Starting Y11 support thread

[AtiaoftheJulii]

(Yeah, I'm procrastinating ....)

For all those with one or two (or more?) offspring going into year 11: controlled assessments, coursework, practicals, performances, GCSE revision (or not ...), being guinea pigs for the Maths and English 1to9 exams, choosing what to do next - schools/sixth form colleges/college/apprenticeships/BTECs/A levels and more - and generally being 15!

It's a tough year academically - in some ways harder than sixth form I think because there are just so many subjects and exams - and a tough year emotionally - not always mature enough to organise themselves, too old to have organisation imposed upon them!

Ds still has an MFL CA, a couple of science practical CAs, and two assessed drama performances, plus coursework to do for History I think. I can't see there's going to be much let up and he's definitely feeling the pressure I think he'll probably end up staying at his school for 6th form (he's very mathsy and his school is a good fit) but we may well look at a couple of sixth form colleges as he's already talking about whether he can go somewhere that won't feel quite so pushy.

For DD 2 years ago I organised her revision with her as she can't do it on her own.
She did 3 hrs in the morning between 9am and 1pm including breaks, and then another 1.5 hours between 4pm and 6pm.
Every afternoon we went out and about mainly just walking to give her a break and some exercise.
her mocks were January and she took 5 solid days off over Christmas but otherwise stuck to the schedule.

My tips:

• Make sure phones etc are out of the room so you aren't tempted!
• For each 45min (or whatever) session know what you are aiming to achieve.
• Aim for a mix of learning, past papers, online tests in any day so it doesn't get too boring.
• Aim for a mix of subjects each day so it doesn't get boring.
• Get Mum or Dad to test you to make sure you aren't fooling yourself that you know stuff when you don't.

That sounds good teen

One thing that works for dd is to explain it to someone else, usually me! I've learnt quite a bit of History! I often only half listen but that doesn't matter, it's the process of saying it out loud that helps dd to retain the information.

I agree the explaining to someone else really helps as the saying out loud stops them fudging whether they understand it or not. And it gives opportunity for praise when they explain something well which helps with motivation.

By the time DD did her exams I probably knew more of the science than she did! We did most science revision 1-1 and it is more my 'thing' than hers.

I couldn't have done the MFLs though.

Dancergirl me too for history! It's the perfect subject to learn by teaching - dd gives us mini lectures. She does a mixture of making notes on each section (on index cards, school says mind maps but she hates them), lots of practice questions, past papers, tassomai.

Nothing much has happened at school this week. I'm a bit about how uninterested dd's maths teachers seem about their results. There are the three that are breath-takingly good at maths who all got >230/240 then dd & a couple of others around 120-130/240 then everyone else under 90. I'm amazed no-one seems bothered by it. Pasanda that's the kind of mark dd was getting at the end of year 10 - she's managed to pull it up loads, I'm sure your ds can too. There were lots in the 20 & 30% range in dd's class (top set argh).

Chemistry results might be back today - she got a A* for physics & A for biology but chemistry is the one she's most worried about. She won't get any wordy ones - English/geog/history until after Christmas. She got a provisional French result but hasn't been told what grade it is. Speaking and listening went fine - she got very nervous and spoke super fast so ended up with six minutes of questions. Teacher said it was actually interesting though ... I wish I could've been a fly on the wall, some of the subjects they chose were brilliant (everything from football to memes via the Mandela effect, Homestuck, depression, the evolution of whiteness, 9/11 conspiracy theories, art therapy, colonialism & dd's why I love mushrooms). The class were well impressed with Mr W's questions about Homestuck!

Big thing is that she's finished all oh her production course work :) She's got a huge folder to submit. They have a final assessed project which is an individual piece - a 20 minute presentation. DD's planning to do a dream set for Les Mis, we're going to see it in February (necessary for research obviously!).

That is a recipe for burnout, Dancergirl. Clueless of the teacher. You have had good advice on here about revision, I would go with that.

I have been reading some of the posts about DC's results in their mocks. My DD just knows one of her maths and she was devastated. She got 20/80. She was crying to me yesterday . She is very good at maths, she was asked to do Add. maths so she can't understand the low mark. They were warned that the marks were lower than expected, but she didn't expect this low. See said that she had been crying all day at school and younger sister, who is in Y7, said that it was true, she had seen her crying.

