Year 11 support thread - keep on keeping on!

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Just getting this ready!

Following on from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/2936097-Yr-11-support-thread-the-scaffolding-is-holding-up-well

Good luck to those with exams today 🍀

Our school gives both a minimum target grade (I think this might be automatically generated and is based on Ks2 data), plus a target (aspirational) grade.

dd has both target & predicted!

Targets based on SAT score - since she didn't do SATs they made up a set of results (half way through y9 they suddenly noticed she hadn't got any!) for her so they could include her in their stats so we ignore those, they were all way lower than her predicted grades anyway (which is good for the school right? Valued added?). The predicted grades were a combination of mock mark & general standard of work produced in the Autumn term.

ds's school give predicted grades (what they think student will get) and aspirational grade (what they could get if everything goes amazingly well).

We were like Laniakea - they set the FFT to 'highly aspirational' and dole those grades out as targets, but a more realistic set of predictions evolve over the course of Y10/11 through termly reports of progress. I would say DS is likely to miss all his highly aspirational targets, but may make the majority of his predicted grades (which are almost all 1 grade below his aspirational targets, and I suspect would be what his targets might be if they had selected a slightly less aspirational FFT setting!)

We had another fire alarm yesterday in history : this time some scrotum set it off. So that's two fire alarms in two successive days during my DS's exams...grrr

DS has target grades (based on yr 7 CAT test) and predicted grades. As an example his maths target grade is 9 his last predicted grade was 5.

I'm expecting a couple of As mainly Bs and Cs with a fail in computer science which he hated. English and maths 5. (Hopefully). Even though he got an 8 in English Lang mock but I consider this finger up in the air.

If above turns up to be true he is fine for sixth form. Anything better than this is a bonus. Worse and he may not get into sixth form.

DD's school gives predicted grades based on how well they are doing in class, tests etc and how hard they are perceived to be working. They first get predictions Christmas of y10 and they are adjusted termly as the teachers see how everything is going. Some of DD's were realistic, some were slightly too aspirational, but not daft.

They are also told the FFT target grade for Maths & English, but separately from the predictions.

DD's school gives school target (aspirational) and 'working at' grades. However, the aspirational targets are adjusted and are set conservatively. DD2 in Yr 9 for instance has 6 across the board for all her targets. DD1 at this stage was targeted all Bs except in History where she was targeted an A. This was downgraded later and the teacher told off. I strongly suspect OFSTED gaming going on.

Targets have been adjusted each year so by mid yr 11 DD1 was targeted 8/8/8 for both Englishes and Maths and A or A* in everything else. This is pretty realistic, though she's struggled with Chem and Physics coursework (far prefers terminal exam system). She won't be far off her target.

DD2 meanwhile has already exceeded about half her current targets - I expect to see those adjusted come September as she is working at a 7 in Geography, French and English. It still isn't an exact science, but I do have some faith in the school's predictions.

Piggy that really needs to mean instant permanent exclusion if they find out who did it.

Harshest sanction I've come across for setting off fire alarm is 1 day fixed term exclusion. No way permanent!

They had a spate of them last year as well as a real fire. The culprits were permanently excluded as they had previous. the threat for this one is 5 days.

DS isn't bothered - he says exam was basically over. The kitchen alarm the previous day caused more disruption!

DD predicted 8/8/8 and A/A in everything else. Now hoping for a 7 in Maths. Needs an A and 7 A's (in old money) for sixth form.

Does anybody know what applied science A level is? DS is looking at what classes to trial during the taster and he want to change his geography option for something else, no clue what though.

Does anyone know if schools still do resits in August like they did in my day (O Level and CSE's), I was told today by a friend that you can pay to resit exams, but my DS's school has never mentioned it. Is this true?

There may be November resits in some subjects/boards.

There are November resits for Maths and English only. All other resits would involve sitting the paper alongside next year's Y11s next June. You can pay to enter exams as a private candidate.

Last one for us today & I know many of you. Thanks for the chats along the way, it's all been interesting, lots helpful, some worrying!
Good luck to all with the rest of their exams & I hope they all get the results they deserve. Lots of proms & a long summer letting down their hair & learning about work to look forward to now, & a large drink for us!

According to the AQA website Applied Science A level is no longer available - I would assume it is the same for other boards, but easy to check.

Last day here too. Good luck to everyone and to those with more exams next week.

My DD has found quite a few of the exams much harder than mocks and harder than expected. She is predicted A* , A and 9s!!!! She has now started to bargain with herself that a B is ok. This is what we have been saying all along. She has found the exam situation very stressful, has answered a couple of 6 marks questions wrong because she misread the question and gone blank on a couple of Maths questions. I really feel for her that the stress of the day has got to her and possibly meant her grades won't be what she had hoped for.Physics today!!

The important thing to remember is that so long as they get what they need for the next stage, that's all that matters. A vanishingly tiny number of them will ever need to refer to their GCSE grades again!

Physics here today. She 's planning to go out afterwards as half her group of friends will have finished but she has 3 more. Well done to those who will have completed their marathon, parents and children!

Yes Bert I keep saying this to her, it's a stepping stone to the next stage.

She also has 2 exams next week taking her up to Friday which is her prom. The combined anxiety of prom/ dress/Science exam revision is palpable.Roll on Saturday!

3 exams!