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

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New thread for GCSEs 2018

Welcome Ironmum - love the name! My dcs have the same age gap. Sounds as though your DS is doing well - maybe revising in short bursts works best for him?
DS1 has got very good marks for his music coursework - I'm hoping the moderators agree and that he revises properly for the exam!

Hi IAmIronMan I also have a son who enjoys Maths & Sciences.

He uses Discord (an online server) in the evenings to chat to friends from school (and their friends). It includes a GCSE group for Y11s where they can help each other with revision. He has been going on there every day to explain concepts and help people with tricky topics or questions they're stuck on.

Sorry, Mum became Man for some reason.

Loose Yes, I think maybe repeated small bits will be better for him. I'm currently trying to help him make a timetable for the next couple of weeks, so will be taking that into consideration. Well done to your DS on his coursework

Second Thank you; I will have a look at that.

That sounds great TheSecond - and they do say explaining something is actually a good way of revising :). Welcome IronMum - I know it is stressful (my third time round now) but I don't think your DS has much to worry about if he is predicted 8s and aiming for 7s - like someone said little and often and doing 'enough' may be the way to go if he is reluctant and may worry if you push too much.

Argh! Just delurking again to have a rant. Dd has her German speaking test tomorrow morning. I've just been testing her and all the way through her phone was pinging. It was her "friends" from last year who have completely ostracized her since before Christmas. They have taken exception to the fact she's been invited to join another group for prom transport and seems to be making new friends rather than being on her own all the time. She showed me the messages and there are accusations of her talking about them behind their back (possibly true) and causing them to have mental health problems (definitely not true.) Dd is gay and they have been talking about that constantly. Not in a negative way but it has been making her uncomfortable because she's very private.

Anyway the revision session has ended in tears and she's gone for a shower. All these other girls had their test today. I never know whether to involve the year manager in this sort of thing but given the timing I think she needs to know.

Hi Oratory
I think a lot of the reason he gets frustrated is the targets from school. They push so much, and he finds it difficult to meet their expectations (especially in English and French). I've told him just to aim for what he would be happy with. And yes, I think little but often is the way to go.

Selfish of the ex-friends. DS3 is lucky that his little group of friends are laid back and anti-cool. They are all on discord as well.

Ironmum, love the username. We went to see Infinity War at the weekend. No spoilers, but OMG!

Pootling along with revision here. No exams til 14th May. He's at his dad's this long weekend, so I can only hope he'll keep to his timetable.

Hearing about all your DC starting alreading is bringing it closer. I'm glad they all liked the paper today.

IronMum Welcome.
(Just so as you know, people here don't tend to use children's names for privacy reasons (though you can if you want to). They tend to use DS1 for son number 1 and DD2 for daughter number 2. If you want names removed click on 'Report' against relevant posts and MN will edit them.)

Oh, and Iron we did the same with DD1 re having out own targets different from the school's. It helped take the pressure off when targets/predictions were unrealistic. (Though your definition to 'struggles with' is different from mine! 7s are excellent and should be celebrated if achieved).

Okay, thank you Teen - will get my posts edited then
Yes, he's had many teachers saying he should be getting straight 9s, which doesn't really help a child who's already prone to being anxious. He's happy aiming for what I listed, which I'm happy with as it's less stress for him. He's been getting 5s/6s in English & French all year (so not exactly sure why he was targeted 8s) and would be happy with these in real thing, but he wants to see if he can get 7s.

Well Done to all the Historians today, sounds like a good start has been made.

DD's school has study leave from 18th May, although they are still running revision sessions every day after that, most of which DD intends to go to. She is finding revision at school useful for exam technique, and likes the fact she can get immediate marking plus feedback from teachers on past papers if she completes them during lessons.

What'sforteaaa I'm so glad to hear school are taking it seriously and the boy has faced consequences for his vile comments. Hope your DS is doing ok.

Bishop that definitely sounds like a situation the school needs to know about, your poor DD.

