GCSEs 2018

[DoNotBringLulu]

Hi all, I am sure many of us with dc going into year 11 this year are trepidatious about teachers and pupils thrown in at the deep end due to the new GCSEs.

There is one thing I can do which I hope will help my ds (even though he thinks I'm mad!), which is to get hold of this year's GCSE English Language and English Literature papers, read the books and work through the paper myself - I studied English Lit at university over 20 years ago. I will know for myself after I've done this how difficult the exam papers are at least - I'm not sure who I can ask to mark it for me though!

Can anybody tell me how challenging the Maths and English papers were for their dc? I understand these were the two subjects introduced with the new format.

Ok so we just got back from our post-parents evening curry.

I find it baffling how all dds teachers give her such a glowing report. I never see her do any homework and I know she only revises for tests during the break immediately before the lesson.

I think I posted on here last week about the physics test she started revising for on Sunday at 9.30pm. She did maybe 3 minutes and then stormed off to bed. She got a 7 and was praised for her hard work.

I can't decide if she's a genius who doesn't need to revise or if she's secretly working and only pretending to be watching Netflix all day!

My ds is feeling stressed out and throwing a juggling beanbag against his door....he's very grumpy and ready for a break, working hard and predicted reasonable grades. We've seen a couple of sixth form colleges. Anyone else's dc feeling the presure this early on? He had German test today for writing and doesn't think he has done very well.

DS2 often mentions that he has a lot of work to do, but is coping well so far.

Did anyone see Education Greater Manchester this evening? This episode (filmed last winter) was mainly focused on Y11s doing their mocks.

Well considering DS has mocks straight after half term he seems remarkably stress free! He is doing 3 hours of revision a day or at least that's his plan. DH thinks that's fine, I'm not so sure.

Didn't see Education Greater Manchester - was it good?

For the first time ever, i'm glad its half-term because DS needs to catch his breath. He's been stressed these last couple of weeks. Its not that he's not coping, it's just that he has to really plan ahead to make sure that he gets everything done on time and that's the first time ever that school has been that demanding.

Same here - exhaustion! luckily mocks here aren’t till end-Nov. There’s a music composition session on Tuesday morning, which he’ll go to. I think he has some maths practice papers and geography to do as well. And he needs to take some photographs for art. That’s enough for now, I reckon.
He’s added philosophy to his long list of possible A levels. He’s agreed it’s hard to decide until he gets his gcse results!
Meanwhile another flurry of emails from the school about key dates and revision!

Do any of you have reservations about what subjects your Dd's are looking to do or indeed their future career aspirations ? My dd is strong on all the sciences I think she will at least get A's hopefully A's in most ..she's looking at studying Physics/DT (Product Design) and Business Studies (she should get an A in Design Technology Graphic Products ) but I'm really not sure where this aspiration to do Interior Design has come from ...personally I would rather her consider IB because it leaves quite a few doors open and her school if she stays on has quite strong IB results ... Physics is very strong but I dont have any idea on what career she could consider with Physics (quite annoyed that she flatly refused to go to careers evening at the end of Yr10)...She will get a 6th form taster week at her current school which hopefully will help..

If she's really keen on physics and DT, maths would go well what about architecture?

DD says there are a lot of children at her school really starting to stress out. DD isn't really a stresser on the whole, which is good - but also means that we don't always know if she needs to be doing more. But at the moment we are happy - she is working hard in school and doing all homework, plus some extra bits of revision as and when she has 'spare' time such as no homework set or whatever.

We still have a week to go - half term is a week later for us than much of the country it would seem. Though we are all ready for it! Going away so a complete week's break. She does have a History test on her return but just a normal in-class type one they have every so often and she's worked towards it already and will do next week too. She's made some flash cards so will take them with us - plus our friend who we are away with is a GCSE History teacher - so she could ask him if she starts to think about it.

Mocks aren't until January here. Wish they were before christmas really rather than straight after but ...

I don't understand why but DS's school says it needs to know which A levels they want to take by the end of January.
They say it is to plan resources. I find that confusing because it's not like they'll recruit an extra History teacher just because a lot of people want to study History (say).
The thing is that although the students are due to commit in February, the school won't commit to offering the courses at all until September, when they know for certain exactly how many people they have.
It seems a bit lopsided.

They start working on the sixth form timetable before Easter - they try to arrange option blocks so that as many students who applied can study their chosen mix of subjects as possible.

Just watched Educating Greater Manchester.

It's heartbreaking. What an awful, stupid system we have.

That one girl in tears over her mocks - "Mum, I've failed everything".
The other girl getting her results - "Mum, I got some!".
Parents turning out to support their kids, perhaps not knowing what to do for the best, but desperately hoping they can have a decent future.
State schools lashed and lashed again by funding cuts, then everybody, staff and students alike, made to feel like failures.

Yes - DS school needs initial 4 choices (they can drop one at Christmas or end if year 12) by November, they can be revised after mocks (in January). This is for timetabling purposes. They may not be able to hire extra teachers but they can block subjects so that the highest number if pupils get to study all their choices. After gcse grades they can change but then it will be subject to changing to a subject that is being taught to the same timetable as the one being dropped. They have also indicated that it may be possible to switch up to the first half term of yr 12 depending on the subject and the pupil.

We have 3 options of maths at A level as follows;

1. Maths A level

1. Maths A level and FM AS level.

1. Maths and Further Maths Pre-U.

You need a minimum of 7 for option 1 and preferably an 8.

You need an 8 for option 2 and 3.

(It is a super selective with a very high proportion of A* for all gcses especially maths).

DS is hoping to do Maths (option 1), Geography (his favourite subject) and then Economics and Politics (both unknowns at present so I anticipate politics may be dropped as he is currently keen to read Economics at uni).

