Going into Y11 support thread

[OddBoots]

Eep, it's GCSE year where we all wonder just how involved to be and just how many changes the government will make at the last minute.

Hopefully together it won't seem so scary.

I agree, just when you think you've got a handle on it all, they go and move the goalposts. Again.

here's this year's GCSE 'advice' thread!

I found some of the stuff on here useful- I got DS, just 15, to read it, too.

I admit to great fear about this year. DS just does not seem to grasp the importance of 'giving it your all'. He's not unintelligent- my 'feel' is he's capable of say 2 x A*, 2 x A, 4 x B and 2 x C; the better marks in maths/sciencey stuff. However, he managed a D for the Y10 Business and Communication GCSE .... And his end-of-Y10 report was a very mixed bag, some pretty good (Maths and Geography); some dire (Computer Science and, frankly, Triple Science!)- lots of talk of him having to get stuck in, ask if he doesn't understand etc etc, along with several '2's for effort i.e. not straight '1's which is entirely attainable (DS2, 13, gets that and is no goody two shoes). The disappointment on DS1's part lasted about 24 hours before the narrowed eyes, folded arms and curled upper lip took over again.

I 'get' teenage attitood, I really do, but I'm begging him to try and reign it in and realise the only victim of it is himself! I am already beginning to 'suggest' 6th form college might not be for him; that tech might be all he can get into with the sorts of results he's heading for more suitable for him, which is definitely not what was on his radar. He's not practical or outdoorsy at all. I understand that there are still options, like an 'advanced' apprenticeship down the line but he won't get onto one of those initially if he screws up his GCSEs the way he's heading.

He so assumes the £350k house and the two foreign holiday a year are 'the norm', yet says 'No one of my age can ever hope to own their own house' to which I counter that it's those on the 'have' side of the equation who'll find a way (all these ££ houses will have to be sold to someone, won't they?) but by 'have' I mean 'have choice' which he 'buys' via passing exams.

Anyway, he's currently on work experience at a local civil engineering company ('engineering' is what he thought he might go into) which has been useful; I have advised him to look at what the engineers do, politely enquire about pay structures, and for him to see that the engineers are in a better position than the technical draughtsmen, for instance. I am not going to make any apology about 'ranking' people- my own family is a curious mix of happy, well- enough off tradesmen; engineers, IT consultants and van drivers (badly off). I just want DS to see that if he aspires to a professional level of career, he has to get good grades in his GCSEs. And now, whilst at school, is by far the best and easiest way of getting them. I so wish he were a year more mature at this 'still time to salvage it' stage!

I'm joining in too.

My DD1 wants to do well and tries hard when nudged.

I'm worried about

• what to do next, she'd like to do A levels but I'm not sure her results will be up to it, and there is no good plan 'B' at the moment
• how much 'extra' work should I be getting her to do this term

Transie 'Engineering' is not a bad starting point. The apprenticeships give opportunities for continuing study which means the technical draughtsman can progress to professional engineering.
The issue with this type of apprenticeship nowadays is that they are very, very sort after and the required qualifications (sorry I am out of date with what they are!) are only a benchmark and those employed have far higher grades than asked for.
I see this all the time in secondary school - I'm going to be an electrician Miss so I need a C in Maths & English. Those that get the electrician jobs with the prestigious companies here (Berkshire) have As and Bs at GCSE and often A level students who decide university isn't for them apply too.

Indeed, woodlands; I don't think DS has any idea of the level of competition out there. Since our government/s have progressively sought to divide our society into the predator and prey, it's even more imperative that a DC who is capable of being at what I'd prefer to think of as 'the upper hand' in life, needs, right now, to get on with it.

There just aren't the jobs out there any more for the less qualified. There's certainly more or less no chance of home ownership, overseas holidays... i.e. choice.

I'm ok with dd for this year, she works hard and this should be reflected in her results. I'm worries about the transition to 6th form and the choices ( or lack of ) that we have. We are looking at the local college, or a scholarship into an independent girls school.

We have a meeting at school next week, I'm hoping for some guidance for post 16 choices.

Have any of your DC done much over the summer? My ds has probably done about 10 hours total over when whole holiday, I haven't nagged or pushed him as I thought he might need this holiday before the stress of Y11 but now I'm worrying he'll go back and will have forgotten loads.

DD did a little bit of homework in the first few days of the holidays. Then nothing for 5 weeks, then watched Henry V on DVD a few days before going back.

tbh She hadn't had a proper break since last Christmas. Loads of HW Feb half term, preparing for RE exam at Easter, revising for end year exams in June. She needed a good break to recharge. I'm estimating she has 9 CAs still to do, excluding Drama so I think things are going to be pretty full on this term.

We have been getting good general guidance, but I need some specific guidance for DD re whether she can really manage A levels. trouble is school only goes to GCSE so her teachers don't teach A level, but 6th form colleges don't know DD. Going round in circles currently!

Oddboots, my dd has done a little, but mostly Art course work. I'm not bothered, she needed a good break.

There is an age old problem with BTEC. I did a BTEC in Business and Finance in the 1980's and suffered from exactly the same stigma, so it won't change very soon. However, it was absolutely the right course for me - I am now and FCA in practice as is the other girl I shared the top grade with.

My daughter did a BTEC and walked into a competitive art degree with an unconditional offer.

They are great courses but you do need to look at the units the colleges cover - because they can choose some of them and they do vary. Look forward at where the student wants to be in a few years time and work backwards is my tack on this. Look at Uni course entrance requirements for the sort of institutions the student aspires to or look at higher apprenticeships requirements. Only with that information can you see if there is a BTEC course which will fit.

