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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:
Laniakea · 16/05/2017 15:53

AQA. They usually have a lot of true/false or multiple choice questions in the reading but this time it was fill in the blanks which requires some grammar knowledge (sadly lacking in dd's case!)

yes - I blame dh for the inappropriate pencil sharpener Grin

Had a mini crisis because we've run out of printer toner ... argh.

Fleurdelise · 16/05/2017 15:53

I am exaggerating a bit but I do find it nerve racking at points.

DS said French was ok/easy and biology harder than expected. Hmm Wonder why his feedback is different than here. I asked him what does he mean by that as obviously his answers are monosyllabic.

Madhairday · 16/05/2017 15:59

Why does it have to be transparent?!

Haven't heard from DD yet re biology. She's at an after school revision session. Thankfully she doesn't need to take equipment as she uses a laptop (dyspraxic) so apart from maths she only needs that really. It's nice and quiet too for her in the library with just a few others.

Laniakea · 16/05/2017 16:02

dd said a lot of ppl on twitter are saying the biology was hard - there were more than usual 3-5 mark questions, a few really strange ones & some which were ambiguous waffly ones which are always dangerous imo.

I take the postmortem with a pinch of salt - am just happy she isn't miserable & seems fairly motivated for chemistry tomorrow.

Madhairday · 16/05/2017 16:06

I just text DD to ask how biology was and got the hugely informative reply 'it was cool' Hmm

Fleurdelise · 16/05/2017 16:08

DS is also positive, he said he thinks he made a stupid mistake on the first question, told him to move on and forget about it.

Next one chemistry on Thursday.

Laniakea · 16/05/2017 16:09

chemistry on thursday rather

(pencil sharpener is one of those ones that collects the shavings - I suppose it is possible they could hide something in it ? )

Jungfraujoch · 16/05/2017 16:09

DS1 just in said Biology was ok - he reckoned the topics were ones he had gone back over in the last couple of days.

Either that or he completely misread the questions! Grin

CrazedZombie · 16/05/2017 16:11

Ds is also very happy. Phew!!

GiraffeorOcelot · 16/05/2017 16:11

I wonder if the differences in reports back are due to different boards?

DS sat AQA biology but for example both AQA and edexcel french were this morning plus maybe other boards?

Jungfraujoch · 16/05/2017 16:15

Just checked with DS1, Biology was AQA, he did say there were quite a few 5 mark questions.

Madhairday · 16/05/2017 16:17

DD just in, she's edexcel and had no 5 mark questions. Said the 6 mark questions freaked her out as they hadn't revised for them but the rest was fine. Seems ok about it. Phew. First one done.

t875 · 16/05/2017 16:19

Was science today Core? Dd has already passed that one.

RE tomorrow. Anyone else? Glad went well for anyone's taking biology today. Smile

BertrandRussell · 16/05/2017 16:19

Ds did Biology today too.-but it was AQA double science not stand alone Biology. He said it was "easy" which may well be a bad sign- overconfidence has been an issue in the past!

Madhairday · 16/05/2017 16:21

T875, DD has RE tomorrow too. She's learning some last minute quotes about Christian and Islamic approaches to animal rights, early life etc.

Her biology was triple science.

Madhairday · 16/05/2017 16:22

DD can be like that too Bertrand with overconfidence - it always worries me!

BertrandRussell · 16/05/2017 16:24

Ds has RE tomorrow too. It's one of his favourite subjects, so he isn't going to revise any more today (did I mention overconfidence?) but do Chemistry for Thursday instead.

Laniakea · 16/05/2017 16:25

yes B1 which is the AQA core paper (at dd's school the double science groups take the core papers at the end of year 10 & the additional in y11, the triple sci do them all in year 11).

DD has creative writing tomorrow - the exam is 40% of the grade but you can't really revise for it. She's reading through old papers for prompts but chemistry after that.

Dancergirl · 16/05/2017 16:30

Oh dear, dd found Biology really hard Sad ontop how did your ds find it?

pointythings · 16/05/2017 16:34

I can't keep track of all these different exam boards... DD1 just had French this morning, she said it was hard but not impossible. That's her done for the week but it all kicks off next week. She's got her revision all mapped out though.

t875 · 16/05/2017 16:36

Yeah shes been cramming in the revision for RE tomorrow. It's a subject she's done so well in for an A* in her last test so hopefully she does well Smile

All the best to those D c that are taking it!! The countdown begins now Grin

Madhairday · 16/05/2017 16:49

Yes DD is far too overconfident about RE too having got A* s in mocks and last few tests. She does seem to be coming down to earth now she's faced with the reality tomorrow. She does love it though like your DS Bertrand. Wink

Ontopofthesunset · 16/05/2017 17:04

He said it was ok. Not very communicative.

Fleurdelise · 16/05/2017 17:08

Clarified with DS he had AQA biology and French. He said biology was harder than normal but he thinks he did ok, it wasn't extremely hard, expanded on "it was alright".

cricketballs · 16/05/2017 17:11

pasanda if it's Edexcel business tell him to take his time for the unit 1 paper! They put in possible answers that at first glance would tempt but when you read carefully are obviously not correct.

His unit 3 (extended writing) needs context - so instead of using "competitors" he needs to say "competitors such as...." There will always be clues for the context in the scenario they give before the actual question but if he just used the info in the actual question it won't hit the top band marks.
Basically - BLT with such as seasoning; because...leads to...therefore with context