I am pleased he has sorted a possible route forward and happy that Maths and Geography as base subjects leave doors open for a wide variety of degrees should he change his mind although he is a lot less flakey thsn his older siblings were and they've both got there in the end!

Timetabling must be quite tricky. The sixth form college asked for potential choices but will discuss further at interview. That’s just as well because DS1 has already had a bit of a rethink! A school sixth form we’re looking at doesn’t ask for any subject choices at this stage. I’ve seen another one that puts them in blocks - most of the ones DS liked were in the same block! His current school does ask for option choices but they can be changed when results come out.

Nuts. DD went to a taster day at local college. She said it was pleasant enough but she was specifically underwhelmed by the physics room (physics one of her leading considerations).
She heard great things about 1 hour away private 6th form, she wants to apply there (I think we missed all visit dates). I told her to get skates on quick for 18 Nov. application deadline date. Truth is, both sets of grandparents will help with fees. We can make it happen.

I am still opposed to private education & feel bad for local college... she'd do fine there. But it's her life & who am I to stand in the way of her fierce ambition. Pah.

@charlmum60, look at materials engineering for your DD. It's a scientific way to end up in interior design, by understanding the materials decisions scientifically.

Allthebestusernames - my experience is obviously very out of date, but your ds might want to check out the unis he's considering for economics, and investigate whether further maths would be helpful. I don't think it's a requirement anywhere, but even 30 years ago it was a definite disadvantage not having it - not for getting in, but for actually doing the course . . . (economics / cambs)

I watched Educating Greater Manchester. It was the first episode that I saw that was about being educated rather than personal and social issues. The girl who is doing tourism but thought Narnia is a real place???

One thing that struck me is the mismatch of career aspirations with GCSE expectations. It cries out for an app where you put in your interests, GCSE grades / target grades and hoped for careers. Then it spits out what A level combinations you would need to take, and also some suggested jobs that match your strengths and wishes (eg work in a team versus independently, have autonomy versus being directed, inside versus outside, involving a need to persuade people etc).

I think she was having a laugh tbh. Those results were really depressing, though. For staff as well as students. I thought the school made a very good point about how difficult it can be for parents who had a bad experience of school to come back in and they appreciated the support they got. But what came across was that the school has no money and the parents certainly don’t. I can afford revision guides and a Tutor if needed. I don’t think those families have the same luxury.

True, but turning up for school and listening in lessons is a major start. I'm sure it is just the way it's edited but it's as though there's always someone being disruptive. The headteacher alluded to absenteeism in his post mock speech to parents.
Students who don't want to learn most really slow the lessons down for those who do.

I think she was being serious about Narnia, but even if she wasn't. They'd just filled their mocks, so the time to start taking the work seriously had arrived.

Mmzz - I think my daughter has just done some tests similar to what you have described - she only finished the tests on the last day of this HT -Cambridge Occupational Analysts ‘Careers Brief’ profile testing... hopefully this will help her and give us a little bit of an insight into careers that match her strengths - thank lljkk will have a look into this!

@charlmum60, thank you.

I'm told that one of the best reasons to send your DC to an expensive selective independent school is that they often hire really knowledgeable careers advisors. Its such a shame as all the information is out there, freely available if you are able to speak to the right people.

Any recruiter knows exactly how to sift through graduate CVs and which attributes they are looking for. The universities that make an effort to find out what their graduates do next know which of their degrees lead to being hired in a relevant trainee role. They also know what they are looking for in terms of school leavers and they know the minimum qualifications they took last year without there being something exceptional about the candidate that didn't show up in their A level results.

The people who teach A levels already know what you need to have at GCSE to have a chance of a good pass at A level (eg 8/9 in GCSE maths or don't bother with Further Maths A level).

The students already know whether they prepefr working outside or in, or a mixture, whether they want to sit at a desk all day or couldn't bear it, whether helping other people is strongly important to them, whether they prefer to work with their hands or brain (they are not mutually exclusive, of course), whether they enjoy working in a team or prefer to work alone, whether they would enjoy being challenged to sell things or the thought of having to convince others strikes fear into their hearts. Even whether they are prepared to work anywhere or don't want to have to leave the area they grew up in, and how strongly they feel about that. All the info, probabilities and options are there, it just needs a good brain to combine it, or AI to do it for them.

And if the students want to be entrepreneurs, then startup funders can tell them exactly what qualities they need to be given a chance.

I know people change, but optimising what you know now is surely useful?

DS2 has had the usual careers stuff at school, but there's also a careers adviser from the local council youth service who comes in and meets individually with each student in Y11. Because of DS2's ASD, he gets a couple of extra sessions.

After finding out what he was interested in and helping him research it, she helped him make a plan of the next steps towards getting there.

For his first choice of post-16 options, he needs to get 60 points from his best 8 subjects, plus these individual grade requirements:
Maths: 8
Chemistry: 7
Physics: 6
Either English language or English lit: 5

According to the predicted grades his HoY has shared with him, he is on track for this, but he understands that the requirements are high and that he'll have to continue working hard.

My children's school offers a really nice woman who you can make an appointment with is you want. I haven't heard of her giving anyone any advice that is actually useful. Everyone can do anything apparently and there is no such thing as a degree that isn't worth £27k + 3 years of living expenses.

TheSecond that explains a conversation I had with DS about careers talks. He said most people hadn’t had theirs yet but one boy had had more than one. This sounds like the explanation!
Can I ask for views on Chemistry A level? It has the reputation of being very difficult but also keeps a lot of options open. DS1 is getting good marks in it but is scared of its fearsome reputation. I plan to talk to his chemistry teacher about it but just wondering why it’s reputed to be harder than physics!