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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Gcse 2018 (10) The one with half term

982 replies

Stickerrocks · 26/05/2018 22:34

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.

OP posts:
Sostenueto · 31/05/2018 23:09

cherrybunFlowers for coming second. stickerGrin

Original poster
Stickerrocks · 31/05/2018 23:10

You see I'm paid to give clients options, giving them the chance to save money & eat more cheese or splurge with 15 extra sandwiches! That advice can be worth several £100 per hour!

OP posts:
ksb76 · 31/05/2018 23:15

@bombula - thanks for asking the question... I have a Yr 9 and following this thread has meant that I am trying to be armed and ready (hopefully) with all the great tips - Tassomai / Mr Bruff / Mr Corbett Maths etc. and tips from teachers like noblegiraffe and Loose.

Definitely helps when my school doesn't do end of year assessments in years 7-9 so that the kids have no chance to practice revision techniques. (Don't get me started on that one!)

Sostenueto · 31/05/2018 23:23

stickerGrin

Sostenueto · 31/05/2018 23:26

ksb 76 that's all they do at dgds school is test after test, assessment after assessment, end of year exams and piles of homework! She was still getting homework for physics when exams commenced!

Sostenueto · 31/05/2018 23:36

End if year 7 they had proper exams to determine what sets they went into. Up until then all did same work. Then in year 8 onwards tests etc to see if you stay in those sets. There was movement both up and down within the sets. I remember one parent used to do dcs homework for her. When her homework was getting great grades even though her tests were not they decided to give the DC a chance in case tests, exams caused her grades to drop through stress. She was put in top sets but she just could not cope at all and ended up exasperating not only the teachers but other pupils with her constant ' please Sir/Miss I don't understand' which meant the whole class having to go over stuff they already knew constantly! The DC lasted 3 months in top sets and was put down to third sets where apparently she is doing ok. So you can see from schools point if view what they have constant tests. Also there are a few who were in lower sets now in top sets as their confidence and knowledge expanded. It works both ways as children develop at different speeds.

Sostenueto · 31/05/2018 23:53

Anyway off to bed with a hungry pup who point blank won't eat her food but will eat anything I have or anything she finds in garden! Well young madam you eat what I put in front if you or go hungry! At £2.00 a tin ( she won't eat dry food) and 2 tins a day I can't afford to keep chucking away her food! I ain't gonna pander to her! ( told you I was an ogre!) P.s I did give her a little bit of chicken, just a couple of mouthfuls mind cos I felt sorry for her on top of her food hoping she would then eat her food but no! Stubborn young lady picked out chicken and left her food!Angry. Nite nite you lovely peeps!Flowers

TheThirdOfHerName · 31/05/2018 23:58

ksb76 I have two Y9s so will definitely need one of these threads in the summer of 2020.

mmzz · 01/06/2018 04:50

It's June! I can't believe that this year is going so quickly. Soon the exams will be over, but am I the only one who feels like results day is in a different lifetime? And then they'll be starting the next stages of their lives.

I can't quite believe that I'm old enough to have a child who has finished with compulsory education (even though I was34 when DS was born!)

It feels like the GCSEs are getting easier to manage. DS was extremely nervous for the French oral 5/6 weeks ago, but now he's in a rhythm of revise, rest, line up, do the exam, come home, move the books onto the bottom shelf of his bookcase and start revising for the next one.

androbbob · 01/06/2018 06:31

Morning! Wide awake here and rest of house is snoring. Last day of hols and DD planned history and psychology revision with some chemistry thrown in, ready for next week. 7 exams next week so a tough one but soon be over.

Prom dress getting hem done early next week now that shoes are bought, and hair appt booked in. Was supposed to have a trial in hols but ramn out of time so will do that after exams. Needs to be a lunchtime appt so she can see that it will last all day n night.

DS starts high school in Sept and I will remember some of these recent tips - particularly the one about making sure that you have fully understood a topic before you finish it. My nephew is starting yr 10 so his mum has been asking DD about exams and all that so she can encourage him.

Off to Warwick Uni in about half hour - got to drop DS to get team coach and then drive myself down. Staying cheap in a travelodge as 2 trips to London in June and end july!

BlueBelle123 · 01/06/2018 07:26

Phew I missed the maths test - hope I don't get detention Grin

androb good luck for the match, is it cricket?

DS said last night that he only has two more days of doing 6 hours of revision, he can definitely see the end is in sight.......I think initially he won't know what to do with himself.

Is everyone prom ready, we still have socks and tie to buy which is proving quite problamatic!!

Original poster
Stickerrocks · 01/06/2018 07:33

DD wants new shoes as her original pair are sticking to the bottom of her dress like Velcro. She's going to have to stick(!) it h them though, as the dress has been altered to fit them. Hair ideas are starting to come through.

OP posts:
Original poster
Stickerrocks · 01/06/2018 07:34

Meant to say, but the riot of short curls doesn't make a sleek up-do easy.

