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.

DD1 is doing Biology at A-level too. Her third will be English Lit and she is wavering between doing Philosophy as a fourth A-level if she is allowed, or an EPQ.

We are sticking with the 6th form attached to our school. It is on a separate site on the other side of town so more like a 6th form college, and gets very good results.

Biology here too and I'd love if he would swap geography with maths. Or Physics.

He submitted an interest form where he listed Biology, geography, business studies and English Lit. Interviews soon and then formal application end of Feb.

Biology and history here. REALLY surprised how well ds is doing in history tbh, and the fact he wants to do it at A level. He has always hated writing long essays but I guess that's what a good teacher does for a subject

How do your teens revise for history? Is there any good websites books you would recommend??

No idea t875

He does go to an after school history group which has helped enormously and in fact is the main reason he now enjoys the subject. Only a few were chosen to go and apparently they treat those that do in a more 'adult' way and my ds likes that and responds to it well.

t875 - thanks for the welcome. Ideally she'd like to perform music, but teaching an instrument or at school is a back up. If music doesn't work out then something environmental.

She'll be taking A level music and geography without a doubt. She's considering biology here as well.

Lizs what is dd doing in relation to revision for history?
our gaps are medicine through the years and American West.
shes not bad on the new stuff Russia RSSR and Stalin
Do you recommend a book where there is questions and answers?

School emailed today to say they are concerned you isnt going to pass and does she want to drop it..no damn way!!

She ended up dropping Art in the end as we did work out between us all she wouldnt be able to catch up on the course work, to say im gutted for her, but least she can focus on the other subjects.

Dh did degree level history so is interested in discussing it and has plenty of extra reading to suggest. No extra textbooks or revision sites though! Ds also did gcse and a level but I think her technique is lacking compared to his at this point.

dd has just been using the revision book the school recommended - this one www.amazon.co.uk/d/Books/AQA-GCSE-Modern-World-History-Revision-Guide/1471831752/ref=sr_1_14?ie=UTF8&qid=1484585501&sr=8-14&keywords=gcse+history+revision

She's got the day at home tomorrow (it's an A level taster day for people who are interested in doing 'new' courses - philosophy, economics etc. Since she wants to do biol/chem/phys she's not going & there's no point in sitting in cover all day - she'll hopefully get her 6th form application done (finally) & also has an opticians appointment, then it's parents' evening.

Ds history revision has been from his notes & bitesize. I'm going to get him the CPG ( think I've got the initials in correct order) as he likes the ones he has for other subjects, not that they've been overly well used yet! He's doing Vietnam, Germany & Russia.
Just eng Lang to go tomorrow & he's done, had a few unofficial results back but don't get official marks for a couple of weeks.
I've signed him up for the ncs over the summer, looks pretty good & heard good things about it. At least that's 3 weeks filled!

2 more days of DDs mocks to go, she's been mostly alright but said French and Maths were harder. Then it's time to prepare for her Grade 5 music theory and her dance exams....then the school play and her GCSEs! It never seems to stop
For the person who mentioned CGP guides, DD loves them for science but says that York Notes are what she recommends for English

Thanks queen does anybody know if the history one is any good? We don't have Geography either so any reviews welcome. Sounds like a hectic schedule queen hope you've got a holiday to look forward to!

Queen, my DD found maths really hard as well but got her predicted grade in it. Mine struggles with French but got a higher grade than predicted so you never can tell.

DD got her result yesterday, she got two 7s, one 8, two A*s, one A, four Bs and one C - the C was in physics which she doesn't enjoy, but doesn't take account of coursework which she reckons are around an A, so overall she should be pleased. She went into meltdown around her mocks and hardly did any revision - she'd like to improve her grades so she knows what she has to do!

Well done to everyone's dc on fantastic results

Dd finally finished yesterday with Maths paper 2 which she said was really hard. Even a couple of her friends who are Maths whizzes found it hard.

No results yet, apparently it's all very formal and we'll receive results in the post in the next week or two

Dd has a well earned rest today, there are still mocks going on but not for her and there's no lessons so I imagine she will sleep till mid-day Back to normal tomorrow.

Dd is still wavering over her A Level choices. Her two definite subjects are English and History. If she stays at her current school they do four so the other two will probably be Psychology and Government and Politics neither of which she's mad on.

She is also considering two local schools, one has already made her an offer, if she goes there her third subject will be Sociology. The other school she's considering offers Dance A Level which she would love to do but not sure if it is recognised as a 'proper' A Level.

Thanks for all the advise and ideas for the History. Going to order the CGP guide today.

DD has a Mock GCSE English exam on scrooge! God isnt it hard enough them doing the exams without all these exams before it!

Good luck for all those DD/DS taking mocks!! for us!!

