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Original poster

GCSEs 2019 - support thread part 2

999 replies

AtiaoftheJulii · 28/01/2019 20:27

Here we are again Grin

OP posts:
Soursprout · 13/02/2019 19:42

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67chevvyimpala · 13/02/2019 20:10

Namechanger here! :)

bizzey · 13/02/2019 21:42

Thank you for my welcome .Smile

myrtleWilson · 14/02/2019 07:09

Another one with an under the weather DD here, she was off sick one day this week and half term can't come soon enough I think...

67chevvyimpala · 14/02/2019 09:31

I'm chivvying my two on until tomorrow...cant wait for a week of lie ins!

flatmouse · 15/02/2019 18:21

Visit to preferred college on Tuesday- DD upset as wants to go but travel putting her off.
Parents evening last night. All positive (ignoring drama), and all subjects covered syllabus apart from geography.
Half term started early (today), then 2 weeks mocks post half term.

Soursprout · 16/02/2019 10:04

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Lolalolacabana · 16/02/2019 11:13

Dd has decided this is her time to start revising and has made a very optimistic timetable- we’ll see how this one goes HmmGrin. Have your dc started ‘proper’ revision at home yet?

OlderThanAverageforMN · 16/02/2019 12:26

Well DD did get to Berlin in the end, she was feeling better and set off at 2.30am this morning. However the coach never arrived at school, and long story short, a load of parents pulled together and drove the 42 children and 4 teachers to Stansted from Surrey in a convoy!! They just about made the flight. So, she is there, but pretty stressed and tired, as are we, no sleep in the Older household at all.

So, no revision here this weekend, and she is not back until Monday night, and next week quite busy with other stuff. They do have a of set papers, and essays to do though, which is revision anyway, so I think she said she had about 10 different things to do, which TBH will probably be enough.

myrtleWilson · 16/02/2019 12:45

OMG Older thats awful - I suppose too early to know why the coach didn't turn up? how stressful that must have been for all involved. I hope she has a good trip though!

67chevvyimpala · 16/02/2019 13:05

Oh, good grief!

Ds1 has some papers to do and an English revision day on weds.

67chevvyimpala · 20/02/2019 10:49

Ds1 has gone off to his English revision day at school.

He wasnt thrilled about it :)

catontherun · 20/02/2019 11:33

I've posted earlier in this thread/previous thread but name changed recently.

After a great set of mock results I've given approval for dc not to attend any of the Feb Half-Term booster sessions. School have a list of kids who have been notified that they feel need to attend and their parents were sent a timetable/details but its voluntary for anyone else providing the parents know and agree with non-attendance. School haven't said what they'll be doing at Easter although I guess they'll just be monitoring progress to see what they think would be beneficial and to whom.

Thinking ahead, we are going away on holiday for the May Half-Term week which is actually after exams start. I'll ensure there's time set aside for revision/question practice and we can take any amount of revision material as it's a UK location but I doubt we'll achieve the recommended 8 hours a day on some days. We get back on the Saturday afternoon and there's an exam on the Monday morning. Not the best of family plans but really can't be helped this year and I'm trying not to beat myself up about it and so far dc is cool with it. Anyone else holidaying between now and exams ?

We've been looking at getting some better History revision material as dc says stuff found online so far is too basic and this subject has the "weakest" (aka laziest) teacher who isn't running any revision classes or offering much advice either. Has anyone any suggestions ?

67chevvyimpala · 20/02/2019 12:12

Today is voluntary.

Ironically it's the kids who dont need it who will go...

catontherun · 20/02/2019 12:25

@67chevvyimpala

Sadly, so often true.

67chevvyimpala · 20/02/2019 19:58

Apparently it was a good turnout.

I'm glad.

flatmouse · 22/02/2019 18:28

@catontherun 8 hours a day? I think that's way too much. Is that from school?

flatmouse · 22/02/2019 18:31

@Lolalolacabana DD has more mocks next week and bit, so has been revising for that. I imagine she'll then have a good week off before we sit and figure out the final revision timetable. Fortunately for all subjects apart from geography, they'll be in revision mode after these mocks.

67chevvyimpala · 22/02/2019 18:37

8 hours a day seems excessive tbh.

We aren't planning any trips until after the exams. We do have 3 trips planned between mid July and October half term though :)

catontherun · 22/02/2019 23:51

Sorry, that should have been 6 hours a day, which was what was recommended at the GCSE exams information session that parents were invited to attend.

Powergower · 26/02/2019 20:33

Catontherun we aleways go away at Easter but this year we went away Feb half term as Easter is so close to the exams this year. Ds did nothing all week but he did do mocks before we went away. He seems to have burst of energy, doing 2/3 hours a night for a week and then nothing for 2 weeks. The struggle with being consistent. I can't imagine him ever building up to 6 hours!

I'm also looking for history and RE resources like catontherun. Everything online seems basic and I can't find a good tutor for ds. Does anyone have any tips for revising these subjects?

Our school does not do study leave so the t school until exams start. Bizarrely, prom is before the exams which many of the kidds are unhappy about.

Does anyone know what the predicted jump is in grades from mocks to real exams? Our school says it's 2 jumps in grade usually but that seems a lot. School is also saying that the grade boundaries are going to be really high this year compared to last year but I'm not sure how they can predict this.

Soursprout · 27/02/2019 05:33

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Powergower · 27/02/2019 05:52

Sour - the mocks are really exhausting. I think ds surfed with doing 2 exams a day every day for almost 10 days. But it's really good practice for them to get used to exam conditions.

If i find any good history resources I'll let you know but so far I've found nothing. History is one of ds strong subjects but because of that he's not investing much time revising it. They've also just finished content so ds is starting to worry. His teacher said it's hard to get full marks on the 12 point question without a really good analysis answer but there are so few resources teaching how to answer analytically to get the best grades.

67chevvyimpala · 27/02/2019 07:21

power does he have the cgp revision guides?

I know ds1s school put a lot of resources online for them to access.

pointythings · 27/02/2019 19:14

Mocks part 2 are under way here - maths ones are all done. DD had one before the half term and that was a couple of marks off a 6 - and she found it really hard so that's pretty good.

They're really cramming them in though, so many days when she has 3 in a day. I told her that won't happen with the real deal.

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