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 :)

History Boys and To Kill a Mockingbird tomorrow, then Physics, Maths and Poetry/Pride and Prejudice Wed to Friday so well spread. School running a good revision programme throughout exam period.
Friday, post End Lit, is the Leavers' Service and we will be marking the beginning of the end of our connection with this secondary school. It has met all our expectations across the changing education landscape, has dedicated and enthusiastic staff who, on occasion, have demonstrated faith in my children when mine had almost disappeared, and work hard for all the children in their care. I am writing to thank them for their efforts.

Meanwhile... DS doing a sponsored walk today and then returning to some gentle revision for tomorrow's Eng Lit and Physics. Tassomai has worked well for him so far.

Should have added - lots of luck to all this coming week.

Jekyll and Hyde tomorrow and inspector calls Friday

She was shocked when I told her that each question is marked by a different examiner, so not to worry about duplicating answers - to write everything for every question, even if 2 questions are asking for similar information.
Be careful folks. This information came from a poster with a friend who is an examiner and may not be true for all exam boards and all subjects.
BTW I used to be a teacher and am aware (from colleagues) that for my subject area some exam boards do have one examiner marking a whole paper and some divide papers up on a question by question basis.
Of Mice and Men and poetry tomorrow. An Inspector Calls and Heroes on Friday.

OK have been back and checked and this was mentioned on page 5. (This thread is moving really fast now).
I also want to add that exam boards do have ways of dealing with scripts if candidates have used extra paper or written outside the box. Again it varies for different exam boards, but if you are aware your dc has done this and they obtain a lower than expected grade on results day, this could mean that a remark is worth it to make sure that all pages have been marked iyswim.

Ds1 is doing AQA igcse tomorrow on unseen poetry and Romeo and Juliet. I managed to scare him by pointing out that paper 2 is on Friday but wasn't in his schedule. It turns out to be optional and he has already done the coursework option.
Six exams in total this week.

DD is CIE igcse english lit tomorrow dd feels very ill with a headache shivering and stomach ache :( not the time to be ill

youngest dd first exam tomorrow, english.
am just about to ask her what she wants to eat tonight, xx special meal

Oh no FANTASY I hope she feels better soon. Poor thing.

DS2 has AQA Eng lit tomorrow, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night Time. He only has one paper for Eng lit but has done a controlled assessment. But has no idea how he did in it

He has ASD himself and I've no idea if that'll be an advantage or not for this set book.

Good luck to all tomorrow.

DD has Eng Lit B Drama & Prose tomorrow, which she assures me is Of Mice and Men and An Inspector Calls.

All this talk of various different boards and books has me confused and not a little worried.

No books in the exam. Has done a controlled assessment, last year I believe.

marmite
It's not the week to be ill and neither is half term as half term will be spent learning history, she's more worried about exams and what does she do if she feels ill in an exam? or should she just carry on? very nervous about this week we have igcse geography, maths and physics and english.

Can you contact her tutor/head of year? I emailed about my DD being sick/panicking and they put her near the door and told the invigilator. My DDsaid the invigilator stared at her for the whole exam. I am very anxious about all of the sickness around.

Oh no Fantasy hopefully it is a very short bug and she will be better by tomorrow.
Definitely let the school know.

Oh no Fantasy&Hope - hope DD feels better for tomorrow!

It's The Crucible & TKAMB for us tomorrow. DD feeling nervous about it as felt she'd forgotten it all this morning! A big hug, reassurance & cup of tea seems to have worked. Will chat it through together, before quick steam for cold & early to bed.

Best of luck for a tough week ahead everyone 🍀😁

DS2 has just informed me his Eng lit AQA exam (Curious Incident) is an IGCSE. Who knew? I wonder if it's a better syllabus for foundation level? His controlled assessment was on Of Mice and Men and some poems.

Sorry to hear that fantasy. Hope it's a 24 hour type bug and she's feeling better tomorrow.
Having said that we have been issued with an Exam Guide for Parents which contains details about what to do if your child is feeling ill on the day of the exam etc. You need to let the school know asap so that they can plan for any adjustments e.g. different room that may be needed.

Sorry, fantasy, missed that your DD has been poorly.

DD is going to let House staff on duty know they've had a talk about this and various staff seem to have said they've just got to cope with it unless it's seriously bad in the exam
DD had being getting a lot of headaches last week but she's noticeably lost a lot of weight due to stress, she says she can be revising and either A)forget to eat or B) just feel past eating told her to eat little and often,

Our poor kids. They are under so much stress. I don't remember half of this pressure when I was doing o'levels. Good luck to all for this coming week.

Ds1 has no appetite after the exams. He's ok before though so is enjoying his bacon in the morning!

DD never eats breakfast even with no exams. But she's lost such an appetite and sleeping is poor when at school she's slept a lot this weekend doesn't help that her roommate revise's till late on a night and gets stressed very easily

Hope she feels better soon, Fantasy.

Fantasy - hope your DD is feeling better. It is a gruelling time for them but after this week they are more or less halfway through.

DS has just told me his English Lit is also iGCSE (edexcel). I'm a terrible parent as I didn't realise it was!

DM is still making him eat a handful of almonds every day and I'm making sure he is eating well otherwise - he isn't a child that forgets to eat at all! Most of his revision breaks involve food!

DS has English Lit tomorrow - Romeo & Juliet and unseen poetry. He's already done the coursework. I think it's AQA but wasn't aware that it might be iGCSE.

I tried to make him watch R&J earlier but it went down like a lead balloon - he managed about 10 mins.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL!