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

[mmzz]

New thread for GCSEs 2018

Yup - and I think that's doable this year as with fewer papers than there used to be there is less after half term and they are more spread out. DS just has English lang, history and the second half of maths and sciences after half term. Needs to keep history ticking over now because of the volume of stuff but the others can largely wait.

English teacher here - I'm about to take a class so can do more in detail later but would definitely prioritise English lit at the moment.
What are the texts?

Another vote for Mr Bruff on YouTube for English, both literature and language. He has some brilliant stuff on exam technique and how to write top level answers.
DD1 based most of her English revision on him 2 years ago, and DD2 is doing the same now.

DD2 is on the verge of a meltdown tonight. I think exhaustion from a ridiculously busy weekend of dance, combined with the stress of French oral on Thursday has really had an impact.
So I have cancelled her dance lessons evening, she's going to do 1 hour max on French revision then get to bed by 8pm!
I haven't enforced a bedtime for her in years, she's usually pretty sensible and manages her own time well, but tonight I will be tucking her in and lights out, no arguments!

She is doing roughly 2-3 hours per evening on average, at school they still haven't finished the course in anything except psychology. But most subjects are putting on extra revision lessons am and pm every day.

Although they've had ofsted today! So everything was cancelled after school yesterday and today.

I agree with Bluebell about the departments being in competition with each other, that certainly seems to be the case at DDs school. It might be worth asking the pastoral team to intervene if any dc are being pulled in too many different directions.
One of DD's friends taking art, drama and graphics had to do this as she was repeatedly expected to be in 3 places at once.

Hi mmzz! I'm muddling through thanks and surviving hope all fine with you and DC?

mmzz I don't think that's a stupid thing to do at all. If it was History or something else with masses to learn it would be too risky, but for Eng Lang I think it's fine.
Sadly DS only has Paper 2s for Bio, Chem, Physics and Maths after half term so not much room to leave anything till then. At least he'll have almost 2 weeks to blitz past papers I guess (and the Science paper 2s are only an hour long).

Got to go puck up dd see you all tomorrow!

What's for tea my DD is doing exactly the same English as your ds.
I'm not sure I can offer any help though, apart from to recommend Mr Bruff again!
DD's English class has had some staffing issues (to put it mildly!) so it's the one she's probably least confident in.

Sost the patio looks brilliant!

Ah just saw the text lists - thanks!

Thanks all, will definitely check out Mr Bruff.
He's currently trying to decipher Macbeth (mum, what the hell does this mean??)

Sost love the patio - great job!

Patio will be staying wet at this rate, Sostenuto.

DS3 is doing
Romeo and Juliet
Sign of Four
DNA
Power and Conflict poems
Another one for AQA.

@brainmelt tassomai got back to me today and have dropped dd's target to 60%. She's much happier and has done loads tonight. Might be worth an email.

She also struggles with English language and has been doing lots of papers over the last couple of weeks. She did have a tutor but she got ill and cancelled and we decided it was too late and too much hassle to find a new one.

She's been using Mr bruff and Mr salles videos, and using YouTube and bitesize to brush up her spelling and grammar.

She is particularly struggling with paper 1 q5. She's decided she's rubbish and can't do creative writing. Tonight we've come up with 6 possible emotions / scenarios that she could shoehorn into any photo e.g. sad, lonely, happy, scared etc and looked up fancy words in the thesaurus and thought of some scenarios. She's going to learn them and hopefully will be able to use one of them. It's a bit primitive but I'm hoping it will just give her a bit of confidence so she doesn't panic. She just needs to scrape a 5 and her spelling and grammar are good. She just cannot come up with creative ideas.

Has anyone got any other tips on how to cope with that question?

DS has made some Macbeth flashcards and is now in bed watching a film. He's totally knackered, so I'll leave him to it for tonight He's writing a resignation letter tomorrow, as his job just isn't right for him. Might help him stop stressing as much as he'll have more time to revise/volunteer etc.

Also, does anyone know where to print maths papers off from? His teacher keeps promising to give DS some but never does (and never marks work ) and he wants to start doing past papers.

Bishop, DS used to get 3s/4s on that question but recently had been getting 7s. He used to panic, but now calms himself down and makes a plan. If it's a description, he just imagines what it'd be like to be in the photo (e.g. at a beach) and comes up with similies/metaphors/personification linking to the scene. If a narrative, just include as much description (setting, characters) as possible, and include feelings etc. He also did what your dd is doing, learning better words. Good luck to her.

Whats we went to see the RSC screening of Macbeth a couple of weeks ago. We're also off to see the NT version (Anne Marie Duff & Rory Kinnear) at the pics on 10 May. It will be the 3rd time DD has been forced to see it (she also went to the theatre for J&H and Inspector Calls. Each time she has got something from it, even though she moans.

Oh yes, I forgot about that - DS is seeing the RSC Macbeth on Thursday with school which will hopefully help him.

Patio looking good.

My own revision classes run from 9-4, with 3 sessions in the morning & 2 after lunch. Their total breaks are around 1h 45m, so each session is around an hour long. I can see them wilting if I go beyond 4. Therefore the 6 hours many of your DC are doing seems about right.

No study leave here until the bitter end.

Sos loving the patio......and the mystery of the vanishing chair
Hope your DGD is feeling better, that must of been stressful.

I think DS will be leaving revising for exams which are after HT from next week, slightly concerned as he still has 12 exams and it is only a week plus they will be absolutely shattered after two weeks of exams, so he may not get as much done as he plans.

WhatsforTea - Past papers are normally on the exam boards websites - just google whatever the exam board is, the subject and past papers.

Sost - patio looks amazing hope your DGD is on the mend..

Thanks!

DD has 8 exams after HT - one sitting on its own in the last week which is an easier subject for DD. She does have all three science higher papers in one week but they are spread out with a day in-between :-)

Thanks kick I'm really glad they did that for you and also wonder WHY they didn't for me It's too late now anyway, we're out.
sost cool patio. Best wishes to your dgd

Sost good to hear from you, but I'm sorry to read that your DGD has been unwell. The patio is very impressive - I could never do that.

Whatsfortea there are a lot Shakespearean translations out there in the revision guides. I think CGP translates the key bits, and I'm sure Mr Bruff does. In the absence of an alternative, google the Mr Bruff YouTube video for whatever section your DS is stuck with and get him to watch it. Mr Bruff is really good at explaining (and sometimes he even makes it interesting). You can also download his e-books from the website, or order them in print from Amazon for a pound or two more.