GCSE 2018 (7) [wine][wine][wine][wine]

[mmzz]

A new thread to take us through the exams
Link to old thread

Discussion last night was about the advantages of deforestation being economical rather than purely biological and not being Biology really. Nevertheless DS answered what he thought was right...
I was not born here and never sat gcses but DS was saying in his time it was more like 100% regurgitation of facts.
After a good laugh DS concluded that the outraged people on Twitter were just not well prepared for the exam...
I agree with sost that some people just lack common sense. But I have to admit that if I had to put my life in the hands of a doctor I'd like her or him to know to react to something unexpected during an operation, like an alien hiding in my pancreas.
Sorry, sleepless night.

CatherineCawood for your DD's sake, keep her away from the Student Room post-exam analysis! It would make anyone convinced that they have failed, even if they later turn out to get 100%.

Sost I suspect your DGD did a lot better than she imagines. She knows her stuff, and she's a sensible girl, so she'll have put together a practical that uses all the scientific thinking that she's been learning for the last two years.

About exams not covering what you've revised, wasn't it always this way? Unless you know absolutely everything (and who does?), you always go into an exam hoping that what you know comes up and what you ought to know, but don't, doesn't.

Snap CherryBurn !! Two DDs in your first category and dyslexic DS in the latter. He finds it hard to learn by rote but once he's learnt it or 'got' it he will never forget. Teachers think he is brilliant in class as comes up with genius solutions or questions - but unfortunately they are often a bit off the wall and not on the mark scheme. In GCSE s you usually need to state the obvious and then explain it which he also finds hard - as well as getting information from the depths of his scrambled brain and finding the words to use in a timed situation. Oh well just got to get him through and hopefully the next stage will be easier for them both.

That was my point Sos - whilst its good to moving towards application students should be warned and prepared for it and marks schemes not applied so rigidly

Interesting points you made there cherrybun. trouble is the mark scheme us so rigid I have no idea how they will apply it to the masses of varying answers they will get. Teachers having no past papers it past info on these new exams can only teach on what they have, the mark schemes. I have already warned dgd to use ' commonsense' in all her exams because of new formats but at 16 they don't have a lot of that. Nor do they gave much life experience. That is why English language a problem for some.
Don't worry, it's just another way for the government, who IMO should have nothing to do with education, to weed out all the private tutored, grammar school/private educated DC from the rest. They will succeed because money buys everything. Sorry for being so cynical. No reflection on you

mmzz I've told her the same! Just move on and concentrate on what is next. You can't change the exam and you just don't know what the boundaries are going to be so chill!!

Saying that though, I think she felt better once she had been on the student room as earlier on she thought she had got EVERYTHING wrong! However I agree that way lies madness!

Yep get that oratory but it won't work with a rigid mark scheme. It cannot and to drop it on children now with no notice as to be honest, it will be 5 years before the exam boards get it right, is grossly unfair!
I do agree with knowledge=understanding=application. But it will take time to achieve a truly balanced exam for all. This exam definitely was not.
Hope paper 2 better

Welcome @North from another parent whose DC has considerable health issues

And hi to @wine - my DD also did OCR biology yesterday. Biggest complaint from the entire group was related to a question about lungfish!

No exams for DD today, so she’s studying for chemistry and computer science tomorrow. She also has maths tutor.

I’m not sleeping, have awful anxiety IBS and feel I’ve aged a decade in two days!

@impossible - your poor DD. Hope she’s soon better.

Have a good day everyone 🙂

There will always be exams that suit some and not others...my DD happens to have a lot of common sense for her age and also tends to think outside the box - a bit like your DS Oratory - she will also come up with a bit off the wall solutions. DD has adapted her revision to learning facts more over the last 3/4 months rather than using her thinking skills (which the school really value)...going forward I think you probably need on balance both.

Refus/North/Always - and any other parents with DC's sitting these exams with medical conditions - I am in total admiration ..Your DC's are s

DD's latest stress relief arrived this morning!

Just read over thread I had missed and huge best wishes to those with illness/distractions and apologies again if some of our posts seem trivial and worries unfounded in that context.

Loving the bubble wrap!

I keep wandering around muttering darkly "We cannot change the wind, but we can adjust the sails" after each paper. Do you think DD could use that as a quote in Geography next week?

On the plus side, I have got the Shawn Mendes tickets she wanted. Now she just has to pass her GCSEs to have them!

Thanks teen

And to oratory and others

Personally (and i dont want to speak for anyone else) i wanted the mundane stuff... i want 'normal' worries and ill have yours

I didnt have a clue this was going to happen this time last year and i would absolutely have been a parent quietly worried for my completely well with no issues child

Its just so unfair...years of doing her homework and working as hard as she can and being good and well, its just not fair

And that's obviously the same for lots of other children, but i just want to figure out whose fault all this and punch them on the nose

Rufus - did you look up special consideration guidance? This is AQA's www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/special-consideration - not sure which exam board your dd is doing but they should all have their policies.

Sending good wishes to all those who are dealing with unexpected or long term health issues

sost your dgd is probably focusing on those few things she thinks she may have answered wrong instead of the huge amount of things she answered right. It's classic post-exam thinking...

Rufus - I do so feel for you having watched my friends DD who has ME effectively lose all her teenage years..she has not attended school for 2 years - it's a cruel condition that needs so much more research. I think your DD is doing amazing!
Not sure whether this is any help but my friends DD is sitting all her exams at home (with an invigilator), just one exam a day and only 3 exams in a week, she has extra time plus long rest breaks and she is using a laptop..but these were her normal education conditions.

Heading out to buy another calculator (don't ask) and spare geometry set. Very tempted to get a roll of bubble wrap for me!
I'm not too thrown by DS and his wobbles these days - he tends to have one and then calm down. Originally it was all science, then biology was ok, now physics is ok so by paper 2 of chemistry I reckon that'll be ok. He's got no worries, really, compared to others on this thread.

hmc

Yeah i emailed the exam officer and i need a copy of the consultant letter which i have, a letter about the detachment she suffers from (not sure if i can get that but i will try) and a letter from dd saying how those things affect her

Im not getting dd to do the letter til Ive seen if i can get the detachment one

See what happens, its worth a punt

He's got no worries, really, compared to others on this thread

He does though, its just as scary for them

And even the really clever ones sit there and second guess themselves

Absolutely worth a punt - I hope she gets some marks credited to her.

teen

Yes, the dr thinks that dd powering through physically has caused the mental issues

So thats backfired dreadfully

Dd gets to use a smaller room with a few other children and rest breaks but thats it

Its a bit late for anything else for her...we did think of invigilating at home and i think that would have been better for her but she seems ok with the arrangements they have set up for her

Should have thought of this stuff earlier...im a bloody invigilator as well

It's different when it's your own child, though, Rufus!

Absolutely kitty

Much scarier when its your own child!!