The last thing these poor teens need right now is drama and nastiness. Hope they can all be nice and supportive to each other from now on.

Hi everyone

KickBishop good luck to your dd tomorrow for German - my ds has his German speaking next week. Sorry to hear about the drama. Ridiculous.

Second Discord sounds great....my ds doesn't do that, I'll ask him if he's heard of it

Ironmum great set of grades good luck to your ds.

My ds was very stressed yesterday but is calmer today, not helped by 13 year old dd being very difficult. Stress and hormones.... We are hoping to go on a trip to Kew at the weekend, I think a day out will help, he will spend most of the weekend revising.

That makes sense Ironmum

Iron an official government statistician last year calculated the likelihood of someone achieving grade 9s in 10 subjects (I think) this year. The answer was 2. That's right, 2, not 2%. It was based on the likelihood of being in the top 2-3% in 10 different subjects I believe.

DD has been getting very frustrated today with girls in her sets winding themselves into a frenzy to out-revise each other. DD told them they are only claim in they are revising for 12 hours a night and some very inappropriate comments (given recent circumstances) to make everyone else feel inadequate.

Kicking been there, done that (read threads 3 & 4!). Former friends are obviously being complete cows.

loose congrats on marks for music coursework!

Thanks everyone for the kind words and sorry I only crop up to moan. This thread is saving my sanity at the moment and you are all lovely.

In more positive news reluctant reviser dd has finally thrown herself into a revision plan and is doing well. She's had a couple of 6s in English questions and has been doing loads of tassomai. We also had a lovely night off on Tuesday to go orienteering at a local national trust.

Well done to all those who have completed coursework or started exams. Day one of anything that counts here.

kicking how your DD managed to put yesterday's events behind her and smashes German today!

Lulu I think a wander around Kew should prove very relaxing, is your DS into horticulture? Your DS will probably find once the exams start he's not quite so stressed, its a bit like a race, heart is pounding on the start line but once your off it settles down and you just focus on the job or exam in hand.........lets hope so anyway

Oh and good luck to anyone I might have missed the thread is moving so quick I'm losing track (doesn't take much) I definitely need to sit at the back of the class!!

Stickerrocks - I have a feeling they revised the figure up from just 2...(but I may be wrong). I think around 2000 pupils managed to get the 3 9s last year. I think the reality of hitting top marks has seen by a few pupils at DD's school who are highly academic but have seen how hard it can be to get the top grade even in a subject where the syllabus has not changed. DD is in the same sort of company (one girl) in terms of making comments to make others feel inadequate ..DD is a very nervous public speaker and one of the comments made over the last weeks "it's so easy to get a distinction in the presentation exam"...it may be easy for some BUT not for all...lots of thoughtless comments ...but thankfully only 2 days left in this negative, competitive atmosphere in the run-up to exams.

Good luck to everyone with an exam today...

Sorry Kick - hope your DD is feeling better today and good luck with the German !

Just found out DS will be using a desk top pc and keyboard in the exams and not the small laptop type set up he had previously been told and on which he had been doing all prep/practise questions so far. Im told it will make very little difference but a bit frustrated as for a slow typer at the best of times I would have thought it would have made some difference / any thoughts ? Also he wouldn’t have known til he got into the exams if I hadn’t checked yesterday. Maybe I’m worrying too much about the little things !

It's the little things that can make a big difference Oratory.
How does your DS feel about it? Does he have any experience using a desktop?
If not perhaps a request that he can have some practice time on the one they plan for him to use?

Good luck in the German today mini Kick.

Oratory, as a mother of a fellow typist, I think this is not that big a deal. The keys will be in the same places (won't they?), they don't have to learn a new operating system or programme and will take seconds to adjust to the keys being spaced slightly further apart. I worry about everything, but as long as the keys are still in the same places, then I would not worry about this.

You could ask for him to do a practice paper for one of his subjects this week on the desktop pc, so he can get a feel for it.