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?

[KittyMcKitty]

Oh and bold fail ^

[OddBoots]

I won't be talking about dd's grades, just how she is managing over the year and I doubt I will be the only one, not all children are high achieving and that's not what it's all about.

[Motherofregularchild]

Perhaps we could have 2 groups - one for the parents of the superbrights and one for us more normal lot? Not meaning to be difficult but it’s a different world on here to most normal groups and the 2018 thread was basically support for parents and kids going for all 8/9’s.
That not going to be very appropriate for those of us with normal middle of the road kids - so maybe two groups??

[HowAreWeHereSoSoon]

I shan't be talking about my DS's grades either. Can't talk about his target grades as he sets them himself, for some reason unknown to me, so I'm not sure they have any relevance to anything very much. I'm just hoping for support over this crazy 10 months and somewhere to talk about it all so I don't nag him to death. I hope he will continue with his extra curricular activities, but I don't decide that he does. None of us work to the exclusion of all else, or at least we shouldn't. A work/life balance should apply this year as in any, IMHO.

[KittyMcKitty]

Motherofregularchild

I hear what you are saying but that would be such a shame.

In the interests of full disclosure my ds is at grammar. His targets are all 8’s he needs an average grade of 6.5 across all subjects to stay and a 7 in subjects to study at A level. He is desperate to stay - there is no where else he wants to go.

I genuinely hope all of us can support each other but obviously I can’t tell people what to do but could we maybe try

[cantkeepawayforever]

I won't be talking about dd's grades, just how she is managing over the year

Absolutely, for me that's the point of joining the thread - for the moments I lose my patience with DD, for the moments when I don't know the right way to steer her, for when her desire to remain 'safe' with friends gets in the way of considering other long-term options, for when teacher behavior or textbook errors or stupid deadlines make me grind my teeth. Not for grade comparison, as i do think almost all the issues we will encounter this year are grade-independent.

[KittyMcKitty]

What I meant to add was I don’t want to discuss grades (get enough of that from school ) just general support and hand holding!

[Isentthesignal]

We have target grades that range from 5 to 8 - not that I pay much attention to them - already we know that the 8 is too ambitious and the 5 felt like a kick in the teeth to Ds in his favourite subject that he was convinced was his best. So I find all the focus on grades a little frustrating and pretty pointless.

[cantkeepawayforever]

I appreciate that if we had 2 groups, I would have to join the 'superbright' one.

However, the things that I want support for, that I would really appreciate MN's wisdom on, are not a function of her predicted grades - they are the universal how much work, how much extracurricular, how to deal with emotions, what next, how to choose what next, whether or not to move school, how to deal with an almost-adult who is suddenly behaving like a scared child, what revision resources have people found useful, what the _ to wear to prom...

[myrtleWilson]

I'd rather not have two groups if we can avoid it - it seems a shame to get all Peoples Front of Judea and the Judean Peoples' Front from thread one! And we are 10 months away so I'm sure there will be twists and turns (for good and for bad) along the way.
Advice and support on navigating year 11, the revision, the exam stress, the planning for what next is what I hope to get from this thread - my DD"s own grades are a by product in lots of ways.. (obviously not to me or her!!)

[Itis6oclocksomewhere]

I'm in. Hello to you all.

So my DD1 goes into Year 11 next Wednesday.
Her last set of mocks weren't great, but I think (and hope) it will help her to knuckle down.

She's had health issues too and has missed a lot of school over the past couple of years. Although attendance in Year 10 was better than Year 9.
She was allowed to drop French to allow for catch up support. This has proved to be a valuable resource and a great pastoral support too.

She was looking at A-levels, but now looking at other options. She had dismissed the local college before, but is now open to the courses they offer.

DD3 also does SATS this year so a full on year ahead for us!

[crunchtime]

Can I just add that as well as ds doing gcses this year , my eldest will be doing A levels. How on earth am on going to survive??

[myrtleWilson]

Wine Crunchtime Wine....

[UnnecessaryFennel]

I'm in - was waiting for this thread. I will definitely need some support!

DS is starting Year 11 next week. He's an only, and so gets the full force of my anxiety . His end-of-year-10 mocks were pretty awful and I'm hoping that it gave him a kick up the backside but he's not done a scrap of work all summer...and has also fallen in love...aaaargh.

