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Year 10 GCSE Support Thread

1000 replies

OrangeCinnamon · 22/09/2018 09:56

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 Sad 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.

OP posts:
Seeline · 22/10/2018 09:56

whistl - that's a very good summary. My Ds has just done his GCSEs and followed a similar route - although not so industrious in Y10, and required a lot of sitting on in Y11. If they have good teachers that manage to finish the syllabus in reasonable time, there will be lots of revision in class, with past papers for homework etc, which dos take the pressure of at home.

DD is Y10 this year, and more diligent in her approach, so am imagining a similar route again, with less in put from parents this time!

whistl · 22/10/2018 10:20

get thematic desk = get them a desk (autocorrect!)

Oblomov18 · 22/10/2018 11:46

Parents evening 15th November here. I have no idea if I'm supposed to be monitoring/hassling him LESS or MORE. How am I supposed to know?

He maintains that the predictions are worthless. he's angered by this. As am I. they seem to be worthless. Spoken to other parents, that maintain they are based on year 6 sats and aren't updated. So pointless. he is not motivated by the fact they aren't upgraded to a 7, 8 or whatever his current teacher is predicting he will get. I don't really 'get it'.

Meet0nTheIedge · 22/10/2018 11:52

I've only just spotted this thread, my eldest is in y10 so I'm going to read through. Very little feedback from school as to their expectations, the topics for each subject etc.

whistl · 22/10/2018 12:05

I don't think very much happens in year 10.

All that happens happens in hindsight when they get to March of year 11 and wish they'd done a bit more in year 10/ thank their younger self for keeping their notes in order (delete as appropriate).

whistl · 22/10/2018 12:08

Isn't the school's progress 8 score based off the year 6 SATS? Its something along the lines of: if you got a 4 in the SATS then you are expected to get 4/5/6 at GCSE and if the school gets you to a 7 then it looks like the school has done well.

Maybe that is where your DS's target grades are coming from, Oblomov18?

Oblomov18 · 22/10/2018 12:12

Sorry. I too didn't explain that I too have only just found this thread. And am already finding it helpful because ds1 is my dc1.

I speak to the other mums at football because both my ds1 and my ds2 play football, and they had explained that their childrens predictions weren't regularly updated. Without that conversation I'd have been even more angry and even more lost!

Most of the time I feel like I'm stumbling around in the dark not knowing what I'm supposed to be doing:

Not knowing whether I'm supposed to monitor/hassle/enquire from school more or less.

So hopefully this thread will be a lifesaver!! Grin

Oblomov18 · 22/10/2018 12:15

Exactly whistl.
They don't update regularly.
He did fine at Year 6 SATS. But now he says his maths, English, history etc is predicting him a ....... cant quite recall? a 5?, 6 or 7 and his teachers are saying ignore that you're doing really well .........

whistl · 22/10/2018 13:14

Its a bit early for meaningful predictions, Oblomov. After the year 11 mocks is when the predictions start to get serious.

Until then, the only thing to worry about is if he is keeping up in class, doing his homework and in sets for Maths and science where the class is being prepared for the higher or foundation papers. (If his target is higher than a 5, then its the Higher papers).

You could buy the revision guides now, it wouldn't do any harm, but be sure to get the right exam boards and the ones that are for GCSE 9-1.

Next year, this thread will be awash with recommendations for additional revision resources. There are some really good ones for GCSE. If you are interested, you'll find them discussed in the GCSE 2018 thread series but there are about 18 of them with 1000 posts each.
I couldn't find the first one - started August 2017 - but here is the second one. All the others are linked.
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3113917-GCSEs-2018-2

I was on them and so were a couple of others on this thread. They WERE a life-saver. i don't know what I'd have done without them.

myron · 22/10/2018 13:20

We have 2 weeks half term here. DS taking the first week to relax and chill and the second week to revise for assessment week straight after half term. I tend to leave him to it and he self manages totally.

Inconsistent exam results but I view it as a learning curve so not overly concerned. It's a marathon, not a sprint. He's DC1 and fairly organised and conscientious regarding HW (for a 14 yr old boy) which is helpful since DC2 is the opposite!