Ceci DS just got his mock results and I almost fainted. Bs in sciences (that's the good news as they could become As by the real exams) and then failing both maths and English (4s I know this is a pass now but just about) C in geography and French (acceptable, they could become Bs if revising) and E in Computer Science. Yes E!!!

Target grades straight As including 9 in maths.

Shocking really!

The only think that keeps me optimistic is the "finger in the air" situation on Maths and English, with enough revision I may be surprised in the real exam.

Fleurdelise. I hope that this shocking results will make her up her game. I know she did revision... now how much revision can you do when you have your mobile with you... . Well, somehow I feel a little bit better knowing that others are in the same position.
Now, we will enjoy Christmas and after the holidays draw up an action plan... in 6 months it will be all over!!!

Some very good students in DD1's class got similar to your DD, Ceci - the exams are hard and it is possible to underestimate just how different these are from the previous maths GCSEs. Yes, DD1 got very good results, but she absolutely studied her butt off. She brings all her workbooks home, has all her online resources bookmarked and ok, no mobile handy. She has music streaming via YouTube in the background and works with headphones on, but that's no different to what I did back in the 80s - always had the radio on when studying.

There is hope.

Oh FLeur. It is so disappointing when they get grades that you know are less than they could do with a bit more work My ds's maths target is 7/8. I don't know what his 28% equates to though. A '9' - never in a million years!!

Pointy - 'she absolutely studied her butt off'. Good for your dd I wish I could say the same about ds!

Sometimes I think mocks have to be a wake-up call. And let's face it, there is always something to worry about. I worry that my DD will burn herself out - she is a self-confessed perfectionist. She asked me today whether I would be happy if she brought home the same results as her mocks in her real GCSEs - I said, yes, absolutely. Then she said she would not be happy with that. Having drive is one thing, being at risk of putting too much pressure on yourself is another and DD1 is one of those. I have told her I am watching her mental health and that I will be mandating rest time when I think she is overdoing it. This isn't a stealth boast, btw - DD has had real issues with anxiety, panic attacks, some self-harm albeit very minor. So I have to be vigilant.

Well pasanda our DSs would definitely be best friends by your description of your DS her. Maybe they are considering the virtual playing online

All sorted here, apparently he'll work really hard after Christmas, he may even do as much as...1 hour revision a day (nothing at the weekend of course).

Well we've broken up for the hols so in theory revision should start in earnest. He has been working through his Isas & CAs but done next to nothing revision wise at home. I'd love to help Ds with breaking revision into topics etc but he refuses & chooses to randomly read over notes on things that interest him most. On the plus side he's broken his phone as there's no way I could taken it from him! I can't even find the revision material he's been given as his room is a tip. I fear we will be in a similar situation fleur & pasanda When when the results come back. He hasn't done any maths revision yet at home even though we've had a number of conversations on how tough it's expected to be.

Fleur, that did make me laugh. One hour a day. DS thinks that is 'working hard' too There is no way he will do anything before Christmas now. His PS4 is much more important!

readyforsunshine - yes, it does sound like we have ds's with a similar mindset. There is a God though - yours has broken his phone! What a result

TBH, I've decided not to stress over it for the next week. They do work hard at school and ds was particularly knackered over the last fortnight of term so he deserves a break. pointy - I hope your dd can have a good break too. I do understand that there is a happy balance and it's hard when they are either not doing enough, or doing too much. My friends dd sounds similar to yours and they are v worried about her being such a perfectionist. She wants to be a vet so knows she needs great results but the stress she is putting herself under to get them is too much

readyforsunshine sorry to hear you are joining the group of capable but can't be bothered DCs. We stopped talking about the mocks in this house as it would ruin Christmas. In fact I got into a state of "fine, I can't be bothered either" and dropped all the conversations about next year's exams. That applies to both DCs as DD has 11+ next September.