He's a bright kid and extremely capable but has been, frankly, lazy and unmotivated for the last two years or so. I need this thread to prevent me from losing it, as I am pretty apprehensive about what the next 12 months holds.

He wants to move at sixth form so I'm hoping that the grades he needs for that will motivate him. But I agree with pps that this thread will probably be mainly about advice, support and venting for me (so that I can approach it all calmly with him) rather than talking about grades.

[OddBoots]

DD is back to school on Wednesday and yesterday had her hair cut pixie short and has gone from dark brown to light blonde, she is not meeting her friends now until the first day of term so she is excitedly awaiting their reactions - hopefully the reactions will be good. I am also hoping there won't be any upset from the school, the rules are vague saying no hair must be "extreme."

[myrtleWilson]

Wow oldboots that is a dramatic change - does she change her hairstyle frequently? Mine doesn't - its long and brown with a natural wave. Occasionally it gets straightened or curled... I can't imagine my DD having a radical haircut stopping split ends is about all I can manage

[cantkeepawayforever]

Can I just add that as well as ds doing gcses this year , my eldest will be doing A levels. How on earth am on going to survive??

Ditto. I plan

[Theimpossiblegirl]

Signing in! I'm still on the GCSE 2018 thread but had my DDs quite close together so about to go through it again. :)
DD1 got her results last week, DD2 has quit her part time job to dedicate more time to studying. Mocks are straight after October half term this time.
At least I know what I'm in for this year.

[OddBoots]

myrtleWilson, she has changed it more over the past year, she used to have straight waist length hair and every summer from about the age of 9 she would chose a colour for the bottom 3-4 inches and then we would chop it off in September. Last year she decided to go short so had it cut but then lets it grow again between cuts (it grows fairly fast). This is the shortest she has had it and the only colour change the school have seen.

Does anyone have any study software their dc use? DD has Tassomai through the school that she quite likes and some other VLE stuff that she doesn't get on with well. We have recently discovered the CGP Mathsbuster which seems pretty good and good value.

[Motherofregularchild]

unnecessarily
You and me both!! Mine is the same ......all about the sport and, have grown a foot in about 5 mins and lost the spots, suddenly girls have appeared
All the teachers love him and he has all the right intentions but ..... he hates revising and isn’t really passionate about any subject. He likes chemistry but to take that further requires maths which is a big NO at A level.
I think a lot of wine will be needed to combat the whine coming from the other direction.

[abitoflight]

Yay! Had thought about starting this
DD at selective sch in top 20 for results but she's disorganised and not focussed
Mocks November and sixth form entrance exams just before
She done a bit of maths over hols and back next week
She's planning on doing an hour of revision/extra work a night 🤣 but doubt that will happen
I may be surprised...
Good luck to all of us for this year

[UnnecessaryFennel]

mother, I'll share a bottle (or two!) with you; our dses sound very similar... Ds does love Spanish and wants to live and work out there in the future (brexit notwithstanding) but most his other subjects he can take or leave.

He is, however, currently hoovering upstairs of his own volition as the gf is coming round tomorrow - if only he was as keen to impress his teachers

[D0ubleTheJoy]

I'm definitely not going to talk about grades - here for the support and . I'm hopeful that they'll do well, but more importantly I'm just praying for them to come through the exams happy with how they've done, whatever the marks.

My kids seriously help to calm the fuck down and have some perspective - but 15 year olds don't really want to hear that, as they're preparing for their first public exams, do they?! I'd be grateful for some mutual handholding and support in the coming months!

[Isentthesignal]

From my perspective it’s the school that needs to calm the fuck down, they Have been laying it on thick since Year 10, whole similtaneously freaking out about obtaining a mental health award . Anyway mentioning exams and how important they are continually does make my kids work harder - it just stresses them out!

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Can I just add that as well as ds doing gcses this year , my eldest will be doing A levels. How on earth am on going to survive??

Ditto.

Thirded here Although ds (A levels) is very laidback thank goodness. Have had AS and GCSE, and then A levels and AS together with eldest daughters and that was quite painful at times! Dd1 has her finals next summer too, but at least I don't have to live through that, lol.

I hope we don't have two groups! It's about supporting them all to do their best, be happy with their achievements, and be able to carry on to do the next thing.