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?

I will join. I haven't read all the thread yet.
Similar to another poster many many pages back ds has various learning and health needs. Predicted 4-6s but end of year ten exams were horrendous and mostly one and two.
Doesn't believe they can do it, doesn't want to revise, has given up putting any effort in but it determined he can be a doctor still

If any of those who have other strugglers have any revision tips to get them motivated I would be grateful.

Currently an army cadet and obsessed with going in but really doubt they will take him based on his needs :(

Schoolirons that sounds tough I've no tips, what do his teachers say? Dd didn't do as well as expected in her year 10 exams, fortunately it's been a rocket up her arse to put the work in.

1st 6 form visit was yesterday - dd went from loving it and almost enrolling to changing her mind re A-levels.

She loves creative writing ( the government have discontinued the A-level ) and Music . She thought she'd like English lit or Lang but hates the constant analysing of text. Loves French but not keen on speaking it. The music course on offer is level 3 popular music performance - apparently equivalent to an A-level and a half . This she was really keen on.

Peter symonds tonight

So, half term reports in, and pretty good, except Maths. Oh dear, tears over that one. She has gone from a 7 to a 4 eeeeek. Apparently had a mare of a test just before half term. Maths has always been an issue for DD, but she has been gradually building up year on year, and we were so happy with her 7 in her summer exams. It is all about confidence, and sadly this result has hit her hard. Onwards and upwards, fortunately her big sister tutors maths in her spare time, so over to big sis for some help with factorisation .

Question to those DC mums whose children have done drama. How much rehearsing did the groups do before their devised performance. I have just found out that DD's group are all on holiday for the next two weeks, so can't attend the school arranged rehearsal sessions. Pretty annoyed tbh. They knew the performances where coming up, and what about revising for mocks...... really annoyed. The performance is mid November, so that is only two weeks after they get back. Should I get involved? I am wary of contacting the parents direct, but my DD really wants to do well, and I am not sure the rest of them care that much {sad}.

All our sixth form / college open evenings will be next month (I remembered that we'd forgotten to put another one on the list on Friday morning, when I noticed from a poster on a bus that the open evening had been the day before, but DS2 said he wasn't fussed, fortunately).

DS2 says he probably wants to stay where he is for A levels, but as his school has the highest entry requirements locally, I will drag him off to the same alternatives that his siblings looked at - with the exception of the one on the bus(!), but neither DS1 nor DD applied there in the end.

Just to.be difficult, his current school and the school where DD was for GCSEs - probably the strongest contender, were he to want to move and where DS1 moved to for A levels - both have their open evening on the same day.

@OlderThanAverageforMN DD's group have done the majority of their devising during lesson time, with some lunchtime sessions. Hers is Tuesday, so yesterday she announces she needs a costume. Fortunately the local charity shop had close enough and my sewing machine did the rest!
I think your DD should discuss with drama teacher. It's not just the rehearsing as they have to figure out lighting, semiotics etc.

Olderthan my DD did her drama last week. There had been quite a few weeks of after school til 5.30 on two days and then they had a long Sunday rehearsal. Extra time at lunch and after school on performance week. She was in tears most nights because three out of five in the group weren't pulling their weight. Not learning lines. Not bothering to rehearse properly. It was really stressful.

Half term for us and we are away. Dd has bought her revision with us though.

DD's favourite 6 form so far is Peter Symonds , we both loved it, didn't get to hear the principal talk though. What did you think Irma?

The French teacher was so lovely and encouraging that dd is back on French . She's predicted a 7. Minimum entry is 6 and weaker students are given extra support to bring them on. She's totally ruled out English so is now considering Geography, or psychology.

The negative re Peter Symonds is of course how far away we live and the longer school day - 8.30 - 1635 . We can't afford for her to board.

The long time to get to visit PS did get Dd opening up to me about how down she's been feeling and how stressful she's finding everything. :( She puts so much pressure on herself to do well and so does her school .

We've more to see in November .

The PS day isn't all day every day - some days it might be mornings only, or afternoons, or nothing! It's not like school where you are trapped inside.

Dd is also having a bit of wobble re subjects - and the whole thing, really. I must say the teachers at PS were really impressive and seemed to have excellent subject knowledge and enthusiasm.

Irma are you sure ? I got the impression they really were expected to be there for the duration. That might make it more doable.

Well, I have had another dc go through PS, and he definitely was not there all the time!

