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Secondary education

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Original poster

GCSEs 2018

998 replies

DoNotBringLulu · 12/08/2017 16:19

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.

OP posts:
notsomanky · 04/12/2017 17:28

DS1 has mocks all this week, but the ones scheduled for today were cancelled, and school closed early due to a bereavement.

He says he did revision this afternoon, but as I wasn't here ......

Mocks will take place as scheduled for the rest of the week, and they will rearrange the ones he missed.

He has been quiet since we heard about the bereavement at the weekend. He did not know the child involved, but they went to the same school, had similar interests and it's just a bit close to home really.

KingscoteStaff · 05/12/2017 21:09

Just got DS’s mocks timetable - starting with Eng Lang at 9am on the first morning of term!!!

Not too bad though - only two days with two exams and only one of those is a back-to- back.

I have written them into our house diary and highlighted them in virulent green...

WhatHaveIFound · 06/12/2017 11:05

Still waiting for mocks timetable here though we know the date range and it's in January (rather that the February we were told previously). Revision has taken a back seat at the moment due to music commitments.

drummersmum · 06/12/2017 12:32

Just got DS’s mocks timetable - starting with Eng Lang at 9am on the first morning of term!!!
kingscote exactly the same same here, English Lit first morning. But 8:30, not 9:00. So you got the better deal! Grin

Original poster
DoNotBringLulu · 06/12/2017 15:29

Results for my ds's mocks were good, higher marks were 6 and 7. Lowest mark was a 3 for German.....they haven't finished the syllabus yet so it is not surprising. Ouch to 8.30 and 9.00 in the morning! I feel your pain Looseattheseams ds announced one morning on the way to school that he didnt have calculator but found it in his bag.

OP posts:
BlueBelle123 · 06/12/2017 15:48

Well done your DS Lulu on his results, the trouble I am now finding is that once mocks are over all momentum is lost and its back to doing the school's minimum amount of homework each week.

Oh well I shall re-frame from saying anything until January....the exams still feel an awful long way away but I have a feeling once the new year arrives they will suddenly seem scarily close!

Original poster
DoNotBringLulu · 06/12/2017 18:17

Thanks Bluebelle I know what you mean...the pressure seems to be off for a while. Now is the time to help my ds with some planning. His mocks results are good, some subjects to work on and technique for History, he got a 4 but can do better, his teacher said every time you make a statement, imagine her saying 'why?' and elaborating a bit more.

Although I am worried, not sure what is going on with his extra time, doesn't look like the school have applied for it. Something else to sort out.

OP posts:
Oddsocks15 · 06/12/2017 20:54

Things for DD have gone from back to worse, school sent wrong results home for whole of her French class, they have all been graded a U !!

Seems the grade 1 is correct, DD fell down on poetry, Looseattheseams I have PM you.

drummersmum · 06/12/2017 21:07

lulu "why" here too. The problem with having to answer why after every statement is that DS History coursework essay due this Friday is running 200 words over and it's very hard to cut it down. Every statement has a why, every argument needs a counterargument and then an invalidation or a lessening of the counterargument, every statistic has to be accompanied by a comparison with previous levels, the conclusion has to mirror intro, etc. I find 2000 words insufficient to deal with certain big historical questions this way!

BlueBelle123 · 06/12/2017 21:37

Oddsocks hope your DD is OK, are the school putting anything in place extra sessions etc to help? Would getting a tutor for English be an option?

LooseAtTheSeams · 07/12/2017 06:58

Thanks Oddsocks will reply. Good grief to the French result for the whole class!
It seems so far so good with mocks here but more still to do.

Stickerrocks · 07/12/2017 10:35

DD relaxed after her mocks. A month later, she is still relaxing, as her teachers don't seem to want to set much homework in the run up to Christmas. Luckily extra lessons after school are still running, so she is doing a little bit.

BlueBelle123 · 07/12/2017 12:29

Don't know what to really make of my DS's school's approach to these exams, it seems to be very laid back and yet at parent's evening when I asked a number of teachers when they anticipated finishing the syllabus they all gave the same rabbit in the headlights stare and said hopefully Easter!!

I have a friend who also has a child in Y11 and at his school he has been given 2hrs of homework a night!

Unfortunately, it will only be on results day when we will know if DS's school had the right approachHmm

Stickerrocks · 07/12/2017 12:46

Did your school start their GCSE courses in year 9 or year 10 though? Our school started them in year 9, covering things like Jekyll & Hyde, then focused more in year 10, splitting into double/triple science streams and foundation/higher language papers. Now they are having to go back over the year 9 topics because everyone forgot them straight away. They have just changed their exam board for one subject, because they decided the criteria were too strict, forcing the class to abandon the practicals they had already performed and start from scratch again.

I'm sure that the teaching staff who grew up with GCSEs are more frightened of the new exams than the older staff simply because there is no coursework available to monitor progress against.

BlueBelle123 · 07/12/2017 12:59

GCSE's are done over 2 years and last year they also sat an extra maths GCSE which had to be squeezed in, no wonder DS says they practically cover a new maths topic every lesson!!

I have an older DD who also went through this school and so I can see that no chances have been made from how they previously did things, by that I mean GCSE's still done over 2 years and still minimal homework set.

Stickerrocks · 07/12/2017 13:19

Our school had no early entries in year 10 for the first time. Additional Maths is only being sat by a few in the top set who have an extra lesson after school each week. DD is probably doing about an hour of homework/revision each evening on to top of extra sessions after school Tuesday - Friday.

BlueBelle123 · 07/12/2017 13:43

Actually it was the whole school that sat the extra GCSE, can't help but feel that it is going to have a knock on effect for the maths GCSE next summer.

Well done your DD though she sounds like she's working steadily which I think is the right approach.

Stickerrocks · 07/12/2017 22:21

I'm sure they do know what they're doing.

All this talk of maths, add maths, further maths & extra maths is making me want to see how I would get on with the papers now. Don't think DD would speak to me again if I stole her thunder!

LooseAtTheSeams · 08/12/2017 09:00

Oddsocks have pm'd you.
One exam today, then DS goes in tomorrow to do music coursework. I hope he can get the compositions pretty much done. One more week of mocks to go. He seems fairly happy so far and next week has fewer exams.
Our school starts KS4 maths and science in Y9 but everything else is a two-year course.

Soursprout · 08/12/2017 11:02

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

mmzz · 08/12/2017 11:11

DS is starting his mocks today - with a suspected fractured wrist! The hospital say they'll x-ray next week if it still hurts. The school day they'll play it by ear. Meantime DS just had to use the hand to write as best he can

drummersmum · 08/12/2017 11:29

Oh no mmzz lucky it's just the mocks and not the real thing!!

DS submitted his History coursework last night, got it to the right length, did a good job. I made him do a little victory Indian dance with me, just the kind of thing a teenage boy loves to do with his mother when she's in pyjamas Grin

LooseAtTheSeams · 08/12/2017 11:35

drummersGrin well done to DS and I bet he's very happy to get it out of the way!
mmzz oh no - hope he's feeling ok and, yes, at least it's just the mocks. Poor lad!

Stickerrocks · 08/12/2017 14:11

What did he do mmzz? DD spent Wednesday evening at the velodrome chasing 10 middle aged men in lycra around the track & I can't bear to watch. She's banned from track cycling from March onwards in case someone lands on her & she breaks something.