AS Levels

[MABS]

Anyone else suffering through this at mo?!

Jins same here with Chemsitry. As ds is dropping it after AS he has taken the possibly risky decision to not really do any revision, as he's focussing on getting strong results in the other two.

Mumble - that is exactly what DD1 did with her psychology last year. She did some revision, but knew that it was going to be the one she was dropping and wanted to concentrate more on the other 3 (not including General Studies there, as she thinks that is a waste of time and, more to the point, a 'piece of piss'

none for dd this week now, no work occurring either tho...

Well, English went well for DD2, but they had a bloody fire alarm about 15 minutes into the exam which stopped them for 20 minutes or so. The school have said that they will inform the exam board and allowances will be made. She says that bar that it was all good and well. The RE/Philosophy/Ethics one was 3 hours of 'stuff' but she was happy with how she thinks it went.

I've finally been told what's what and when... General Studies tomorrow and then Geography, History and another English next week. Her last exam is on Thursday next week, then she has two weeks off to play. DD3 is insisting that she comes to nursery school with her

DS felt his 2 maths papers today went reasonably well, such a relief given that they were probably the 2 maths modules he is most confident at.
Tomorrow he has Physics, and is quite nervous as he has found some of the subjects quite difficult.
I think he'll be glad to get tomorrow over with.

Had politics this morning, which went really well, and English lit this afternoon - the first question went fine but had to rush the second a lot. Break now until Friday :)

Break here too. DS and two of his mates have gone to the offy for some beer and getting some dvds.

Nice for them to have a bit of time off before the next tranche of revision

DS had C1 Maths this morning then Eng Lit pm - both went well. He is very tired though after 4 papers in 2 days and then a shift at work tonight! He gets tomorrow off then C2 Maths on Friday.

DD has her Uni finals looming as well.

DD1 had english this afternoon but when she came to do the last question, had to do 3questions in total, she was in total confusion as there was a misprint on her exam paper but didn't realize at first as everyone around her seemed to be coping, so just thought she was being dense but it transpired that half of the 4part question was just not printed!!!After5-10minutes of pondering dd put her hand up,invigilator came over, ambled off to get copy of exam paper and realized most of question was missing, he wouldn't leave paper with dd but insisted on dictating question to dd. DD is distraught as whole palava took 15minutes and i am furious as she was not allowed any extra time at the end!! I phoned school who so far have said that they will foot the bill if a re sit is necessary after results come out in summer but that is soooo unfair for my dd, any advice for what we should do next? Thanks

Oh goodness. I wonder if the school can inform the exam board and they can make an allowance? As I mentioned upthread, my DD's English was disrupted by a sodding fire alarm, so the school will be contacting the exam board to have this noted on their papers and so they are mark adjusted. Whatever the hell that means....

The school seemed so laid back about it which made me even more exasperated,thahks for your advice frank, sorry to hear about the fire alarm

Same here all cool and calm up to now, DS had Maths double paper today and came out with a big smile on his face and said it went really well, it was everything I did in past "exam papers".
Physics is tomorrow and that's different kettle of fish, he is nervous tonight, snappy and fidgety, it is his hardest subject by far and one DS wants to take it further together with maths, so there is lot at stake, I on the other hand had stomach upset all day, chronic ulcer which funny enough is playing up big time these past few days, I wonder Why?

Well we(!) had C1 maths today, DS said it went ok, but was harder than any of the past papers he had done. Edexcel btw. General studies tomorrow, does anyone know the point of general studies if the unis don't accept it? So at least a stress free evening and hopefully a stress free morning tomorrow :)

I'd have a bit of a proper whinge if it was my DD Geranium, it's really not on, your poor DD. Meh, the fire alarm was a bit of a bore, but at least it was all of them affected and not just one. It was early on, so they weren't all in the swing of it I guess. DD seems not to be concerned, so I'm hoping that is a good thing! Though she did add that she hopes never to see a piece of war poetry again in the next twenty years.

