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?

re Mock results. I think it depends on how much work they do for mocks v how much they do for the real thing.

DD's grades mostly stayed the same between mocks and the real thing except English language which when from an E to a C with masses of work. (And History which was dropped). Otherwise she had revised diligently across the Christmas holidays for reduced content mocks (e.g. 2 science papers not 6, 1 maths paper not 2).

Re revision at this time. Some schools will be providing lots of homework which is revision in all but name, so those pupils may not have time for 'extra'.

Gin excellent post. No idea how much DS improved between mocks and actual GCSE's as i can't remember how he did in his mocks! :) To be honest i think mostly they went up.

DD mocks finish before xmas, so she'll be having some time off - then she plans to focus on science over xmas hols as they aren't being tested on that until Feb mocks and she feels she needs work there.

In other news, she has been told mark for devised drama. I'm surprised as thought they need to be moderated. Also was told what grade that equates to - when actually that might be based on last year as they won't have a clue this year! However those niggles aside, she did very well and we're very proud of her - she put so much effort in particularly on the portfolio.

Gin you are so right. This is my second time round and I'm seeing the same thing again - revision-focused homework, lots of drop in sessions both catch-up and extension (but none of them compulsory) and a sense that this really is a marathon, not a sprint.

I think there are two approaches to mocks: do absolutely nothing and find out exactly how much you don't know, or revise your known weak spots and then find out what others you might have.

DD1 scored about the same in her real GCSEs as in her mocks except in maths and English, where she went from a 7 to an 8, and in History where she got a B (1 mark off an ). She was annoyed, but history is one of those subjects where the questions do have to fall right.

Lastly DD2 was convinced she had utterly bombed her Higher French listening mock - she got a 7.

Great post Gin and reassuring too.

DS's mocks start on the 3rd Dec so a little while yet. He's thankfully doing reasonably well with revision but has so much homework at the moment! A lot seems to be revision type activities though.

He has however decided to learn to speak Japanese ... at a time when he already has so much other stuff to learn and cram into his head.

Hi all, I posted on here quite a bit earlier in the thread but haven't been on for a while.

Ds- he is doing art/drama/history/photography as options. He also has Asperger's and has struggled with some timings on previous exams.

Sat GCSE English literature in year 10, didn't finish a third of the paper and managed to get a grade 4. He has just last week sat his mocks so when the grades come out on 14th December it will be clear that he needs extra time in some subjects, those that involve lots of writing mainly.

So last time I was on, ds was massively struggling with his drama devising log. The whole house was suffering. He was doing all work at the kitchen table which was not good for him so we went to Ikea and got him a really nice desk and set up a study area in his bedroom which has worked really well.
His drama teacher gave him an extension and he stayed behind every day until it was done so it was a massive relief when it was finished.
He has had his grade through for his set piece from July and got the highest in his class which I was thrilled about, he was his usual self and not fazed.

Revision is going well. We have all of the books he needs and Fortnite is now a treat

His school doesn't have a sixth form and he has now set his sights on one of the best 6th form colleges in the country, oh dear.
It's achievable if he can get 5's in science as everything else will be good. He struggles so much with science though so I have found him lots of apps to help.

Sorry for the essay, it is easier to post again now knowing that I have filled in the missing months.

Zoflora how fantastic for your son to get such a good drama result! Good for him.

My son has suffered from some rather rubbish teaching in sciences, Biology in particular, and has started (rather intermittently) using a Youtube thing to go over lessons and make notes in some topics. He says this is really useful.

Anyway, I've texted him to ask for the details and will share them when he replies (hopefully not before lunchtime as he should be in class learning!). Might be useful for your son if he's worried about the sciences and responds better to a teacher talking than to deciphering information in a book. They can pause the video while they make the notes, which is really handy for those who might need a bit longer to process/write things down, compared to a 'live' teacher in class, who has to move on whether every student has 'got' that bit or not.

Oh dear, he's replied already. Probably not concentrating in whatever lesson he's in then.

www.youtube.com/channel/UCqbOeHaAUXw9Il7sBVG3_bw

Hope this is useful. My son is doing AQA for all three sciences and it seems to work for him.

Gin thank you, that's really helpful to put it all in perspective. We're just waiting for mock results so will have a clearer idea of where we are, we know she's done well in two sciences so far. DD seems to be relying on revision nearer the time, her school runs various lunchtime and after school sessions and I think they were open over the Easter holidays last year for students to go in and get some help. It makes me think we need to focus on getting her maths up to the level it should be at this stage as that's the only one she's behind in rather than focusing on everything.

