Year 10 GCSE Support Thread

[OrangeCinnamon]

Hi all,
Can we have a thread for Year 10 support please? Even though Dd started in Y9 I have already noticed a massive ramping up in pressure and her anxiety I imagine it is a fine balance of being supportive but not a helicopter parent. How do you motivate but not nag? How do you encourage good study/revision skills without being overbearing? How can I help my Dd to be resilient....so many questions hoping for some hints, tips and support along the way.

Dd is Summer born so struggles sometimes. Her main loves are Music and the Humanities subjects. She bobs along with Maths and Science and despises French. Wants to be an international popstar, historian, writer, journo or judge! She sufffers terribly with low self esteem but hopefully this term will be able to get her on a course of cbt.

Heifer are they target grades for 'right now' or are they targets for end of year? She might well fine, if they are end of year targets as she'll continue to improve as the year progresses.

DD's school won't give specific targets, just 'you are here now' and if you work hard you should improve by a grade a year.

Wheresthebeach I believe they are her target grades for GCSE but I haven't yet seen her working at grades - I think grade grid is due end of December. We were told their target grades are worked out from their SATS in year 6, then later in the year adjusted up if teachers feel they are capable of more.
DD has always worked hard in school, and home work, but it's the extra work that she hasn't yet clicked onto. She wants to get the best results she can, but hasn't yet shown the effort needed to get them. In fact has never revised properly so her tests results are always lower than her school work. I was hoping it would be different for these tests but it wasn't but maybe now she has gotten 4,5,6s instead of 7, 8 etc it will give her the push she needs to get better marks.

whistl that makes sense. I guess I was blaming the lower than expected marks purely on her not revising enough when a lot may be to do with the fact she doesn't yet fully know how to answer the questions. In History she was given a full 60 questions to revise - which included the answers, it was all about how to answer the question rather than testing her knowledge of the topic. She nailed this one with 98%.

I'm not worried about her lower marks, in fact would be more upset in some ways if she had done well with not enough revision as then she wouldn't have got the message :-)

We went away for half term so no revision for DD, we’re also away after Christmas and will be visiting relatives Feb half term but I’m cautious about booking anything for year 11.
DD has a progress report out this week so that will be a good check of where she’s at and might aid some motivation to at least think about revision...

What DS2 is aiming to do these days:-

1. Not miss school
2. Ask for help if he doesn't understand something
3. Revise for end of topic tests
4. Start memorising quotes for English Lit, RE and French (for end of topic tests)
5. Start trying to learn how to answer the differently scored questions
6. Do the homework
7. Try to implement (the tiny) bit of feedback his teachers offer.

This is all he will do until the end of year exams in June or July. Then, if I am very lucky, i'll get him to give up a couple of weekends and evenings to revision.
To me, this is what year 10 looks like. its what DS1 did (more or less) and it worked for him. No one who knows me would ever call me a laid back parent when it comes to GCSEs.
Reading between the lines, other mums seem to think that revision should start now?

I would only expect DD to revise this year for her end of term tests (or any tests) rather than for the actual GCSE. I like your list - seems a very sensible approach. I would only add in to do more reading for DD, and to make sure she continues with the physical activities she currently does as down time will be very important in Yr11,12,13.

MNers, I have a situation with DS.

DS had loads of Assessments in last 2 weeks, he did his best to revise, he seemed to have messed up most of his assessments. We haven't got scores yet, he is positive that he has done bad in most of subjects.

There were too many tests and according to him, they were difficult as well. DS is in the mood of " My best isn't enough, I can't do anything, I guess I am destined to get bad score". He is bit of a drama queen Roll eyes

I will get results later this week and I have parents meeting with all subject teachers next week. Assuming DS has not done well, what should I ask his teachers? DS isn't a genius, but he isn't bad either. I think we are looking at 4,5 and max 6 in all subjects.

I am not worried about grades . I just hope DS doesn't get in low confidence mode and stops trying hard.

Sorry for rant. Next 4 years aren't gonna be easy.

Expat

Am very tired, so apologies if this doesn't sound gentle
1.tell him to calm down. There's still time to turn things around.

1. The drama queen bit won't help him, or make any difference to his results ( are the GCSEs the first thing ever that throwing a strop simply cannot change the outcome of?)
2. Listen to the teachers and take their advice about what to focus on
3. Make sure he organises himself. Gaps in his notes, muddled notes etc will make his life very hard going forward.
4. Make sure he does all the homework and revises for tests

Thanks for replying even when you are tired Whistl.

I have done 1 and 2. Hopefully meeting teachers should throw some light on what's going on.

He seems to have time management problem too. I have to check his organizing too.

Hi dd year 10 has lost all care about her work. For example she has a text tomorrow and didn’t bother revising until I really lost my temper with her at half 3 this afternoon, the whole you’ll fail your exams with this attitude, why don’t you care etc.

Any tips, I sent to a sink school, left with no GCSES, worked my way up and into Uni via professional qualifications and lots of blagging and it’s been very hard and so I worked damn hard to make sure I’ve given her every opportunity, why doesn’t she care?

Test

Hi, can I join?

DD3 is year 10. She’s very serious about a specific sport (16-20 hours of training a week, might see a further increase in January/February depending on a few competitions...) and has a few more casual hobbies so finding time to revise for tests and get all homework done is often a bit of a juggling act. She’s made a sort of timetable for herself that features 16 hours of studying each week, but her homework fills most of that so she rarely manages to get much revision done for in-term tests.

She’s also dyslexic and facing a number of MH and adjustment issues so I’m really feeling the anxiety. I’ve had two go through it already but DD1 was remarkably academic and DD2 very grounded so it felt less complicated.

