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.

Yeah, shove off And pm me about her y12 so far!

Are lots of the year 11s giving up extra curriculars? It hadn't actuLly crossed my mind.....

dd has decided not to do a play with her youth theatre this year. She'll carry on with workshops but rehearsals are 3-4 nights a week for 4+ hours each & at least one weekend day. It's way too much.

She's a bit disappointed because it is one she really wanted to do but I agree with her that it isn't workable. Mocks are before Christmas & are going to come around so quickly. She's also got school drama production (Chicago) before Christmas which will be hours & hours of work. The calendar is filling up with loads of social stuff though so I don't think she's too hard done by.

I think that's right Fleurdelise, dd did practice ISAs last year & they have the real thing this term. They've been told there is no timetable space to redo them so they will be offering anyone who gets a B or lower a chance to redo them at Christmas. I think. DD is irritatingly vague about this sort of thing.

Well done on your girls' results BigSandy I've got a wing-it one & it's bloody stressful!

I have a wing-it one and after getting his 8 in mocks English end of last year without revision (at least I haven't seen him doing any but he claims he did) I think he's convinced that if he shows up for the exams he'll get an A only for doing them the honours of showing up.

He got As in his ISAs and insists the higher mark is being submitted after taking again this year, I am just worried that he is wrong and will not do any work for it this year and he may be wrong, they may only submit this year's results. I guess I'll find out next week.

Well done to the girls BigSand!

Atia! will do!

A complete over reaction to give up extra curricular activities IMVHO- apart from the fact that they provide a bit of light relief from school work, these kids have got to learn a bit of resilience and time management and come to terms with the fact that there will be less time to mooch about watching crappy YouTube videos They've got to get used to working hard and playing hard cos that's what life is about!

Encouraging DD to give up an instrument is for her mental health. She hates the flute but has G7, and feels she HAS to get G8, in addition to her piano G8 she is doing at the same time. I want her to know she does not need two G8 instruments to succeed in life. If she enjoyed playing the flute of course I would not discourage her. She loves netball and has joined the squad, which is fab, but I am trying to help her reduce the pressure she puts on herself. Is that a bad thing?

Every child is different.

Well done Big Sandy to your DD!

Three of mine have done GCSE's already & DS has just started year 11.
The amount of extra curricular / after school events is very dependent on your dc.

In hindsight dd1 should have ditched some of her after school stuff. dd2 was a worrier and could have done with going to more fun things but refused. dd3 and ds are much more balanced. They have kept things on and come to an agreement with people that run the clubs that they can miss sessions if they have too much homework / exams.

From memory year 11 gets more intense around the February half term.

Well done yo your DDs Sandy.

I am a bit left behind here as DS doesnt go back to schol for 2 weeks! I am currently waiting for him as he has an interview for his work experience starting Monday! He looks so smart and grown up in suit trousers and striped shirt!

Had the Year 11 parents evening yesterday. OMG I had to have a large wine afterwards. They started by saying there are only 28 weeks until the exams, which is blooming obvious but having the number there on the screen shook me a bit, it’s no time at all. Then telling us there are 3 90 min maths papers for the higher maths GCSE (1 non and 2 calculator) was a shock. In English they have to remember 4 sets of text by heart. They also have to do 2 hours homework or revision every day (yeah right!!) to keep up. They did give us the dates of all the mock exams and tests so that we can help/blackmail our kids with their revision planning and studies, which was very helpful.

In theory this is all achievable, I got home to have a positive and encouraging conversation with DS and he didn’t seem too bothered or worried. In practicality my problem will be keeping him motivated, encouraged and focussed. I give it 2 weeks before he starts saying everything is boring, rubbish and pointless and the fight starts with us both screaming at each other and me getting stressed and drinking more wine.

The school then went on to talk about the Prom and 6th form options and open days etc. On top of everything else. Nooooooooooooo. And breathe 

"In theory this is all achievable, I got home to have a positive and encouraging conversation with DS and he didn’t seem too bothered or worried. In practicality my problem will be keeping him motivated, encouraged and focussed. I give it 2 weeks before he starts saying everything is boring, rubbish and pointless and the fight starts with us both screaming at each other and me getting stressed and drinking more wine. "

^ yes to this.

