GCSEs 2018 (2)

[Stickerrocks]

Pre-empting our 1000th post.

Sorry late post really struggling with back pain today....so feeling miserable and up to my eyes with work - that will teach me to be lazy last week !

We had tears tonight too - I knew there was a problem when I picked her up from her Dads and she was extremely quiet/looking through car window. Stress again, seemed odd because she finished her mocks yesterday and hasnt had any results. DD worried in case she doesnt get the right results. I explained that she had worked hard for mocks and if there were some issues we still had time to turn them around - then she explained that email had come out from Chemistry teacher (surprise surprise) to all the class in capital/bold letters asking them to take in certain papers/highlighter pens into class tomorrow ...I know most of the girls (even the consistent A* students) found the first paper challenging - second paper was much easier so I guess the results showed some issues - but I explained to DD that 3 chemistry teachers in 3 years was bound to have some impact but she will get the right results if she works hard and focuses...

Oddsocks - perhaps speaking to your DD when she's calmed down to let her know its not too late to turn things around might help and you want to help her and work together ...sometimes it must seem easier for them to give in because they think its too late - but with some buckling down and hard work improving results is still possible.

This year of parenting is pants !

Oh yes, Dd also wants to study Pyschology at Sixth Form. She wants to Pyschology, Biology and Textiles I suggested chemistry was better with Textiles (imagining manufacturing role for dd! where she invents new fibres) and she rolled her eyes and said she HATED chemistry. Which is of course an important part of pyschology and biology..I said, what about English. Oh I HATE English. She got a 3 in Geography in the Mocks, so I am having the pep talk with her about Geography being worth revising for, even if you think it boring. Try for a 5, you might get a 6, that sort of thing..

Ds2 has suddenly started doing Victorian Poetry on Love and Relationships, the exact same topic as dd did two terms ago, cue dd looking at his annotations and declaring them very "limited" (he is in a lower set than her, at a different school) I suspect they will get the same grade, she will be completely confused by all the info, and he will write clear and focused answers

I think DS is just feeling the weight of everyone's expectations on him, but mostly his own. There's a voice in his head asking how he'll cope with being seen to fail to get the top grades?

I don't think he's ever really been challenged since he started school, except in art and DT (but he wasn't bothered about those anyway). He's never been worked hard either (negligible homework in KS3 and not that much in year 10, because the school tried to keep all the sets at the same point in the curriculum, so the homework was always to finish the work started in class, but DS almost always did it all in class.
So now he's being confronted with having to put in the hours and the possibility that he'll get poor results, so he was trying to make the poor results a reality rather than find out what he isn't capable of.

I should have looked into sending him to a selective school at the end of year 6. It would have challenged him more and made him more resilient. If only I knew then what I know now...

Following the tears at the weekend, its as though a weight has been lifted off his shoulders. A problem shared is a problem halved etc. He started working last night and despite that, he actually seems happier than he did last week when he wasn't working.

I helped DS make the first draft of his study timetable yesterday. When you see it all laid out, it's daunting how much there is to do between now and the World Cup. Even adding up the time needed to memorise quotes, facts, formulae etc, it's nearly 100 hours. Then there is a the question practise and the past papers.

Our DC do not give it easy.

Have not "give".

I think getting education right has a parent if you have child at either one end of the spectrum's is not easy largely because schooling is inconsistent throughout the UK.

There is a school near to where by brother lives that is I still think the top school in the UK and it gears its intake based on tests but these are across the complete education spectrum. So it takes in children of all abilities but it maximises there strengths based on the tests and therefore the children achieve amazing results because they are nurtured and directed to the subjects they will excel at.

Shame we just seem to base our children's future on sets of exams that are not always relevant to future careers.... seems like education has stood still for far too long.

@Nettleskeins unless things have changed completely, the one thing you need for psychology is essay writing skills. It is almost identical to History in the sense that you have to memorise lots of detail and compare different viewpoints (such as who did which study, when did they do it, how was it done and what were the findings and then compare and contrast it with another study or two that had different conclusions).
If your DD is good at History or English lit, then she has a head start in psychology.
TBH I don't remember using any chemistry knowledge when I took a course in it at university. It was interesting but stuffed full of facts and theories to be memorised and processed.