Great results ifonly
All done here now just waiting on official results, def feel like & lots of is deserved t875 but need to lose a stone, v boring.
Not wishing to gender stereo type but looking over the results it seems that largely the girls have done quite well & worked for it, the boys not so much...
We can only hope that they take the results, those that need to keep things in perspective don't over stress & those that need to pull their finger out do so. Onwards towards the main event, so glad to have the support

Dd has fucked her mocks up.

English, was predicted a 7. Got a 2 in literature and a 3 in language.
Maths, predicted a 5/6 and got a 4
Graphics, predicted an A, got a C.
Science, predicted B, got C
Photography she got her predicted b
Art she got her predicted C
Geography and RS she got A for both.

She's been in tears. I've been calm and supportive. She took an overdose of painkillers. I'm at my wits end..

She says she's been revising, says she doesn't know where she went wrong in English and that most other kids failed. Not sure that's true. They have been through a shocking amount of English teachers in the last 15 months.

Anyway I've found a private English tutor who I'm hoping will start next week.

Dd reckoned she failed graphics on purpose because she's pissed off with her graphics teacher. Her graphics teacher does sound like she's been a total bitch to dd but what do I do. Do I ring school and say to the teacher dd reckons you're been a bitch to her since someone told you dd is gay, dd reckons you're a homophobic cow who is been nasty to dd because you think she's gay (she isn't even gay).

I guess everything else is a pass. If she gets Cs in science rather than a B and similar for maths it's not the end of the world as long as she passes.

Possum I am so sorry to hear about your DD. I am sure the results will massively improve but I am not good at giving advice so not sure what I would do. If she thinks she revised is there a way she'd accept more support to revise effectively?

Such a hard year, isn't it?

Well done to all the dcs getting back good mocks results and of course commiserations to the ones who should have done better but didn't. We're in this boat also but we know the reason, no revision.

The good news is DS is now doing 2 revision sessions a week at school, one of which is a 1-2-1 with his teacher for an hour. I don't know why she's doing that but I highly appreciate it. Admittedly she does set him stuff to do online or on paper and she does her stuff such like markings and so on but she is there to ask questions and explain if needed.

To be honest I am much more optimistic until next time when I have a meltdown and shout at him

Thanks Fleur.

School are putting on lunch time revision sessions and after school sessions every day which she's going to. This is new since the start of term so I'm hoping they will help.

Same here, revision sessions every day after school, I am forever in debt to them as I don't have all the friction at home anymore. He will only study at home on a Sunday.

possum sorry to hear this, least she has an idea what she can tighten up on before the real thing, although dont sound too bad though, can she drop graphics? Its a shame our dd has dropped Art but least she can focus on everything else.

we havent heard nothing about revision at school here!
personally im not overly impressed with dd school and 6th form so far. Hopefully it picks up.

possum I'm really sorry to hear that :( What a worry.

The after school revision sounds really helpful - dd's school can't do that because pretty much all the kids travel in by bus from a massive rural catchment area. They do do some lunchtime language & maths clinics - I'm going to try an get dd to try the French one, she's really bad at asking for help when she needs it. (Fleur really glad it has taken the stress off you!)

Parents' evening went really well last night. She has two maths teachers - one said she was doing too much the other said she wasn't doing enough She's going to carry on as she is. They are all set to finish teaching new stuff between now (on their final topic for maths) & half term (one module left for history) for everything so it will just be revision lessons after that.

She's got one more French speaking & writing in the next couple of weeks then only the final showcase for production & then all assessments are done.

Sorry to hear she's so upset possum what a worry for you. Is she not at all encouraged that she's there or there about except for English? If she revised does she think it was down to not efficiently revising or did she panic & blank during exams? I'm sure you're reluctant to ask when she's feeling so pressured but if you are able it may help her to think more clearly about how to move forward positively & get some control back. Good luck
Really glad things are improved for you fleur sounds like he's taking some responsibility for himself now. Am starting to feel a little anxious re Ds results, I just hope he will put in some effort, it's not too much to ask?

So sorry to hear about your dd possum

Her grades WILL improve but the most important thing now is her mental health. What's the pastoral care like at her school, would she talk to someone?

I feel so sorry for these kids under so much pressure. To them these GCSEs are the be all and end all. We have to keep reminding them to keep it in perspective and it's not the end of the world if they get lower grades than they hoped for.

We are still waiting for mock results here.

Thanks everyone.

Pastoral care at the school is quite shit. HOY wants to see her for a chat On Friday.

Dd wants to do graphic design a level so is worrying she won't be allowed with a C at gcse. She's also panicking she won't get any job if she doesn't pass English. She has added pressure because she wants to change school for sixth form and they're quite strict on admission criteria. We will find out in march if she has a conditional offer but I suspect that they ask the current school for her mock results and therefore she may not get an offer.