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.

pisacake Ds is exactly the same - 'Once the exams are over, we'll just play cricket all day!'

Oh things were going so well I should of guessed they wouldn't last!

DS worked steadily for his mocks and then continued once they were finished, but this has slowly dwindled down to doing absolutely nothing for over a week now. Its not that I expect him to be revising for next summer but given that the school gives very little homework, all left to Sunday evening and only takes 2-3hrs I don't think doing an hour of something work related is asking too much?

Anyway I haven't said anything to DS and I've decided to leave him to his own devises until January and then I may have to have a quiet word if things haven't changed.

Sorry I meant to say an hour a night isn't!

Blubelle honestly, I think that's really normal - just remind him that it's going to be very full on from January!
Another Saturday coursework session - this time for art. DS1 has art on Monday and Thursday after school as well to produce as much as possible. The teacher has at least reassured me the quality is there even if quantity not so much and that he's done enough writing. But he also has mocks starting next week so revision is going to be a struggle!

DD has study leave over the May/June GCSE period, but not sure how long before. They then have 2 weeks Work Experience from last June to early July. The proposed date for the Y11 prom is the week between the last GCSE date (on their timetable, DD's is a week or so before this) and the start of the WE.

We have a mocks timetable for January - first exam is Maths on the first Monday back! No idea re study leave for that yet, though DD has at least one mock exam a day and sometimes two.

Anyone else's dc have a part time job? Dd has just started one.

Just wondering how she will cope. She's already permanently tired but she doesn't do any other extra curricular activities so she's confident she can fit it in.

No part-time job (apart from finishing up the DofE volunteering). TBH Its good that your DD can find someone who wants to pay her for her work. It implies a lot of good things about her - such as she is responsible and mature, and I think it will encourage colleges etc to see her as someone who will apply herself.

I've just been looking at DS's mock revision timetable. By the time he'll be finished the last mock, he'll have done about 60 hours of revision (including hours on English lit alone - memorising poetry). It seems like a lot to me, but is it typical?

Had the number lock turned off! That's 15 hours of memorising poetry and quotes from the books.

That sounds like a lot to me mmzz!
Mocks start this week and I'm relieved to see that the first week includes time on the computer programme exam (the real thing) and the 5 hours on art can be spent finishing coursework. The only one that needs major revision this week is biology. The following week looks pretty crammed, though!

DS referees junior football matches, its usually 2 games on a Saturday, as he plays for his own club on a Sunday, so it's not too time consuming. It's good money, he enjoys it, and it looks fantastic on personal statements for college and university.

notso DS has just completed his first cricket coaching badge and is busy calculating how much he can earn!

DD has part time job but seasonal at the moment (thankfully so she is now not working until after mocks in Jan). She does work from home and its Business Social Media - Event Supervision- so should look good on CV and its a nice little earner at £50 for a Saturday.

Kingscote DS has investigated cricket coaching/umpiring too!

But between his football, refereeing and playing cricket for his own club I'm not sure where he would fit it in!

Bit of a wobble last night and this is entirely due to being too relaxed and then panicking. He ended up cancelling music activities at the last minute.
However, there seems to be a more positive mood this morning after doing English and biology revision last night. And a maths practice paper went very well indeed.
I do like his school but I wish they'd done a lot more of this last year rather than ramping everything up in year 11. I guess I will know in advance for DS2!

Ds takes his GCSEs next year and if anything could go wrong it is going wrong and he is really not motivated at all.

How do I motivate someone who has just lost their best friend and has a father who is terminally ill.

He wants to do a trade. It is 2 years till qualification but if he doesn't pass either English or Maths he has to do an extra year.

He is supposed to hand coursework in tomorrow and he hasn't even started it.

He feels like giving up and it is taking all my energy to keep him going. I HE him and so although I am sure he has dyslexia I can't get a diagnosis until he is in college.

Is there any other person out there who is going through similar.

DS2 is showing signs of stress, which is unusual for him. I think he is working too hard and I'm worried that he may not be able to sustain this level of effort until May/June.

He's also feeling thrown by the potential changes to Computer Science. He is in the middle of a 20 hour controlled assessment which will either count for 20% of the marks or 0% of the marks, depending on a decision which will be announced in January.

That kind of last-minute change and uncertainty is difficult for anyone, let alone someone on the autistic spectrum.

All this unnecessary pressure on our children at an age that will never come back. They should be exploring all life has to offer, learning for the sake of learning, training in the art of being with other human beings, dreaming a lot of the time, playing sports and music, dancing, kissing girls or boys. I have many times voiced my dislike of GCSEs, so here I go again. Revision here hasn't started except for lots of end of topic tests and weekly Latin tests which never stop at his school. I am on zero parental pressure mode and I intend to keep it that way till the day I miserably fail

Sad to here your DS is affected by the Computer Science farce too. DD is as well. Though she isn't yet aware - she finishes her controlled assessment this week, so waiting til its actually completed to tell her - unless its mentioned by her actual teacher first, which tbh might be the easiest way anyway as she may know more than I do. Its going to throw her massively though, especially as she has already spent hours completing the work which may well now count for nothing.

Dd doesn't get study leave.

Her mocks start the third day back in January & run for 10 days. It looks like there will be some free periods.

She won't get study leave for the actual exams. They will be expected to be in school every day until 6pm rehearsing for the annual dance show.

Oliversmumsarmy I am so sorry to hear what your DS and you are going through. I don't have any experience of your situation so apologies if my suggestions are inappropriate.

In relation to the loss of his friend and his Dad's illness would counselling help?

Also would he be entitled to an extension regarding his coursework and I presume that the school are fully aware of everything that is going on, if not I would make sure that they are as they would have had pupils going through this before so should be better placed to advise.

Finally don't be too hard on yourself, there is only so much you can do and although not idea but GCSE's can always be re-taken. to you.

Ds told me they are doing another topic in history - The Cold War. Also I believe there is more maths cousework to do. On top of everything else I need to prod him to do 6th form application.

SecondofherName - my ds got very agitated and stressed at half term, hope your ds is OK. My ds is not doing very much revision at the moment.

Does maths have coursework?

DS did the Cold War too. He says it was the most interesting they've done in History (so easier to remember) and it only took about 2 months, so if that's the last topic you've got the school is well-placed to start revision after the next half-term.

Agree with you Drummers and really feel DS is taking too many and it's getting to him with all the constant reminding at school about how important they are. I think they're quite important but not at the expense of everything else and a sense of well-being.

Drummer - if not now then when us the right time for our DC to start gaining qualifications and transitioning into the adult world?? Two generations ago, children were leaving school at 15 and starting work.

Hi mmzz, in my country you don't sit public exams till 18. At 16 you have end of year exams in your school of course. But the year doesn't revolve around them. That doesn't stop anyone from transitioning into the real world if they want to. There's a big difference between a 16 and an 18 year old IMO.