Are we ready for a GCSE’s 2019 thread?

[KittyMcKitty]

If so I’m in.

DS (my pfb) will be going into year 11. Mocks after half term. Crossing my fingers for him - needs average point score of 6.5 (across all 10 subjects) to stay for 6th Form.

Anyone else?

woman/sour thank you. It is so stressful. School have been brilliant so far with his extended absences with pain and hospital appointments and his teachers have been very kind and understanding. We only found out two days ago about the infusions so haven't let the school know yet until we are given dates but they start off at two weeks apart.

Immunotherapy was a plan B, which I had discussed, hypothetically, with the school, and we talked about DS taking exams in a separate room in case he needs to leave with sickness etc but DS really wants to take his exams along with everyone else. We will have to see how he reacts/responds to treatment whether that is feasible or if he will take his exams at all this year.

Oh double sorry to hear of your worries about your son. Dd has an autoimmune condition - if you ever want to chat, do pm me!

Atia thank you and so sorry that your DD also has an autoimmune condition. I hope she is doing well health-wise and Y11-wise.

I hope DS does take his exams next year - I'm helping with biology and English and his dad's drawing mind maps, in fact, his dad is putting more effort into DS's GCSEs than he did for his own - I think the results should be shared three-ways actually!

Hope everyone else is doing okay.

Could I just ask if the 26th June is being kept as a contingency because of the possibility of "No deal" Brexit causing disruption or is it some other reason? If this is the reason, I cannot help thinking I'm staring at another millennium bug.

JustRichmal Nothing to do with Brexit - There is a contingency day planned every year for any "unforseen" circumstance. It could be used for example if a paper is found to have been leaked and needs to be retaken etc etc

I didn't know there was a contingency day??? Is this for all boards??? What happens if one has planned holidays over that day? D Cousin is getting married on the 23rd of June in Manchester and he considerately set that date to make sure that all of DS's GCSEs were over.
Now I am going to worry until they are finished that something will go wrong and DS will need to come back to sit some unspecified GCSE

Sorry - I have no idea about the contingency day - never heard of it

Have any of you started prom planning? I've been quoted £350 for an 8 seater limo - one-way, and wondered if that sounded reasonable?

Bikrom Yes, all boards plan together, via the Joint Council for Qualifications:
www.jcq.org.uk/Download/.../key-dates-in-the-examination-cycle-2018-2019

We had a letter home last Friday saying that for the first time there is a national contingency day agreed by exam boards and will be added to all students timetables. This day is 26th June. We have had to sign a letter back confirming we will make DD available on this day (it is work experience week so not much hassle for us) Am not sure exactly what they mean by national - we are based in England.

Yes, a committee is already planning ours, but I know it has had some issues already..... mummy politics etc. I resigned !
At DD1 prom we just drove the girls, it get so OTT otherwise. There was the pre-party, the prom, dress, shoes, etc, the after party, it just goes on and on. They were in a nice hotel, with good food, and qute expensive tickets, so no-one bothered with fancy transport. DD2 prom seems to be going the same way, other than she is borrowing her dress and shoes from DD1, so I might treat her to a nice hairdo instead. I suppose it depends on what your budget allows.

Here's a notice from Furze Platt Senior School website.

Hi, I'm joining this thread in the hope of support to help me stay calm and patient with DS1 who is fairly bright but very unmotivated.

Over the holiday I tried to get him to look at what revision books he had and what would be helpful and he refused to talk to me the rest of the day. We've just had an argument about revision because he has exams for the three sciences coming up as he's had to drop from the triple science to the double science. Very worried about how to help him.

He is autistic, and reacts to intense stress by hiding/running away and he's doing that with the exams. He thinks he won't do any better by working hard so there is no point. I'm not sure how to boost his confidence and work ethic.

Hi Ginger! First, some young people can do fine at GCSE with little obvious revision/work. (They then find A'levels a shock.)
Next can you ask your son to experiment to find what method works best for him. There are lots of different revision methods you can try, some ideas: flash cards, mind maps, lists, podcasts, YouTube videos, post it notes, quizzes...
If there is anything your son enjoys is there a way this can be incorporated? Also what does his school say about his progress? Is he having any special accommodations for his exams?

Stressful weekend. DD has been set what is described by her teacher as 4 hours of maths homework for this weekend (due in Tuesday) but she has already spent 6 hours on it (crying with frustration at several points) and got less than half way through. She will do some more tonight but I can't see her finishing it. DD hates not completing things so she is quite worked up.

Beka Thank you for the suggestions. I've tried getting him to watch YouTubes, come up with different ways of revising but he is very resistant to anything. He hasn't made any revision notes apart from ones they are made to do in class. He told me last night that this time when he revises he is actually trying to learn things (not sure what he was doing before then!). Strangely school are not too concerned as far as I can tell, despite him being 2 or 3 levels below expected. His history teacher is probably most bothered as he was made to resit the EOY exam. He is doing well in computer science, and bizarrely sociology but I'm worried he might not get the core subjects if the papers are hard.

No special accommodation in the exams.

Soursprouts Yes we are trying that angle. He only needs 4's to stay on at 6th form but needs better levels on subjects he'll continue. Trouble is is doesn't really know what he wants to do other than computer science. We need to go to open evenings, his school one isn't until late November which feels far too long away to me.

I feel I need to help him break down each subject and help him work out revision and organisation of notes etc. Sounds like it's going to be a lot of work, but hopefully I can find a way of engaging him.

OddBoots 4hrs is far too long!

I would suggest he investigates BTecs at College as an alternative if he struggles with exams. Also what area of computing is he interested in?

I’m in. DD - perfectionist girl is already stressed and just diagnosed with moderate anxiety- waiting for therapy. So she has all that to contend with too. Really worried about the coming months. So this support thread will be a godsend. Predicted 8s - I don’t believe them. Setting her up to fail. Also real problems in school with almost zero quality physics teaching in Y10. DD wants to do psychology at 6thform so needs to do well in Science- yikes!

srilanka My eldest had horrendous anxiety and depression problems in Y10 and Y11. If you don't mind me asking, are you waiting for a CAMHS referral? If so, I don't know whether you saw the Panorama programme about the issues with CAMHS? I hope the services in your area are better than they are where we are - we had to go private. The good news is that although she didn't do anywhere near as well as her predictions, she did well enough to get to college, did BTECs so that she didn't have to do any more exams and got Distinction Stars in all of them. She's now doing a job that she loves. I hope telling you this may help you/her. Life isn't perfect and she still suffers from anxiety, but she's in a much better place than she was in Y11.

Chocolate. - yes I know. We have gone down private route after I pushed the lady from CAMHS to give me prediction of time until we could access therapy- a year! Still waiting 3 weeks after paying £350 for a private consultation with a psychiatrist.
Thank you god your story, it gives me hope.