GCSEs 2018 (2)

[Stickerrocks]

Pre-empting our 1000th post.

mmzz I don't think they should be disadvantaged, because if the same proportion will get c+ and A+ as previously how can they be, ie in theory if your child under the old system is a C grade student or an A grade student then under this new system they should be getting a 5 and 7 respectively, the only difference being the year our DC take the exams the grade boundaries will be expected to be lower than in later years due to being the first cohort, if all that makes sense?

That's true mmzz and I agree with your previous posts too. The sad thing is that when there is change, any change, some schools and teachers are more willing and geared up to cope with it and prepare the students for the new tests. I can see it in my DS school where some teachers have got ahead and taught the new syllabus well and prepared the students for the new style exams whereas others are way behind. So some students may fare better due to better preparation and not just hard work or intelligence. In a stable environment the former matters less.

Dd' she GCSE's matter very little to her innthe scheme of things. All she needs to get into her chosen diploma course which will lead to a degree is a Grade 4 maths & English & even the. Her first choice placed will run re-sit classes.

But she wants to do well. She wants to prove herself alongside her friends at the private school she chose to leave. She'd also like to do a couple of A levels alongside her diploma for the sheer fact that she enjoys academics (for which she needs Grades 6/7. She's already discounted science A levels which could lead to physiotherapy in the future because with the hew GCSE's & some poor teaching in years 8-10 her predicted Grades 5/6 are not good enough. They do put pressure on themselves.

@user1469682920 and @Bluebelle123 I agree with both you. user I admire your succinctness (same depth as point as me but said in much fewer words!)

The massive variation in teaching quality (and exam preparation) never ceases to amaze and appal me.

@AlexanderHamilton - its a good point, that while the rest of us know these exams will matter little once they've been used for entry into other courses, to our DC they are the first opportunity to show what they can do on a national scale. Until now, its always just been relative to the children in the same class, or maybe school. (And speaking for two intelligent but quiet DC, schools do tend to overlook them, in the internal awards, in favour systems of more disruptive, more challenged DC which has left my two actually perversely believing that a school award means you're improving off a low base).

Never a comment truer Alexander about quiet students!

androb sending best wishes to your DD. Tell her life is ling and soon none of her teen worries will matter

Long

Well it will soon be over in what 20 weeks or so? Then we can all breath a sigh of relief. My dgd wants to get a job in the summer and is going to start hunting now.

@androbbob I read your post last night and have waited to reply until I could think of something helpful to say, but I can't. You, and your DD, have my sincerest sympathy but there is no quick fix. It's just something to try to get through.

The only thing I can suggest is to look again to make sure there isn't something causing it that you don't know about eg bullying.
Can you get a look at her phone and see if people are being really mean to her, maybe calling her fat?

androb hang in there...

Could you do something mind numbing today? Cinema is good when you need your brain to stop thinking. Does your DD have a group of non-school friends in case a change of dynamic might help?

Androbbob......sorry to hear your add is struggling but if she's talking to you about her aniexty it's a step in the right direction. My guess would be that there is some low level bullying.....Girls can be pretty horrible during the years 8 onwards and girls compare themselves to their peer group and end up with low self esteem -it can be a constant battle to keep there self esteem up....My Dd had a period where she seemed to think that everyone was good at something apart from her...one of the negative aspects of being in a school where there are girls who excel at sports (top 10 school for sports indie) and music /speech and drama. Does she get support in school - there are a number of girls in Dds year who suffer anxiety attacks and they either sit alone to do exams or choose where they sit.

When Dd was at an all time low i took her for a photoshoot and this did raise her self esteem....I hope the CBT helps ....Unfortunately I don't think social media helps and I would willingly love to BAR all social media sites to under 18s.

Androbbob it's heart breaking knowing that they are hurting and you can't easily make things better. Has she got a good bunch of friends or is she looking forward to a chance to start again at college in a few months. I have my best chats with DD when I'm driving home from work and she doesn't have to look at me when we are talking.

Thanks everyone - she has been ok today, but I did wonder if she was going to go to Saturday school. I was up and out at 6 with DS to drop hi at his football trip and then back to take her to school. We had decided to go to Wetherspoons after her revision session and she was still up for that, and quite chatty. I do think a lot of it is 'woe is me' when it is time for her period but she is on the pill to regulate her bleeding as she was really struggling with stomach pains. We then went to get my nails done and then a Costa and a wander around the beauty counters, before going to get her brother (who was delayed for 1.5 hours due to traffic - so we had to get fast food for tea!!) We were out for 5 hours so not much time to dwell.