General Studies...Bloody waste of time. DD's FB status today is 'Wy the fucking fuck do I have to go in to school to write on a bit of paper for something that's no fucking use to me'

I didn't pull her up on her language on this occasion

dd is very pleased she didn't have to do general studies :)

Yes no General Studies at DS school either. I think it's only purpose is to make the school look better on league tables (old cynic here)

Geranium - Re the paper not being correct, I would be making a huge fuss with the school. Resitting the exam in January is unfair on your DD if she wouldn't otherwise have needed to, and I would be concerned that UCAS forms go in in the autumn, and I think they have the AS results on them (am prepared to be corrected on this but I think that is the "rules" now)

Yes no???

I sound like the old duffer in the Vicar of Dibley!

Should read

Yes I agree, no GS here etc

knew what you meant JGB ;-)

Geranium- I think this is terrible! So it was only your DDs paper which was wrongly printed and he dictated the correct questions for her to write down?? What was the teacher thinking? Surely he should first have randomly checked a couple of other question papers from the group and the invigilator copy and once realising that it was just her paper ( would have taken about 2 mins to do that) have given her a fresh one!
I think you need to really make sure that this incident is highlighted to the exam board now ie school needs to put in report with the papers of what happened. This is so unfair.
Tbh I wouldnt have been thrilled to be one of the other candidates sitting near her having to listen to the teacher dictate to her!

Was just coming on to say to Geranium exactly what schoolchauffeur has just said.

Well, GS now done. DD2 said, as predicted, that it was a piece of piss and a complete waste of time. One of her friends refused to write anything at all as a lonesome protest.

That's it for her for a few days now. DD1's A levels start soon enough too. That's the bit I'm really nervous about.

Thanks for your thoughts and comments, i did phone the school today and spoke to the head of english and they are going to submit a report to the exam board with dd's exam paper but i am still seething. The exam paper should have been checked at the printers but failing that it only takes a modicum of common sense by the invigilator to realize that if 15minutes has been wasted in sorting out problem, that should have been offered as extra time.
DD luckily had no exams today and has had a day off from revising, good luck with all your DC and thanks again for your advice.

my dd is convinced she is sitting the wrong A levels, despite reassuring her, I am beginning to to be persuaded. Going from straight As at GCSE to Cs and Ds in science subjects in january this year has really shaken her badly. Just called me at the office in floods of tears just now, at home alone on study leave after resitting Physics today and Chem yesterday. She is working like a dog, I watch her at the dining room table, her teachers say they are as surprised as she is by Cs her Isas and the January Module results. She has been planning her future since Year 8 and it looks like she may have to adjust, how do we help her with this? How do we navigate the line between encouragement and over-ambition?

Wait for the June results to come out. The jump from GCSE sciences to A level is huge. In January, they were barely beginning to make the transition. Some Students go from A to C. But the January modules aren't necessarily the best predictors. If the June modules come out as Cs, then re-assess plans accordingly. But until then, remind her that she has had 5 months longer to adapt. My year 12s are not the same students they were in January.

Thanks so much TheFallenMadonna, you obviously know what you're talking about. She has been on the StudentRoom and tells me she can calculate her scores on these resits from there, and that they were accurate in January. She gets even more airated when I suggest she calms down, and says she will get NO offers from Universities and is a complete failure (all still down the phone, same phone call...). Suggesting she calms down, causes more tears. Are there any subjects she could feasibly take in a year if she jacks Chemistry and Physics, and keeps the Biology and English Language? She says she thinks Psychology may be an option and she seems to get good marks in English (although her teacher put the wind up her today by saying that the Gender questions never get good marks, and that's what she planned to answer tomorrow - thanks for that!). I want be a calming influence, will say what you said about being 5 mths longer down the line, and waiting till June, just need something in the back pocket if that doesn't have the desired effect.

I agree with The Fallen Madonna too- my DD was straight A student at GCSE level and really couldnt choose between sciences and arts- ended up doing French Chem and Maths. French is fine and will prob get a high B or maybe and A. Chem and Maths she really struggled with- Ds in January mock exams and she felt so depressed as she was used to getting As all the time.

DD says that it is only now that she is starting to feel comfortable with the level and the material . Dont' make any rash decisions until the results come out in August.