GCSE 2018 no. 6: stress, struggles and success (hopefully) *Title Edited by MNHQ*

[mmzz]

New thread for GCSEs 2018

sandy I think your DS and mine are exactly on the same exam schedule! Except the 16/05 History exam is missing for us, I think because they did the coursework instead (essay), so he only has two History exams. We also have Latin Lang on 14/05. After HT he will have 4 exams: paper 2 for the three sciences and music. And unfortunately Grade 6 Music Theory the day after last exam (Physics) ... I can't wait till it's over.

Good luck those with History next Wednesday!

Brainmelt that sounds right. No coursework in any subject for DS1 - 23 exams instead!

After HT we only have the 3 sciences, geography, maths and Ad Maths.

Brainmelt and sandy, that sounds right, because DS’s History exam on the 16th is labelled as ‘Alternative to C/W’.

Cricket is off, so DS is busy revising...... guess what? More History!!!

sandy maybe DS also has another maths after HT I have to double check at home! He opted out of Ad Maths which I think was a good decision (no plans to do Maths A level).
kingscote it's awful weather here so I'd choose History over cricket today anyway...

Good luck to everyone doing iGCSE! Seems very long and drawn out...

FGS! DS just told me that the geography teacher - who has finally finished the course last week - was explaining to the class his revision plans for them in the coming weeks, except he wrote down on the whiteboard that the final exam is in July, not June. He got the day right, but not the month.

It explains a lot, tbh.

Immaterial difference mmzz!

It wasn't a 2 minute mistake either. He really thought that is when the exam will be and was planning around it. DS said he looked a bit taken aback when the class pointed out his mistake.

Words fail me. Hope they haven't put their exam entries back by a month (but at least They're probably in the right name....)

That's true, Stickerrocks. I'm guessing you'll be calling the school from 8am on Monday about that? Have you checked the exam board website to find out the deadline for making changes? If they are incompetent enough to get the name wrong, then they are incompetent enough to not know about the dates, so you can draw their attention to the deadline (and then keep checking until you have the corrected form in your hand).

Loose I gave DS a printout of all your English advice........first shock he actually read it and second shock he has spent all afternoon doing English (unheard of!!) compiling quotes and then put them to characters and themes.....he's still going as I type. So a huge thank you from me have and on me!!

Good luck all those doing igcse's next week, didn't realise they started so early!

Hope all the poorly DC make a speedy recovery......DS is still bunged up!

Back from Imperial Festival. DS2 loved it, and I enjoyed it too. Saw a good talk by Stephen McGann, and an interesting lecture about the science of Star Trek.

On the topic of Festivals, Reading has been mentioned here... "Obviously only if I work really hard, mum"...

It should be ok on the name front as you can keep making changes until the certificates are issued. It's only an issue if they ask for ID but the school can sort that out if they have mucked it up. They can also foot the bill if they incur a fee.

Loose I have cut & pasted all your hints & tips into a Word doc to slip under DD's bedroom door. She appeared earlier for dinner and I missed my chance then. Thank you so much - it all sounds very constructive. Do you teach DS or are you in different schools? I hope he listens to you more than DD listens to me!

How did the photography go in this grey & gloomy weather?

DS2 has zero desire to go to Reading after his GCSEs but DS1 has been and might go again this year.
For any Y11s who want to go to Reading festival, DS1 recommends going in a group with friends from Y12. The Y12s arrive on the Wednesday with the tents, pitching them to reserve the area. The Y11s then arrive after GCSE results on the Thursday, bringing extra food.

DD practicing for French Oral and some Tassomai today...although she has been to the gym and we also had lunch at F & B - meal free of charge because they were trying their best to poison DD with uncooked chicken!
Thanks for the link for shoe @stickerrocks ... she's looking for something plain (she was looking for heels) but this may well change given that the possible plus one she may go to the prom with is 3ins shorter than DD - we now have grumbles of why do I have to be soo tall!

Loose - thanks for English tips too...

DD has been reading me some of the notes she has written about teachers which she intends to write in TY cards this week - including one to the French teacher which is highly amusing but honest too - I am sure it will bring a tear to the eye...not sure where DD gets her wit from but she's somewhat gifted in that area.

DS has had a History-free day! He's done Maths, Biology & Eng Lit (plus Tassomai) and has now gone out to see the new Avengers movie. Back on the History tomorrow though!

He's going to Reading-tickets already booked (on the proviso that he worked hard). The Y12 advance party is a great idea TheSecond. Not sure that DS's group of mates know any Y12's well though...

I'm glad tips are useful! I don't teach DS - I teach in FE and tutor quite a few dcs but DS does his own thing as far as English is concerned.
He has taken some excellent photos and done some interesting things to a few of them.

LooseAtTheSeams the tips are extremely good: very clear, concise and they make an awful lot of sense. Thank you from me, too.

I've got a question for everyone, something that I can't figure for DS. If your DC are doing 9/10/11 GCSEs, then how much time do they give to each subject per week (roughly)?

If there are 10 subjects, but English is AQA so the Language GCSE isn't until after half-term and they leave it until the, then you have 9, to focus on now.
Say they do 3 hours per night after school and 7 at the weekend (as per that article that provoked debate at the beginning of the Easter holidays), then that is 29 HOURS/WEEK on top of being at school.
(DS isn't doing that many btw)
29 hrs/ wk across 9 subjects = 3 1/4 hours per subject per week. That's less than some of DS's subjects have been giving him as homework this last fortnight.

DS is doing 10 GCSE's and according to his plan next week he will be doing 3 hrs of all the sciences, maths and his options except PE which is only an hour and 2 hrs for each of the Englishes......no guarantee he will stick to this.

Then the following week he ramps up for all the subjects he has in the first week of exams to generally 4 hours and then an hour for subjects which he has exams in the second week.

He aims to do 3hrs a night and 6 over the weekend but he is given virtually no homework the odd paper that he would incorporate into revision.

DS better today. He's going to make flashcards for Macbeth (thanks Loose for the tips!) and do some Maths later on.

mmzz, DS is doing 9. He revised 2ish hours on school night and around 4 on the weekends, so 18ish hours a week. He does about 2 hours per subject, but focuses slightly more on the STEM subjects as that's what he wants to do in future.

DS1 is doing 10 (did one last year).

I'm not sure if the exact split between subjects but he is doing about 6 hours at the weekend and 3 after school. He often stays at school to do homework anyway and then comes home for supper and does a bit more.

Today he's planning more history (past paper), geography and some maths. His on track for his iGCSE but the Ad Maths needs more work - hence the work on it now even though it's the last exam.

I think DD is very similar to Whats. She is taking 11 and focusing on Spanish at the moment before her exam this week. Add maths is pretty mush ignored until after all the rest have finished. She seems to be doing about an hour on other subjects each evening as well, but I can't confirm this as any questions are met with snarls.