She’s chosen triple science, music, French and sociology as her GCSE options. She’s predicted all 6s and 7s but would be happy with 6s, and 5s in Englishes and French.

I’m seeking advice re English Lit assessments - she recently had a timed essay in class where she wrote nothing. Well, wrote a sentence, scribbled it out, repeat. Her teacher was unable to grade it because she handed in about two lines of work at the end of the hour. How can I help build her confidence around the assessments? I don’t want to make her do essay after essay at our kitchen table and don’t think it would be productive, but when I test her on her flash cards and chat to her about her texts she seems well versed.

Also just looking for general assessment anxiety tips?

Thank you! Looking forward to following all your DC on their journey too. I’ll read back a few pages tomorrow to get to grips.

For those worried about tests:
I think sometimes they a re marked hard to 'encourage' the kids to work a bit harder.
I think at this early stage, marks are going to be low as whilst they may have learnt the subject matter, they won't necessarily have come across the style of question used in GCSEs and they have to learn how to answer the questions. It's not just enough to write down everything you know - you need to know the difference between describe, explain, assess etc. You need to know hte key words to use.
This will come with time and practice and IME, teachers spend time on this nearer the end of the course.

For those getting low marks, it is important to assess this in the light of the range of marks given across hte class. If everyone ended up with low marks, then it was either a hard test, or the subject matter hadn't be taught in enough depth or correctly.

Villanellesproudmum - I am sure she'll care nearer to the time. I guess there are lot of moms who are in similar phase and struggling with rebel kids. My sincere DS is also having a down time.

Seeline - I am hoping that you are right about teachers being strict with marking. I have no way of finding out if everyone is getting low marks. DS doesn't give me detailed information. I'll ask his teacher in meeting about this.

Strict, or just marking the way the examiners will in 2020?

Both my DS's went through the harsh experience of not getting the marks even though "the teachers knew what they meant". After all the years of generous marking, often intended to boost their confidence, it hit hard. But the problem is that the GCSE examiners have a mark scheme and it states how much leeway there is, so Ds1 learnt to adjust eventually and DS2 needs to get his head round it now.

Strict, or just marking the way the examiners will in 2020?

whistl - the same thing I think. Or it should be! Getting used to the mark scheme is a big step up from how previous work has been marked (or at least it was for my DS who took GCSEs last year). I think it is hardest for more essay-based subjects, like English and History, but also using hte key words in Science is also a learning curve.

Funnily enough, Ds1 (also year 12 now) found the sciences the most difficult to deliver exactly what the exam board wanted. it took a lot of Tassomai practice before he had the precise soundbites off-pat.

He did History, Geography and RE too, but somehow their answers were slightly less prescriptive. Maybe MFL is the easiest in that sense (apart from the oral!)?

DD just gets incredibly nervous around tests/assessments and writes absolutely nothing, particularly for the essay subjects. What she writes is usually fine - it’s getting her to actually write anything that’s the struggle at the moment, as she just sits there overthinking and panicking. I’m trying to tackle it now so it’s not a source of stress nearer the time.

Pancakemum, you have my sympathies! It really is stressful trying to get our DC in the right mindset where they take it seriously, but not so seriously that they panic and freeze.

Pancake, my DD is the same. She has some SpLD and finds it really tricky to organise her thoughts. Her English teacher has commented that what she writes is good, but she just doesn't write enough. DD says she starts to write but it's not exactly what she wants to write, so she bins it and starts again...and again...and again. Her teacher has suggested she finishes timed class work at home, so that the content can be assessed and the timing worked in as the year progresses.

Is it just me that thinks GCSEs come at the worst possible age?! Dd has generally been an easy child up until the last year, with no friendship issues or anxieties but this last year it seems to have changed! Nothing really major except that now she seems to be developing anxieties around food. And she’s feeling insecure, friendships at school seem to be changing. It’s just such a difficult age! Throwing in serious exams on top seems so unfair!

I agree, CrazyCrofter. Its a time of great change/
They seem to grow up a lot between September of year 11 and September of year 12. I'm not sure if that's the baptism of fire that is the GCSEs or they just would anyway?

Absolutely agree crazycrofter! Such a challenging age without 22 exams in the space of a month looming... my older DDs also lamented that it was always just as the weather got nice. They’d have to be stuck inside revising/doing exams just when the weather improved.

It’s such a shame - it feels like childhood is well and truly over! And yes, what a waste of good weather! Let’s hope July and August 2020 have good weather too!

I just hope we survive the next couple of years. Or more... I suppose it will be A Levels then - plus ds is two years younger so it starts all over again. I don’t know how parents of big families cope!

DS1 is in year 12 now. When i look at DS2 in year 10, I feel like he's on the final days of his childhood.

He's not really a child at all, except when compared to DS1. Ds1 grew up a lot when he had to do those long days of GCSE revision six months ago that needed resilience, perseverance and maturity to prioritise and deal with the stress.
Ds1 surprised me with how much he could cope with and I am hoping DS2 will manage just as well when the time comes in 16 month's time.
However, in the meantime, I'm reminding myself that these are the final days of anything even vaguely resembling his childhood and to make the most of them everytime he wants to play on the xbox!

crazycrofter that’s our family - last year I had DD1 doing A levels and DD2 doing GCSEs. Next year I’ll have DD2 doing A levels and DD3 doing GCSEs, 2 years later it’ll be DD3 on A levels and DD4 on GCSEs, then DD5 is 3 school years after but it’ll be a final cycle. Madness!! And with them all being girls the prom season is also great fun...