questions are fine but the problem solving ones are the problem - you either identify the problem and the approach or you haven't a clue. I think DD is happy to not take it to higher. Even the likes of St Andrews Univ don't require higher maths to study the likes of biology.

We have a weird dynamic in that DS1 really gets it and DS2 really doesn't. I think he scored about 26%. He does need Nat 5 Maths though as everyone wants it regardless of what your plans in life are. His issue is that although he understands it at the time of doing each concept, when he has a test paper with lots of different questions on it, he doesn't always know what concept he needs to use. It appears to be a hard one to resolve as he is still doing okay (but not brilliant) in class tests but fails past papers continually.

Well, DS got an A* in chemistry, 6 A’s (physics, Maths, english, Philosophy, IT and Engineering Science).......... and a C in Spanish.

He’s really pissed off about the C in Spanish. He was one mark off a B so I’m just reminding him that he’s a year and a half behind everyone else and has done really well to catch up this much. If he focuses and stops being pissed off he’ll be more than capable of getting a B for the real thing- just need to convince him of this and remind him that in a few months time he’ll never have to study Spanish again!

Dd got an A in Drama. She's delighted as she didn't expect that as she felt she hadn't been good enough.

Sorry, this wasn't coming up in my feed anymore. Well done to your DS Wicked and to your DD Groovee