Year 11 GCSE Exam Support Thread 2

[HSMMaCM]

New thread ..... (DD not sure about the prom dress she has bought!!!!)

I've never heard of Fischer family trust grades. But DD's school seems to have done a reasonable job of predicting grades so far - though of course won't know till August 20th!

I think the whole target grade culture is a bit off.

Teachers are, I assume, being asked what pupil X could achieve at the top of their game. Teach, I assume thinks, well with a good paper, plenty of revision behind them and a bit of luck on the day, an A.

But as we all know those things might not come together, particularly as Pupil X is not just taking that exam. Pupil X has 9 others to worry about and juggle.

DD has been very good with her revision this holiday but I am now worried she is doing too much and not enough down time.

She had made herself a timetable starting at 8amevery week day. 1 hour for each subject with half hour breaks and a 2 hour lunch.

She is not awake yet this morning so not started.Have sat here wondering if I should leave her - she obviously needs her sleep as she is naturally an early riser or if she will be annoyed that she is late making a start today.

I know that yesterday she spent an hour of her revision time helping her younger sister with some science and maths homework so mentioned she hadnt filled her aimed quota of revision.

She is naturally a very laid back person but I just worry if she does not have enough down time she will burn out.

Sadly - we moved house here in January and she is now boarding at school. We know absolutely no one her age here and all her friends are away/also at home miles and miles away,so she has zero social life here and little down time distraction, which is both a good and bad thing.

Wondering if I should wake her in a mo or not?

DS1 has reassured me everything will be OK because he will pay attention in the exam. He just hasn't been paying attention in class because it was boring.

I had to bite my tongue to prevent myself saying "It will be a little bit late by the time you are in the exam!"

Lynette

Swazza, working too hard? Let her lie in - she deserves a rest

DD is off to school again...

Well she is up! I left her but she made an appearance half an hour ago.

She says she will start at 10am! I am not sure this child can be mine? Such a contrast to myself at her age! Hence - why i was back in college at age 40!

DD did some science revision yesterday, so she's awarded herself a day off today and gone shopping with a friend.

I don't worry that mine are working too hard - a bit of graft never killed anyone.

I do however, worry that they'll become bored before the exams IYSWIM That by the time it matters they'll be quite flat.

But I concede that this is probably a non-problem in the scheme of things .

I think it's 33 days til ds's first exam so I don't think he will burn out before then. He's been sticking to his timetable so had the Easter weekend off which was lovely for all of us. We visited family and had an egg hunt and just generally relaxed.

He went for another run yesterday afternoon too which helps break it up, give him some fresh air and re-energise. He's also cleaned his room and washed his bedding so that it could dry in the sunshine. My main role is just keeping him supplied with food

He's up there now with the windows open, fresh air and sunlight shining through onto his lovely, clean room. Sitting on his bed surrounded by books with a plate of hot cross buns and cup of tea

Goodness, fairnuff, that sounds too good to be true! of a teen who cleans their room and washes their bedding unbidden.

My DD did go outside for a few minutes but has retreated to her pit room. She came into my office briefly to check I wasn't on the phone before testing The Box (it plays the Star Wars theme tune for 2 minutes as its audible alarm - that's a long 2 minutes). Then I suggested another test she should do with it, which worked... but then it apparently stopped (which she clearly thought was my fault, obviously). After a bit of taking it apart and checking she realised the problem was that it doesn't work in high ambient light levels and she was sat by a sunny window. Well, better to know that before she has to demonstrate it tomorrow so I was let out of the doghouse. Whew.

Always best to get teenage boys in the habit of washing their own bedding, I find

Quite George

Sounds intriguing Errol but glad it works.

Dd has tried to convince me that having a friend over would be better than going to french revision on Friday. No ... It won't !!!

I was a bit yesterday. I'd agreed to friend's round 1.30 to 5 I thought. 7.30pm they vanished so yesterday no revision happened. Bit my tongue and am hoping she will crack on with it today.

Can't believe how fast the holidays are going. Has this moment of panic when I realised that as of 15 May that is the end of the routine of school until September and it suddenly felt like a long time of not having the house to myself. I work from home so no escape to work. My office is in the garden though so might spend a bit of time sorting it to hide in during the summer.

Is anyone else's DC doing NCS this summer? I'm not sure the uptake is as great as they'd like, ds got a phone call yesterday offering to put him into a prize draw for an ipad if he got a friend to come along on his.

DS is certainly considering it.

He spoke to the loacl provider (to his school) this morning and text me to say they've scheduled the relevant weeks so they take up his birthday, our family holiday and results day...so that's a no!

Apparently the provider to the area where we have a house and live part of the week has better dates. So we can discuss the possibility when I get home.

No... we hadn't heard of it. Is this something schools are supposed to push or what?

Ds heard about it through school. Some representatives came to do a talk. He might do it, he was considering it but is not sure that he would really gain very much from it.

It would be good to have something to put on the UCAS form though. At the moment all he's got is his job which he's had for nearly a year so that shows commitment, work ethic, reliability, etc. Oh and he did volunteer work a few years ago.

He's not involved in sports or anything so he might end up doing the NCS. They were offering free driving lessons as an incentive last time I looked.

Yes, they came to DS school to sell it IYSWIM.

I think they're bloody daft to run it through results day though!

DD doesn't have a 3 week block clear anyway. Having just read a bit about it, sounds like she's doing similar things anyway with DofE and a summer camp. Might be something to bear in mind for next year perhaps.

fairnuff - what do you mean 'all hes got is his job'? I'm somewhat in awe of kids this age who do any sort of work. I find it somewhat hard to imagine DD doing so. spoilt child maybe

DofE will be brilliant to put on UCAS and again shows a lot of effort and commitment.

Re the job, ds wanted to go on a rather expensive school trip so I told him that if he got a job and paid half, I would pay the other half (thinking that would be the end of it) but bugger me if he didn't go out and get himself a job!

Anyway, the trip was cancelled because, unsurprisingly, not enough people signed up but he kept the job as he likes the money and he likes the people he works with. He's now saving for a scooter/moped when he turns 16 this summer.

Well quite impressed with DS 2 days in school for physics and geography. Physics he stayed all day Geography today he said he finished his coursework did some new revision sheets they'd been given then left at lunchtime to go the beach with all his mates, no one stayed for the afternoon session of geography and teacher said they'd done well!!! He now sat with his foot wrapped in ice as hes hurt his toe playing footy on the beach and his big toe is all swollen and out of place, but he walked home and is the world's worse wuss for pain so am refraining from a trip to A&E until after I've had my tea. Great way to spend this sunny evening I don't think

Oh, shame about the toe but going to the beach sounds like a good call this afternoon.

DD survived her Arkwright day - she's absolutely knackered though, a day of talking and interacting mainly with strangers (interview, group robot-building and tour of the university) is quite stressful for a shy-ish teen. Whether she gets the scholarship or not it was a good experience for her.

I agree the beach was a good call today errol and fortunately after a trip to a&e he homes with toe strapped for the night and some pain killers. Fortunately not broken just a cracking bruise coming up.