GCSE Results thread and starting 6th form

[WitchofScots]

Follow on thread from the GCSE exams and proms thread. For hand holding and recommendations of wine/chocolate/biscuits to get through the post results stuff.

I think the summer holidays would be better if we had June and July as well, August is a bit hit and miss and the longer days are nicer. We go to the north of Scotland a lot and I'd like to be able to go for the Solstice.

It's not the teacher's A-level. Students need to start taking more responsibility for their learning. Good teachers can get good results, however to get excellent results requires a hardworking and committed student who does more than just the minimum.

We set holiday homework for maths. We will be checking it was completed in the first week of the course. We will be assessing students over the first couple of months or so. If they fail to achieve a minimum standard in assessments, they will be asked to leave the course. Parents may complain, but if it turns out the holiday homework wasn't completed then we will use it as evidence that the student isn't committed to maths and would be better off trying a different subject.

DD has been doing NCS throughout August so that's given the summer some good structure for her with some great experiences. She's also done a bit of charity shop volunteering and then we've been away on a couple of short breaks with both friends and family. I prefer for them not to have homework in the holidays. I think it's the time for that home/school learning partnership to come into play. A few weeks of Home Ed if you like.
We've done lots of educational things as we always do - after exams DD and I especially visited a number of art galleries together in different cities, combining one with a Uni open day, and another with a post exam meet up with friends.
One week to go before Sixth Form now and we might even have a couple of days at home. One of them to include a visit to the school shop for uniform

Same here for maths noble.

Some problems set - to be handed in next week.
A test after the first few weeks.

As for brand new subjects, I think it only right that students acquaint themselves with the basics before start if term. They're meant to be interested after all.

And MFL you just have to keep it ticking over.

Hi all, been off the site for a few days.

Thank you so much to all of you who were so brilliant in May and June! Noble you were amazing.

DS is going to be good for his A levels. I am so proud of him

3 B's 3 C"s. Very proud as she wasn't predicted to do so well.
I didn't sleep a wink on the Wednesday.
Congratulations to everyone's DD/ds and well done to you all whatever the result.

Ilivein , great news Think a fair few of us can relate to that sleepless night.

Noble whilst you're here I'd like to thank you for your help earlier this year about DD and her Maths. She didn't get a C but did better than her movks with a D so will obviously be resitting next year. Hoping without the pressures of exams in other subjects (nearly all coursework based options) that she will get there at some point.

Art holiday work here and she hasn't enjoyed it as much as she thought so I'mmglad she is starting on 4 so she can see how she likes Art and Sociology then decide which to drop. Still think what school agreed with her is utterly ridiculous with her grades but better that I guess than not getting on her courses.

SheGot - I am curious about the advice your DC are receiving re maintaining their MFL over the holidays post-GCSE before starting their A-level course. Does school not suggest they should do residential immersion courses during their summer holidays?

bobo yes.

But obviously not many DC want to go away for the entire Summer (10 weeks). So daily keeping-a-hand-in is recommended too.

TBH I am about the value of translation during summer holidays as a means of maintaining or improving MFL. Translation is a useful skill per se (one I have always been very good at ) but it doesn't teach MFL, merely uses them.

I would be buying my DC French Vogue/l'Equipe/whatever consumer mag hits the spot for them. Consumer mags are fabulous for acquiring MFL. Also DVDs aimed at teens/youth.

Well there you go.

I don't know whether you have looked at the Oxford MFL exams? They test primarily whether candidates have deeply embedded knowledge of common grammatical structures - the kind of knowledge that is acquired through repeated exposure to real language.

No I haven't...since neither of my DC intend to apply to Oxbridge for MFL.

None of mine do either. It doesn't mean it isn't interesting to measure what Oxford perceives to be the essential language skills not measured by A-levels

For all the local Sixth forms here they are still sitting ASs next year, even if they don't "count" towards A'level. The one that was thinking of not sitting them changed their mind over the year - it is what Cambridge asked for after all, and does give an interim measure of progress.

Having had one DC who didn't have holiday homework and one who has, I quite like it. It gives them something to think about, admittedly it will be done in a rush next week. It has also helped her decide that maybe a certain subject isn't for her after all. But it hasn't been too onerous (hence she will be able to catch up with it next week).

DD is still very busy...

Everyone let me introduce bobo.

She has no child going into sixth form. Indeed no child in the UK school system. But she likes to pop up on threads I'm on simply to point out to me where I'm going wrong with my life, especially with regards to my DC's education .

Pfff. I like working out how DC learn things. I think most school/exam systems are full of holes and like working out where they are so that I (and others) can plug them and ensure our DC get ahead rather than get caught up in exam strategies without learning outcomes (of which GCSE and A-level MFL are epic examples). I would have thought W would know better. Wouldn't you?

bobo this is a long running thread where we have all supported one another and had a good few laughs along the way.

No one wants to hear your frankly weird obsession with my family and their education.

My obsession is with the teaching and learning of MFL. Your narcissism is getting the better of you

Doing an exchange - going to the country, staying with a family and only speaking the language, immersed in the music, TV, magazines, etc of the youth of the country worked for me!

Well done to your DD Ilivein

My dd has been set holiday homework and has actually done some already

Completely agree that at this stage they should be interested enough and invested enough in their futures that they will study because it's for their own benefit and not because their mum made them. I have been resisting the urge to nag remind her about it.

Bobo - you do realise that with the drastic fall in the numbers of young people studying any MFL to A'level most schools will be very pleased they even signed up for the course.

When I was studying for A'levels (a long long time ago) lots more people studied MFL. And schools didn't set any summer homework between O'level and A'level, and certainly no one I knew went on an intensive immersion prgramme (and A'level seemed more "challenging").

DD1 has done lots of her holiday homework. Didn't need any nagging, so hopefully that bodes well.

She's gone well over and above as far as Art is concerned. It's the first time I've seen that in her. DD2 will spend lots of time doing art for pleasure, but for DD1, it's only ever been for school, before. (I know this is for school, but what she's doing is much more than needed.)

She didn't like the politics homework, it was looking up the British PMs of the last 50(?) years, and defining various political terms. I think it might just be to ensure they have the basics, though - it's a new subject for everyone, as they won't have studied it at GCSE. Hopefully!

So, the weather is absolutely foul and DS1s GCSE grades were good enough to get into his school 6th form which now means he has to go to pre season rugby training. All day. :o

The summer of XBox is now over!

bobo yes I'm a narcissist.

You didn't come onto a thread with no relevance for you simply to have a snipe. That was just a coincidence.

But seriously, don't spoil this thread for the other long standing posters