Parents of Year 11's - in the midst of exams!

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

roll up roll up, for our new support thread for all parents of year 11 kids. Whether your kids work hard or not, what ever their goals (or not!) this is our place to de-stress :)

DD had friends staying over last night and they all went into school this morning for an English revision session. They have gone out for lunch and DD should be back anytime soon. She has been pretty stressed all week so I'm happy she's having some time out. She also has Maths revision at school tomorrow morning, so no lie ins this weekend! She will probably do more English revision tomorrow afternoon then relax in the evening.

I can still remember Lady Macbeth's " Is this a dagger which I see before me?" soliloquy and I left school 43 years ago. If I could erase that and lots of other stuff I learnt at school there might be room for things I actually need to remember now!

Feeling so nervous for next week, really don't think I'm helping DD. I know she's worked hard all year at school and they have been doing loads of revision there, but she's not being doing much at home. She's just opened her English Lit folder and freaked. I'm panicking too which is definitely not going to help

Dd is still in bed and we have a family party soon. I'm trying not to pressurise her, but...
I've just asked her her plans. Apparently she is doing absolutely loads tomorrow!

It's finding that balance between nagging them and taking a step back isn't it?

I alternate between telling DD how important it is to focus/concentrate/revise/work hard when she's being too lazy or laid back, and then the next minute, when she's stressed and panicky, telling her it's not the end of the world if she doesn't get a predicted grade (or, God forbid, a fail) in a subject as she can always retake.

I'm going to have even more grey hairs by the end of the next 4 weeks.

catslife you must watch

DD got up early for a Saturday (about 8.30) had a cooked breakfast and spent all morning annotating Of Mice and Men. I have gone through some physics questions with her and now she is watching The Walking Dead for a break. She is going to do a geography paper when it has finished.

DS must have been extremely tired last night - he never sleeps past 9am - he was still flat out at 10.30. I didn't have the heart to wake him up.

He is revising English Lit and Maths today. As he didn't start until about 12 he said he'd work until the football comes on and then do some more once it has finished.

I realised that any nagging was pointless after mocks so I have left him to his own devices. He downloaded a revision app which he has followed religiously along with attending the additional classes put on by school and it's worked much better.

Love the Armstrong and Miller invigilator sketch!
I did one exam season as an invigilator a few years ago - wish I'd seen that beforehand, could have been a lot more fun!
DD has had her normal Saturday so far:
Up at 8, teaching her ballet class and drama class 9-11 then rehearsals for her summer show 11:30-2.
She's home now and doing 3 hours revision (Enlish Lit) before we head to a charity quiz for the evening.
Tomorrow will be a full day of revision though.
English Lit x2, drama and maths for her next week.

Left to his own devices DS would have done nothing this weekend. With a bit of encouragement he might stretch to two hours today and two hours tomorrow. For some reason he decided that history was his top priority this morning despite it being on the other side of half term. We had planned to be out from 8.30 - 5 today (gastric distress put an end to that) so any revision today is a bonus. In his defence he did start revising very early so he's at the stage where he's ready for the exam (or so he thinks).

Some essay writing here but no other revision DD has being trialling prom makeup

I love that Armstrong & Miller sketch Nicknameused. Last year a (rather elderly) invigilator fell asleep so part of the moving around is to make sure that we stay alert. (The sleeping invigilator has been retired).
My contribution towards English Lit revision has been doing a last minute on-line order (plus express delivery) for the relevant revision guide for dds syllabus. It arrived this afternoon - phew!

Ds has apparently done 1 hour this morning,,and a couple this afternoon. he will probably do a couple in the afternoon tomorrow afternoon as has a tennis lesson in the morning. I think,the fresh air will do him good.

He has four subjects next week, so I suggested an hour per subject However he said he's going to concentrate on English lit, as there's a lot to revise. not sure I'm relieved he's taking English lit seriously, or panicking that he feels he has a lot to learn!

He'll probably watch the fa cup,final this evening, then BGT or Michael Macintyre.

DS has been holed up in his bedroom but when I checked in he was watching videos. No point in nagging as he doesn't listen and gets stressy so just have to trust him, he does generally work well though.

I've been feeling off last night and today and my friend's DC have had D&V so happy to leave DS in self imposed isolation.

Would love to ask him if he saw the questions on the back page of chemistry but don't want to worry him so won't. English lit (open book), physics and maths next week here. The worst week is after half term.

Dd was up at 9.30, mucked out the horse, eaten food, bought a swimming costume on line for friend's swimming party, paid the import duty on another friend's imported birthday lipstick and presumably done some revision.

Dd has gone through the aqa physics spec and done some English literature. She's been working and eating all day. Just gone to see her horse and when she comes back is planning to watch some of BGT then an early night.

Heybells DD mentioned the questions on the back page as well, but she did do them. Some of her friends didn't.

I cracked and just asked dd. Yes she did them. Phew.

Can I ask what chemistry exam had questions people missed on the back page?

AQA unit 1. I think some students didn't think to turn over to the other side on the last page.

What was the last question?

oh blimey I just read the bit about the back page of the AQA chemistry paper and tentatively, in a very long-winded way (not wanting to panic her) asked DD if she's seen it.............

................. she did

WHAT WAS THE LAST QUESTION????

It was how and why do we harden plant oils

Dd did too. Thank the Lord.

DS said he did the last question on the Chemistry paper. He said it was on Hydrogenation?? Is that right OP's?

That's what DD said Starfleet. She did comment that there were less questions than usual but she looked carefully as she missed the last page in History mock.