Year 11 GCSE Exam Support Thread

[Littleham]

Is anyone else fed up with GCSE's and the stress they create? Thought I would start a support thread for the following few months. Mocks start next week at my dd3's school.

Petunia thanks. My DD was horrified with a C as well - it was in her worst subject so I reckon it was fine.

What A levels is your DS looking at?

I think they have too much pressure on them now. He's oassed all his mocks and has targets but he feels like he's cocked up!! I've told him I'm v proud and now he has to
knuckle down and start revising. But we agreed he could have this weekend off as until he gets the papers back he doesn't know what he needs to focus on.

crazy he wants to do biology chemistry eng lit and psychology. He wants to do pharmacology at uni

If DD gets Cs for her mocks next week I'll be satisfied.
There is only one subject where I'm pretty confident she'll get higher.

May I join in? If DS2 gets four grade D or above I will be over the moon. Mock results were a mixture of Cs through to a U. He now has an English tutor and Maths tutor but I can't see him getting a C in either so he'll have to retake those. Hoping for four D's to get him on a L2 Art Foundation course at college.

We recently had an Ed Psych assessment done, which showed very high visual/spatial skills but low verbal memory and processing speed. So he now gets 25% extra time, a side room for exams and a laptop. All of which he got in the mocks and we've still got a set of mock results which are ... challenging...

I just want to get him out of the secondary school now and into a college environment where they will know how to teach kids with his cognitive profile, and where his confidence can be rebuilt. I just wish I could find some visual resources to use with him over the next few months, because his school hasn't really got a clue. Anyone know any sources?

fresh your middle paragraph describes DS completely. He has extra time and a scribe or laptop depending on the time.

Have no advice for resources. DS was diagnosed dyslexic dyspraxic was visual closure problems and writing classed as below slow, in year 4 he wrote clearly 4 words a minute. When he was reassessed in year 8 he'd improved to 28 but it wasn't really legible, hence all the help he gets. But we/he is so lucky as he is amazingly bright and has fabulous language skills which helps him with the scribe.

petunia unfortunately mine has so little confidence now after years of not making sense of any of it, he just thinks he's thick. He's smart enough to have learnt early on that being quiet and 'helpful' in class meant no-one took any notice of you, mind you. And smart enough to spot false praise a mile away, so it does make it difficult to motivate him. I'm getting through to him a bit but only by being honest enough to say 'look, just get 4 d's and we'll get you out of there'.

Doesn't help that his elder brother fits the academic mould perfectly and is currently collecting offers for university. Once he goes off next year I think the dynamic will change at home, especially if DS2 can get to college. I'm keeping everything crossed. I will forever feel guilty that we didn't pick all of this up much earlier.

Don't beat yourself up about not noticing earlier. But ask why didn't primary school notice? Tbh we didn't pick anything up at home and neither did school until yr 3 when he had an NQT who couldn't handle him, every other teacher had had years of experience with exuberant fidgety boys with bad hand writing and had gotten through to him, the NQT referred him to head/senco as naughty she knew he wasn't and sent him for assessment with OT and then it all came out. At same time we enrolled him in a drama group and within 1 season he had main parts (don't ask me how he learns the lines but he did/does no problem) And the corner was turned, he was good at something and people paid to see it and he got mentioned in show reviews. And in school he knew he wasn't thick or stupid but needed help and happily told anyone who forgot to give him the help.

He moved up to high school with confidence and we've been so lucky with high school as they knew from start what he needed an he's just flourished. Still does his drama and still gives supply/regular staff a hard time if they forget his support, which happens quite often as they can't get their heads around the 6ft 4 drama lead with lots to say and to be fair say very eloquently and the SEN notes about struggling to complete sentences and differentiate information.

Tell him with the right support he can do anything my DS is proof of that, get him through the next few months and make sure the college knows in advance all his problems and how to encourage him.

Good luck to him and you.

Still waiting for mock results day on January 20th. DD had a sixth form taster day last week and still isn't sure about the options she submitted on her form. They let her do lessons in most of the subjects she's interested in, but it didn't help.

My dd3 has been given her options form for sixth form & she still doesn't know which subjects to pick. Still have to narrow it down to the eight she likes to a shortlist of four.

Should they do subjects they enjoy, with teachers they like, or should they look at the 'strongest' departments within sixth form, so that they end up with a higher graded A Level? Dilemma.

DD had already submitted her form and has been offered a place (subject to gcse grades), but they have been very supportive of her indecision and have said if it fits in with time tabling, she can change her mind up to the end of summer.

