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Secondary education

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Original poster

Year 11 support thread

999 replies

pasanda · 10/02/2017 09:37

I can't find a new thread, moving on from the old full one, so I thought I would create one (please tell me if I'm wrong!)

Last night ds stayed up till 4.30am doing his biology coursework Shock

This time the tsunami affect didn't work and he left it far too late to do a reasonable job. Which is a bloody shame because he wants to do biology A level and he has done so well in his other controlled assessments.

I wait with bated breath to find out his mark

Oh well, thank God for half term!!

OP posts:
Dancergirl · 27/04/2017 14:39

Good luck to your ds draylon hope it went well.

Dd has a Music assessment today - 45 minutes to create a composition apparently Shock

Draylon · 27/04/2017 15:32

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Laniakea · 28/04/2017 18:53

hey everyone (imagine that with a weary sigh) ... I've been ill for two bloody weeks & have lost track a bit. Pasanda, it is great to hear that things are going well for your ds :)

It's okay here .... meh ... worrying about maths (marks can be anywhere from 30-65/80 with no rhyme or reason to it), worrying about French, worrying about history ... and so on! BTEC presentation is next Friday, taking up lots of time, she did a run through today & fingers crossed should be on for a distinction with will put her at D* overall [she'll be really cross with herself if she doesn't manage that]. She's getting 3-4 hours of work a night so not doing much more targeted revision than a bit of tassomai.

Only 8 more days of proper school though! Terrifying.

(bit of a proud mother moment here - she's doing this creative writing AS level as an extra to GCSEs and got her portfolio marks back from moderation today ... she got 100% Shock . Got great feedback for her screenplay & critiques. That counts for 60% of the overall grade, there's a three hour exam to do but crossing everything for a good grade. She still can't be tempted to consider English at A level though!)

We're going to see Les Mis in London tomorrow with all the women of The Family Wink ... might be a bit stressful since my mum & I are the only ones not in the midst of studying (2x finals, 1x AS levels & 2x GCSE). I'm planning to drink wine & try to let it all wash over me.

AtiaoftheJulii · 28/04/2017 19:25

Nearly killed ds on Wednesday ... ten minutes before we were due to go out in the morning, he says, "oh yes, on Monday Ms Physics-teacher said that she didn't have my research and bibliography for my controlled assessment and I need to give it in today or I won't get any marks for that bit."

We then had ten minutes of faffing before he remembered that although he had deleted it from his computer (as of course you would delete anything important, don't want it clogging up your gaming machine), he had emailed it to himself from school to print out (to give to her the first time!). So he did get it sorted, but I was knackered from the effort taken not to explode!

pointythings · 28/04/2017 19:38

DD1 has all her coursework in and done, is working her socks off - has a total of 11 bits of homework for over the weekend, quite substantial ones too... So I've said they count as revision and to adjust her timetable accordingly.

Not long now till it all kicks off.

AtiaoftheJulii · 28/04/2017 19:43

Yes, ds thought he had given her the relevant coursework when he'd done it in February!

Laniakea · 28/04/2017 20:36

arrrrrgggghhhh to ds Atia. I've been told numerous times this year that 'everything is finished' only to have but this & except that sprung on me weeks later. And it is always a good idea to delete important shit ... dd had to rewrite a load of 'drafts' from creative writing because she'd chucked all the actual drafts away (that counts as tidying her room). It's actually quite hard to reverse engineer a script.

At 8 this evening she told me production was done, absolutely finished ... hooray! Except ... she hasn't learnt it obviously 'cos that would be stupid so that's something else for the weekend.

Draylon · 29/04/2017 00:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

pointythings · 29/04/2017 12:16

Aaaaargh that must have been so frustrating... We have had endless revisions of the History coursework, but finally got the finished version in last week.

At least DD2 will have very little coursework except for Drama - she's of the all terminal exams generation. Which will actually suit her very well, though it is far from great for very many people.

Original poster
pasanda · 29/04/2017 13:51

Atia - that sort of things sounds sooooo familiar!! Well done for not exploding Grin

Laniakea - your dd sounds very clever!! 100% in anything is hell of an achievement. I can't believe she won't be doing A level english though. Hope Les Mis was good Smile

dancergirl - I hope it went well for dd.

DS got up an midday today and is now at the books. He is sticking to his revision plan so far and I'm so chuffed. Really not used to having a compliant child who works hard. It' a bloody revelation!!

