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Secondary education

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Original poster

Is it just me or have GCSEs taken over your life too?

62 replies

tiredand44 · 24/05/2018 16:37

It's ridiculous! I'm completely stressed, I'm obsessing about what revision (or lack of) that he's done. I've spent a small fortune in revision books and online revision help, and I'm not sure he really cares! He's currently revising English Lit (which is tomorrow...he needs to know 15 poems) whilst lying on his bed with the revision guide in front of him. There are no beautiful mind maps, no notes, no practice essay answers...nada.

Do I just wash my hands of it all and let him get on with it? My issue is that I know he is so capable of doing A'levels, but he needs 6s to get back into sixth form and he's just too bloody lazy to ensure that happens!

Please help Wine Gin Cake

OP posts:
Japanesejazz · 25/05/2018 21:22

You may have just sent her over the edge!

sandgrown · 25/05/2018 21:26

I am not actually bothered about results day. My expectations are so low anything good will be a bonus!

Japanesejazz · 25/05/2018 21:35

Ahhhhhh. Daughter needs 2 As and a B minimum for place at Kings college. It’s her dream. I’m fecking dreading results day. Predicted 3 As. She works hard but she will be devastated if she doesn’t get the grades.

BackforGood · 25/05/2018 21:37

Well you're a cheery poster, aren't you Japanesejazz Hmm

dd and her friends have taken this afternoon and evening off.
Busy two weeks after half term.

Japanesejazz · 25/05/2018 21:44

Whatever. Obviously I should be booking a spa day for us. Just in case

TheSecondOfHerName · 25/05/2018 21:53

Mine are so different.

DS2 (currently in the middle of GCSEs) is very organised; he started his revision early, revises efficiently, and remains calm at all times. He needs minimal input.

DS1 (about to sit A-levels) is the complete opposite. He needed help with organising his GCSE revision, needed some help with the revision itself, and needed constant support throughout the exams. Now that he is doing A-levels, he revises independently but still gets very stressed.

DD is very independent and likely to be more like DS2.
DS3 is somewhere in the middle.

Original poster
tiredand44 · 25/05/2018 22:02

@TheSecondOfHerName Mine are the same!! Completely different, my daughter is so hard working, my son does just enough! I swear he's just doing enough to get back in to do a'levels, not to do the best he can possibly do!

I'm dreading results day!

Thank goodness for wine WineWine

OP posts:
lljkk · 25/05/2018 22:06

I'm delighted that DD is so chill about her exams. What a relief. Phew. So much better than alternative.

Original poster
tiredand44 · 25/05/2018 22:08

@Ggirl27 How did your DS find English Lit today? Apparently it was fine...but then all exams are fine in this house 🙄

OP posts:
Original poster
tiredand44 · 25/05/2018 22:10

@lljkk I know...but being chilled is one thing, in denial about revision and doing the bare minimum is another!!

OP posts:
ElfrideSwancourt · 25/05/2018 22:34

I really wish I could have just taken English lit exams for my daughter- would have been easier than encouraging/cajoling/hassling her...

Original poster
tiredand44 · 25/05/2018 23:30

@ElfrideSwancourt I'm the same for Maths! It would have been far less stressful.

OP posts:
Numbkinnuts · 25/05/2018 23:41

Taken over my life and dining room table ! Books everywhere !

Nettleskeins · 26/05/2018 00:07

elfrideswancourt was just thinking about A pair of blue eyes when revising (me revising not him, clearly) Hardy poem with ds2 for Aqa Eng Lit. Read it quite recently for second time.

I'm enjoying the Gsces strangely enough, it feels quite exciting watching it unfold, and seeing their reactions; but admittedly they are both working quite hard. Lots of meltdowns though and ds2 is struggling to get what he needs for sixth form, so that is a worry at the back of my mind.

Another one with an A level student thrown into mix. that is going to be far far worse, as he is really not revising and my teeth are itching to start rattling at him!

PennyPickle · 26/05/2018 00:25

How did your DS find English Lit today? Apparently it was fine...but then all exams are fine in this house 🙄

Same response here... "Yeah it was ok" ...I'm not expecting great things tbh. I've had the same reply for all exams to date... even physics.

