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.

He fell whilst playing football. I think he just overstretched for the ball, lost his balance and hit the ground.
It's a shame because he had actually done the revision he needed to so it would have been a good boost for his self confidence of he'd maybe done well.
At least it's only the mocks.

mmzz your poor DS, how did he manage today with the writing?

DS has finally filled out his 6th form application form, he's decided on maths and all 3 sciences on the basis if its too much or doesn't like one he will drop it.......obviously all exam dependant, but nice to finally get it sorted.

He's also staying at the same school, so as requirements are pretty low there will be no plan B and quite frankly it was painful enough getting him to finalise plan A

mmzz sorry to hear about your ds's wrist hope it is not painful. BlueBelle my ds hasn't done his application yet.....I feel like glueing him to his seat! I've heard the application is not too difficult and the interview is an informal chat. The pressure seems to be off at the moment but he is going to maths revision. He did better in his mocks than he expected which has given him a boost.

Bluebelle I bet that's a relief! It sounds like he's made a really sensible decision as well.
DS1 is having a wobble about maths A level. He says he doesn't really enjoy it but he knows it's really useful so it's still on the list. For the time being I'm telling him to just wait and see what he gets for his actual GCSEs and final decisions can be made then.

mmzz - sorry to hear about your DS - hope he manages his mocks OK.

DD had her first session with French tutor this morning which went really well - DD felt that she learnt so much more in one session with the tutor than she had all term in class.... She was not allowed to give French up when we had a meeting with DHT and HOMFL because they felt she had ability but no confidence. Teacher is being allot nicer (thankfully) - crossing fingers it all goes well now !

Lots of extra clinics for other subjects at the moment and teachers also setting time aside for one to one's which is really helping ... DD informed that she should be doing between `1 and 4 hours revision a day during Xmas period ...and she's seeming more focused .

hi, checking in twins doing gsces. We are having a lull because most of the exams are finished for now. Ds2 is revising 1984 for Drama GSCE atm though!

Applying and visiting 6th forms has been interesting but a major headache, because our plan C for Ds2 is a BTEC in science, but he wants to do A levels as Plan A at his existing school which has high grade requirements. And there is Plan B (other schools for A level) in the middle..

Both dcs rejecting much intervention or help but they like being tested on their flashcards or revision books. I am trying to get ds2 to read some fiction to improve his English grade (predicted 5 atm) it needs to go up to 6 to do A levels in humanities, which is his Plan A.

Ds2 was allowed to drop French at end of Year 9 due to dyslexia and ASD and missing curriculum. I am loving the space in his curriculum/study timetable. So is he. Dd is really good at Spanish now though, and I can see that despite her grumbling it was worth perservering. They are different schools!

Hi knitting How on earth are you managing to keep on track with what two of them are doing! DD seems to think Spanish is easier than French was, but she has a great teacher who keeps promising them Tapas lessons and encourages them to bring in cakes each week. Have you looked at getting tickets for some of the national live cinema screenings of whichever English texts they are doing?

Sticker live cinema of texts - good idea, had not thought of that. HoweverI completely draw line at 1984, it is horrific enough in playscript form.

Just been playing poker and Vingt et Un with Ds2.We are both rubbish at Maths it seems - !!

oliversmum ds2 is scribed in school and has extra time for dyslexia. He dictates all his exam papers because his writing is so slow and confused. It should be possibly for you to get extra time at the private exam centre if you apply asap, you will need to take ds for an access assessment,but way before he is entered I think. Don't know details as ds is in school atm. But he was home educated!It has reallyhelpedhim the home ed bit, he seems more motivated that a lot of his peers with SNs in the school,so your ds may be in a better place with his gsces than if he was in school (sorry if I confusedthe information,maybe he is back in school?)

Very frustrated by one of the sixth forms we are applying to. They send ds an interview date. I reply asking themto reschedule to late Jan,they say fine fine, then I get another interview date this Tues does not bode well for the admin side ofthe college,clearly left hand and right hand not connected.

We have a Picture House near us which is screening Macbeth in April live from Stratford with Christopher Ecclestone. I'm sure Julius Caesar is also on, amongst others. Jekyll & Hyde has also been touring, although it did introduce some love interest who definitely wasn't in the book.

I have just managed to snaffle a couple of tickets for Rory Kinnear's Macbeth at the National. End of March, so hopefully perfect time for revision refreshing. Might go and see the Mr Ecclestone screening as well myself, as he is fab!

On the maths revision front, does anyone know if there is a way of searching past papers for topics? If DS is working on (say) inequalities, is there a way of quickly searching for 3 exam questions on the subject rather than scanning through all the available papers looking for them?

Ds2 is amazing He was up at 8am, photographing the snow, and then he set off on a walk, and has returned telling me he decided to go to church (because it was "nice and warm in there") Meanwhile dd has stolen his camera whilst he was in church and taken it off for a photoshoot of her Textiles GSCE finished dress (a friend is wearing it for her, said friend has shot up in last 6 months,hope it still fitsunder the arms)

More mocks this coming week here.

Ds still very laid back. Minimal revision.

He has had one of the maths non calculator papers bag and got an 8, so i think his reasoning is that he is doing ok and the amount of work (or not) is enough.

just tried to sit down with ds2 and help him with Drama revision as he is predicted a 7,andI thought it might be worth giving him that extra input for what is one of his better subjects.