OP posts:
Sostenueto · 01/06/2018 07:39

bluebelle Grin
Prom ready here! Dgd lost a bit of weight but OK. Dress looks lovely and lot of practice with heeled shoes! Hair and makeup booked.(and paid for)
4 more days of 6 hour revision (no exam Monday so day off school) but 7 exams the rest of week. We are all nearly there the last few hurdles in sight and what brave DC we have to have survived all the stresses and strains of exam season. It will finally be goodbye to the first part of their lives and forward and upwards to the second part. Then there's the third,fourth,fifth,sixth.........Grin

BlueBelle123 · 01/06/2018 07:42

Oh yes girls and their hair......when it was my DD's prom I foolishly looked at a couple of youtube's on how to do hair and thought that looks easy, we only tried the day before and even I had to say that she looked like she'd been dragged through a hedge backwards......luckily manged to book her into the hairdressers (I had to resort to pleading) we were both thrilled with the result!!!

Boys are easier in that you just have to ensure they have a shower and wash their hair!!

PeggySchuylar · 01/06/2018 07:45

ksb my DD's school don't do end of year exams. DD has dyslexia and ADHD. In a heated discussion with head of additional needs I was told she would need evidence history of extra time in exams.

"How? You don't do end of year exams," I said. So frustrating.

No extra time awarded as dyslexia/processing speed wasn't bad enough in y9. Turns out there was a 60 percentile difference between her reading and her writing in y9. Nobody (including me) tested DD's processing speed.

Anyway after me asking for information on how to appeal the extra time decision and process as I only found out in May (ie complain), school have put in rest breaks and a prompter. DD has a lovely TA supporting her. DD finds the rest breaks helpful as she can stop and "take a rest from my brain."

New teachers always comment that she is an A* candidate as she makes links and has a brain the size of a planet. This is good in ckass but not in gcse exams as DD sees gow everything she knows is linked together in some kind of network. It's hard to match that to a maek scheme. And she's going to get 5 gcse passes so job done as far as school concerned Angry

Sostenueto · 01/06/2018 07:47

Dgd s hair is nearly 3 foot long down to her bottom and needs a severe cut before prom hairdo. Its very thick too and not dead straight. Her mum has curly hair that goes into ringlets and is very pretty but she has always spent masses of time trying to straighten it which does not suit her at all! Think dgd may opt for half up and half down approach for hair ( she always finds it hard to make a decision). I don't know what preoccupation is in having long hair is about? Dgd always ties it back as she doesn't like it in her face yet refuses to have a more manageable haircut! In fact the other day she had pigtails and her chavvy hat on. She looked liked Dorothy out of wizard of oz having a bad dayGrin

Sostenueto · 01/06/2018 07:50

peggyFlowers

mmzz · 01/06/2018 07:52

@PeggySchuylar unfortunately, I was told that although a spiky profile is what indicates the SpLD, the qualifying criteria for extra time etc are a much cruder measure i.e. are you in the bottom 15% of the population for that thing of not?
So, you could get a genius whose disability puts them in the 16th centile for that thing and it would be a glaring handicap. However, they wouldn't qualify. Whereas a child whose IQ is around the 20th centile and is a tiny bit worse than that in reading or writing would qualify.
I was also told that processing speed is really difficult to test for. Is that true?

mmzz · 01/06/2018 07:55

Prom - is it a sort of 21st century equivalent to a coming out ball? The only time I have ever paid someone to do my makeup was on my wedding day, but they do it for 16 year olds' parties too, now?

I really must look into getting DS a suit for the prom.

PeggySchuylar · 01/06/2018 08:09

Aw thanks sost and mmzz for reading that long post.

Mmzz you are right. You have to have a processing speed below standardised score of 85. It doesn't matter about your profile.

We blame Gove in our house. For most things Wink

After pretty awful time in y10 GCSEs in terms of distress and being told the quiet room was "full" we went for the ADHD diagnosis which I assumed would be enough to get exam support.

Anyway 4 exams to go here. In Wales so doing old style GCSEs. It has been interesting following your experiences of the new style.

Your kids will all do well. Even if they don't get the 9s they are hoping for, they will do well in life because they have your love and support Star

LooseAtTheSeams · 01/06/2018 08:14

Peggy sorry to hear you've had such a struggle but good to know the TA is helping.
Sostenueto Your dgd's hair sounds amazing! (I have curly hair. I've decided life is too short to straighten it. If it gets too huge I just tie it back.) Glad to hear dgd's interview went so well - I'm sure they were very impressed with her.
I hope you win the battle of wills with Pup!

bombula · 01/06/2018 08:21

Thanks for all the responses.Some great advice.I looked at dd notes last night and they are a complete mess! So will spend weekend helping her organise them. She is very bright but completely disorganised and all over the place with no clear strategy or plan. So now I have realised will try and prod her in the right direction

ksb76 · 01/06/2018 08:22

Peggy,

I’m so sorry to hear of what your daughter has gone through.

At the most basic level, we are just concerned that the kids will have had no experience of revising for anything more than a unit (6 weeks) of work before, which does not always translate into the best revision practice for learning 2 years of work. Hence why i have been so keenly following this thread and all the hints and tips so closely to develop lots of resources that we can throw at the situation.

LooseAtTheSeams · 01/06/2018 08:25

bombula DS is like that - at one point I just gathered everything up and slung it in a plastic crate in his room!
He's got 3 hours of science revision at school this morning. This afternoon is meant to be English language. If he comes back with any top tips, I'll pass them on! He may just come back with practice papers, though.