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Original poster

GCSE Support Thread 2013

681 replies

wolvesarerunning · 18/04/2013 16:33

I've been waiting for someone to start this (was on the 2012 thread last year and am unlucky enough to have dc 18 months apart in consecutive school years!) Please join me to support and share the angst with only four weeks to go now to the first written exam.

OP posts:
RussiansOnTheSpree · 10/06/2013 23:15

circular The only OCR subjects DD1 had were music and history. I suspect that schools stick with what they know, in the main. And a lot of that is down to area.

basildonbond · 10/06/2013 23:42

ditto here prettydaisies - although ds actually managed a 'good' for history (germany paper is his best one) with an 'ok' (just to ring the changes from all the other 'ok's ...) for chemistry

biology on thursday, philosophy on friday then just one more to go ....

circular · 11/06/2013 07:04

Russians None of the 6th forms we visited did OCR for GCSE either, although one does for A level. Current school seem to think OCR is the best or A level
preparation in any board.

No exams today, Chemistry and Physics revision classed, then hope for some Geography cramming for tomorrow morning.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 11/06/2013 07:26

History is our only OCR one, too. Most are AQA and I think RE is EdExcel.

I think dd has a day of lounging planned for today. I wonder if she'd like to help me paint the living room? Grin.

Casey · 11/06/2013 07:42

Some of the different boards have very different specifications. We teach AQA English, but my son (different school) does WJEC. It's very different to AQA: the language is in some ways more straightforward, and the lit more challenging. I quite like it. But switching exam boards for an established department is a huge change to make.

ds2 will do OCR music. A mate of mine, music teacher, said OCR is a great course, lots of fun and quite challenging in places; but that AQA is a better preparation for A levels...

Edexcel and AQA science seem to have mainly similar content; but organised very differently into modules.

RussiansOnTheSpree · 11/06/2013 07:46

Well I'm off to London and Brussels for the rest of the week so I will miss the rest of this week's exams, DD2s optional SATs and some maths competition she is doing today (I have, literally, NO idea what it is).

I don't know about science at all. But I can't believe DD1s school wouldn't be doing what they thought was the best syllabus given their record and their 'science is all that matters' attitude. But even given that, people's views are coloured by their experiences and the old boards were highly regional.

cory · 11/06/2013 07:57

the maths, the maths, the maths...

dd is now doing the higher paper having been in hospital during the foundation paper

she has the ability, but does she have the nerves?

going on previous form she will either freak out during the next half hour or get in that taxi and be ok

I don't think I really care about the exam, I just want her not to freak out

webwiz · 11/06/2013 08:02

DS is doing OCR gateway sciences circular but I think he's doing the A series. He doesn't appear to have done any revision yet for the 7s but since they only finished the syllabus a couple of weeks ago its probably still fairly fresh in his mind Hmm

webwiz · 11/06/2013 08:03

Hope she's ok cory and holds her nerve.

boschy · 11/06/2013 09:06

how's it going cory? hope she kept it together

cory · 11/06/2013 09:25

She's gone in!!!! The taxi was half an hour late, it got to our house at the exact time when the exam was starting, she stood there outside the house in the rain for 30 minutes and held it together!!! I am sitting here sobbing with pride and relief.

The lovely school receptionist I spoke to on the phone assured me it would be fine if she was late, but I don't really care about the exam, if she can cope with this then she can cope with life, she can live.

I shall now go looking for beggars to give money to, colleagues to buy cups of coffee for, mums with pushhairs to help off the bus. I'll just need to wash my face first Blush

Best of luck to everybody who is sitting maths today!!! Flowers

If I drop off MN you will know that I have been arrested for patting babies on the head and smiling at small children.

RussiansOnTheSpree · 11/06/2013 09:28

Cory - I'm so happy for her. And you.

webwiz · 11/06/2013 09:29

Glad she went in Cory - well done to her Grin

cory · 11/06/2013 09:43

this is the child who tried to kill herself at the time of her last maths exam

who used to meet every scary situation by freaking out, self-harming, going into muscle spasms which would leave her incapacitated for weeks, hiding under the bedclothes, vomiting

and who is now going to be a real grown up with a real life

webwiz · 11/06/2013 10:04

No wonder your proud of her cory.

TheOriginalSteamingNit · 11/06/2013 11:11

Cory, that's brilliant, you must be really Grinning.

JWIM · 11/06/2013 12:40

Cory so pleased to hear how positive your DD is being. She will be able to draw on these recent successes as she faces her next challenges - and I hope that the exam went well for her too.

boschy · 11/06/2013 14:18

oh cory, I am welling up! good on that girl for her courage. sod the result, she got there.

official response from DD1 was "ok I think" no idea what that means Grin

MrsBartlet · 11/06/2013 18:31

I'm welling up, too! Well done to your dd, cory!

webwiz · 11/06/2013 22:06

Hope Maths was ok for everyone (especially cory's DD). DS said it was fine and he got some easy stuff wrong but got the hard stuff right which is what normally happens in his maths exams.

He has a day off exams tomorrow and was asking not to go into school but he's had a mysterious change of heart this evening which has probably got something to do with his new girlfriend (impeccable timing DS - start going out with first girlfriend in the middle of GCSEs Hmm)

creamteas · 12/06/2013 17:04

DD had geog today, and it went..... ok Grin so no change there.

Just one more exam to go, Maths on Friday, can't wait to be done with this now!

Hope everybody's DC are hanging on in there..

boschy · 12/06/2013 17:20

study leave officially declared today - although tomorrow is all day maths revision before final exam on Friday morning. she has decided to go in first thing and stay 3 lessons at least after I pointed out that she would do nothing at home, and I certainly cant help her... so pleased with that decision; also thinks it helps maintain the routine til the very end.

makes me laugh that they are all so monosllabic - yeah, ok, whatever - just as well probably as I have no idea what she is talking about most of the time. they all seem to be pretty clued in about the questions which get the marks etc.

hang on in there everyone, there is light at the end of the tunnel! Grin Wine Wine

webwiz · 12/06/2013 17:39

No sign of study leave here yet but DS said only about 40 people were in today out of 155. He had a useful day though and did more than he would at home. There are still 6 more exams to go here so am jealous of those so close to the end Smile

Horsemad · 12/06/2013 18:13

Downward slope here now, only 3 left. Grin

prettydaisies · 12/06/2013 18:30

DS is still on study leave at the moment, but goes back to school on 24th for the rest of term.
He has 2 exams tomorrow - classics and biology and I know he has revised quite hard for these.

Well done to cory's DD.