Nope, he is determined to revise his own way,and has scheduled it in for now, he says. His Sunday afternoon "timetable" apparently says, Drama Drama Drama. I admire his focus but it is a mite frustrating too. I can think of lots of ways to go over the material, but in the end he finds it much easier to learn in a particular (slightly narrow) way. The thing about him, is that he really will revise now,because it is in his timetable

I wish DS would want to revise alone but he seems to like me helping him. I was helping him with catalysts in chemistry yesterday and I had such a string flashback 35 years to when I was DS's age revising it for the first time.
I'm not kidding when I say I think I've tested DS so often these last couple of months that I think I could have a good go at the GCSEs myself! It's forgotten it all, bit it's all coming back.

all ds2's exams are over now, and term is too (although not for some of the Year 11's who have more subjects left)

this is delightful!! He is home and he is making a timetable after a bit of couch surfing. Dd has come back and told me a funny story about her Spanish exam where all the students complained to the invigilator that they were being tested on the wrong section, and how she ran out of time to colour in her Textiles picture but didn't notice this until it was too late, rapidly switching to new question. She has gone to bed with a hot blanket and more revision, in high spirits She would make a great stand up comic.

I don't think I would ever want to do GSCEs again. Ignorance is a sort of bliss, though, I think if they knew all the 100 percent version of answers it would probably cause their heads to implode. I quite like the way they can just do their level 15 year old best to answer important questions.

I can't say that I have any desire to sit GCSEs either.
Looking at the content and the answer styles though, it's all very familiar. More or less the same that I was doing in the mid-80s. The only subject that's really different and quality of work required a lot higher is English language. I'd never be able to write essays encompassing all those techniques and with such good grammar.

My DgD just had mocks. The usual feeling sick (and getting sick) lots of revision and tears. End of year mocks in yr 10 were not as good as expected and English only a level 5 instead of expected 8. The pressure is huge, my gd in top 10% but is struggling with exam nerves. We have asked school for help in this but not much available. At wits end in ideas to help her with this problem. Any advice will be appreciated. It will be such a shame for her not to reach full potential over nerves. We tell her she is awesome all the time, she puts in the work but has no self belief. Is there anything we can do to help her.?

sostenuto dd only received 5 in her English mock at end of year 10. We are hoping she will get at least a 6 because she seems so bright and articulate, and in my heart of hearts I am shocked she won't get a 7.

However, having seem some friends' children struggle with severe anxiety over their very high targets I would suggest that you lower her target in your family even if the school have set a high target for her. So you might talk through the consequences of getting 6's instead of 8's in some of her subjects - are they so terrible? What you want most is for her to be happy and healthy. I have found if I say to dd I want you to do really well in this exam and I know you are going to do really well it immediately puts enormous pressure on her; I think praise is a source of pressure as well unless it is directed at the effort rather than the result. I think a lot of pressure also comes from their peers, so again I have to keep reminding dd that her personal goal might be different from her friends.
Dd is predicted 6's and 7's and possibly an 8 in Textiles, I can feel the pressure mounting over the Textiles grade, and now if she doesn't get it, she will feel upset and angry, when in reality a 7 would have been great. Targets are just that - a possibility not a procrustean bed.

Tbh I've seen it all, students in tears because they had an A instead of an A, parents saying gsces were a disaster because only 3 As and the rest A's, parents saying kids didn't work hard, to me when they only received mixture of A's and As, not straight A.

I think the message "you can only do your best" can be quite frightening for some children, because they don't really have the ability to know what their "best" is.

kingscote

New style GCSE questions by topic from sample papers: justmaths.co.uk/2015/12/21/9-1-exam-questions-by-topic-higher-tier/

Old school style questions but still useful: keshmaths.com/gcse-maths-takeaway-3/

also check Vitamin D levels, B6/12. low levels can increase anxiety - could doctor do a blood test just in case this is one of reasons she is feeling worried? Vitamin D is a common deficiency in the winter.

Dd just rang up to tell me she slipped on some black ice on way to bus stop. (this was funny apparently, I think I would have been crying . Now she has rung me to tell me she forgot the signed slip for £2 staff christmas panto, which she has been arguing over with me (printer did not work so we had to substitute a piece of handwritten paper) and half laughing half crying about that. I told her to give them her lunchmoney and I would pay online for lunch, and she said BUT YOU HAVE TO SIGN THE SLIP. Noo, I think they just want the £2 (it is for charity collection)

nettles that's excellent advice all round - and btw I hope dd is fine after slipping over, poor thing!
A couple of things to bear in mind for English language - it is much harder than the previous spec and as mmzz points out harder than the old O level! It has almost no 'easy' content and this is a problem because there's only one tier of paper so a lot of candidates who used to do foundation are getting discouraged by the structure of the paper. So a grade 5 in year 10 isn't a disaster at all. Even for 'higher' candidates, there's a lot of technique involved, which can improve over time and with practice in Y11. Predictions are guesses anyway!

Thanks nettles great advice. The trouble is though because she is in all the top groups, also doing triple science in the teaching time of 2 (fast track) because its compulsory to do r.e , the pressure at school us horrendous. All her friends either have teachers as parents or get private tuition, she, ontheotherhand ,is an only child with a single parent. All her effort is her own and hard work is an understatement. Will definatly go to docs for blood test, didn't think of the vitamin route, thanks again. It is only the English that stresses her the most. All other subjects do stress her but not half as much and her results for all others were 7-9 which was expected.