GCSEs 2018 (8) Dozens of DCs, 1 DH and Flashcards in the fridge

[mmzz]

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DD said chemistry was hard but she thinks she has done ok. Very application based questions apparently and none of the experiments they have learnt came up. Latin was very rushed. Just glad we have got to Thursday. Friday will be a less pressure day just with the last French paper. And that will be one subject done forevermore.

DS was happy with how both chemistry and computing went today, he was talking to a friend after computing who said if he had revised more for computing he would of found it alright, interestingly alot of DS's friends seem to have decided to sacrifice 1 or 2 subjects so they can concentrate on what they really need to get to the next stage in their education. If this is happening in a lot of schools then I think schools will be reducing the number of GCSE's that pupils currently take.

Anyway PE again tomorrow and then nothing till Tuesday!

I do admire the creativity of the DC with regard to the memes they generate. There is definitely a career in marketing ahead for many of them.

I did GCSEs in 1989 (year 2) and got 9As. It wasn't that uncommon in my not great comprehensive. My English Lit was 100% coursework! English Language 40%.

I'm sure that lots of the content DS1 is covering for GCSE didn't come up until my A Levels (particularly chemistry and maths).

I know these are harder exams than I did but I'm sure if the internet had been invented when I was 16 I'd have been creating #gcses1989 memes to grumble! That's an idea - maybe we should go on twitter and confuse the DC

Won't find out how DS did till I get home. He didn't pick the phone up but that's normal!
Tawney yes! I definitely remember Latin in 1984 was one language and one literature paper and I did all the literature by memorising but it worked! I also had the impression the exam period was shorter!

DS1 says Chemistry Edexcel was 'Hard but OK'. Latin was better than expected. Day off for him tomorrow - hurray. 14 exams to go.

Things are going OK here. DS has drama exam tomorrow. He's the only one in the family to have taken it so I've no idea what it consists of.

I did O levels but can't really remember what they consisted of so I don't know if they were easier. They certainly didn't have the accompanying stress

DS2 is finally home.

Chemistry: fine except for not knowing about Chadwick's experiment.

Computer Science: fine, they used logic symbols he didn't recognise, but he was able to guess which was which.

Latin literature: better than expected.

Unfortunately he didn't get any lunch, due to the opening times of the canteen and his exam schedule. A friend kindly gave him a biscuit.

@TheSecondOfHerName - your poor DS. DS1 has a clash next week and 100+ boys have to be held in isolation and a school packed lunch provided. DS1 will be taking his own provisions though as the school packed lunches are not to his liking or of sufficient volume.

Dd has found the AQA syllabus which clearly states that you do not need to know about Chadwick's experiment.
So don't know what to think of that. Have they made a mistake by asking a question they said you didn't need to know? Or is it deliberate to see if some high achievers may know about it?

DS2 was slightly sad about not having lunch, but pointed out that many of his friends had not had anything to eat or drink since 3am and still managed to sit exams all day.

sandybayley I also did my GCSEs in 1989 and got 8As and 1B. Still slightly cross about the B.

snozzlemaid looking at the spec, I think they're expected to know that 'The experimental work of James Chadwick provided the evidence to show the existence of neutrons within the nucleus.' But they're not expected to know the detail of that experimental work. So I guess it depends what the question was?

Sandy and Second, see you youngsters had it easy

@Cherryburn - I know but don't tell DS1.

@TheSecondOfHerName - I think it's time to let it go on your B. I'm sure it hasn't held you back

Re Chadwick. Dd said it asked what the experiment was.

DD said the Chemistry paper was hard too (IGCSE Edexcel) - she prefers paper2 and also made a similar comment about OCR CS and Logic Symbols - apparently not covered in CS lessons...she guessed too but thinks she got them the wrong way round but should get a mark..

Not a brilliant day for DD (in her eyes) but she's done her best and maybe learnt a tiny lesson about balancing revision.

No more exams until next Tuesday - when she had Eng Lit, Maths, and Physics ..

More issues with friendship today but I am so pleased with the balanced way that DD deals with frictions between friends...I think she's so mature compared to a lot of the girls.

I took O levels in 76 and 77 (took Maths a year early). I was such a lazy child - I only revised for my Maths because I was told that if I passed it I would not have to do Maths in Yr11 - then I ended up doing
Additional Maths (cannot remember any Maths now)...they also tried to rope me into doing Physics which I probably regret not doing now. My parents were farmers and the feeling was girls get married and have children...they were a little shocked when the country girl moved to work in London!

snozzle there's a bit of semantics going on. It is in the spec in that you don't need to know about the detail of Chadwick's experiment, but you do need to know that he discovered what he discovered which was apparently neutrons. It was only a three marker anyhow but this really isn't a L9 seeker outer, it seems very elementary and it's also in the AQA revision guide, writ large.

snozzle it didn't ask that, it asked how Chadwick's discovery helped scientists to understand isotopes, ie. the consequences of the discovery and not how the discovery was made.

Didn't see Cherryburn's post before I wrote mine but yes exactly.

No lunch would be a showstopper for my DC. All credit for powering on on an empty tum.

DD said AQA Combined Higher Chemistry was horrible. She thinks she got 21/70 so that's probably not good. Hoping for a 5/5. She said Biology was better.
Good luck to all DC's sitting exams tomorrow. We have drama.

DD said the Chemistry paper was hard too (IGCSE Edexcel)
Yep, DS said the same here. He's quite happy but feels Biology went better. Latin Prose was v good for him.
the second ouch no lunch. Your DS did amazing to sit the exam.

No exams tomorrow. Yay.

DS says chemistry was really difficult but computing was really easy and he enjoyed it. No exams until Tuesday now and he's playing computer games

So all Chemistry papers today from all different boards were hard. Lower boundaries then?

I just don’t understand my DD! No comment about exams so far other than “alright” (same response for each exam). Then tonight’s meal time conversation was about British politics !!

goodbyestranger that's good to hear as that's what dd said she wrote about. She wasn't sure if that was what they wanted but that was all she knew.