She has chosen one subject, because it is sensible (her favourite mainstream subject) and others that she likes (which are not too random).

Well, by end of today we are 9 exams in and 9 exams to go ... (pass the wine would you? Oh, and that slice of cake ...)

So far, I'm just feeling grateful that he's not stressing out and is approaching each day calmly and doggedly - friday night is going to be HUGE apparently ...
No idea when results day is - I think they'll just drip feed them back to the kids in lessons next week ...

(who'd be a teacher at this time of year? Our school had their entrance exams on saturday morning, and each yr 11 has two exams per subject all this week)!

Dds results are today, she's gone to school crapping herself, and so am I. I'm not sure I want 3.15 to come or not. She's had one result, her best subject, which was not as expected, so she is terrified the rest will be even worse

Littleham, she shouldn't make choices dependent on the teachers - what if they leave? Is there anyone able to offer support with deciding?

DD has a sixth form interview this week, but hasn't heard back from the other 4 applications.

auntpetunia thank you. Primary school just measured him with a really broad gauge, and of course because he's good at some stuff and bad at others, he comes out as average. I took issue with one teacher who moved him onto what DS called the 'thick' table, and away from his friend because his friend was 'flying'. Told them DS learnt visually/kinetically but this was 7/8 years ago and nobody knew what to do with him. He's not dyslexic, dyspraxic etc, not on the spectrum, no ADHD...so no label for them to work with. DH and his parents just kept saying 'Oh, DH took ages to really enjoy school, it will be fine' and to my shame I didn't challenge them even though I had doubts. The primary school threw everything at it for his KS2 stats so I suspect his Level 4 was flattering. Secondary school CATs in Yr 7 came out lower but no-one thought they were low enough to take action. He's just always stayed slightly under the radar, but not so far below that anyone noticed there was a problem!
I do tell him that people who didn't do well at school can be very succesful (like I tell him Steve Redgrave is T1 diabetic, which DS is) and he just tunes out because it seems so far away from what he thinks he can do. I think you're right, we just have to get him through GCSE's and then start again from there. Luckily he's May born so a year taking a foundation course isn't the end of the world. Actually none of it's the end of the world, he's a fantastic kid.

bigTillyMint - I only worry when I know that a particular subject has really bad results at A Level with bright kids and that the teacher is staying. Hard to say 'do the subject you love' in that circumstance, because the universities want really high grades. We are currently having that debate with one subject.

Yes, I agree. I would be more worried about a poor teacher staying too.

If she likes all of them, then maybe just choose the ones she is doing best in? It is important that they take subjects that they enjoy (or think they will!) as not only do they want to do as well as they can, but also, they may take them on to university.

Results in, a bit mixed, and her best subjects were the worst grades! 2 A*, 3 As, B, 2 Cs and an E ( AS maths)

There's a huge jump to AS dingit - an E in Y11 is still good. I don't know how many doors it would open and close for her later though.

I'm sat here waiting for DS to come in with his mock results. He'd normally be home by now but has an after school prefect meeting so I'm pacing.

We are getting her a tutor for maths, to boost her confidence more than the grade!

Fresh, you could be describing my DD dyslexic top 9% visually bottom 9% in language written and spoken.
Frustrating for her,us and teachers I guess.
Didn't find out till year six and still has not received appropriate help from school,they try but I suspect are out of their depth.

We do lots of support at home. Look at the DVD's for the English Literature books- some not all and some CD's with music that sticks the facts in their heads.
Geography BBC bitesize has short videos on subjects which were great refreshers.
We are considering dropping some of her weaker subjects when mock results are back,she only needs six A-C so why struggle with nine.
Also talk to your DS's sixth form college. DD has the option of presenting a portfolio if misses the grades for A levels and was told by the other Btec college that if her first choice didn't work out they would hold a place for up to a term even with low results.

Digit, I am currently waiting for DD to come out from her maths tutor. He has done wonders for her confidence. And her grades!

stayathome thanks, it's difficult isn't it. School can do the kind of 'admin'-like things such as 25% extra time, laptops etc but I can't help thinking it would be better to actually work out how to teach these kids! I'll check out your suggestions altho he's only doing Lang not Lit. Like the sound of music on DVD's though. Will start digging. Thanks.

Also, the college are being v helpful. Learning Support have offered to accompany him to the course interviews as he finds it difficult to 'sell' himself (or even speak to strangers at all sometimes!).

Just finished marking my Y11 mock papers :) They've taken hours and hours but it's a really useful exercise for them.

TES can be good for resources if you've got time to sit and trawl through?