Though in our case it is more like 2 days than weeks (yes it has started already).

minesawine I think I was about to have a panic attack reading your post. 28 weeks!!! Omg for a second I thought I actually need to call DS RIGHT NOW to give him a big bollocking to "motivate" him. And breathe...

I suspect I need to actually stop on the way after our parents info evening and calm down before going home. Yes, I am that anxious!

conversation with dd:

• I read on mumsnet that it is only 28 weeks until your exams!

dd - yeah they told us that yesterday

• and someone said that you should be doing 2 hours of work a night to keep up

dd - yeah they told us that on Tuesday

• okay, so what are you planning to do tonight then?

dd - it's FRIDAY NIGHT

... it's going well so far

Daren't tell dd it's only 28 weeks, she will have a meltdown!

Ds does one extracurricular activity (last night's sports club) and there's actually an opportunity another night a week to do it which I'd be happy to encourage him to do - he needs the endorphins! He gave up his other ec last year, for non-school-related reasons.

Dd2 just did a youth club and a lot of going to gigs - her choice!

Dd1 was in a drama group - she didn't do a play during her gcse period, which was at least partly because her prom was during the performance week But she did then carry on being involved in every production during sixth form, just making sure that she didn't go to rehearsals the night before exams!

Oh dear, DD is taking up an extra dance class! In fairness we're not sure if she will go the A levels route or the performing arts route. She's capable of A levels (& doing well in GCSEs) but her anxiety may let her down.
Plus she will need to audition for PA courses so needs to keep up the dance, and it relaxes her.
I am thinking she should reduce her commitments after Xmas, but I don't want this whole year to be about just exams. Being 15 should be fun too.

DD1 doesn't do a lot of extracurricular stuff - she does archery with us once a month and has just got back into it after a long time off injured, so not about to give that up. She also does history club through school and will be going on the weekend trip for the centenary of the opening of Talbot House, because she has been part of the WW1 centenary project since 2012. History is her thing.

No-one from her school has said anything about the amount of hours they should be doing, nor that they should be revising already. Personally I call bullshit on that one. I did the Dutch equivalent of A-levels in 1986, back when exams were supposed to be harder and with the exams in early May, I didn't start revision until early March. And I aced them. You don't need to drill stuff into your head over and over again for 6 months. Besides, they will still be doing some parts of the curriculum that they haven't covered yet.

DD1 tends to spend her break and lunch revising and studying and likes to start earlier rather than later so she doesn't get as stressed. Sometimes I think she's more like 30 than 15...

Laniakea DS told me clearly that is is Friday night, time to relax and off to cinema he went. Not sure what he is relaxing from...

"DS- did you know it's only 28 weeks til GCSEs?
"Thank God- only 28 more weeks of this bloody blazer!"

Laniakea Your post made me laugh so much. I've told DS that he can take it a bit easy this week, but has to start doing 2 hours each day from next week. I am not ready to start the battle just yet and it is FRIDAY NIGHT

This thread is really going to help with my sanity.

she's got something every weekend from now until half term & two weekends are completely filled ... I don't think there's much danger of her overworking!

Beginning of term letter from ds's Headteacher reiterating how important extra-curriculars are and that they are just as important in year 11 and he wants to see well-rounded young people when they leave the school, not just clutches of good grades.

Ds doesn't actually do any organised ecs but does plenty of solo creative stuff.

Ds probably had 1.5 hours homework per night in years 8-10 so no big step up expected. He always had the entire weekend free if he kept on top of homework.

Oh and ds is taking iGCSE maths in January. Not counting how many weeks that is...he doesn't need to know; he works hard enough.

28 weeks! Reality hits.

2 hrs a night is going to be hard. Dd thinks 20 minutes an hour is sufficient

Well done to all those dc who have already taken some :)