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.

Cambalamb No, it's just I had another child go through the new 9-1 GCSEs only five months ago. They were all new then, so there seemed to be a lot to know about them eg mark schemes, grade boundaries etc.
I haven't had time to forget it yet.

I'm not the only one on the thread in that position.

DS2 is doing a whole host of end of topic tests this week and next. I think he's doing one for every subject.
I'm trying to get him to take them seriously and revise for them because the more he knows on leaving the topic now, the less he will have to learn around Easter before the GCSEs.

After these tests, the school will do a report, and I'll finally find out whether DS2 has chosen the right GCSEs for him and if he's any good at these subjects. The KS3 reports were incredibly opaque. Just a traffic light system for the teacher's view on how hard DS2 tries. Nothing about his ability.

Can I ask a dumb question - How important are GCSE results in University admissions? What are lowest acceptable grades? Would 7 in Science, Maths, English etc would take away good chances?

I know that a lot depends on A levels grades, but how do GCSE results compliment your application to University?

DS doesn't know what he wants to do in life . He oscillates between Doctor to Rocket Scientist to You Tuber, basically he is clueless .

expat1407 i don't know (my eldest is only in year 12) but i think the answer is: they barely matter for university admissions.

GCSEs are everything for sixth form places, but the things that count for university admissions are predicted A level results, entrance exam performance, personal statment and interview performance.
At best GCSE just give an indication of likely A level results, but they are not that reliable an indicator.

Neither of my DSes know what they want to do either. I suspect most people don't know when they are only 14/15, even if some of them think they know,

Whistl - Thanks, even I thought so. Am not telling this to DS, he is just getting serious about GCSE

DS has a few friends who know what they want to do , so it makes him nervous coz he can't figure out his calling. I told him to wait till end of Year 11. He may find something interesting.

Hello, I have a year 10 DS who gets by doing next to nothing on homework, or so it seems, he’s currently at Grammar, predicted good grades, but I worry that just being bright isn’t going to get him through his GCSE’s, he seems to think he ‘pulls it out the bag’ for tests - his words, glad I have found this thread for support!

GCSE grades may be important if you want to study science, medicine or engineering and are applying to Oxbridge as the competition is so fierce. I have a yr 13 DD who has recently completed her UCAS application where GCSE grades are listed.

Bonkersblond that's what the mocks are for: they'll either confirm to your DS that he's so good, he can just turn up for the exam and get straight 9s, or make it clear to him that there is scope for improvement!

How many got straight 9s this year? I think it was approx 1500 (but I might be imagining it). That's out of 550.000. So if your DS is in the top 0.2% by ability, then he is probably right!

Cambalamb I am surprised! I thought Cambridge and Oxford had their own entrance exams. eg STEP for maths at Cambridge.

Oldest DD is applying for Oxford among others. She has had to sit an exam this week. She still had to apply through UCAS and list all GCSEs, AS grades and predicted A Level grades first.

If she passes the exam(she feels it's unlikely as she couldn't revise for it) she may get called for the interview process that takes place over several days.Then and only then, might she get an offer,

Could it be that there is a difference between listing your GCSE grades and them being a significant factor in the decision process for university admission officers?

Well I only know from my DD that was told during a talk at the Oxford Uni open day that Oxbridge place importance on attained grades as everything else is only a prediction at the point of making an offer. Of course great GCSE grades would be less important if A levels grades were disappointing as they would be the most recent indicator but if you have 2 students with identical A Level grades but one had better GCSEs, it could tip the balance,

They actually said GCSE grades could tip the balance? I've obviously got it all wrong.

When comparing many high achievers, they start to work backwards. How else do you differentiate after test, interview etc?

At my DD's state secondary she is a high achiever but when she has attended work experience with other Oxbridge candidates, her results haven't been outstanding.

At my DD's state secondary she is a high achiever but when she has attended work experience with other Oxbridge candidates, her results haven't been outstanding.

DS1 was a high achiever at a comprehensive secondary school. Now, (Year 12) he's at a selective sixth form (that sends a large % to Oxbridge) and he's just one of the crowd. Not outstanding at all.

He saw his friends from his old school last week and he says they couldn't get their heads round the fact that he's just ordinary ability where he is now.

I'm glad that he's learned this lesson before he reaches university. he needed to understand that if he applies to Oxford or Cambridge, then he will have to work very hard and the competition will be extermely stiff.

I think it is dangerous territory to give any DC who has a tendency towards laziness the idea that GCSE results don't really matter.

I think DCs (and naturally lazy ones in particular) need to learn how to work hard and revise well at GCSE level, because there appears to be a big step to A level where coasting won't really cut it.

Furthermore, certainly for maths & science, and I think also MFLs, the A levels build on knowledge taught at GCSE. So if you haven't bothered to master something at GCSE, you are putting yourself at a disadvantage for A level.

The other side of the coin

A DC with over-working, perfectionist tendencies needs to be reassured that in the long run it won't matter if something is a 9 or a 7. And less bright DC definitely need to be reassured that trying their best is important but there will always be options whatever the results.
There is also a benefit in knowing which subjects are 'most important' and need most focus whilst still ensuring sufficient is done on the others.

For DD1 we talked about not wanting to open results and say 'if only' she had done X, Y or Z. When we got her results we knew she had done her best and that was all we could ask for.

Would someone capable of 8s really be happy with a string of 6s? Or be happy to see their mates who are less bright gets 7s above them?

A DC with over-working, perfectionist tendencies needs to be reassured that in the long run it won't matter if something is a 9 or a 7. And less bright DC definitely need to be reassured that trying their best is important but there will always be options whatever the results.
There is also a benefit in knowing which subjects are 'most important' and need most focus whilst still ensuring sufficient is done on the others.
Totally agree.

There's also the issue of not being seen to be a "try-hard" (a swot in old money). In some ways, the GCSEs appear at exactly the wrong age because it's when they are most concerned with what their peers think of them.

There was a girl at Ds1's secondary who got straight 9s on Results Day in August. The school made a fuss of her results in a newsletter, but the reaction of her peers appears to be that it didn't count because she was just average but she did nothing except revise and practice for two years.

I think that is rather harsh, and the girl should be admired for her dedication, but try convincing a group of teenagers to see it that way.

Sometimes DS2 seems much more concerned with what his friends will think if he doesn't go online one evening than doing well in the test that he has the next day.

Sometimes DS2 seems much more concerned with what his friends will think if he doesn't go online one evening than doing well in the test that he has the next day.

That's such a shame. He needs to have the confidence to say 'well I want to do well so I can do what I want at 6th form (or whatever)'.

When DD1 did GCSEs the school recommended agreeing revision break times with friends so they knew they weren't 'missing out'.

Some DC are very good at downplaying to their friends how much they are working whilst actually quietly getting on with it...

teen

I totally agree with your comment about the laziness.
It can be a narrow line sometimes between telling them it doesn't matter because they are stressed and anxious, and them becoming disengaged because they are lazy and it doesn't matter.
Iyswim, maybe that's not so clear

My yr 10 DD is working really hard at the moment. I hope it lasts. She is doing her homework and revising for end of topic tests without encouragement. she was worried about a maths test but revised hard and got an 8. Maths is mot her strong suit so I think it's given her a boost. Fingers crossed.