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Secondary education

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

GCSEs 2018 (18) Well that's all over, let's get the party started

999 replies

Stickerrocks · 23/08/2018 14:17

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3341060-GCSEs-2018-17-What-will-be-in-your-coffee-cup-on-Thursday

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KingscoteStaff · 26/08/2018 21:09

I absolutely agree with Blue about the specs. Print them all off and use them to set up the dividers in each subject’s file. Make sure that your DC connect theIr handouts/the notes they’ve made in class with that section of the spec. Once a section has been completed in class, CHECK that all notes are present/legible and fill gaps if nec.

Revising for mocks needs to be revising, not creating notes.

Sostenueto · 26/08/2018 21:53

DVDs blazer pickets used to bulge with revision cards she had made. She carried them wherever she went, on the train, in the car, out for meal or coffee there she was studying those cards. Post its all over bedroom and dining room. IPod was full of revision things too.

Sostenueto · 26/08/2018 21:54

Sorry about typos!

Sostenueto · 26/08/2018 22:02

We never interfered with her study or revision. She created her own revision timetable and organised herself. She didn't want interference in any way and used to go ballistic if her mum moved any books etc to clean up. We couldn't eat on the dining table for 3 months because of her clutter even though she had her own workstation in her bedroom that was also chaotic with work even on bed and floor. How she worked in such chaos is beyond me! She would do revision for certain subjects in different rooms too. She said it helped her to remember. Also she listened to different genres of music for different subjects. She never worked in complete silence.

ReservoirDogs · 26/08/2018 22:16

Sostenueto - Laughed at the different genres of music. I knew what DS was revising by what music was playing.

If it was classical piano it was the sciences (he found them more difficult). If it was his hip/hop rap stuff it was humanities (which he found easier)!

Just removed the post it notes with physics formulae from around his bathroom mirror whilst he has been at Reading. I guess he looked at them while shaving.

He used to take German flashcards to work!

BlueBelle123 · 26/08/2018 22:20

DS did 80% of his revision on the kitchen table use to drive me nuts and if he was revising and you should happen to wander into the kitchen to make yourself a drink he would be telling you to be quiet!!! wouldn't mind but he has a desk in his room, which he never uses.

Sostenueto · 26/08/2018 22:25

reservoir dogs kindred spirits then!
Dgd still in shock about both her English results. The literature she was totally relaxed about expecting no more than a 6 coming out with a 9 was just sooooooo unexpected! We had 10 weeks of real worry about the English language which she got sick both before and after exams and quietly cried through first paper thoroughly convinced she failed dismally and wasn't even sure she got a 4 let alone the 7 she got. Those two results topped everything for us.
I believe that the dcs perception of how they did in an exam is coloured so much by their lack of confidence and also exams they are relaxed about seem to produce good results. So maybe the key to success us calmness and not worry about end result too.
Waffling a bit sorry!

Sostenueto · 26/08/2018 22:31

The one lesson dgd says she learnt from her GCSEs is definitely don't leave revision to last minute. She believes doing revision every week of what you did that week helps a lot and do that from the very beginning.
Also her formula for remembering was read out loud, make notes, read notes summarise notes, read notes,, do revision cards and read again. So read, write, read write and read, write.

Sostenueto · 26/08/2018 22:32

Repeat, repeat, repeat.

EllenJanesthickerknickers · 27/08/2018 00:11

Make sure revision is active rather than passive for the majority of the time. There's a place for YouTube revision and reading your notes and revision guides but actively doing quizzes like Tassomai or BiteSize, past papers and making revision notes whether summaries, revision cards or mind maps is when the information sinks in.

DS3 wasn't particularly good at recognising this. And my opinion wasn't welcome.

PeggyIsInTheNarrative · 27/08/2018 00:55

Just chipping in with a link for post A level higher/degree conputing and cyber security apprenticeships
At GCHQ
www.gchq-careers.co.uk/early-careers/apprenticeships.html

And National Grid have a cyber security sceme too.

whistl · 27/08/2018 05:48

Thanks everyone, for all the GCSE revision advice. It's all so recent, and yet, there is much I'd forgotten already. It seems to me that most of it is highly relevant for A levels too.

Kingscote checking off the topics one by one as the next two years progress and make sure the notes are complete for each topic is such a good tip! I'd completely forgotten about the mess DS's notes were in and how I was hunting for things to fill in the gaps really close to the exams.

whistl · 27/08/2018 06:08

These threads are fast moving at the moment and it feels like we are pulling in lots of different directions with some thinking ahead to university (even hoping for Oxbridge!!) whilst others are still looking for a sixth form place. Then, to add to the confusion and lack of cohesion, there are new posters and name changes to contend with. It is difficult to keep up!

I hope that once year 12 gets under way, it will settle down again. I think it will.

It would be great if the respectful, supportive spirit that underpinned the first 17 threads continues to be the central value going forward. Our DC are all different, have diverging strengths and weakness, but I think until now everyone has been able to post without making anyone else feel irrelevant to the thread.

It is worth trying to keep the thread relevant to everyone because when things are tough (and we all have challenging periods in our lives), the support given in the thread genuinely makes a positive difference.

