Year 11 GCSE countdown. Revision angst begins.

[Fastenurseatbelts]

Ok. DS1 has broken up for Easter and we now have to all accept that this is it. He has been doing dribs and drabs since mocks in February and an hour- ish in the evenings of stuff set by teachers.

Nowhere near what I remember doing for my o'levels a million miles ago. Friends tell me their kids are doing nothing yet. Not sure I believe them though!

Waiting for reality to kick in with him but he still seems to be treating it all like an end of topic test in class!

What's happening in your house? Are you staying well out of it or like me walking round waving a CGP guide 24/7!!!!!

By the way, others in his school doing English Lit had studied a different book, Mr Pip? So there's obviously some choice involved.

DD is doing AQA she did OMAM and Under milk wood. 45 mins per essay is not enough time IMO

Verdict from my son:
Eng Lit (AQA) harder than expected.
Maths (iEDX) pretty straightforward.

AQA Eng list - Woman in Black was "very hard" and OMAM was ok. A bit worried cos its one of DC's best subjects.

Maths was okish but the last question, worth 8 points was "impossible".

I am doing cooked breakfasts on exam days too
Verdict on English lit was that it was good.
School are sending off a special consideration report re the pinging phone, not sure if I am allowed to contribute but I am going to write my spiel especially as his statement mentions sound sensitivity.
In the meantime ds has suddenly developed huge bald patches in his eyebrows!!! He looks very strange and all his friends noticed it today. I'm assuming it has to be stress related and they will grow back?

Ds didn't finish/conclude will that drop alot of marks? He said omam went well but he only left himself 27mins for wib. Also he did not realise the time on the laptop was not correct so he thought he has more time than he had.

Ds's GF was in tears on way home as she says she messed up by missing key points on structure. She's predicted a*s and wants to do English a level. I've told her not to worry and concentrate on paper 2 and she has decent marks from CA.

I think it's very hard to know how well you have done in English, and almost without exception able candidates think they have done much worse than they have.

Dd certainly isn't putting out bunting about today either. I got 'I don't want to talk about it' but then she did She said the OMAM questions were 'fairly easy' but she still thinks she didn't put in enough.

Schilke was asking about why I cry - definitely not about my experiences. I have quite positive memories of exams tbh. I think it's just a release of tension. I cannot WAIT for this to be over.

Ah not long to go MrsM. I was ok in exams as long as I had a seat next to the wall - I hated it if I wasn't and spent far too much time worrying about it!

Ds1 found English Lit better than expected - he was expecting the worst paper you could imagine though! He has now done 10 and got 7 to go. After half term they drag out until June 17th I think. He wishes they were nearer together so he can just say they're done.

11 more to go here - at least we are now at the half way point. Agree that the last few weeks will be very slow after such a heavy first two weeks.

DD found AQA English Lit questions quite easy and initially felt confident but is now worried that her writing is not unique enough as talking with friends afterwards sounds as though they all basically wrote the same essay for OMAM (not surprising though as this was one scenario their teacher went over with them a few times).

This is what she really wants to study at Uni and is her only subject with an A * star prediction. No exams tomorrow and she has gone to her dance class this evening so no revision tonight, but seems more despondent than after the exams she found challenging, I expect because this is the one she had high hopes for.

I was initially full of questions but realised it was making her feel worse to talk about it, so not really sure where she thinks she could have done better, tomorrow is all about poetry revision for Thursday to see if she can ace that one, quickly followed by another History paper that she also needs to do well in as not confident in the first paper.

If anyone out there thinks GCSEs are easy, they are welcome to spend the rest of the week in my house!

5 more to go in this house. Poor boy is tired after the last 2 and half weeks of work.

To be fair any school that still does OMAM for higher pupils is short changing them. But the AQA exam today appears to be very fair and gave opportunities to shine on all texts( feedback from pupils, I won't see the paper until tomorrow) .

DD has none tomorrow either. Geog and English on Thursday. Roll on half term!

That's interesting to hear Agggghast, she said the Lord of the Flies question was a gift as it virtually invited them to write what they wanted (talk about 2 significant events) so she was happy with that essay and spent 45 mins on it, rather than the 30 she had planned.

Sounds like a challenging day with Eng Lit. Dd said it was 'ok' as in not brilliant.
She says nobody's got exams tomorrow, but they all go into school anyway for normal lessons as usual and important things like taking selfies, writing leavers' notes to each other...Bless 'em

Why has nobody got exams tomorrow, anyway...?

Does seem to be lots of free days tomorrow - letting my DS stay home tas he'll get more done here with me helping than having to move between lessons all day. Main focus on Geography for Thursday and History on Friday - still quite a few dates to remember for American History - getting there though

Free day here tomorrow too. DD had iGCSE maths today and said it was fairly easy apart from the last question. English on Thursday then history on Friday. Then half term - Yay!

Glad we have a free day tomorrow here too...I'm having major surgery tomorrow so its one less thing for us all to think about. DS has strict instructions to revise in the morning and then wander round to his GP's later in the day (didn't like the idea of him sitting at home all alone all day)

Eng lit on Thursday here. It's a resit for DS to try and improve on last years C which he was very disappointed with as he loves the subject. An Inspector Calls and Heroes.

All the best for your surgery Mary.

Business studies tomorrow! So hes bought himself a new PC game and has been installing that for hours! No revision here at all. :/ hoping a weekend off this weekend will reinvigorate him for a half term packed full of core science and maths!

littlewhitebag my son said the same.