Agree with mmzz about psychology as I did it at A level then went on and did an open university degree in it in my late 40s. Explained to my dgd who is going to do it at A level exactly what mmzz said. Also told her she may get bored with it. Only reason she wants to do it us because she can't make her mind up whether to go neuroscience way or psychiatric way. I said it will give insight into brain etc so will be useful but lots of essays! As she finds dealing with facts easier think she will cope as long as she doesn't get bored.

Situation is not helped as I’ve lost confidence with school. Long story... hence my anxiety levels have risen which does manifest itself into frustration.

I want DD to achieve and go onto 6th form because that is what she has said she wants. I don’t want her to go to the super selective 6th form that is miles away and involves 2 buses to get there but she won’t listen, apparently I’m being negative

I completely understand Oddsocks Is it possible to fight that battle later down the line (which 6th form) - ideally when she has finished exams or is that not possible ?

Oddsocks I agree with Teenmum, leave the 6th form conversation to after results!

Also A levels are not a walk in the park, although I don't think there will be such a big step up this year due to the harder GCSE's. However, in order for her to do her best she needs to be happy and at a place where she fits in, so If she does get the grades for the super selective I personally would let her go and she will find out very quickly whether its the right place for and how she copes with the travelling because if its not she will still have time to transfer somewhere else especially if she got the grades for a super selective! Also if you make it a big issue now you could be forcing her into a corner whereby she feels she can't change her mind without losing face!!!!

With DS1 we just applied for a couple of different options and then he made the decision on results day.

DS2 is a lot more sure of what courses he wants to do, but has still applied to three places as the grade requirements are slightly different for each.

I think it's really normal to make the final decision on results day! Also, with teenagers it can be a good idea to let it lie for a bit so they have a chance to change their minds but make it look as though it was their idea all along.
I think it's fair to say I have had so many emails on revision sessions I have no idea what's going on apart from finishing music composition on Friday and an hour each of science, geography and computing on Saturday morning. There's another period of mock exams looming. Sigh. I appreciate their efforts but I'm starting to dread my email inbox...

re psychology, there's a surprising amount of Maths needed (at least statistics), which caused a lot of consternation to the "humanities" students in DD2s A level class. And again at uni, DD2 is currently using the same maths software that DD1 used in her Maths degree.

Currently struggling a bit here with DD3 who knows what she wants to do as a career, knows what path she needs to take to get there, knows that GCSEs are really quite important for that, but still is spending hours stressing about prom outfits [sigh].

@Oddsocks correct me if I'm wrong but isn't the super-selective an independent school, and therefore you will be liable for enrollment fees and perhaps the first terms fees if your DD gets the requisite grades but just changes her mind about going there?

You really have my sympathy regarding the situation with your DD. Seeing that she desperately needs your help, having a strong impulse to give it, being denied the opportunity and knowing that it's not coming from any other direction would drive any parent crazy with anxiety and frustration. Tell her how you feel, how much you love her, you can see that things are piling up against her and you want to help her. Maybe she'll reject you again but you've got to try.

Yes, lots of statistics in psychology answering the question : are the results statistically significant? Tbh its not especially complex if you are good at maths, but if maths doesn't come easy, then it could be a struggle.
For me the hard bit was remembering all the scientists names who conducted a certain experiment. I could remember the experiment because that was the interesting bit but the names meant nothing to me. I did a lot of half remembering one name in exams and adding "etc al". Needless to say, my lecturers didn't think I was a shoo-in to specialise in it for my degree!

Agree stats can be a problem if maths not too hot in psychology but won't be a problem for my dgd ( it was for me though)

Essay writing not a problem either for dgd because it involves facts backed by evidence etc. But ask her to write an essay on literature is another thing! She can analyze but can't 'read between the lines' that well (sigh) though English teacher sent email saying mocks were not had, just not enough written down in time. So looks like a time management problem stopping dgd getting a 5 instead of a 7 or 8 teacher said if she could have managed to write half a page more she would have got a lot higher grade. Content spelling etc fine just not enough!

Bad not had

mmzz not independent - the top non independent in the county and one of the top in the UK !! Sigh....

Sorry about wrong letters having a lot if spasms today.

Oddsocks it was your last post that prompted me to write my post. I probably inferred too much.

Sostenueto - I probably read this wrong but I thought it was oddsocks daughter that was keen to go to the SS School and not oddsocks.

That's what I understood too.