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?

DD got into her sixth form of choice following her entrance exams 🎉
Mocks completed a week ago but had mainly worked for entrance exam subjects so it will be interesting to see results
She's so motivated by sixth form offer that now doing a bit every night on top of homework and planning on getting decent amount of work done in Xmas holidays
Need to sit and make a full checklist with her of topics for each subject so she can keep on top of where she is as volume so great

Mock on Friday (English Lit) was apparently a lot better than the one on Thursday (Thursday was English Lit 1, this was English Lit 2, Wednesday was English Language 1), he was actually quite pleased with himself about it (English has never been one of his best subjects although he has to get a minimum 7 for his dreaded sixth form, even if it isn't one of the 8s).
Still a long haul unti the 20th, which is the last day of mocks.
At least, while he is planning to work over Xmas, I think it would not be unreasonable for him to take a bit of a holiday. He has just booked to go to the theatre with a (female) friend from Holland he met at a drama activity over the Summer and who will be back in England over Xmas. First time going to the theatre without an adult, and I guess, first date!

And it turns out DD2 got a 7 in her Drama mock, which is amazing - she only took it to challenge herself because it's so far out of her comfort zone, but performing has really boosted her confidence. She's also decided that her A-levels are going to be Biology, Geography and History, which is pretty solid, so now she can really focus on those. She needs a 6 in Maths for all of them an a minimum 6 in English, so prospects are good.

Soursprout we got all but Drama back in one go - they made a big ceremonial thing out of it last Thursday. Fortunately (or not) DD2 couldn't be there because she had an urgent GP appointment - she has an escalating allergy to citrus which is concerning, so it had to be dealt with. She got given her results slip by our very kind deputy head.

The appointment led to an urgent allergy clinic referral, so DD could be joining the EpiPen brigade in her GCSE year. On the other hand the ones who did take part in the great mock GCSE results reveal were rewarded with... A revision Advent calendar! - just what they need when they are knackered just before Christmas. So we were well out of that.

Mocks finished on Friday here!! Yay!! Not had any results yet except ds’s Geography teacher told him he got a 9 for physical geography paper but the human geography wasn’t quite as strong in the bit he’d marked so far. Crossing fingers that he gets a few 7’s to bolster his confidence BUT they are only mocks and, as I keep telling him they are an opportunity to see what he needs to work on. He’s exhausted- and this was only 2 weeks so god knows how he’ll survive the summer?!? He’s spent the day in bed after what sounds like some fairly heavy partying last night.

DD's school also went for the big envelope reveal too. Unfortunately individual teachers had already told them their grades so it was a bit wasted!

I doubt we will get the big envelope reveal, as that is not how DS's school does it for the real thing. Rather everybody gets a log in and the accounts are blocked until 6am on results day, when one can log in and find out one's results (even from overseas, if necessary). That means one is at home or wherever with a support system (I guess), although there are apparently teachers on hand at school during normal school hours for those wanting to consult with them.

Anyhow I checked the various timetables from the various boards (which are all now on line) and drawn up a timetable for DS of the real thing, and he is very relieved to see that all his maths papers are in the morning. He tends to do much better in the morning. Biology is going to be the difficult one, as it is in the afternoon both times, and both times it is after him having something in the morning (French, on his first day, and English Lang much later). Geography is twice in the afternoon and once in the morning, and one of the afternoons is after maths. the other geography afternoon he has nothing in the morning. Other than that, it feels so much better than these mocks, where so much is being crammed into each day, and it is just so exhausting just getting through them. It may be a longer period, but I think it will be a lot more manageable with the breaks, and the break for half term, and only a few days with two in a day. Hoping anyway.

The (not so) big reveal is so that they get to feel what it might be like to actually open their final results and either be motivated by feeling pleased or disappointed. I was originally a bit cynical but I can see the purpose, just a shame they already knew what they'd got!

I thought I'd share my views on Frankenstein with ds yesterday. I read it as a teen and loved it. Ds was not impressed and rolled his eyes a lot! He's so laid back and laughs off everything, I'm hoping the bust of energy will come in the new year. Mocks went badly and still very minimum work being done here.

Need advice how do we pull around Eng Lit AQAsson. Achieved Grade 6 in mocks, which was only poetry and an inspector calls.

I’m assuming am starting from scratch. Any tips greatly welcome to get our head around Jekyll, Macbeth, Inspector Calls and Power & Conflict

portico I think you need to identify what you want to “pull around” - it would be reasonable to assume on target for a 7 with a pre Christmas mock of a 6? What does your dc want to achieve?

My ds is doing the same (but Love & Relationships instead of P&C).

Is Macbeth still on at the Barbican? If so that would be worth a trip.

Your dc needs to analyse the mock paper and see where they dropped marks and then work on those areas. I would guess if they got a 6 it’s going to be on development of ideas.

They need to really know all the set texts - read and read again. Give thought to which poems to compare with which etc.

Their teacher should give guidance as to areas of weakness.

Also learn around the themes - Jekyll is portrayed as an upstanding Victorian gentleman- really understand what that meant etc etc.

Have you seen the Mr Bruff songs for Love and Relationships?

Macbeth fatigue set in some months ago in this house

Same here. DD2 did a massive 5 minute stand-up comedy type rant about Macbeth and the way he behaved, and why it wasn't smart. it incorporated predestination, the divine right of Kings and everything about the witches and it belonged on stage. I should have filmed it and sent it to her teacher. Just not sure which one - English or Drama...

Sounds excellent pointy. Think she should put it on YouTube and give Mr Bruff a run for his money!
DD and pal have created a song for some physics stuff. Whatever helps!

We've just had a chat about Xmas and revision. She thought she had to be full on. My view is start on sciences (not tested in current mocks) and gentle ticking over of maths and English, apart from that enjoy Xmas and spend a fair amount of time at stables (her favourite place). Start head down properly again when back in January to prep for March mocks.