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

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

Secondary education

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:

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Movingtimes · 28/04/2013 21:00

DD1 is in Y11 and doing 3xScience, 2xEnglish, 2xMaths, German, RE, History, Music, Drama - I think that's the lot. 12 in total.
She seems to be quite calm at the moment, though we had to drag her out today for a country walk and pub lunch as she said she had too much to do. Pointed out that fresh air was a basic requirement.
She has been revising Of Mice and Men and Animal Farm this weekend and I found some big lined sticky notes in The Works that she has found really handy for revision notes - they are A5 size and well worth getting if you have a Works near you.

RussiansOnTheSpree · 28/04/2013 22:12

Moving - my DD1 is in Y10 and doing practically the same as yours - 3xscience, 2xEnglish, 2xMaths, French, RE, History, Music and Geog. The RE is only short course though. She has a fairly even split of exams - 12 before half term, 12 after. Sadly for her, her 15th birthday is on one of the exam weekends, and she has 3 exams on the Monday immediately after. So, not much celebrating then. :(

She has an injured hand - broke most of the fingers in a fight with a door at school, the door won, the breaks are healed but two of the fingers also dislocated and although they are back in place one has a tendency to pop out and there is ligament damage, so it is in a bad way. She is therefore typing most of her exams, but not all of them sadly. It's all a bit of a disaster really. But she is giving it a go. She really doesn't like being beaten. So, we shall see what we shall see.

Movingtimes · 28/04/2013 22:46

Russians, your poor DD, that sounds awful. Good for her for keeping on going. Bad luck on the birthday front too, you'll just have to do something nice when its all over. DD turns 16 well after the exams finish, luckily for her.

cory · 28/04/2013 22:55

Not looking so promising here. Dd was supposed to do 10 GCSEs + one BTech, and was predicted top grades, but has missed the best part of the last two years due to severe anxiety and depression and is atm trying to pull herself together to get 5 GCSEs as that is what she needs for college. It will look rather bizarre on her CV as she will probably still be getting A*s for English and English lit (the only subjects she can do without having attended classes) and then hopefully scrape three more passes. She may have to do her maths GCSE in Sixth Form. But every exam depends on whether she is well enough on the day to sit in the exam room and not pass out.

Still, she is alive and she might have died. GCSEs aren't everything.

Movingtimes · 28/04/2013 23:05

Your poor DD has had it really tough in the last few years Cory. But as you say, she is alive and any formal qualifications can be made up later if necessary. I know several DC who are going off to university in September having had to take a year or two out of formal education to deal with various things (anorexia, ME etc) and while it has been hard for them and their families in the long run, recovery is the most important thing and exams come a very distant second to that.

cory · 28/04/2013 23:23

Three times in the last year I have thought I was going to lose her, Moving. If we've lost 5 GCSEs instead, I think I can bear up.

TheWave · 28/04/2013 23:31

Ooh I hate finger/door injuries, so nasty. Hope it heals better over time and she does ok Russians

TheWave · 28/04/2013 23:32

And poor cory and DD. Hope you are both managing.

Cooroo · 29/04/2013 13:15

Another Of Mice and Men here, also The Crucible. I tend to stay out of the English as it's her best subject and she just gets on with it.

I was pleased when she said 'I'm going to revise really hard after stand-down, making a timetable...' etc. Then I finally got my hands on the elusive exam timetable, and her first exam is BEFORE stand-down. Fortunately it's RE, where she will spout atheist ideas and hopefully scrape through!

I do wish it was all over... then we'll only have A levels and possible higher education to stress over!

Cooroo · 29/04/2013 13:17

Cory, only just read your posts properly. Best wishes to you and DD - keeping healthy and happy is much more important than bloody GCSEs!

wolvesarerunning · 29/04/2013 14:14

OP here,good to see this thread now going strong and that a separate AS thread now running as well so I can share the joys on both! Is anyone else's DC doing Welsh board English? DS is which means that we got Mice and Men behind us last year and just Christmas Carol and A View from a Bridge this time. English is a big worry, his least favourite subject and he won't concede that it is vitally important and could drag him down in the future if he gets a mediocre grade.

