GCSEs 2018 (4 already)

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Following on from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3152060-GCSEs-2018-3

That's great news, Alexander!

Well done to your DD, @Alexander!

Oh happy day alexander well done!

Dancing round in delight for Alexander!

That's really good news, AlexanderHamilton. I have to admit that i had to google to find out what a Dada is. this sentence impressed me:

You must be aged 16 to 23 and show talent and a likelihood to succeed in the industry.

What is your DD going to be studying?

Thanks everyone. I’ve been outcwith Ds at his singing group & just got in. Dd Can now concentrate on her GCSE’s.

She will be studying a Professional Diploma in Dance or Musical Theatre (it’s a common first year & you specialise in your 2nd & 3rd years).

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3200979-A-16-year-old-vs-the-Department-for-Education

Round of applause for this chap too (pressed post too soon).

I'd say Ben deserves a 9!

Sorry for late post, well done Alexander

Fantastic alexander! Congrats to ds

Sorry meant dd Alexander and sorry for late post.

Thank you sostenuto. I have a Ds I talk about too so easy to get confused.

Had a quick look at Ben's thing.
Question: are Academies free to choose Igcses instead of gcses. Because DS doesn't have to memorize 18 texts for English. He will be graded on most subjects the old A-G. And as far as I know he has no practicals counting towards science grade, only final exams. So, lots of Ben's complains solved in a quick move: change to Igcses. I understand comprehensives may not be able to do so, but Academies? Surely changing into an Academy was all about freedom of decision?

drummersmum I don't think igcse count for the league tables that's why they do GCSE. In relation to the science they have to do the practicals but it doesn't count towards the exam, although there will be questions on some of the practicals in the exam, its more about gaining the skills plus the practicals bring the science to life so I think it would be a shame if they didn't do them.

Thanks bluebelle I didn't think about league tables. DS also does science practicals and I may be wrong about them and it may be the same, that they will appear in the exam questions? I'll check with him. I just knew they don't count as coursework.

Also i think the 18 texts are the poems but you don't have to learn them all!!!!

There's 15 poems + 3 texts
The 3 texts consist of:
one play from Shakespeare,
one 19th century novel or play and
one 20th century novel or play.
They have to do at least one novel.

Ideally, the students will have memorised key quotes from the texts plus half of the poems. When choosing the poems, they should choose one from each theme.
They should also make themselves familiar with the other half of the poems, just in case they are asked to compare one of the memorised poems with it it.
Additionally, they should be able to discuss the characters and key themes from the texts.
So it's a lot of work, but not quite as much as Ben makes out, nor as little as his MP implies.

Having tested DS on the science, i think what they have to be able to do is describe the science experiments down the detail of taking precautions to eliminate an invalid experiment (eg ensuring the equipment is clean before you start) and using the right equipment so that you can collect and measure the results.
It's just about common sense sometimes, but with little lab (or even general practical e.g. in the kitchen) experience, common sense precautions can seem like just another set of things to memorise.

Yes, Ben did overshoot on the literature. However, he does have a point about the poems. One poem will be printed on the paper but you have to compare it to another of your choice from the cluster. That means knowing all of them very well or making strategic decisions that could go wrong!
On the other texts, however, you can only learn key quotes and my advice is keep them short and to the point. And certain key quotes tend to stick in the mind, which helps.
The reason iGCSEs are now only taken in private schools is indeed because they don't have to care about League tables. Academies do, so they don't take them.

I must admit I'm not very up with exactly what DS is studying I know the subjects but not a great deal more and seeing what you have put regards the English has made me very worried, as obviously DS has to get English to get in to 6th form but never seems to revise it and when asked gives the stock reply you can't revise english but clearly you can

He may mean English language - there's only so much revision for that and he may well feel school revision sessions are enough.
I don't think you can do the literature so well without some revision!

He doesn't go to any school revision sessions......don't go there! But they have finished the syllabus and his english teacher is fab bar far his best teacher so I can only hope that will be enough!

BlueBelle123 those poems take ages to learn off by heart. There's no way to have enough time to memorise 7 of them in class. DS has a really good memory but they still took him about an hour each.
Even if you have a super memory for the analysis that you learned in class and can remember all the themes and what you are supposed to think about the characters etc, without any revision, you still have to learn the poetry off by heart.
Also there's the Shakespearean play quotes, quotes from the novel and quotes from the other play / novel too. DS has printed pages consisting of maybe 10 -20 quotes from each of those that he has to commit to memory.

Dgd hasn't even attempted to learn the poems off by heart. She is, however doing flashcards with main themes of each poem and lists of which ones to compare with each other on those themes. Its impossible for them to learn poems off by heart. Learn quotes, yes, be able to compare, yes, be able to analyze, yes that should be enough. Its bad enough having to know the 12 themes in Frankenstein alone, then romeo and Juliet and inspector calls ridiculous![