GCSEs 2019 - support thread part 2

[AtiaoftheJulii]

Here we are again

Silent sister same here we were told to put £500 aside at the beginning of the year! Can’t bekive how much it costs.

Is that at private school? I have never heard of paying for GSCEs.

DD2 is doing about 3 hours of revision a day this week but next week we are going away and I want at least 3 days of zero revision. Downtime imo means a whole day with no revision. She and DD1 can hit it hard when we get back.

Ds1 breaks up on Friday...

pointy Yes, private school. Not sure whether you have to pay at 6th Form College?? Definitely have to pay for ALevels too at private.

On another thread someone said their DC's were doing 30 exams in three weeks . I couldn't believe it. I looked up DD's and she has 21 exams over 6 weeks, with the extra half term week in the middle.

How about your DC's?

Can I just say too, why oh why, do the exam boards spread papers for the same subjects so far apart. DD has one Biology paper at the start, one in the middle and one at the end..... which means she has to sustain the revision for Biology over the 7 weeks. They are all spread out before and after half term, wouldn't it be so much nicer to have them in weekly chunks, so that you do that subject one week, and move on. Hey ho.

I think DD2 has 28 exams - triple science doesn't help...

DD1 is at the school's 6th form and we have definitely not been asked to pay for her A levels. It seems deeply unfair that you are spending a fortune on fees and still have to pay for exams, I'm shocked!

I agree with you on the spread of the exams. At least with History you know which paper is which once you have sat the first one.

Yes, cost of exams, that was a shock!!

Ds is now off until the 24th then back for a week and a half until first exam on the 8th (history). He texted me today to say he's doing chem this morning at home (I'm in the office). He and his learning support tutor have scheduled about 4-5 hours per day over the hols but tbh I doubt that much will get done - he is a faffer

Good news though that he has apparently achieved 9s in coursework for both history and eng. lang. - whoopwhoop! I've told him that doesn't mean he gets to ignore the actual exam though!

Can't wait until it's all done...

Yes it’s private school they charge for fees and exams .

I feel incredibly privileged to have a good state secondary right on our doorstep... We don't live in a leafy town, the school will never get an Outstanding rating, but it's been a great school for my girls. Nobody gets left behind, nobody is allowed to coast, pastoral care is amazing and they come down on bullying like a tonne of bricks. It's such a shame we now have a new head coming in whose focus seems on changing the uniform for no good reason.

Major phone issues!

(It's me, chevvy!)

Only 17, soursprout? Lucky her... DD2 has:
4 English (2 each for Lit and Lang)
3 Geography
2 History
3 Maths
3 Biology
3 Physics
3 Chemistry
3 Drama (2 already done, performance)
4 French (1 already done, speaking)

So 28 in total, 25 still to do.

Ds has 21

First exam for my DD is art.Two days in school during the Easter hols for prep then 10 hours of art in exam conditions,no talking,drinks,etc .Bet all the best artist achieved their masterpieces in these conditions,not.
At least the is one down 28 to go.
I'll be so glad when this is done,I never want to see another flash card again.

Well home again, and DS has just gone off for his last day of school, otherwise known as "muck up" day, in his new hoodie (which, oddly enough, has all the teachers faces on it, not the students, although the students names are on the back - and not just the current teachers, as DS put it to me - this is the one that is now in prison for child abuse (before his time), this is the one who was charged with assult after threatening students (again before his time) ... ie they have culled the teacher hall of fame (not) and put their faces on the hoodie). He also took our entire roll of cling film, apparently they are going to cling film the school.
Last day was supposed to be tomorrow, but maybe they wanted a day to clean up, so it has been pushed back to today.
I just hope they don't do anything too stupid, and get themselves banned from taking exams at the school.
French Oral is apparently April 30th and then there are the other exams, and as mentioned, DS is planning to go in, but officially this is, after five years, it! At least for those like DS, and there are apparently a lot, who are planning on leaving.

Am I right that 4 in maths sometimes isn't high enough and many places/employees want to see a 5 as minimum?

DS needs a 5 to get on computer science BTEC, but doesn't see it as a priority as he gets good CS grades and his teacher says it doesn't matter if he doesn't get a 5. (thanks teacher!)

His EPG for maths is a 7, he gets high level 4 in papers, and has done since his mocks in November.

Ds is spending a lot of time in his room but not sure if revision is ramped up to the four hours he is aiming for. A lot of planning goes in to actually revising; ambience is important as he has been lighting smelly candles . All the boys went for a 'last supper' on Monday so perhaps they are all getting serious now.

DS has - 2 Art (already done last week)
2 Biology
2 Chemistry
2 Physics
2 English Language
2 English Literature
3 Maths
3 Geography
3-4 French (I say that, because paper 1 and Paper 3 are done on the same morning, so it feels like the same exam. The Oral and paper 4 are separate).
So I guess that is either 21 or 22, depending on how you count the French, but he already did two GCSEs (old system GCSEs) last year.
Given that Art is now done, that is either 19 or 20 as part of this final part.

Rejoining this thread as has been a while since I posted on it...

DD is revising well although she had yesterday off to go and see Captain Marvel but then started reading "Why we get the wrong politicians" - (she's planning to do politics at A-level) so thats critical reading skills revised right

In terms of revision she's doing six hours per day, 9.30:11:30, then a 20/0 minute break 12:00 2:00pm then 45/60 min break then 3:00 to 5:00 then switching off for the night. She'll swap subjects across the revision sessions but is keeping humanities/science split - so today is doing English x2 then Elizabethan History rather than say English, Physics, History.

Annoyingly, she's discovered very late in the day that she is a visual learner. She's tried mind maps etc but turns out the actual pictures make such a difference to her absorbing information. Am a bit gutted that this didn't come to light earlier as it would have made the world of difference (I think) in some of the subjects she's struggled with... ho hum

Hi Im all new to this GCSE from roi kids go to school in Northern Ireland I have one in year 11 they done Biolgy gcse exam in Jan got results today as she moved from Roi after Junior cert she took Ordinary paper and got a C* I don't know if this is good but Im proud of her
What is the highest result they can get in Ordinary paper.

If you mean foundation paper then the highest grade is 5 I think.
Ds1 came home with 2 "invites" to 3 days of revision at school next week.
I'm trying to leave him to it, really.
I will try and make sure he does at least 4 hours per day over the Easter hols although we do have a couple of treats planned :)

Ugh, just had a run-in with ds. Should've kept my nose out really. He said he was planning to revise Geog fieldwork tomorrow afternoon and I 'suggested' that perhaps that wasn't the best use of his time given that he doesn't take that exam until 13th June and has an entire week free beforehand and has lots of other stuff he needs to focus on....

...ended up in a bit of a row.

Aaaargh. Wine. Give me wine.

Sympathies maud

Ds1 has 3 revision classes at school next week and 1 the week after.
He will revise at home the rest of the week.
So he is having his weekends over easter "off"
We will see how that goes....

Hi all
I'm really concerned DD is overworking herself.
During the school year DD has suffered with severe anxiety, though is naturally a very bright student. The school are predicted her a very strong set of grades; 9s in every (6) subject bar english. DD really wants the best and would be incredibly up set with anything less than 6 grade 9s.
Since January she's come home from school every night and studied till around 10ish. Over the weekends and school holidays she would rarely leave her room and would be studying. During easter holidays she has been to school everyday for revision lessons and independent study then still come home and hit the books.
Her life is currently studying and not much time for anything else, shes extremely hard working however i know is very anxious about the whole exams situation.
How many hours are others kids doing a day? DD is my eldest so this is my first run of GCSEs.
Thanks.