First term of yr12 over - working at grades / workload /much holiday work?

[circular]

Curious how its been for others with the 'big step up' from GCSE to to AS.

DD1 doesn't seem to have been getting much homework, possibly completing most of it in free periods. When I casually mention 'reading around a subject' she looks at me as though I'm from another planet, and says she is not interested in any of her subjects enough to do extra, apart from Music.

She would typically come home and say she got an D or U in (say) a Physics or French test, but then says half the class got a lower mark than her. This is at a school that gets around 60% A to B at A level., so selective 6th form. DD1 got 2A and 2A at GCSE in her AS subjects.

Had parents evening just after half term, and although then working well below ultimate targets, none of her teachers seemed unduly worried. No end of term report yet, but hearing subsequent test results, not expecting much change in grades.
DD1 Says she understands everything in lessons, teachers seem to agree, and think it is just more question practice that she needs. But unless work is actually set, she has no motivation to go and do any extra. She thinks past papers should be left till nearer exams, says text book is rubbish, and has found a few inaccuracies in study guides so pushed them aside too. Tried to get her to look at Khan academy site but not interested.

Does this seem normal, or should I be worried at this stage?
Anyone else seeing similar or are they all flying?

No 11+ here either which I am very grateful for.
DD2 is not stressful - very laid back! She already has an A* in maths and took English Language in November - I am just hoping she got an A (her target grade), otherwise school have said she will have to retake.
Good luck with your DD2 - I assume it will be very similar to the old 'o' levels but unfortunately I think Gove will continue to 'tinker' with the exams so who knows :(

circular I know some engineering and physics courses at university prefer students who have done the mechanics modules, because they are relevant to the course. I don't think it makes any difference if you want to study maths. Most schools don't give a choice as to which modules are to be studied so if universities were to look down on certain choices that would be like saying not all A-level maths qualifications are equal, which Ofqual would presumably be on the case about.

That said, I think students find mechanics challenging because they have to figure out what is going on in the diagrams for themselves where decision says 'apply x algorithm to this problem', and stats also tells you what technique to use. We do M1 in Y13 not Y12 for that reason.

Mumslife - DD doing maths and sciences and has a huge work load too - just different from essays. Lots of calculations, write-ups, learning & remembering processes/formulas, self study and investigating. Some of her friends are doing literature - one has declared Kite Runner as the best book she has ever read!
Can you email her teacher if you have concerns? Do they do 'clubs' where she can go for extra help?

Mumslife - It seems like Essay based subjects have more work set and books to read/analyse, so the workload is a bit more clear cut. For maths/sciences, its more about understanding rules and applying them, then lots of practice to get used to the types of questions.
DD doesn't have any friends doing 4 essay based subjects, one doing Eng Lit, French, Chemistry and (I think) Biology seems to have a huge workload. As does another doing English, Drama, Media and Performing Arts, but that's the practical stuff on top of the reading.

Nobelgiraffe -DDs maths spec says D1 and M1 in yr13, so could mean both and taking best results or a choice. Only the FM students do M1 in yr12

Thought I would encourage her to do a C1 past paper today. lots of groans of forgotten this or that. Hope that will give her some pointers of what to revise, as she still doesn't have the C2/S2 homework.

I can't imagine that they'd possibly have time to do both M1 and D1 in Y13, so they must have a choice. That's pretty good of the school to offer both, my school wouldn't have the funding. I expect the physics/engineering types would be encouraged to take M1, students wanting to go into computing or business would be better off with D1.

Does she have a school login for mymaths? The interactive worksheets on that would be good for revision of the bits she has forgotten - it's got all of the A-level stuff on there.

Yes, does have mymaths, will tell her to get back on there tomorrow.
Just marked her C1, not impressed, 23/72 and that's with marks for working. Fractions, reciprocals, signs and powers don't seem to be embedded in enough, should be second nature by now.

They are also doing Solomon Papers or something - they are the ones she has 'forgotten' which have been set for holiday homework.

23/72 is a U, so yes, she definitely needs to do some work! Working through the paper again but with access to her notes would be a good start.