This is why I joined, and why I am staying, and I hope everyone else will too.

whistl · 27/08/2018 06:47

Sostenueto it's great the your DGD puts so much effort in, and her work ethic will serve her well, not just through the time when she is at school and university but for her whole life. There us much to be admired about it.

I am hesitating to write this next bit for fear of causing offence, but it is kindly meant.

The volume of work steadily increases from now onwards, along with the amount of material to be learned. From your descriptions, it sounds like your DGD pushes herself to learn every minute detail, which is laudable at GCSE but becomes unrealistic somewhere between Year 12 at school and the final year of university.

There were people at university with me who had always prepared for exams the way your DGD does, and who suffered emotional fragility when faced with the fact that there just aren't enough hours in the day to go over every detail again and again, the very strategy that had served them so well previously. Some would resist change and cling to their old habits, cutting out any social life, then even reducing the number of hours sleep they got each night. Then they get into a cycle of getting more and more stressed and falling further and further behind, until, finally they are actually ill. The adjustment to a strategy that works when the volume of work is high was really difficult for them and one girl whom I remember vividly just couldn't do it and ended up trying to overdose.

So, my (unasked for) advice would be to encourage your DGD to start learning now not fret if she can't recall absolutely everything and to teach herself how to differentiate what she is taught in lessons into vital, important, etc (every type all the way down to "trivial") and then divide her time accordingly.

I hope I have not offended you by writing that.

LooseAtTheSeams · 27/08/2018 07:11

It's true that A level study is very different - so it should be!
I remember when I did history that I regularly reviewed and improved my notes. That wasn't about memorising but adding depth, I suppose, but the reviewing helped it to stick. It depends on subjects, though.
When we start the new thread we could maybe introduce ourselves with a brief recap - I don't want to lose track of anyone!

whistl · 27/08/2018 07:22

The girl I mentioned who tried to overdose was doing French as far as I remember.

I did sciences and, whilst detail is very important, it is more important to remember the broad themes and to be able to do the calculations. Specific examples help to know off by heart, but they don't get you as many marks as being able to understand the principles and work something out (e.g. design an experiment and predict the results) in an exam.

LooseAtTheSeams · 27/08/2018 07:44

Whistl. Yes concepts are much more important. With history you need the dates to be right but you don't get the marks for that - it's analysis and argument that count. I think little file cards were my friend there! Same for learning quotations in English.

hmcAsWas · 27/08/2018 07:55

And on that note, perfectionism generally and aspiring to achieve the very best whilst laudable, does need to be managed carefully in some cases (not all, but some)

Dd has perfectionist traits which were ultimately making her anxious and unhappy (they manifested in year 9). It did take a good 18 months to get her to mentally adjust her mindset and get a healthy sense of perspective. I think the thing that made me happiest about revision and the run up to the exam was that she worked hard but worked smart. She recognised that she needed proper breaks and took them, even when concerned that time was running short and that the consequences of taking those breaks were that she may not be 'perfectly' prepared for each exam. She went into some exams feeling fairly well grounded but not 'perfectly' prepared - but nevertheless happy that she had done what she could (whilst protecting her mental health)

Given dd's struggles in Y9 which led to school refusal etc, my priority since then has always been her mental health first

BlueBelle123 · 27/08/2018 07:57

Feeling rather anxious just waved my DS off, he's about to cycle 80 miles with a rucksack on his back with tent ect he will camp for two nights and then cycle back, he's going with a friend but aaarrrrrggghhhhh.........I'm glad he does these things but I can't help but worry, yet another sign he's growing up.....gulp!

BlueBelle123 · 27/08/2018 08:01

hmcAsWas that's good your DD has made such progress I think if they have perfectionist tendencies they will never feel like they are 100% ready for an exam, part of the problem I guess.

hmcAsWas · 27/08/2018 08:07

Thanks, I am really happy and relieved about it Bluebelle

Your ds sounds like he has an adventure ahead of him. I'd worry too, but you know he will be fine and will no doubt have a great time

whistl · 27/08/2018 08:16

she worked hard but worked smart...went into exams well grounded but not 'perfectly' prepared - but nevertheless happy that she had done what she could

hmc you managed to elegantly and succinctly say better in 5 lines what I took about 20 lines trying to say!

whistl · 27/08/2018 08:17

BlueBelle123 80 miles on a bike! He must be very fit!

LooseAtTheSeams · 27/08/2018 08:42

Bluebelle that's fantastic - that's so impressive! I imagine a rather strong combination of pride and worry for you, though! DS has a friend who likes to do outdoor adventure type holidays but he goes with his dad, so not quite as adventurous as your DS and I don't think they cycle anywhere like as far.
DS is not a perfectionist by nature and not very outdoorsy but he definitely believes interests outside schoolwork help to reduce stress. He mainly plays instruments as his hobby but he and his friends have also formed a sort of unofficial film club - their current interest is horror movies, though, so I don't ask too many questions!

hmcAsWas · 27/08/2018 08:44

Gee thanks whistl, I thought that you put it really well!