Year 9 tests..... my ds is absolutely shattered with tests and is exhausted

[Noellefielding]

Is this level of testing not a little counter-productive?
He is so miserable, I just wonder if they couldn't be a bit more humane...

Why? what else does she do? Why is she finding it inhumane? Is it not just exams within the school day on and off for a couple of weeks? We don't really notice when ours do internal exams etc they just happen with a bit of revision beforehand. All extra curricular stuff is still happening (though school orchestras might stop for a week or so)

Has she been over revising at silly time sand not sleeping? Does she have additional needs you haven't mentioned?

Year 9 tests are really not much of a thing and if she's so miserable now you need to talk to school about strategies that she can use, resilience exercises etc.

It is going to get a whole lot more stressful for her so use these " non event" exams as a spring board for sorting out what she finds so difficult. I'm sorry she's so miserable. can you find out why? I bet she's piling huge pressure on herself.

thanks Theas, sorry it's a He.

I think they have been running up to these tests since before half term. The school piles on the pressure all the time. Bless him he has been working really hard but has just had enough now, last big one today just a few French ones to come. It's ok but he's just fed up now and I wish they would do a little education not just testing testing testing. It's nearly over but the school does lay on the pressure. I think they aim to have them so good at exams that they find GCSEs straightforward. I just wonder about the light in his soul going out!
Not a scientific concern of course.......
He is doing extracurricular stuff, not much but a little.
The school doesn't really do emotional intelligence....

They are quite important as they will decide what sets the kids are put into for year 10 and GCSEs.

I have two in year 9 and they are fed up with all the tests but not exhausted by it, just irritated. To be honest I wish they would take it a bit more seriously, however I wouldn't them to be miserable.

Can your DS explain what it is that is affecting him so badly, or is it just testing in general? Is he getting enough sleep, without gadgets etc?

Sorry, he has been revising a lot but not into the early hours and he is sleeping as well as he ever does, not brilliantly. He is an anxious lad in his nature but not extremely anxious. I think he is just fed up with revising, it seems to have gone on for weeks. I agree, this is what it's like now, schools feel like exam factories to me.

Aww that's pants isn't it.

Ours is a grammar and high results are an expected norm but actually it feels less pressurised than you describe, there is always a wee " carrot" around the corner eg at the end of april DD2 ( yr11) was taken with some music mates to look at Cambridge choral scholarships. I totally applaud the school for being able to see they kids gained much more from that day than 6hrs in revision classes even a few weeks before the exams. We've also just had the senior concert before yr13 stand down.

I said it before on a recent thread but mindfulness apps are amazingly effective to reduce anxiety, catastrophising etc and gosh, umm, trying to squash that perfectionist streak helps too but I can't say I've managed that in myself or the kids!

Make sure you have something really lovely planned for the evening, or weekend, when he finishes.

Sadly, I don't think it will get any better for him in Years 10 and 11.

'They are quite important as they will decide what sets the kids are put into for year 10 and GCSEs. '

That maybe so, but does this concept not make anyone else a bit that a school which has taught DC's for 3 years by this point (and presumably can see who is struggling, who's doing well etc etc) need to do tests in order to set for GCSEs?!

thanks for all this.... I don't have many friends at my son's school so I don't have the chance to talk about this sort of thing.

He does have a couple of really mean teachers, particularly his maths teacher, she sounds like such a cow! (obvs I don't say this to him!)

Also, I was amazed yesterday when two of the boys told me that the Top Set Maths, who are a gloriously worshipped set and grand etc etc. Their teacher gave them the questions of the paper they all took...... I can only imagine he wanted to guarantee the best marks for his set, but honestly I think that sucks, If it's true! But one of the boys in the top set told these boys they'd had the paper to practice on last week.... hmmmmmm. smells fishy to me.

Yes we are trying to do treats to cheer him up.

The other thing that is important with end of year exams is to make sure that they know how to revise and to actually put it into practise. Most schools discuss revision techniques with their pupils but for some reason a number of boys at our school don't think that this actually applies to them. They imagine that the information will get into their heads as if by magic ! (I am not suggesting that the OP's DS is like this.) So year 9 exams can be treated as a practice run.

yes, I think they have helped him with techniques and he's done quite well in some subjects using them.

Although I was disappointed that a few teachers really disparaged mind maps and colour use for revision. I found those hugely helpful but some teachers really put it down so my son is all snooty when I suggest it.. harrumph!

For every boy who's drowning under a mountain of revision there's a girl who started revising three weeks earlier! I'm referring to the A/A* brigade who appear to have everything under control.

What are these year 9 tests of which you speak?

For every boy who's drowning under a mountain of revision there's a girl who started revising three weeks earlier!

What a sexist post.Would you be happy for people to write derogatory comments about girls?
Don't boys get A*s ? Do your your kids go to a grammar school? If they did you would know the top achievers are always boys.

If they did you would know the top achievers are always boys. Um, amy, not sure the best way to combat sexism is to be almost as sexist back!

There are lazy/perfectionist/stressed/relaxed/conscientious/last-minute-merchant girls and boys. (I have quite a selection here ... )

Noelle sorry your son's feeling a bit overburdened atm. Hope they finish soon and he can relax. Surprised that some teachers were negative about mindmaps etc - have they been giving the students useful suggestions of other ways to revise? Obviously different things work for different people, so it's a bit daft to generalise about whether one method is 'better' than another.

Ds has had a yearly full set of exams in every subject since year 7. Tough at first, but excellent practice for the real things in year 11.

I'm sorry your ds is finding it tough and a bit stressful, but I honestly believe that schools which don't offer proper end of year exams are doing their students a disservice in not letting them learn revision and exam techniques and confidence.

I think it's just all work and no play makes jack/jane a dull boy/girl.

I think the constant ranking is wearing too, he's nervous of 'going down a set' in maths, his maths teacher sounds like such a piece of work, a real meanie! But Lord he can do Maths I could only dream of doing at that age I had such schiese teachers in the olden days (ahem nuns)...
I just feel secondary schools are under so much pressure and the teachers are under pressure to stuff these kids full of information produced in almost robotic consistency, "three quote answer", "2 quote answer" etc. It is like battery education. I just wish there was some room for exploration and experimentation and creativity....!