GCSEs 2018 (5 & a puppy, but no kittens)

[Stickerrocks]

Here we go again.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3177476-GCSEs-2018-4-already

DS's maths teacher /HoM has asked to see him tomorrow. DS has no idea why, but after yesterday's breakdown, I hope it's not to pressure him into doing lots of pointless revision. More pressure is the last thing that DS needs.

The teacher has consistently refused to accept that Ds finds the work unusually easy. He describes DS as "one of his level 9s" which technically DS is, but the other six ask DS to explain things to them. He told DS that he's the only Year 11 Olympiad qualifier this year, when he's the only one in any year group in all the years I've known the school. He told me when I asked him to put in place some extension provision in year 9, that DS's year 9 teacher thought he was struggling with some parts of the curriculum, but a few months later when I met her at parents night, she told DS that she realised the work had been ridiculously easy for him and warned him that wasn't likely to change until university.

We've held our breath with this teacher, but if he's thinking to put pressure on DS at this moment to do more pointless hours, then it will be the last straw and I will be biting back, hard!

Saying all that, I don't know why he wants to see him, and it could be something and nothing.

So much pressure on our DC @mmzz, your DS has worked so hard I am sure he will do very well in all the exams, perhaps the Maths teacher has asked to see DS about the Olympiad, perhaps he has won a prize?

DD is at her DF's this weekend with lots of distractions like new guitar and new camera ...she has French tutor this morning so at least I know some work will be done ...hoping she gets her head down this afternoon.

Maybe, Teenmum. No one has told DS how he got on yet, despite the results emails going to schools during the Easter holidays. However, DS says himself that he didn't do well - only answered 2/6 questions - so I'm not expecting anything.
DS didn't attend an after school maths revision session on Thursday evening, and the request to see him was straight after that which is why I suspect that the teacher wants to speak about DS's revision.

It's nearly time for the next thread. Maybe it will be the one that sees us to the end of the exams, maybe even the results? This year has flown by.
What should the next one be called? GCSE 5: the study leave and exam edition? Or GCSE 5: stress, struggles and success (hopefully)? (A nod to the rule of three and alliteration) or something else?

Mmzz - I just feel for DS, its obviously a very good school but I find it bizarre that they can blatantly see your DS is very able on the Maths front (also all other subjects) but they continue to breath down his neck in terms of homework and revision.

Not sure about next thread name but I guess its countdown time to exams and leaving year 11...

I think the pressure is starting to tell. I’ve told dh he has got to look after Dd more (he’s very much of the opinion that she & Ds are old enough to cook etc for themselves & make him cups of tea when he is at home with them in the holidays (he’s a teacher so I’m at work at those times) & it’s all part of learning independence. It’s not sexist, he’s the same with Ds.

Whilst I agree I think that during exams Dd needs to be “looked after” & not think about meal planning etc. As she’s going to be living with dh in a caravan during exam weeks he needs to realise this.

She had an English Paper 1 mock on Friday - slight confusion as there was no laptop (honest mistake) but she refused to start the paper until one was procured! I wish Ds could be as insistent.

Good feedback from her music teacher. She hasn’t yet decided yet which compositions to submit but she’s producing them like a composer not a GCSE student. (such a shame she can’t do A Level music.

mmzz - would the maths teacher be receptive to an email from you in advance of the meeting? It might give you the chance to pre-empt any unreasonable pressure, if you can say the right things to reassure the teacher that DS's revision is under control but that he's showing signs of strain and needs to be allowed a bit of space to manage things for himself.

(I've had a similar discussion with DD1's tutor in the past, which worked well - but she is an all-round lovely and sensible person and I do realise that you know better than me whether this particular teacher is likely to listen!)

Oh, and I like "stress, struggles and success (hopefully)". Just about sums up where we are right now!

AChickenCalledKorma funnily enough that's exactly the point we reached late this morning. An email from the maths teacher was the final straw and DH emailed him back saying politely but firmly that sorry but no, DS won't be spending half of today doing the compulsory maths as he has a MFL speaking exam tomorrow, so he will be revising for that instead, and furthermore, going forward, he won't be chopping and changing his revision schedule to do past papers that he will get negligible benefit from whilst leaving revision undone that he actually needs to do. However, please be assured that DS will do what he needs to in order to prepare for the maths exams, and that Ds appreciate all his teachers efforts.

The teacher replied, backing down (but still wanting to see DS tomorrow).

I think if I had sent that email, I'd have got nowhere, but somehow, coming from a man, it was taken more seriously. (Even in this day and age!)

I sent a similar email - but not as strident - to another teacher about DS not having time today to do their homework either. And DH has spent the last few hours testing DS on his French vocab (apprately my pronunciations are laughable .

I'm making DS is favourite dinner and overall he's much more relaxed and cheerful than yesterday. I think he just felt under siege yesterday, but now he knows that DH and I will ensure things stay manageable for him.

AlexanderHamilton I think you're right - not having to cook or meal plan during exam week is a very good idea!

Yesterday’s cricket match seems to have eased DS’s stress - he has been working really hard on History and Geography today. He’s currently on a break mowing the lawn (apparently it’s very Zen...) then onwards to Chemistry.

mmzz sounds like your DS now knows for sure that you have his back, and that will hopefully make him feel calmer in itself. I hope the meeting with his teacher tomorrow turns out to be constructive.

DD1 is going to her friend's birthday party tonight. I was a bit worried about it being on a school night, but they are nice, conscientious girls and it turns out it's going to be all over by 9pm. Bless them!

She's got her German speaking in 10 days time and getting stressed. She doesn't like one-to-one interview-type situtations at the best of times, even in her native language. But also is too self-conscious to agree to practice by speaking to the native German speaker that goes to our church and is quite happy to help her. You can lead a horse to water, and all that.