Gin massive thanks :) I will pass the details over to ds when he gets in from school. He has been staying nearly every day which means he can't get the school bus so has to get 2 buses home and doesn't get home until tea time most nights. I am quite surprised at how well he's knuckling down and revising now, rather than waiting until the exams are weeks off like I did...

Ds hates science, as did I and tends to get frustrated as it doesn't come easy to him.
Anything that makes learning easier is brilliant.
He did say that of the 3 science papers for his mocks, physics was the easiest.

So now it's just a waiting game for results.

Any tips re motivating my Y11 son with his GCSE preparation.

He's always been fairly capable at school without having to put in much effort as he has a good memory for facts and information. He's predicted a mix of 7's and 6's which he should get if he puts in 'a bit' of work. His teachers have said he could get higher grades in some subjects (8's or 9's) if he put in more work/equally may get lower if he continues doing nothing.

He does complete his set homework but doesn't seem to 'get' revision or be motivated to do any. He has mocks next week and has pretty much done no preparation.

I have tried to help him organize himself with a revision timetable and giving him folders to keep his subject revision together. He has all the revision guides plus the school have some good online tools.

He just doesn't seem to care. I seem to be asking him every evening what he has done and he just comments he will do some later. When I go in his room he's just on his phone or doing something else. He doesn't really do a great deal with friends anyway - mainly out watching or playing football - so he is in the house a lot of the time and does have time but he just doesn't seem not bothered.

I am getting really frustrated with him but can't spend the rest of this year nagging him like this. I don't know whether I should limit his phone, reward him for work, stop him going out to watch football etc if he isn't working... or whether to just leave him to it.

Any ideas? I am at a loss! But so frustrated as I know he is more than capable and could get a really good set of GCSE grades.

Maybe the shock of not doing well in his mocks will help? But unfortunately some people just aren't ready by Yr11. There are second chances though, despite schools always saying 'these are the most important exams of your life blah blah blah'. On the GCSE thread I was on with DD1 there was a poster with an older DS who had mostly bombed his GCSEs, had a bad start in college but ended up turning it round and maturing and going on to be successful in his chosen path. Some kids just need to take the long way round and as a parent, your influence at this age has limits. I wish you much strength .

Hi stardust. I think if he is keeping up to date with set homework then try not to be too hard on him just yet. It's still early in the year. The mocks will give him an idea of where he is. The truth is, some kids can sail through the GCSEs with very little work and some need to put in hours and hours and cross their fingers too. It's unfair, but we're all stuck with it.

Try to have an honest conversation with him AFTER you've got all his mocks results. Work out whether he's happy with them, whether that would be enough to get him in for what he wants to do next. And then tell him that he can probably even get better grades than that if he ramps up some revision between January and May/June.

And keep smiling! It's a tough year for parents.

The Post 16 evening was a bit of a bust...he hates the history syllabus :(
So...post 16 at the big college in a uni town seems to be his first choice

History for us two, we've visited four sixth forms and each one has been different in terms of what they are studying.

The Post 16 evening was a bit of a bust...he hates the history syllabus :(
So...post 16 at the big college in a uni town seems to be his first choice

History for us two, we've visited four sixth forms and each one has been different in terms of what they are studying.

DD's History is "Early Tudors 1485-1558" (Mehhh), but I suppose lots of good source material, and she's done it a million times before, "Russia 1894-1941" (Very Interesting), "War of the Roses 1399-1509" (coursework element and they can pick an event within this topic, Agincourt, or the Prices in the Tower, or Richard III - Again quite cool).

Interesting how all these schools are doing different things - Our 6th form does Stuarts, Witches and World War I.

She had History mock today and felt she didn't write enough because she ran out of time and forgot her exam technique. And apparently her maths teacher asked a friend if she hadn't had a calculator for last week's (calculator) mock, so she may have slightly bombed that though she felt it went quite well. We shall see. English language went well today.

One more day of mocks - but it's Math's, Physics and French writing for a total of over 5 hours of exams in one day... On Saturday we are going to our local Christmas market for a treat, she'll have earned it. Then DD1 starts her A-level mocks, oh joy...

DS1 does his mocks next week. Predicted anywhere between 6's and 8's, he's so capable if he puts his mind to it but motivation is sometimes lacking.
Placemarking for support.

Gin fabulous post thank you!

Maybe exam nerves this week with ds. He is blind in one eye but his consultant won't give him a letter so school can request bigger font exam papers. We've chased and chased for it. He struggles to read the tiny font. He's been really down and stressed and I'm now getting to the point where I just want him happy and healthy. He's not revised at all for a few weeks and it's been good for him. But now he's stressed because he can't get back into it. I honestly did not expect this year too be this stressful! He's usually so laidback.

Power, thats outrageous. Why won't his consultant give him a letter?