OP posts:
Dancergirl · 29/04/2017 22:44

Can I ask you all a question:

What are you/your dc doing about extra curricular activities this term? Dd is a dancer and is only cutting down very slightly on classes this term. We reluctantly agreed to her taking part to a show at the END OF FRIGGING MAY (i.e. peak exam time) but we were worried that if we'd said no she would only brood about it which doesn't bode well for revision.

They DO need some down time from revision but how much?

errorofjudgement · 29/04/2017 22:59

Really good question, we are grappling with this too. DD has given up 3 dance classes but is still doing 2.5 hrs on Monday and 3.5 hrs on a Wednesday. Plus stuff on a Saturday. I'm trying to encourage a balance but I think she needs to keep some dance for relaxation (& because there's end of year show in July)

AtiaoftheJulii · 29/04/2017 23:01

I think that if they're used to spending that time on extracurricular activities and coping with homework/schoolwork around that already, that they'll probably be ok. Dd2 and now ds didn't/don't do any formal extracurriculars, but dd1 used to do loads of drama - during her GCSE summer term she was stage managing a play at her youth drama group so that wasn't too demanding time-wise during the actual exam period, but she was in plays for her AS and A level summer terms. I just gritted my teeth and told myself that she'd got all the way through secondary school whilst being at the theatre as much as possible, so she'd probably/hopefully be ok!

pointythings · 30/04/2017 12:12

DD1 was never one to do a lot of extracurriculars, and she's kept up with the ones she was doing - archery (on weekends) and History club (Tuesdays after school). It's been perfectly sustainable for her and gives her useful breaks from revision.

Laniakea · 30/04/2017 12:18

I said no to dd doing the play this year, I know she wouldn't have coped well with school let alone revision but was happy for her to carry on workshops which were just a couple of hours a week. She decided to give them up too which I'm a bit sad about. For us the main problem was late tights + travel to school + ridiculous number of hours/week rehearsing. I'd have rather she carried on with something though.

Laniakea · 30/04/2017 12:22

late 'nights'

cantkeepawayforever · 30/04/2017 12:29

Same problem here with DS, a jazz musician and footballer. We have agreed a minimum - 2 hours 1 evening, a 45 minute lesson, 3 hours on Sat morning - and extras are useful bribes.

So he has done 4 hours of revision this morning in return for a busking session this pm. He may go to a special event next Sunday .. if he revises according to his timetable all week, etc.

GiraffeorOcelot · 30/04/2017 14:42

DS gave up his football club a couple of months ago for other reasons but if he was still there I'd have been happy for him to keep doing it twice a week. I think it's important for them to get a break from study and a hobby they love (and often get fresh air and exercise from) is probably way better than the Xbox.

I would feel differently if it was something that happened most days though and would want to limit to a few times a week to get a balance.

namechange7711 · 30/04/2017 17:11

Hello everyone.

Is my son the first to have a written GCSE exam coming up? Geography Paper 1 is on Tuesday morning!

So far this weekend, he's done 1 hour of English revision (Confusedwhy???) and made a half-hearted attempt at one past Geography paper, which should have been completed in 1hr 45mins but he took about 4 hrs faffing about with it. He's also played on the ipad/Xbox for maybe 18 hours, paced round the house endlessly, eaten everything sweet/unhealthy in the fridge, complained that I never buy enough milk for him to drink (he's going through 2-4 pints a day at the moment), argued with me and his brother, and had a bit of a cry when he felt overwhelmed by everything.

Ye Gods it's only April and I'm already sick of this.

Draylon · 30/04/2017 17:18

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namechange7711 · 30/04/2017 17:23

It's CIE, which I think means Cambridge IGCSE.

The second paper is on Wednesday 10th... so by then DS2 will have completed one of his GCSEs.

Mumteadumpty · 30/04/2017 17:41

I feel your pain namechange. We have a similar revision schedule at our house.
Roll on end of June, if only for the cows sake...

namechange7711 · 30/04/2017 18:00

Glad it's not just us!

What is it with the milk??? I've had to switch on our overflow fridge in the garage, simply to store enough supplies.

Mumteadumpty · 30/04/2017 19:08

I am hoping the extra protein will reach deep to activate those hard to reach brain cells.

GiraffeorOcelot · 01/05/2017 12:23

namechange yes I think you're first. DS's first exam is 16th.

Your revision schedule sounds familiar... it's very tricky. All we can do is support them but it's not an easy time for anyone.