Dh came back from working abroad on Saturday night to find Ds playing on the Xbox in his pants in a complete fug playroom. I was out at work. He was actually mildly disgusted & so was triggered into finding a way of limiting wifi time on individual gadgets. I have been unhappy about access to gadgets since he was about 10 but was in the minority
Naturally Ds kicked off a bit yesterday, luckily I was out working again so Dh had to sort it. He's usually more laid back & lenient than me so this is quite a novelty in our house. I'm not sure how I feel about this, I'm glad in a way but concerned that Ds will use it as a reason to rebel, make it our fault, & do no work at all. It's the perfect excuse for him. He has made a plan to meet a friend & go to to the cinema today so I asked that he did a solid 45 mins work before I get him to the station. We will see....

Teenage boy fug playroom !

Well so much for dd's form tutor's advice on working hours

I know that's way too much but anyway....today. Dd had an appointment with the Maths tutor at 2pm. At 1pm she was still asleep Went in to wake her, very quick up/wash/dress/food. Rushed out the house and got to tutor's house 5 mins late.

Tomorrow dd has her best friend's birthday party which will be the best part of the day.

I haven't seen her do ANY work yet. I can already feel the rows brewing. What to do? Some parents are really strict, insisting on a certain number of hours per day or lose phone etc. Or lay off and let them suffer the consequences i.e. bad results?

Good luck with the wifi time limiting ready, I would like to do that but I am terrified of the arguments I would cause. Still considering it in the New Year though.

Well dancegirl we seem to have the extreme teachers, apparently DSs teacher said that if he does only 10 min a day maths revision from now till the exams he can get a 7. We have parents evening in January and I said to DS I will ask the teacher about this recommendation (just to call his bluff) and he insisted that was what she said. So there you go, ask your DCs to only do 10 min a day, that should be enough.

What to do? Some parents are really strict, insisting on a certain number of hours per day or lose phone etc. Or lay off and let them suffer the consequences i.e. bad results?

My DD was willing to work (up to a point) so we didn't have this issue too much, BUT, what will happen if she does badly in mocks? Will it spur her on to work harder for the real thing, or will she get down heartened and depressed? With my DD she would have just got depressed (having forgotten she hadn't done any work), so it was important she did work for her mocks. Plus she learned what schedule worked well for her.

I think as parents it is our job to try to get them to work hard enough to:

• pass 5 A*-C incl English and Maths (if within their capability)
• get minimum required to get them in to wherever they want to go next

Some can do that with little revision, some have to work their socks off.

Can you agree a compromise revision schedule? e.g. you want 4 hrs per day across 10 days of the holidays (=40hrs), but actually you settle for 2.5 hrs across 8 days (=20hrs). But as part of that you wake them at 9am and no phone/going out until revision for the day is done?

Or pick some key subjects to revise and say you won't nag about history provide they revise maths and physics?

We also talked quite a bit about not wanting to have 'if only' in August. Results are results. You don't want to be saying 'if only I had revised more', or even worse 'of course I would have done better if only I had worked'. 'If only' results don't count, only the ones on the results slip.

teen my dd wants me to lay off completely and trust her. To be fair, she's a bright girl at a selective school and we have always had good reports from her teachers that she's hard-working and conscientious. So maybe I should leave her to it...? I don't know.

My ds played his PS4 from 10am to 10pm yesterday, with a short break for dinner.

Back on it as soon as he got up, still on it now...

As I said before, I am leaving it until after Xmas. It is a weight off my shoulders tbh, to not stress about it, just totally accept he is going to do nothing this week.

As for next week, I will start insisting at this point.

Good luck readyforsunshine - what a relief for you to have your dh be the ogre re screen time for once!!

Dancer Could you do a deal with her? Agree grades for her mocks. If she reaches them, well and good. If she drops below you get to be more hands on for the real exams?

Or pick some key subjects to revise and say you won't nag about history provide they revise maths and physics?

this is what we've done - maths & sciences I'm involved in. Maths I actually sit with her while she does it - I know that sounds pathetic but desperate times etc. Sciences I'm in & out of the room, but she likes to chat with me about them anyway. Everything else is down to her - I'm happy to test her on stuff, mark past papers etc & listen to her waffle. I occasionally ask how she's doing but haven't nagged. Since she hasn't had marks for any of the left-to-her subjects, I don't know how that will work out!

I'm trying to wean her off the phone while working. Cold turkey failed badly! We've got as far as notifications off, music on (an album so she doesn't keep looking at the phone to change it), face down on the table. I'm building up to leave it on the other side of the room, then maybe don't have it at all (I can only dream).