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Original poster

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

999 replies

mmzz · 16/05/2018 21:35

Previous thread

OP posts:
AlexanderHamilton · 21/05/2018 13:46

It’s a light week for dd this week. English Lit tomorrow, physics Wednesday (a toughie) & maths Thursday.

Last week was her most exam heavy week although she has a week of tough subjects (maths & all the sciences) at the end of the exam period.

PickwickThePlockingDodo · 21/05/2018 13:58

She is a little like Second's DS - easing off the revising (but without his impressive revision timetable since Y10)

Same here with my DD, she seems to have almost stopped revising completely. I'd say she's burnt herself out but I don't think she was particularly on fire to start with Grin (she's been doing the bare minimum she can get away with).

Original poster
mmzz · 21/05/2018 14:10

she's been doing the bare minimum she can get away with

How does she know what she can get away with though?

That's the big problem this year, isn't it? You can feel well-prepared, feel that you've done a good job of answering the questions in the exam but still walk out without the faintest idea whether you've done well or not, because it all depends on how well other people do.

OP posts:
HesMyLobster · 21/05/2018 14:18

That's true MMZ, in my DD1's year they all knew the Mark scheme and likely grade boundaries so well they could pretty much predict their results for most subjects.
This year there is just no knowing what "enough" is.

Just FYI: apparently the best way to learn quotes for Macbeth, A Christmas Carol etc is by listening to the songs Mr Bruff has for each on YouTube. DD has been singing the Macbeth one on repeat whilst making and eating lunch - it's catchy I'll admit!

brainmelt · 21/05/2018 14:19

Yes another satisfied History boy here. And happy about Latin. CIE English Prose and Poetry tomorrow... Day by day, day by day...

LooseAtTheSeams · 21/05/2018 14:39

Glad history went well and Latin is out the way!
Learning quotes from songs is a really good idea!

callitwhatyouwill · 21/05/2018 14:50

OCR Latin went well - DD2 signed in at lunch . One more Latin then she’s done in that exam Grin she can hand her English Lit and Latin books in on Friday Grin . Good luck to everyone in this mammoth week!

LooseAtTheSeams · 21/05/2018 15:22

Oh, and Mr Bruff has a Final Tips For English Literature Paper 1 video. I have to agree the top tip is read the question properly - as always! But it's useful stuff.
Not sure about his singing, though!

Oratory1 · 21/05/2018 15:24

We're with the Eng lit, physics and maths crowd here.

I do agree that learning poems etc seems counterproductive and also seems to go against the principle of the other gcse's (science. maths, history) where the new courses are broader and much more about applying knowledge. Learning poems by rote doesn't fit with this ? Whereas the igcse seem to be more about learning techniques and applying them to an unseen poem.

Wonderwine · 21/05/2018 15:38

Oratory1 - DS has a second English Lit exam on Friday which has unseen poetry in it, which applies the skills you mention.

Eduqas requires 3 set texts and 18 poems to know inside out and retain a solid bank of quotes for each... Angry

AlexanderHamilton · 21/05/2018 15:41

Dd is fairly good at memorising quotes. All those years of LAMDA acting & poetry performance exams obviously paid off

LooseAtTheSeams · 21/05/2018 16:02

I was going to say at least you don't need to learn whole poems off by heart, just some quotes, but of course once you add it up across the anthology, that's quite a lot of quotes...
Drama students have a distinct advantage there!

Wonderwine · 21/05/2018 16:16

Loose - yes, although the exam board say students don't need to learn the poems they then ask for an analysis including the following (copied from last year's paper):

  • content and structure of the poem
  • how the writers create effects
  • the context, and how this influenced the ideas in them

There's not much left after that! If a student can't remember much detail of a poem, then they can't really access a 25 mark question.

That said, they get to choose which poem they use to make the comparison, so I guess you can take a risk and just learn one for each of the major themes and hope to cover all bases!

sandybayley · 21/05/2018 16:19

DS1 reports CIE history paper was 'alright' and OCR Latin was 'good'.

Being kept in isolation between the two actually worked quite well for him as he crammed Latin fuelled by marmite sandwiches.

So Latin, History and English Language are now done. Hurray!

Geography and English Literature tomorrow. More marmite sandwiches are required.

Original poster
mmzz · 21/05/2018 16:33

DS's English teacher had them pick 7/15 poems, in a way that they had 2 per theme. Then, if one of the memorised poems comes up, you've still got another relevant one to compare it to.

It is still memorising poetry, but its only 7, not 15.

What difference anyway? You've got to memorise things in every subject : formulae, facts and figures. Its all memory, not just the poems and Eng Lit quotes.

OP posts:
BlueBelle123 · 21/05/2018 16:33

I've seen it mentioned on here a couple of times that the science paper 2's are harder, when I said this to DS he looked at me strangely (nothing unusual there) and said they aren't - I'm now becoming paranoid that he is missing something is there a reason they are harder or are they just perceived to be?

Glad today's exams seem to have gone well for everyone......not sure about the marmite sandwiches Grin

Original poster
mmzz · 21/05/2018 16:39

DS thinks they are harder because they contain all the topics that he finds more challenging. But that's specific to him. Maybe it is nothing more than a reflection of having put the most work into preparing for paper 1s?

OP posts:
Sostenueto · 21/05/2018 16:39

I think what has upset Dgd more than anything is that English lit is before geography her best subject and she's worried if English paper phases her she will be upset in the geography. I have reassured her that English will not phase her. I told her to prepare for the most obscure themes cos AQA do bum papers ! She had usual lecture about not letting emotions rule and told her how awesome and clever she is and to start believing in herself as we believe in her. She had lots of cuddles and a cry so hopefully a bit of stress has been relieved.

Teenmum60 · 21/05/2018 16:40

We're with the Eng lit, physics and maths crowd here too

Only a few exams but all three exams really important to DD.

KingscoteStaff · 21/05/2018 16:40

IGCSE Science Paper 2s are harder - don’t know about other boards.

Sostenueto · 21/05/2018 16:44

Dgd has not memorised 15 poems. You won't have time to sit and recite them in your head during an exam. You need to know quotes, which poems compare for themes with each other etc so you can answer questions. Dgds teacher has never said learn off by heart 15 poems!

Teenmum60 · 21/05/2018 16:45

DD tends to find the science paper2's easier than the paper1's..I think Chemistry because there is more logic on paper2...The IGCSE paper2's are only 1hr.

Sostenueto · 21/05/2018 16:48

English lit paper 1 and 2 physics paper 1 geography paper 1 and 2 and maths paper 1. What an awful week! Sad

Sostenueto · 21/05/2018 16:52

Glad to hear DC did fine today in their exams.Cake

BlueBelle123 · 21/05/2018 16:59

Regarding the science he's doing GCSE edexcel I guess its like anything what one person finds hard another finds ok and vice versa, it seems at DS's school he was the only one who thought the chemistry exam was better than the biology examHmm

I'm thinking about the sciences as a distraction so I don't have to think about English tomorrow