OP posts:

wonderingagain · 29/04/2013 17:29

Hi everyone, we are in Year 10. DD never studied in the past, still does bare minimum but predicted good grades so I'm not that worried except...

I don't believe the school that she can do that well when she never does any work at home! I feel as though all her friends are working much harder than she is and I'm worried she's going to fall flat.

RussiansOnTheSpree · 29/04/2013 18:30

I just found out that DD1 has the creative task for music tomorrow. I had no idea it was tomorrow, I'm not even at home (in London for work till tomorrow evening). However that's fair to be honest, she generally asks me to leave the country if possible when she has an important exam as she worries about me being worried and getting knocked over or setting myself on fire or something like that as a consequence of being distracted. Apparently she's fine with me setting myself on fire in another country or, at worst, in London. It's just doing it in her own home she want's to avoid. I don't know whether to or :(

KatyMac · 29/04/2013 19:33

Oh Russians

DD is recording her GCSE Music composition tonight - I have 7 African drums being played in my conservatory!!

UnderwaterBasketWeaving · 29/04/2013 19:42

Hello GCSE parents!

Can I recommend youtube for science revision videos. Virtualschoolsuk, crash course and Sci show have some good ones.

If you're doing AQA sciences, search for AQA gcse science and someone's done videos for each unit.

For A level (and even those doing higher GCSE or preparing for A level) the Khan Academy videos are just amazing.

Also, my favourite revision technique is the mind map (google Tony Buzan for a good explanation) but students hate it because it requires effort and thought. But that's one of the things that makes it so good.

Thanks for being motivational! I wish all parents were so positive.

RussiansOnTheSpree · 29/04/2013 20:29

katy - thanks! Good luck to your DD. I suppose that's the same as what DD1s syllabus calls creative task, but I don't think they record them - I think they just wrote down their compositions, but they do play them to make sure they sound ok, I think......it's based on a prompt so you can't just make up anything you want, it has to fit the sample they provide.....

KatyMac · 29/04/2013 20:34

I think she had to do it on a area they have studied; but DD does African Drumming anyway so she just asked her group

By heck they are loud - she has 10 hours controlled assessment & a performance (I think)

circular · 29/04/2013 20:36

Cory Hope it all works out and best wishes to you both

Russians That's awful with your daughters fingers. Can she still play?

Katy /Russians Is that Edecxel Music.? DDs compositions were done & dusted last term.

circular · 29/04/2013 20:38

Anyone else's DC still not finished controlled assessments?
Seems to be very last minute at my DDs school, still not completed Chemistry & Physics and having to do after school sessions.

KatyMac · 29/04/2013 20:39

Yes - DD is doing it in 1 year & did one composition first week of Jan and now this one

webwiz · 29/04/2013 20:44

DS has finished all his controlled assessments circular - I think I would be a bit about after school sessions at this stage. The last one DS did was a french writing a couple of weeks a go and I thought that was a bit late! Compositions for music were all finished before Easter and so just practising listening papers in school at the moment.

UnderwaterBasketWeaving · 29/04/2013 21:06

Circular, are you sure they're not last minute second/third attempts?

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RussiansOnTheSpree · 29/04/2013 21:07

Circular yes it is awful. She can play if she is full of pain killers. Just about. But it's very painful. She isn't supposed to be playing at all, of course, but she is taking the strapping off and playing for little bits - she can do about 20 mins before she has to stop. But I'm trying to seriously limit it. Because otherwise it just won't get better. :( She couldn't play at all for a month after the initial injury.

creamteas · 29/04/2013 21:19

Cory, Russians sorry to hear about your DC, I hope things work out ok.

My DD still has a few controlled assessments to do . They started preparing for their last writing task last week. Chemistry, biology and geog also not quite finished. Their field trip for geog was only last week!

It is two weeks today until DD has her first exam. French, 3x science and RE before half term and revision is just focused on these at the minute. Well to be honest, it is just French and Science. RE will be a glance over the night before job, as the result in this is not going to make any difference to her life chances at all .

KatyMac · 29/04/2013 22:18

It's all finished......phew & the neighbours didn't revolt

it's here I hope

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