I think DS ha run out of steam - he's been working but its been a bit half hearted and not very productive. I'm glad he s going back to school on Tuesday for a change of scene at least so I'll let him have an easy day today and try and get him focused again tomorrow before going back.

Good move mmzz I think sometimes they think we are on their back always wanting them to do more so it will have had a huge impact if he feels supported. It is also not helpful to be too critical of the school at this stage so sounds like you struck the right balance :)

mmzz your school seems to be placing an unbelievable amount of pressure on your DS. Perhaps It's time they stopped pushing the conscientious ones and started to focus on the borderline 4/5s. I think you are right in trying to protect him, but I would fire off an email to the HofY again. (Given the issues we've recently had here) I think that any email mentioning the impact this is all having on your DS's mental health would have them backing off at a rate of knots. Are they doing this to everyone.

I've spent a lit of time talking to DD this weekend. She has been giving another Ethics teacher practice Qs which she has done for RE and had completely different feedback that that given by her actual teacher. Her marks seem to be going up & she is being given constructive advice. They have also requested a dispensation for the year group if they want to take it up on one of the papers which covers the issues the school has faced over the last month. DD doesn't want to use it as it's probably her best paper of the 3.

On another note, the Queens birthday party was jolly good fun.

This thread has lasted a grand total of a month. I'm afraid that there is little hope of the next one seeing us through to results day (which is 4 months tomorrow).

It suddenly feels like everything is rushing towards us. DS has been revising this afternoon but seems pretty relaxed, which is good considering we've turned the house upside down just by decorating one room!
All DS can really think about is the end of the exams and the long holiday!

DS has been revising today and has now just gone out for a bike ride to clear his head, if it doesn't then he thinks he's coming down with something.......really hoping that he will be well over the exam period, feel for those that aren't or who suffer badly with hay fever!!

I've got to the stage now whereby I just want the exams to start.....don't think DS is quite at that stage though

It will take an enormous amount of resilience, stickerrocks to do the Ethics paper if I've understood you correctly about what has happened to other DC in your DD's school. I hope I've misunderstood though.

Never sure about school pressure. DS2 had constant reminders from teachers about how hard they should be working and how important the exams were but she always said that for those that weren't working or weren't interested it didn't make any difference and for the stressed conscientious ones it just made them more and more stressed.

Hi all, I hope you are having a relaxing as can be Sunday. My ds has had a few nose bleeds and migraines. Also hayfever, but hopefully the meds will sort that. He is stressed but bearing up, had a phone call from his tutor to say he has a great attitude and is set to exceed his targets, and at this late stage they've said he is going in for higher tier German.

Chickencalled Korma what exam board is your dd's German? I have ds's German down for 18th June perhaps I am being paranoid it's on his timetable for the wrong date....hope your dd enjoys the party!

Mmzz awful pressure for your ds, not needed at this late stage. I hope the meeting with the teacher is helpful.

My DSs have just come back from their weekend with their father. DS3 seems quite happy with the revision he's doing and has kept up with his timetable. It's still only 2 hours a day but it's now fine tuned to take account of those subjects that finish early on and those that he'll have lots of time for near the end. Little and often, perhaps still not quite enough but as much as he's prepared to do without argument. He's not expecting 8s or 9s except in maths and hopefully computing, but his predicted grades are more than enough for sixth form, and should get him university offers for maths in the future.

It's a fairly hard slog for GCSEs but they are still only 15 or 16 and they need some down time. DS3 won't turn 16 until after the exams, something nice to look forward to.

The pressure a few of your DC's schools are placing on your DC seems pretty excessive! And for those DC who already place a lot of pressure on themselves it must be quite frightening. At the school I work at we have a lot of issues with anxiety and stress among the students. There have been 2 suicides in the last 10 years around exam time locally. Both DC were expected to do very well. Yes, GCSEs are important but the DC of this thread are lucky that their parents are on the case and are saying enough is enough.

I have feeling my DD has been chilling out with guitar and camera most of this weekend (she is at her DF's)...although she looks to have done some Tassomai and she did have a MFL session with tutor this morning...a little annoyed because I covered her work for 3 hours yesterday so she could do some revision and I am not convinced that a lot of revision was done...she is so easily distracted.

We had a letter from HT on Friday ...but it was worded more about having an effective regime of regular exercise, plenty of sleep and a balanced diet throughout the revision and examination period...it prides itself on an holistic approach...

Another one here completely frustrated by the amount of homework being set, restricting the revision that DD had planned and prioritised. None of the teachers actually review the work, or reflect on what was set.

DH and I said yesterday that she is to do only what she feels beneficial to her at this stage and we’ll deal with the school.

DD’s health continues to worsen and she is being closely monitored by her GP. As a result, we have finally managed to get the school to agree to study leave (they stopped study leave a few years ago).

So, fingers crossed DD will manage to balance the rest and revision as she’s worked so very hard, while suffering considerable pain and she’s really struggling.

I’m not sure who’s most worn out by it all though. I’ve had to repeat myself so many times to different staff members to get the outcome we needed. Communication at her school is distinctly lacking.

It doesn’t matter what her results her in August, because I’ve watched this young lady work her socks off and I know she has done her very best, under extremely challenging circumstances.

I’ll be mentally throttling several teachers at the end of it all however, because they’ve been beyond awful and openly admitted it (confessing to being lazy, tired and in need of retirement or intimidating to get results) at parents evening!

DoNotBringLulu She's doing Edexel German. It's the Speaking exam that she has in 10 days time - individual one-to-one interview with her teacher. I don't know whether everyone has them on that date or whether it's set by the school.

According to her timetable, the written exams are on 18/6 (Reading & Listening) and 21/6 (Writing). So basically she will cram German vocab for the next week or so, and then have a month to forget it all again .