Any tips from those who’s kids got great GCSE grades?

[ILiveInSalemsLot]

What do you think helped your kids achieve good results?
My ds will be doing his in a couple of years. He’s doing ok but definitely needs to put more effort in. I’d be really grateful for any tips.
TIA

bloody candy finger bums on seats.

Bloody candy FILLING bums on seats

My DS got 6 at 4 or 5 and 4 fails.

I salute you for doing all this because my DS1 is 1)not stupid 2) but he is bone idle 3)his teachers over-predicted so he was complacent.

Oh and me and DH work F/T long hours so never supervised homework or revision.

Bitter moi?

My advice - helicopter parenting, SAHMs supervising homework and being on top of their coursework, discipline, academic schools... and .. don't let them go through puberty in year 11. Oh, and remove all x boxes and phones.

DD printed off the exam board's course specifications - that really helped her organise her revision and keep in mind the level of answer required.

The other tip which helped her was to do some past papers but not time them. When she got stuck on a question (particularly sciences/maths) she stopped and sought how to do it. She then carried on.

@Finnifinola glad someone appreciates my methods 😂 I'm sure there a lot on here who wouldn't approve of my literature approach in college either. Everyone else chose heavy books while I did my paper on a video game. Got the best mark in my class because of my "innovative thinking"

I remember advising all these tips to my A level students, years ago.
The ones that took note did really well, the ones that didn't/couldn't didn't do as well.

My challenge now is to get my own dd to take note, I thought something clicked tonight when I cross referenced the spec with a couple of questions on a past paper, in Science.
I explained how just being on top of things/taking responsibility for her own learning would really help.

So I would add, "You can lead a horse to water...."
Lots of encouragement, help and support. and praise for those who lack confidence.

Interesting the number of unconditional offers so popular now, dh got one from Cambridge in the 80s to read Physics - well he needed EE to get his grant and fees paid but apart from that A levels were pretty irrelevant.

DS has processing difficulties and HFA. He got Bs in all the subjects he struggled with (sciences) which he was really pleased with and so was I (predicted Cs.)

What helped was:

Finding out how he learns. He tracked down a lot of science You Tube videos and stuck with the ones that actually helped explain stuff.

He did a lot of practise papers with the answers at his side. Almost reverse practise. See what the mark scheme is and then look at the question, so you see what sort of answers they are looking for.

A LOT of what helped him was exam technique.

Another thing that helped was making him explain stuff - as though he was the one teaching it. That was really difficult as I have zero knowledge of science - only took one and didn't do well at it, thirty years ago. So he had to explain to DS1 who is a science geek and very confident and quick to jump in to explain what DS2 was doing wrong. But it did help.

Bitesize and GCSE pass notes help a bit but they seem aimed at C grade passes, not A stars.

For English Language, nothing beats reading. Reading anything - a non-fiction book or a newspaper, so long as its well written. If they do that regularly, they find it easier to write fluent sentences and paragraphs and have the vocabulary to do so.

Mina

Well done to your ds, he must have worked very hard to beat his target.
I bet you are deservedly well proud

Thank you Romany. He did. And I'm so proud of him.

From my son:
Revise throughout the year to consolidate knowledge - especially in science subjects.
Do loads of past papers as similar/same questions do come up.

DS1 did very well in his GCSEs this year. However, despite being bright, throughout his school career, he's never had the best work ethic.

Because of this, me and DH wanted to set in place clear expectations about his studying and revision. DS agreed to us enforcing this, as I think he's aware himself that his self-discipline isn't the best.

We were clear from the start of the year that we expected him to be doing a minimum of 3-4 hours work each school night(including homework and revision). We allowed him Friday night off, but expected him to do at least 12 hours work over Saturday and Sunday.

While it did take DS a while to get used to these expectations, he eventually got into it and actually became very motivated in himself which resulted in him doing even more work.

I don't think success at GCSE is purely down to hard work, but it certainly does play a huge part. DS thanked us for being strict on him when he received his results.

Gosh that sounds a lot! Can't remember what hours dd worked but not sure it was that many before Easter.

That is a lot! DS got great results and did nowhere near that amount until the Easter holidays and study leave when he was revising for 6-7 hours/day (with a day off/week on average.) I think he would have burnt out with rdexu’s DS’s schedule over the year.