Hi noblegiraffe. I know my DD's school offers a choice of M1 and D1 in year 13. I presume they can split the classes? The current year 12 timetable has all 3 maths classes at the same time so I assume it will be easier to have 1 class say doing D1 and 2 doing M1? Although DD's teacher has muttered about doing both if they have time - but I hope not! I'm pretty sure DD1 will want to do M1 as hopefully doing physics will give her a head start - or is it different material?
I know DD has finished C1 (mock was a few weeks ago) and done most of C2 with the mock in Feb - but has not started S1.
What are 'Solomon papers'?

Yes, very aware it's a U, didn't expect it to be quite that bad, as she was hitting Bs in the first few attempts after completing the unit several weeks ago, with no extra revision. 60 to 70% is her usual level when not putting much effort in.
Shows how quickly they lose it when they don't use it.

practise makes perfect Circular! Good luck, she will get there.

hellsbells99 According to DD, Solomon Papers are practise papers that are meant to be more difficult than the real ones. her school login have links to some.

Googling came up with this link and several others. Most seem to be Edexcel (DD doing OCR). Also quite a bit of discussion on them on the Student Room came back.

Thanks hellsbells99, she has an awful memory, so should be doing more work to make some of the fundamental stuff become second nature.

Beginning to feel in a bit of a minority in the amount of overseeing Im having to do for a 16 year old. I know not doing her any favours for when (if) she gets to Uni, but seeing it as a means to an end at the moment. Thankfully hardly have to intervene with her music work, except reminding her to order music in time for exams etc.

Nobelgiraffe do you happen to know, is M1 much harder than the Mechanics element in AS Physics?

mumslife I don't think any AS's have a light workload but if you have a lot of one type of work essays/science questions/maths it can seem harder work than if you have a mix. DS does maths and further maths and three arts subjects (very long story as to why he has that mix of subjects) so he has lots of maths homework but lots of essays so it seems more balanced than just one type of homework.

DS does English Lit as one of his subjects and is finding it straightforward. He reads a lot and has already read all the set books so has been able to use his time to read extra "related" books. I think he finds History harder as he is a bit more erratic in his history essay technique.

circular DD1 was a pain throughout A levels and needed nagging to work /constant meetings with teachers/cajoling not to spend all her time with boyfriend who had a job and didn't need to study but she was fine at university and worked really hard. She finally grew up enough to motivate herself.

mumslife has your DD got English lit coursework to complete? DS has done first draft of an essay on the Great Gatsby and has some creative writing to make a start on over the christmas holidays (something inspired by dystopian fiction I think)

circular I think where there's overlap it's pretty similar. But I think that the stuff in M1 that students find the most difficult (objects moving down slopes, friction and pulleys) isn't covered in physics. The physics students didn't seem to be at any advantage there at least!

DD1 is doing Eng, Hist, Geog and Music. She seems to be on top of the workload etc. but I suspect I don't do nearly enough overseeing. She has got Bs in all her tests so far in everything except one history and one geography (out of 3 in each case) where she's got As. I'm not convinced this is actually good enough but like OPs daughter, she assures me most of the young people are getting lower marks than she is. But since I am certain she pays not one jot of attention to what anyone else gets (the most uncompetitive and lacking in arse person in the world, she is) I do not believe that she speaks with any credibility on this matter. She had a decent end of term report (particularly in view of the fact that she has missed 7 days in the last term due to hospital stuff) but still...I really wish she had opted for maths. It would have made her life a lot easier but she just wouldn't even consider it.

circular where is your DD's preferred course? As far as I can see there are actually only 5 anyway, unless I'm missing one...DD1 has her heart set on one place and I am doing my best to talk up all the other alternatives but with little obvious success so far.

Metebelis3 Are you saying 5 because of the first study instrument, or just taking the top 5 (excluding Oxbridge) for music?

If its the instrument, I know of 5 obvious choices, by either hearsay or asking, and 2 more where we she has asked (because of location more than course) and got a positive response. Although 1 definitely way out of her league academically.
Yet to do some serious emailing of more admin departments though.

Metebelis3 - mainly Bs and a couple of As sounds as though your DD is on track and understanding the content. Serious revision/past papers should get As.
Disappointed to hear there is not that that much overlap with M1 and physics!
Thanks for the info on solomon papers - have passed it on to DD.

Mumslife - is it worth trying out a tutor?