Cambalamb · 22/10/2018 17:25

Thanks whistl in the desk front! Grin

DD has been revising triangles for a maths assessment after half term. It's not as easy as it sounds apparently. DD1 who got a 9 in maths in 2017 can't remember how to do it either! Just shows how useless some of these 'skills' are, unless you want to be an engineer/physicist!

TheFirstOHN · 22/10/2018 17:42

If it helps, DD has a thematic desk. Smile

We attached a large piece of wood to the top of a cheap desk to increase her work area, as she has always been keen on arts & crafts. The wood is untreated and she has covered it with doodles and artwork.

TheFirstOHN · 22/10/2018 17:46

Cambalamb
DH was trying to describe an isosceles triangle to me a couple of days ago and ended up resorting to "The shape of the purple one from the Mr Men."
He did A-level Maths.

Cambalamb · 22/10/2018 17:54

Oh I know isosceles alright, like a Christmas tree. It's much harder than that, it's 'similar shape' stuff??

Cambalamb · 22/10/2018 17:54

So thematic desks are a thing!!! Grin

expat1407 · 22/10/2018 18:28

Whistl. - Thanks for the summary of expectations for each term.

I am getting anxious reading all your posts. DS says they are just revising topics from Year 9 in this term.

I haven't received any predicted grades.

DS is chilled out, says he is coping well. Does his homework on time and tries to study on some days and chills out on other days.

I got subscription of SnapRevise. It does have good explanatory videos on topics in bite size.

Cambalamb · 22/10/2018 18:39

Will look into that expat thanks.

whistl · 22/10/2018 20:28

Out of interest, when did your DC start their GCSE courses? DS2 started some of them last May whereas DS1 started the same courses, at the same school in September.
The difference was that DS1 was the first year of doing the new GCSEs (apart from Maths and English) and by last May the teachers had learned that there is so much to teach that they nearly run out of time if they start in September.
DS1's Geography teacher was literally still teaching new material a week before the first GCSE.

So, as a result DS2 seemed to start everything at the end of year 9.

AlexanderHamilton · 22/10/2018 21:46

Ds is at a school with a 3 tier system so Year 9 is the first year. They seemed to start gcse work around last Easter in core subjects. However sciences were rotated so they didn’t cover much there.

Floottoot · 23/10/2018 09:20

So, having had it drummed into her and the rest of her year that they were expected to work for 6 hours a day, every day over the half term Fortnite, DD got home on Friday night and tealisee she'd left all her books in her locker, after going to a rehearsal and forgetting to collect them at the end.
Cue hysterics, shaking and crying and her calling herself stupid etc.
It's a ridiculous situation to be in in the first term of year 10...

AlexanderHamilton · 23/10/2018 09:28

That’s ridiculous.

To contrast Ds breaks up on Friday. This last week he’s had two lots of maths homework, 1 lot of computer science & his Btec dance log to do. Each piece took approx 30-40 mins at most.

At this point in Year 10 Dds half term (she did her GCSE’s last summer) consisted of family days out and just 2-3 homework tasks.

Floottoot · 23/10/2018 09:47

Obviously, that should have said fortnight! ( Can you tell Fortnite is much discussed on various posts about DS?!)

AlexanderHamilton · 23/10/2018 09:51

Ha ha! I did guess.

Luxckily ds hates Fortnite with a passion. Least said about Minecraft the better though.

whistl · 23/10/2018 10:37

Floottoot your DD will burn out if she has to do that much revision this soon. The students won't be able to withstand the pace. That's more like what you'd want then to do in the Easter break just before the GCSEs. (NB "want" but a huge percentage well do half that).
It's already stressful if a simple mistake provokes such a reaction.

DS1 has his A levels at the same time as your DD has her GCSEs and an AS level next summer and he had a 10 week summer holiday this year but even his (high achieving, very selective) school is telling the students to just rest this half term.
I think you will need to carefully monitor the pressure your DDs school puts on her.

whistl · 23/10/2018 10:41

I've got a Fortnite/ electronic game enthusiast in DS2.
It's not healthy but I am thinking that by this time next year he won't have much free time for playing it, so these days are just the tail end of his childhood and that's his toy

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