My top tips would be:

• make sure they have a really good grasp of the syllabus for each subject. They make it clear exactly what they have to know
• be really clear about exam technique needed to answer each type of question
• use past papers where available.
• pay really close attention to the mark schemes
• ditto the examiner reports which tell you what they are (and aren’t) looking for
• use online resources. There are some brilliant ones out there now

Take advantage of every bit of out of hours help the school is willing to give you. DD's school ran sessions after school each evening and during school holidays. These were only attended by the DC who wanted to be there, not those forced to be there, regardless of their targets and their predicted grades, so there seems to have been a real partnership approach and lots of marginal gains which made a real difference.

Tassomai has been highly rated by a lot of parents for science revision. Apparently they are offering a big disvou t if you sign up before the end of September.

I’d definitely recommend Tassomai, especially if started early. It’s a great way to absorb the knowledge required. Then supplement with as many past papers as possible nearer the exams to nail the exam technique.

Don't think you can cram towards the end, these new exams (for science anyway) have much more focus on application of knowledge and so memorizing info is not assessed as much as it used to be. As some one else said it is a marathon not a sprint. You need to ensure you understand the material as you learn it so you can then apply it to other situations so ask teachers if you don't understand things from the start of your GCSE course. Complete as many exam papers as possible, not too much old spec ones as these don't transfer properly to the new spec. Listen to teachers when they talk about what the examiner is looking for and how to answer questions, listen to feedback from them. I found that so many students know the science but don't use the tight terminology or miss out keywords in answers and so miss the mark even though they understand the underlying content, it is a skill they need to develop.

A natural aptitude is important. I have one child who struggles academically and with all the support in the world she would not get the highest grades so you have to be realistic. The grades she had were the top grades she could get and we were pleased with her.

My youngest has the ability but most importantly she had the desire to do well. She is fiercely competitive and wanted to be at the top. She went to every revision session for her subjects and often she and her friend were the only two who turned up. Having that friendly rivalry spurred her on to do as much as she could.

Practically we were able to give her her own space to study - she has her own room but she kept that for sleeping/relaxing and the spare room became her study. Other than supplying food and drink and lifts to and from school for revision sessions we didn't do anything - her attitude and ability were responsible for her great results - she was one of the top 10 pupils in the school.

Yes to Tassomai - particularly if they have 15 minutes ‘dead’ time on the bus/train and they can do it every day on their phone.

And another one saying that really linking the spec with their notes/handouts is vital. During the summer holiday after Year 10, DS set up new (bargain from Amazon) lever arch folders for each subject with dividers with the same subheadings as the spec and filed all his Year 10 notes. It was then very clear what was illegible/missing/crumpled beyond recovery.

And another one saying that really linking the spec with their notes/handouts is vital. I did that 30 years ago - I still remember being quite surprised by the amount of material we had not been taught. Two of us did this and we were the only kids to get top grades.

As the parent of a DS with a slightly 'spiky' results sheet I totally endorse the advice here for sciences, it's definitely a marathon, not a cramming sprint. DS did well in subjects where he built up expertise over a much longer period. The geography teacher had them doing masses of practice papers from the summer of y10 and I just wish the biology and chemistry teachers had done the same. Physics went better because it uses maths ability and because DS realised it's not just about learning formulae but about really grasping concepts.

Don't do any group coursework.

DD took her GCSEs in 2016 and Citizenship was compulsory at her school. She had to do group coursework with a girl who just didn't do any work at all. The girl even managed to lose a letter from the prime minister.

Fortunately DD got an overall B because she aced her exam, in spite of her, although her coursework was graded a D

DS got 4 9s and the rest 8s and much higher grades than expected. His expected grades in some topics were 5 and he got a 9. I was not involved in his revision at all. I think at that age its up to them. I can only guess he crammed at the end and I think it helps he is really chilled out and kept calm on the day. He said some of the top students panicked and were just so burnt out that they achieved much lower grades than expected. I personally also think parents get too involved and perhaps think they provide support, but actually put too much pressure on these kids.

"I think at that age its up to them."

Wrong!

Not all 15 or 16 year olds have the emotional maturity to be left to their own devices when it comes to revision. Your DS clearly is emotionally mature, but DD wasn't. She needed a bit of a boost when it came to revision. In the end she did very well, but she wouldn't have done so well if I had left it up to her.

Not all children are the same

Agree with Lonicera - depends on the child.