Gcse 2018 (10) The one with half term

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www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3256691-GCSEs-2018-9-Will-we-get-to-half-term-for-never-was-a-story-of-more-woe-than-this-of-Juliet-and-who-is-Banquo

Oops. Can't remember how to link nicely, so this will have to do.

Thanks @Mmzz , @KickBishopBrennanUpTheArse and @BlueBelle123 . I'll be passing this all on to DD, she too will be thrilled! It's frustrating about the lack of practice questions she seems to have in some subjects and more frustrating that she has been adamant until now that she doesn't need any more resources! Still there is still some time left

Sorry HmcAsWas these threads are moving so fast I don't always catch everything.....I'm really sorry to hear about your mothers health, I think dementia is sure a cruel illness as it slowly takes away the person as you knew them, at least you know she is in a safe place where she can have the full attention she needs.

Thanks mmzz, I'm okay - just worried about dad who is now at home without her (300 miles away) and is struggling with it and frequently in tears on the phone.

Thanks Bluebelle too

I'm going to knock back the rest of this beer and have an early night

TheThirdofherName DS'S maths teacher found exactly the same level 9 sample paper, except his paywall solution was to tell the students to compare answers. One of them was really difficult! It took ages to solve.

It was a good lesson though I.e. Nothing in the exam is unsolvable, and the students have been taught every skill required to solve it, so if you don't think you know how to do it, look again, because you definitely do!

So sorry @hmcaswas -I can’t imagine how upsetting that is. I lost my mum young and I still miss her. Such a worry and so sad for you xx

HMC - also guilty of flicking through posts although I did actually read your post- just juggling work with everything else today so vague posts.

My M & D were both in a home from when they were 90...dad had mild dementia - mum was just struggling to cope with dad - so having them together was on balance the right thing to do....they had amazing caring staff who cannot speak highly enough about...I was fortunate to take redundancy at this time and spent a lot of time with M & D in their final years but 240 mile round journey was painful so I can understand your and your dads concern. DD's DGM has dementia and sounds in a similar situation to your DM ...its very sad to see your parents decline . Not sure whether its possible but can you not find suitable accommodation for both your parents to be nearer to each other?

Ah, hmc. I lost my mum to vascular dementia just 4 years ago. The end was mercifully quick. I think it was easier for my brother and sister and me because my dad had died ten years earlier and my mum had been so lonely. She had forgotten him completely by the end. It's a terrible illness, you lose them bit by bit. I don't know what to say to comfort you, tbh.

Hmc, About your DF, people almost always cope with losing their lifelong partner, but, in all the times I've seen it, the adjustment is very difficult, and life is never the same again. I'm including DM in that observation who has been a widow for half my life. Your DF will get used to it, but not before he has gone through the grief for the lost way of life and the pain of having to learn to cope alone.

So sorry to have missed your post hmc its all I can do to keep up on such a fast moving thread. Obviously you have all my sympathy prayers and thoughts in this sad time for you and I'm sure all of us on here send you the same. I apologise on behalf of all of us all for not responding.
I hope that you have support at home or a local organisation that may be able to help you through but you are welcome to pm me anytime you want for a chat and support.

In the time it took me to write that half a dozen cross posters!

Am feeling a lot better now vertigo seems to have bit the dust! The brain is a marvellous and wondrous thing! So is a few days rest
Dgd did last years paper 2 maths timed and scored 68/80. Said she mucked up on easy ones, and completely used wrong calculation on another. She predicts aqa boundary for a level 9 maths will be a combined score of 204/240 across the 3 papers. Or rather she's hoping it won't be much higher than last years ( 198/240). But she said she will definitely be chuffed with an 8. She's not confident about the first paper she sat.

It will be interesting to see what happens to the grade boundaries to English and Maths this year since its the second year of the new exams and so our DC are approaching them less blind than the DC last year did.

Maths will be particularly interesting because I suspect that there will be pressure at both ends of the higher paper spectrum: the more able, like Sostenueto's DGD will be targeting 9s in their revision which should pull the grade boundaries up, but at the other end, I suspect a lot of students have decided to give the higher paper a go, knowing that only 18% was needed in 2017 for a 4, which should distort the grade boundaries in the other direction.