Me - How did your exam go?
DD - Yeah it was ok
Me - Did you manage to answer all the questions?
DD - It was boring really. I finished after about 20 mins and had to sit there until everyone else had finished.

(A physicist she is NOT!!). Ill mark that one up as a F then...

mummmy2017 · 26/05/2018 08:18

Mine was laughing and saying thanks mum.... seem we were joking about getting a bath to find the size of and object..... it was one of the answers and she had googled it to quote it last night.

C0untDucku1a · 26/05/2018 08:25

Im printing this thread off for performance management evidence in october.

Why did Jonny underachieve?
Because he will not work independently but has a great score on fortnight.

Grin
JustDanceAddict · 26/05/2018 08:38

It’s takimg over my house! DD has abandoned her room and her notes are all over the kitchen table so we have to move it all to one side when we want to eat.
She is working hard so I can’t complain. Now Lit is out of the way she’s calmer as that was the one she was really worried about.
In two years I’ll have double trouble with DS doing gcses and dd her A levels. He will be a completely different kettle of fish and it’ll be a case of my being much more on the ball with what he’s up to.

Ggirl27 · 26/05/2018 08:40

@tiredand44 He came home the happiest I'd seen him in weeks - it went well apparently so after listening to all that whining and moaning and doing my best to cajole and commiserate, it is over. No more English Lit ever - went out with some friends last night to celebrate!

thisagain · 26/05/2018 09:26

My DD revises constantly but everything is still very stressy because everything matters so much. If she knows she got a question wrong, it's the end of the world. She's currently stressing that she messed up the maths paper. She wants a 7 but only got to question 8/20 confidently and then it all went downhill. My work friend has a DD very similar and the two of us sit in work waiting for a text or call to tell us how the exam went feeling sick!

thisagain · 26/05/2018 09:32

The day before English Lit she was very stressy, saying she didn't know Inspector calls and had 15 poems to learn and she'd just realised how little she knew them. By the end of the day she had learned it all and came home after the exam very happy. She really liked Physics, hated Biology and quite liked Chemistry and the first English Lit paper. Geography was also quite good. Maths has been her worse subject, followed by Biology.

HateIsNotGood · 26/05/2018 12:52

Thank goodness it's half-term, a chance to regroup. A break from the scheduling of revision to fit the next, and then next exams, sectioning out the relevant Paper sections in the Revision Books, the actual exams and the various collection times to grasp as much Study Leave as possible.

Me involved much? Yes, very - ds has ASD and an 'extreme' educational experience (all or nothing). Like a PP I'm almost enjoying the challenge of it all - my years of ASD-related prep are proving themselves useful now. And the levelling of the playing field as it's all new for everyone.

DS is coping really well (almost scared to say it before its over) and I even got a smile when I said - I've got all Shakespeare's Plays, which one would you like to do next? Like, never again actually.

Original poster
tiredand44 · 26/05/2018 13:17

@HateIsNotGood I agree! Thank goodness for half term and an opportunity for full on revision. I'm aware that sounds ironic but I always have hope.

OP posts:
HateIsNotGood · 26/05/2018 14:09

Oh yes - and making sure the correct equipment in the correct pencil case goes as well as the correct equipment/pencil case for the correct subject revision at school. Correct exam water bottle and correct clear container with the 'allowable' mints in (ironically also clear). Etc,.....

Anyway, got an amazing 2000+ words out for English Lit yesterday when just a year ago you would be lucky to get 150. Hopefully, they were all to do with answering the Paper questions :)

iknowimcoming · 26/05/2018 16:06

I think I've found my people!

Me to Ds - how was your exam? (any and every exam, all the same response, exactly the same response)
Ds- meh - looks at phone
Me - meh? What does meh mean - can I have a different adjective?
Ds - I mean it wasn't bad I guess .... back to phone
Me - right, not bad - but not good?
Ds - I mean it was quite good I suppose - back to phone again
Me - sigh

Gin is the only thing keeping me going and after half term dd will be doing a levels at the same time too ConfusedWineGin