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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Sign in here if your child is in Yr11 - taking GCSE's this Summer.

527 replies

Milliways · 18/01/2011 18:48

Hi
Apologies if this has been done this year, but I found a similar thread very supportive when DD started the exam treadmill (not at Uni) and we are about to start again with DS.

Milliboy is 15, late Summer baby so cannot get a job until the end of the Summer hols, when they will have all gone. Good news is - this gives him more revision time Grin

He is at a boys selective Grammar school, so the pressure is on to achieve. He also wants to aim for a decent Uni so understands that good GCSE grades are vital.

Still doesn't make the whole process any easier for him or me :)

Who else has boarded the 2011 Exam Express?

OP posts:
MABS · 19/05/2011 11:33

Freanch this am was apparently 'easy' . Always worries me, anyone else heard? DD has Biology this pm which we expect to be bad, she doing triple :(

Original poster
Milliways · 19/05/2011 16:22

DS was thrown that the last questions on the French paper were in French! (Apparently they are usually in English). Not a bad paper though.

He thought Biology was hard but ok. (Hee too is doing triple, but has taken no earlier modules).

OP posts:
magnolia74 · 19/05/2011 16:34

Mumble, Dd's English yesterday was to write about a memorable person etc.... She chose he great nan who passed away 3 years ago. She said she wrote so much and really put everything into it then came out and cried Sad

Thinking of getting her into a relaxation class or something though, anyone else dc suffering physically? Dd1 says her neck and back are really sore through being tense Sad

MABS · 19/05/2011 17:05

as expected, Biology was not great :(

Merrylegs · 19/05/2011 18:04

Helloo - just checking in again now exams are Officially Underway.

DS (who wasn't revising at start of this thread) did finally get it together to do some work and actually said he was looking forward to the exams!

Have a question - he took a biology resit (unit 2 AQA?) today - do they take the best mark or does the re-sit mark cancel out the other one? Does anyone know - because DS seems confused (as usual).

mumblechum1 · 19/05/2011 18:35

I wish ds was working hard enough to need relaxation classes... he's out with his best mate right now, planning a party in the park for tomorrow night Hmm.

Original poster
Milliways · 19/05/2011 19:03
OP posts:
TheSecondComing · 19/05/2011 19:13

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NotaMopsa · 19/05/2011 20:47

dd said french was 'average' but then told me one bit and it sounded completely wrong Hmm

Biology again was 'fine' (adjective of the season) all bar a five point question on villi ??

Does anyone clever know if you can not 'claim' an exam if you think you have done rubbish in it?? So it in effect need not exist????

choochoochaboogie · 19/05/2011 21:26

Merrylegs - for re-sits they take the highest score regardless of how many resits they do.

Chez nous we are pleased the biology is over and that we have a couple of days break until Tuesday - English lit and Italian - gulp.
Good luck everyone Wink

mumblechum1 · 19/05/2011 22:05

Notamopsa, yes, you can. After ds took RE last year the head wrote to all the parent to say that it had come to light that the temporary RE teacher had taught them the wrong syllabus and if they got a crap mark, they could effectively not claim it. There was something about 14 days after notification of the mark within which we had to specifically tell the school whether he was claiming it or not.

He didn't claim it as it was a C.

balia · 19/05/2011 22:09

Have told DD she can have the day off tomorrow, feel very guilty, but she's had a dicky tummy for a couple of days, is exhausted, has no exams and double PE and other subjects she has already done the exams in...feel guilty though. But everyone else's DC's are on study leave and I'm sure it'll do her the world of good.

We're going out on Saturday to do a Literature tour in a local city. We're taking copies of the poems and we're going to fit the 'sights' to the poems and discuss them. And visit the university to remind her what it is all about.

pipsqueak · 19/05/2011 22:12

another biology was hard feedback here !! fingers crossed all xx

mumblechum1 · 19/05/2011 22:22

Blimey, Balia, you're really dedicated!

We're not really involved in ds revision (or lack of) at all, if he does well it's down to him, same if he cocks it up.

TheSecondComing · 19/05/2011 22:32

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Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mumblechum1 · 19/05/2011 22:34

TSC, I remember taking my English Lit O level with a banging hangover.

Still got a B Grin

TheSecondComing · 19/05/2011 22:44

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NotaMopsa · 19/05/2011 22:47

mumblechum BRILLIANT thanks so much for that - so w can actually see what she gets and THEN decide ....?

mumblechum1 · 20/05/2011 07:14

Nota, yes. But you need to let the school know in advance, o/wise they'll automatically give her a credit. It was only because the teacher messed up in ds's case that the school brought it to our attn

MABS · 20/05/2011 07:23

just Maths today, statistics, to say she couldn't give a damn and will fail is an understatement :(

jgbmum · 20/05/2011 10:42

Another one here who found yesterday's Biology difficult, and that's despite getting 96% on a a mock paper they did last week under exam conditions. I really wanted that to be a good paper for him as he is typically sciency and finds English and RE pointlesss difficult. It would have been good to end the week on a high.

Milliways - I used to be Frumpy in the frost, but went back to my old name once spring arrived Grin

MABS · 20/05/2011 11:15

lovely! I have just had a text from dd 'you do know I won't be writing anything in the stats exam today?' I have not replied :(

Cupawoman · 20/05/2011 12:14

mumblechum "if he does well, it's down to him, same if he cocks it up".

Agree entirely.

mumblechum1 · 20/05/2011 12:27

DS's best mate is getting so much pressure from his dad at the moment, I feel really sorry for him.

Merrylegs · 20/05/2011 12:37

Thank you all for the clarification re re-sits. (Breathing a slight sigh of relief).

DS said that yesterday's Biology (not the resit) was 'good'. But he has said that about everything - even French, which he actually can't speak.

He said according to his teacher, that because Biol Unit 3 is the hardest, the pass mark is lower and last year you could drop 14 marks and still get an A*, so we shall see...