Maybe the dual pressures at the ends of the spectrum will create an odd inflexion point in the distribution curve and the middle attainers will find that the difference between a 5/6/7 will be extremely small - so everything to play for in that part of the spectrum too?

HMC I was at the Rolling Stones buying a T Shirt for my FiL who couldn't come with us as he suffered a brain injury a few years ago. Meanwhile my Mil has Parkinsonian Dementia. They are 69 & 71 respectively. Watching them lose their grip on reality is heart breaking and difficult. Mil wanted us to get FiL a ticket & take him last night - he wan't walk unaided, suffers from anxiety and rarely leaves the house. They haven't asked DD how her exams are going, despite watching the news, reading the Guardian daily and being reminded regularly. We are all finding it hard and swing from worry to anger on a regular basis as they reject all care & support. DD is badly affected, but is struggling to talk without exploding, as she was so close to them. I can relate to where you're coming from.

On a lighter note, the Stones rocked. DD managed a couple of hours of history between work & the gig.

HMC we have a stretch of water between us as well.

Morning! Lost this thread as Tablet logged me out. Half term seems to be similar for most lack of momentum to keep going. History time line was lost nights goal. DD is off to a concert later today in Manchester so day will be taken up with make up preps! She is staying at friends tonight and school in morning so can see two days of little revision. Friday I am off to a 2 day football tournament with DS in Warwick so she is going to her aunties to revise hopefully.

Sorry to hear of poorly DC and failing health of parents - just shows life goes on around these GCSE exams as normal. Just added stress to our busy hectic lives.

Better get up and out to work - 4 day weekend was lovely with the sun put but normality calls! 2 day week though!!!!

I put a calculation into DS's revision timetable yesterday to work out how many possible hours of revision there are left before he has to sit each paper: 35 hours until History on Monday morning, 87 until Physics paper 2 on 15th.

I suspect that most of your DC will be averaging something similar.

It sounds like a lot, but not when you think that past papers typically take 90 mins each, no including marking. Also, even 10 minutes here or there to learn some sub-topic, soon adds up to several hours. If DS does everything that he currently has planned, he is going to be busy for 80% of those last hours.

The assumptions were that the maximum possible hours to work in a day = 7, reducing to between 0 and 4 when there are exams.

hmc I missed your post before but very sad to hear what you're going through. I feel for you - my cousins are in a similar position as my aunt is very dependent now on her family due to dementia and my uncle, who was looking after her, is seriously ill in hospital. It is very hard on you and your family.
Sostenueto good news about the vertigo! Your dgd is doing very well with the maths - I know DS is hoping for an 8 but I also worry about him making silly mistakes.
Mmzz I don't think the grade boundaries will change very much for English language and maths this year - they may well go slightly higher but not by much.

Loose - I think maths will stay low for a 4, but the 8 and 9 will move up, and five and 6 will be very narrow. We shall see in August!

Difficult to know what the iGCSE boundaries will be for both Maths and English given its first 9-1 exam.
DD seemingly has mental block when it comes to the last question on the Maths paper - she knows it aimed at grade 9 and dismisses it because she doesn't feel she's capable of a grade 9 - I guess its a confidence thing...yesterday she decided not to answer the last 3 questions and still got a A on last years grade boundary (last 3 questions were 13 marks!)...Hopefully spend some time with her looking at those questions this morning ...although today needs to focus back on History.

Gosh, pages and pages to catch up on after a few days away!
mmzz and wonderwine very sad to hear of what your dc have been through.
hmc again - sorry for what you are going through. I lost both parents 10 years ago - my father never really recovered from my mother being ill.
Sostenuto hope you are feeling better!
Another one here with a bit of half term lull! Ds is looking at a couple of subjects each day but a it half halfheartedly I think. Like Devadiva's dd, he has been steadily working since October and now seems to have hit a wall.

cubscout , is that what's called "burn-out"?

hmc I'm so sorry about your mum. I confess I missed your post; sometimes I'm just dipping in and out at the moment.

It's a horrible 🌷

@Teenmum60 tell your DD that if she can do all the other questions, then she can do the grade 9 ones. She has all the bits of knowledge and skills necessary, but they are like a crossword puzzle in that you have to mentally try to fit the various techniques you know together in all sorts of combinations until you hit upon the right one.

Like a crossword puzzle, or going for a long run, its hard at first but then it gets easier and easier the more you do because you get your brain trained for it.