She is doing her usual stables shift tomorrow, mucking out and the like. A few hours in the fresh air.

I have told her to have a revision free couple of days, to give her mind a break, but she has homework to do.

Yes 20 weeks and it will soon be over ............. until results day!!! Don't think I will mention that one!

Androbbob.......My dgd talks more to me. If anything is troubling her she will tell me while we are having a cuddle in bed in the mornings or in the car on the way home. It annoys her mum that she does this but I think the age gap has something to do with it. She does talk to her mum, but usually after she has spoken to me. But the key is they are talking and if you can keep that going then it will her your dd to open up to you. I feel very much for you both

Yes lets BAN social media Teenmum60!

My DVD hardly uses it and doesn't do Facebook. She uses Instagram rarely to communicate with her friendship group (who just enjoyed a lovely posh meal with her, all of them dolled up and looking so grown up! ) and she has an absolute horror of social media as a whole and can't understand why DC go on it when they are bullied reviled and have threats made against them. ' why do they worry so much about what people think? she says.' Why do they put themselves through it?' But she is different my dgd and I love how she is different. P.s she said she may do research on it one day!

There's been no studying from DS since he finished his mocks a month ago now. DH suggested / assumed he'd restart yesterday and was met with reluctance. We went over the old lines about how he'll be glad in August that he did etc and were told that he knows he ought to, he knows the arguments in favour having heard then from both of us and the school but it's just not fun.
Fun?!FUN??!! Whoever said everything had to be fun?

Were we like that on the 80s thinking that we'd only do things we enjoyed? When did we learn about taking personal responsibility?

Anyway he'll start today, where he wants to our not and we'll deal with this misconception about life being non-stop entertainment later.

To be fair in the 1980s I don't recall me or my friends revising now for exams in May-June. But there were fewer subjects and papers and we were probably still trying to finish the syllabus!
Having said that, my science results definitely could have done with an earlier start...
Ds1 had his 6th form interview at school yesterday morning and they've put him down for psychology, computer science and maths at the moment. Then he trotted off for a biology revision session. I think knowing he could have done better in mocks has given him a nudge)
From what I can gather (from looking at his mock results upside down) the highlights are 8s in the two English and geography, 7s in computing and maths (apparently 1 mark off an 8 so bodes well!) but after that it's time to pull his socks up!

Fantastic results looseattheseams!

mmzz your DS's comment of fun made me smile, it reminded me of when my DS started secondary and he was first presented with homework, this was an alien concept to him and he was horrified he said "don't they realise I have better things to do with my time", he's still not too keen on it now!

I got no guidance from my family at all so I just did what the teachers told me. We finished the curriculum by Christmas, did prelims in the first fortnight back just started revising in class and at home from then on. Scottish exams are a month earlier than the English ones, so we did just under 4 months of revision for 8 o'grades.
So if DS also follows what his school suggests and he starts now, then he'll be doing 4 months of revision too. DS is doing 10 GCSEs and I only did 8, but I did the same subjects as DS and the content is almost identical (except there is stuff about climate change in science now), so a slow start from 4 months seems about right to me. DS is brighter than I was but he as more to do.

Loose your DS's results are fab!

androb glad to hear your DD is having a good weekend

mmzz yes, all the advice these days is start now! I think slow and steady is better than stress and panic at Easter!

Yes its interesting you can read on some threads that people say you should start at Easter and that's what my DC did and they did fine etc, but I think you have to know the whole picture ie does that school set loads of homework which is effectively revision or is their school going to finish the syllabus in good time so there will be loads of time for revision in class or are the school laying on loads of lunchtime and after school revision sessions. If you school does do all this then yes officially starting at Easter probably is fine but if it doesn't then starting now would be advisable.

loose well done to your DS!
I think they all need a break after mocks. Otherwise year 11 becomes just a long string of revision hours and a dark hole in their memories when they get older. 15 to 16 is one of the most important and significant years of their lives.
luckily no social media here at all, he has no facebook no instagram no wassup. Truth is he has no time for it. Only occasional I -chat conversations with his mates on school iPad. And for what I've gathered they're always discussing politics!