Hi School, it can be hard keeping motivation up esp.with added health issues. My DS remains v fatigued after treatment, therefore, I feel guilty asking him to revise... We tried a couple of visual aids; in view of an impending history test on social change in the 20's, ... his dad did an A3 page of drawings. I coloured it in for him, added condensed text and a couple of cartoon memory aids - I was amazed with how many facts I had absorbed after an hour's colouring. So we are hoping that if dad does the outlines, DS can colour in and add text in the hope that he will sublimely learn; after all, even if he can only imagine the pictures during the test and not the actual text, then he should have enough 'clues' to at least make an educated guess.

Hopefully, his energy levels will improve but getting any form of revision under his belt at the moment is a bonus.

Sorry for being mia. Ds seems to be trying to revise but there's no method to his madness. He won't let me help with a revision schedule and he just sends a bit overwhelmed. Have any of you found any good revision schedules online?

I can't believe how fast this year is going. He's predicted high grades but seems very very laidback and is now starting to panic a little.

We’re half way through half term (2 weeks) - mocks 3 weeks after half term. DS’s angst v high (they need an average grade of 6.5 to be allowed to stay for 6th form). He’s working quite hard but spending a lot of time moping! I’m annoying him as I’m fussing around him - need to improve this or none of us will survive till the summer!!

Hi All,
Haven't posted in a while.
DS seems to be doing better and I think he is trying really hard. I'm still uncertain if he is going to achieve c's and above though and he is currently at a tuition place being assessed.
Its £15 per hour and I think he needs help in Math and English, but I cant afford both as that would be £30 per week. I may be able to give him an hr a week of what he needs most for a month or so. Will have to see what they say when I go back there and see how they work it.

He doesn't want extra tuition and says the school with be running intervention sessions which will be enough. Not sure if private tuition is going to e worth the cost?

He done another mock in computer science and has gone up a few levels and was one mark off a 4 so fingers crossed he'll be ok with that. We are awaiting to see what he got for a recent math and science paper he did before the half term.

Im trying to get him to think about what he actually wants to do after his exams as he doesn't have a clear path, we also may consider moving after the exams depending on what he wants. I'm desperate to get out of the area as its become terrible here, however the opportunities in education are here, its so hard.

Flatmouse - Hope your DD did well in her exams. Yes, I will try to get DD to talk to drama teacher, however, he seems to take the "they need to get on with it themselves" approach, which is great in one sense, however, when DD is the only one putting any effort in with her group, I think he needs to intervene and get the others on board. Sound and lighting etc is being done by DD too, which is good in that it will get sorted, but more pressure on her. She is the schools pupil technician so does all the sound and lighting for all their productions etc.

Marmite - I sympathise. Poor her. Drama is such a good life lesson in working with others, but it doesn't always go to plan does it. There's always the ones who are invested in the task, and those who can't be bothered. I am told that the examiners are well aware of this, and can spot those who shine and those who don't. We hope so.

DD devised performance went well thanks. She's spent most of this week improving/adding to her portfolio. She's done way more than recommended in spec, but is basing it on improving on how she did in her mock. Finished now, she just needs to print off the typed pages when we get home.
Other subjects not done this holiday - although she's going to do some geography and PE revision tomorrow.
Head down with revision next week when back at school.

Sour thanks for the advice re revision guides. We have paper 1mocks here too next week and ds has declared science 'sooo easy man' and has decided not to prep too much!!! In a way I hope these mocks give him a reality check and get him working. Next mocks are in Feb.

His notes are all over the place, there's no order but lots of rap and grime music coming from his room. Good luck to all who have mocks next week.

Mocks next week here also. DS has decided to use his time to revise for the papers that have two levels of paper so maths and science to hopefully avoid being moved down. I think he is hoping to wing the rest. I am but I can see he is still too fatigued to revise efficiently at the moment. Hoping his energy levels improve. We will have some idea of his strengths and weaknesses in exam taking after mocks. He has been advised to aim for grades he needs to do to get into 6th form or college (6's) and not chase the 7/8/9's he would have done before he became ill.

I think after mocks we will draw up a more organised revision guide, I think he is stabbing in the dark a bit at the moment.

Hope your DC do well with mocks and don't get too stressed.

DD mocks in 4 weeks and I helped her plan revision timetable to cover the subjects/papers that will be covered in these mocks. Surprised she let me, but pleased to feel useful 😁
She's got script for next bit of drama (performance) and is not happy as would have preferred other script. (Apparently other one has more depth/emotion, one she has is more comedic). I've suggested she adjusts her attitude and gives it a chance!
School have been heavily promoting their 2-week revision timetable. First after school science session cancelled today as they weren't ready!