GCSEs 2012 support thread

[Kez100]

Here we go........hold on tight!

My dd told me her form tutor's study leave advice this morning. I think it's good, so I pass it on.

Divide the day into three equal chunks of time. Work for two of them.

Decide whether you're working or not working. If you are, work hard. If you're not, don't even think about working, don't beat yourself up for not working. Do whatever you want without feeling guilty because you know that you will be working hard again when the next chunk of time comes along. That way you enjoy your not working time, and use the working time effectively.

BackforGood - a similar story here.
DS also not on "study leave" until half term. I don't understand why some schools are doing half study leave? (Starting study leave half way through the exams) DS doesn't finish his exams until 20th June. Surely the school should commit one way or the other?
He admits he thinks it's better to be at school.

Every lesson is a revision session. Normal timetable seems to be suspended and where they have completed a subject they can use that time to revise another.

French today here and DS has done very little at home.
He says he has done nothing but revise every lesson for months plus two extra revision sessions a week. He seems confident, lets hope he is right. I've always thought his French teacher over rated his MFL ability but she has predicted A*.

secret by half term they will have so few subjects with exams left that if the school continues study leave they will have so many frees that law and order will break down. I think ending study leave at half term is pragmatic.

seeker advice is good if your child works well in that way. For some concetrating hard for a third of a day is a step too far and other approaches may work better. Totally agree when not working don't think about it though.

I think an advantage to having all the children in school, is they can be found quickly if they forget an exam, which is not uncommon

Yes, by half term chaos would reign and the timetables left would be so slim.I think ending then is a good compromise. Obviously a few children will work better at home but, I suspect, many wouldn't or would work equally as well.

DD's just back home after her French exam. She's relieved the first is out of the way as she couldn't sleep last night. RE tomorrow.

She's been doing 2-3 hours revision a day with the odd evening off to recharge. At school they've been revising and taking mock papers in practically all subjects for what seems like ages.

DD also just back from French. Did your DD do OCR? DD thought some of the the subject matter rather odd but all her friends concurred on the answers so either they are all wrong or all right!

DD's was AQA. There were a few questions on relationships and something about a man who worked in a factory assembling mattresses. Sounds odd to me but she's feeling quite positive about it.

Oh dear. Text from dd. Shocking.

Hope its not that bad..

Shes still at school doing maths revision then on to ballet so i won't get to quiz her till later.

Shhe doesn't get study leave till after half term. I think revision sessions at school are ongoing.

DD said something about a goat and a man in a cupboard (hopefully not together!) in hers!

One down 18 to go.
French went well according to DS. I didn't get much detail out of him but goats were not mentioned
1st of 3 RE exams tomorrow.

My DD had French today too - WJEC. Hers was about unemplyment, apparently. She thinks she did very well in the listening but isn't so sure about the reading. She also had music, and said it was hard (WJEC again) and there was a question on something the whole class agree the teacher told them not to revise, it wasn't on the syllabus anymore .
We have just had a fun half hour utilising the barbecue as a fire pit to burn French and Music revision!

I've decided to pack DS off to school/the library tomorrow as his is incapable of revising at home. So far today he's walked the dog, made me lunch and researched university courses all in the name of procrastination

DS had Music first thing, which clashed with Maths iGCSE, so he had to be kept in isolation for a brief break between the two. The maths was 2.5 hours but he said he finished it in an hour! Don't like the sound of that! He did however spend the remaining time going over each question again.

Then he had French listening (EdExcel), which he said was hard. And apparently he's supposed to be good at French. I say "apparently" as I've never seen any evidence of it when we've been over there. Most he's been prepared to offer is "quatre, s'il vous plait" whilst pointing at the croissants.

My ds also had music today, he thinks it went well.

Another report of a very hard Edexcel French listening here too. Daughter has been getting high D's in all mocks but reckons she knew less than half of today's paper and reckons she doesn't stand a chance of a C Grade now.

that sounds like a busy day clam. Dd did Exdexcel French listening too and her group all thought it was very hard - much guessing required.

Well, my theory is that if they all found it hard, then the grades might be rebanded accordingly??????

5+hours (not exactly sure as he anticipated 5 hours this morning before he realised that the maths was longer than he thought).
Nothing more now until Thursday, so he's taking the evening off from revising. Sounds fair enough to me. Made him take the dog out instead!

That's what dd is hoping too clam - though she's in a fortunate position because her old teacher entered them for the two French exams last summer instead of having internal end of year exams, so it will be her best result from the two that counts. She was rather hoping to improve though.

None today but RS tomorrow. She is currently having private maths tuition in the dining room. Dreading English lit next week!

Have just completed a test of Biology revision cards ready for tomorrow's exam. She also has RE, but she does that through the medium of Welsh so I am of limited help!

AQA French foundation here. DD said is was reasonable. No recollection of goats or men in factories though!

Early reports from my school, who were also doing AQA, were Foundation quite straight forward and Higher - bloody hard! Have also heard the same from a couple of other schools in the borough doing AQA French.

Glad the first one went well for DD. Physologically, it must be better to have a relatively straight forward start, rather than imposibly hard!

Hi there, just found this thread!
DD had her first English Literature paper today (IGCSE). She sounded pleased but went straight off to ballet so I haven't had much time to talk. I was so nervous!! She wants to do A level so she needs a good grade.

Break from them now until next week. Then masses of them all at once week of 28th. Cannot wait for half term!

The school I teach in also had music this morning. There was a revision class first thing with cakes . The head of music is fabulous. I think he found it a relief to get them done, though!

I suspect that this year and next year the Grade boundaries will be tight so Gove can prove that schools/teachers/exam boards are all shite. Then they might be loosened to show what a difference academies make.

I have no evidence at all for this - but it seems to be a common theory!

So much for ds doing an iGCSE in maths - he can't even count! 4.5hrs of exams today, not 5+

He does all his revision in the playroom/family room downstairs. I frequently burst in on him to check he's not on FB he's OK. Surprisingly he hasn't been distracted much at all. Bit of Skype, supposedly revising with mates on line but mainly it's been head down concentrating!
No study leave at all at his school.