Yr 11 support thread - the scaffolding is holding up well

[pointythings]

Because we need a new thread now that things are really hotting up!

Sorry Tis not Tia

Sorry I am thinking of AQA but don't know if it is the same for edexcel.

I asked my ds how did he find today's maths paper he said much harder then then last maths paper I really pray that the grade boundaries are law for all these kids sake....

(Low) I meant

Thank you Giraffe. He's doing triple.

Tis, my dd is also doing edexcel triple, she has B3 on 19th. I'd contact school if not on timetable? Or are there differences even within same boards?

Edexcel IGCSE triple only has 2 papers so maybe your DS is doing that. My DS only has one more paper for each science. Shame there's an election today as DS is not keen on going to bed!

I know ontop, just caught dd on her phone as she was stupid enough to comment on my FB status about latest election results silly girl.

Ds has made a nest in front of the telly - I can't bring myself to send him to bed...,,,,,

I know Bert - I'm actually so pleased she's so interested in politics and excited by it all.

I know my yr 12 students are planning on pulling an all-nighter - right before AS GovPol exam

Re grade 5s on Foundation - in November Edexcel were saying that about 25% of students who sat higher in the national mock should move to foundation so I think their worry is too many weaker candidates sitting higher putting grade boundaries on the floor there, rather than too many strong candidates sitting foundation.

Deciding tier of entry for borderline students has been a major headache across the country and if real grade 6 students have been put in for foundation then they are casualties of the rushed-through unpiloted changes.

However, re grade boundaries - we don't actually have any grade boundaries to change, the average mark on Foundation in November was 30% so there's plenty of room at the top for extra students to be added, the percentages of students getting each grade has only been given as 'roughly' rather than fixed so there is room for adjustment. Exam boards know from KS2 data what these kids should be getting so if too many bright kids have been entered for foundation this can be taken into account. Remember 20% of questions should appear on both Foundation and Higher, and it will be performance on these questions which will be key to the grade 4s and 5s, regardless of tier of entry. If a bunch of students get 100% on the crossover questions on foundation because they should have been entered for higher, then the performance on the same questions on higher will be correspondingly worse and more 5s will be awarded to foundation students.

My daughter usually scores high 80% but said this paper was so hard. She has now withdrawn from Further Maths next week as has her friend who normally scores over 90%.

No no no! We need more girls doing Further Maths! Tell them to wait for results day!

Naveloranges, that's bad news. If thet get a 9, will they reconsider? What about an 8?

onTop - Thank God, thats it, he's doing IGCSE. Phew!

Oh no, they should still sit the further maths exam! That hasn't changed and if they've covered the syllabus, they'll probably find it more straightforward than the new GCSE.

I started a new thread so we don't miss anything!

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/2950319-Year-11-support-thread-keep-on-keeping-on

Tis glad that's sorted out

Oh I misread, no they shouldn't withdraw from further maths GCSE, it's a much nicer exam and they've done all the work for it.

navel if it's not too late quickly contact school to 'unwithdraw' them. Surely they may as well sit it? What do they have to lose?

DS was so knackered last night he didn't do any biology at all after coming home from school. I do think that means his hope of an A is now gone. (he needs A*s in these exams to get an A overall due to poor ISA) which means a change of A level plan. It was never certain but I think the chances are almost gone now .

Reminder - new thread here

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/2950319-Year-11-support-thread-keep-on-keeping-on?watched=1&msgid=69645005#69645005

With regards to the Further Maths. She is at a private ( funded). The top set study Further Maths. However it seems quite straightforward to withdraw, unlike a state school. It seems the school don't like them to have anything less than A* on their results paper!!
They cover all the IGCSE Maths in year 10 and then Further Maths in year 11 and still use the A* - G grading system, My daughter seems to have found every single exam hard and will be so upset if she hasn't done well.

I thought further maths had the A^

"It seems the school don't like them to have anything less than A* on their results paper!!

Well tell the school bollocks to them!