My daughters comments are that BTECs are absolutely amazing but only if you love with a passion the route it is taking you. You are spending two years doing one subject - albeit in depth. So many of her friends fell out of the course because they just couldn't put up with any more but, for her, the course coverage was exactly what she needed with plenty of opportunity to hone her technical and contextual skills.

However, I think some BTECs are more wide ranging than others and some more highly rated than others - so that's why it is important to do the research. Starting early can help that process.

I've posted the above for those concerned what options there are for students possible not suited to A levels.

Kez The trouble is my only-just-15 year old doesn't know what she wants to do in the future. That is making life hard.

The only BTEC that even half way interested her was Childcare, and tbh she doesn't seem particularly keen on that, it's more the least-bad option ifyswim? She has been volunteering at an ASC and quite likes it, but doesn't come home buzzing about it.

She would like to do English, Spanish and History A levels but struggles with essay writing. She shows much more interest in these than in young children.

A BTEC in Spanish would be just great if that were possible ....

Yeah, completely understand.

Hopefully, year 11 will help her essay writing. We have found year 11 pretty intense! Maybe she could try and get extra help in year 11 to nail that skill as it will be really useful for GCSEs and later. Especially if they are the subjects they get her buzzing.

I've had a little look at apprenticeships and there seem to be a huge range of different ones available. I think ds will go for A Levels then either University or an apprenticeship, but at the moment we're not absolutely ruling anything out., the apprenticeship straight from school might turn out to be best if the right one comes up

Kez we are going to be focussing on those 3 subjects. The teachers are willing to mark and extra exam questions she does. Last term she had about 3hrs 1-1 time which helped a lot in history, so I think I will be talking with the school for some more (she qualifies for Pupli Premium Plus). She has also been referred to OT for ?dyspraxia so we'll see hwat comes of that too.

Odd Have you found a good site for listing types of apprenticeships? I'm having trouble researching the options as opposed to the concept.

I've mainly looked at the government site link

I've found other bits by accident when looking at jobs for myself, for example at our local council about 2/3rds of the jobs seem to be apprenticeships.

www.apprenticeships.org.uk/employers/find-an-apprenticeship-training-organisation.aspx

Hiya! Can I join? ds2 is just starting yr11. We've been through it all before with ds1 and came out successfully the other side.

ds1 was stressy, stressed, hormonal?, grumpy and belligerent in yr10 and was actually loads better, calmer and more settled in yr11. ds2 has been very pleasant all year in yr10, so I'm not sure what this year will bring!

I readily admit that we have made heavily encouraged DS to do one section of MyScienceGCSE every available day, including answering a GCSE style question over the summer hols. By 'available', I mean the days he wasn't swanning by a villa pool in Andalucia (11), or at Scout Camp (7), or on just-started-work-experience reprieve!

I am waiting to see if 2 weeks of work experience, being that leetle bit older, and understanding of what's at stake might, just might help DS along the road to achieving something near his potential.

I have never been a 'You must get A*s!' parent. Never; but I make no apology for being a 'You must get the grade which you're capable of!' parent.

Hi all. My PFB DD is just starting Y11 and she seems to have morphed into a grown up in the last week!

She is a relatively lovely being and not too 'teenagery'

Due to the way her school does things she already has 2 GCSEs under her belt so hoping that will give her some momentum and confidence.

She knows where she wants to go to sixth form but it is out of area so we need a contingency plan in case they are over subscribed. It's all very new and she is in fact the first one in either mine or DH's family to possibly go to Uni so we're trying to make sure we know as much as we can.

I just know this is going to be a stressful year, she does well but bloody hell she works hard for it, it does not come easily for her.

May I join? I have a dd just starting Yr11.
We've done it once before with ds, but they are very different kettles of fish.

To answer the question upthread, no, she hasn't done any homework over the holidays but they do seem to have hit the ground running this week.

Joining up too - my problem is that DS1 is more interested in his girlfriend than getting down to studying. At 15, he has been with her for over a year and you know what that means don't you ... God - how are you supposed to get a horny 15 year old boy to focus on anything else but the next opportunity to see his gf! Note: he's had the talk, he's been warned not to, he's been lectured adinfinitum (sp?) about how he's GOT to focus on school.

Can I have a moan about some subjects and their approach to controlled assessments? It seems to vary so much.

With some CAs the teacher has been very clear up front on the criteria - marking scheme, how much are they expected to write etc. This has enabled us to ensure DD fully understands what she needs to do. When she understands she can be quite competent.

With other CAs they seem to get sod all information, or information only parted with if DD goes in with a list of questions.

DD doesn't pick up on 'inference' well - she needs things to be stated explicitly, which all the teachers are aware of. Surely she can't be the only one who needs to have things made really clear?

Oh the variation annoys me too, if expectations are clearly communicated it's much easier, it's not like the mark schemes are a huge secret, they are online in a public are on the exam board websites.

A week in and my ds seems to be doing okay, he's suddenly doing a lot more study without being asked (by me) and is for the most part enjoying it (I think he'll forever hate French). I'm not sure if this is down to maturity, something the teachers have said or because his Morrisby/careers advice over the summer has given it all a bit more meaning. It may not last of course but I'm very pleased at the moment.

He is worn out though, he's getting in from school, studying and eating then going to bed by 8.30, I can hear him snoring not long after.

I agree about varying degrees of direction re: CAs ... english has been so explanatory they basically provided an essay structure that the kids just had to fill in: start with this sentence, fill in the paragraph, start the next with this sentence, fill in the paragraphy ... etc etc.

But geography is proving much more of a challenge ... far less guidance, much more verbal instruction via teacher during the lesson and god-forbid the kids are not fully engaged ...

Got history and classics coming up next half term - don't know what they're going to present ...