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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

GCSEs 2019 support thread 4

999 replies

TacoLover · 01/06/2019 15:47

The last one is almost full!

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Bimkom · 07/06/2019 18:32

Well DS phoned me in a panic after biology - when I took the call, I thought it was that biology hadn't gone OK, but no, he couldn't find his wallet. He definitely had it this morning on the bus as it has his oyster card in it, and says he always carefully puts it into his bag before going into an exam, but it was not in his bag, and he searched and seached, and went all over the school, to every room he had been in, to see if it could have dropped there.

So instead of discussing biology, it was more about calming him down and pointing out to him that we can get another oyster card, and the little bit of money he had on him really didn't matter, and we can cancel his debit card, and it is not the end of the world.
Luckily this all blew up after biology, which after he had walked home and calmed down he said was fine. The wallet might still be in the school, but I guess it is possible it fell out in the bus, or somebody took it, so we cancelled the debit card.
The one thing I was able to tell him was that it had happened to me this morning as well - except that I was actually pickpocketted. I know that because I was waiting at a bus stop, and when I went to get on the bus, my shoulder bag was unzipped and my purse was gone. And within five minutes I had a text on my phone from my bank asking whether a contactless transaction was mine! So I had just spent the morning (after posting about English), cancelling all my cards! Luckily they picked it up so quickly, only the second contactless transaction, and none of the others had been touched. There was about £25 in my purse, but I guess it could have been worse. So having just recovered from that, here we were phoning banks again!

KittyMcKitty · 07/06/2019 18:34

ready you’re too kind I was just thinking I was being ranty Grin. The problem with English Language is that it is so biased towards the middle classes- I love sitting chatting about various things with my kids - yes we talk about Love Island but that can bring up many “big” topics. Sadly we (and I think that’s probably all of us here) are very much a minority - our children have a massive head start because they have literate, involved parents and it’s heartbreaking that so many don’t Sad

KittyMcKitty · 07/06/2019 18:35

Bimkom your poor ds (and poor you!!) how stressful but thank goodness it was after Biology!

Bimkom · 07/06/2019 18:45

Anyhow, I think I have now managed to calm him down about the wallet - maybe in a weird way having lost all my own cards this morning helped him feel it wasn't so bad (and his may show up).
Apparently DS contrasted Love Island with Bill Gates, whom he argued was a celebrity for the right reasons- and went on about him giving his money to charity and his campaign against malaria. I hadn't realised his interests stretched to Love Island.
Biology he also said he forgot something that sounded like suspensory ligament - so maybe he made the same mistake as your DD NoClue

Bimkom · 07/06/2019 18:51

I mean DS's interests stretched to Love Island, not Bill Gate's!. DS tends to watch things via his computer, and aside from youtube on any piece musical theatre going, and all sorts of comedy shows, I confess I don't really know what it is that he watches. I do know that watching things is how he spends his downtime, but he works very hard, and doesn't watch anything excessively (except science videos!), and so long as it is not pornography, which I am pretty sure it isn't, with DD in the room and us going in and out, I don't try and regulate what he watches. He does share things with me which he finds particularly funny or new in terms of musical theatre (he knows I like musical theatre), but other than that, I am expected to butt out, and I do.

Bimkom · 07/06/2019 18:54

Yes definitely Kitty if he had discovered this before Biology it could have completely thrown the exam, and it is an A level choice and quite key for getting into the dreaded sixth form.

At least we now have until Tuesday morning for the next exam, which of course is maths. I really envy those who are finished though, Congratulations all!! Can't wait until next Friday.

myrtleWilson · 07/06/2019 18:56

I quite like the image of Bill Gates sitting down to watch Love Island, following Caroline Flack on Insta and all Grin

DeRigueurMortis · 07/06/2019 19:08

Bake sorry to hear about the alarm. How frustrating. Fingers crossed for you that the exam board take account of the interpretations.

Kitty I agree with your sentiments despite the fact the question really wasn't DS's thing. Sounds like your DS did really well on it! Heartbreaking about the student you mentioned. I can't help thinking the whole process seems to be geared around stressing even very able and supported students to near breaking point and in the wake of that crushing the self esteem pupils who are perhaps less academically orientated but have huge amounts to offer.

Bimkom golly what a lot of additional stress! Thankfully as you say it was after the exam.

Myrtle In my imagination I think Bill Gates secretly watches Corrie Grin

TabbyStar · 07/06/2019 19:44

DD said they got caught in torrential rain lining up for biology so she was cold and shivering with wet clothes, which really didn't help.

Bimkom · 07/06/2019 20:03

Oh no Tabby that is pretty unpleasant - not to mention the best way to make them all sick!. DS didn't take a coat the other day and it rained and he had to come home in the rain and he came in drenched, but at least it was after the exam and he could get changed as soon as he got home

Fibbke · 07/06/2019 21:25

Dd said there was a bit on diabetes and the orchid question was just asking you to apply knowledge. Fingers crossed she did as well as she thinks she has because she didn't think the first one went that well.

Iambuffy · 07/06/2019 21:30

Ds thought aqa biology paper 2 was harder.

He needs a 5 in eng lang to go where he wants to for 6th form.

He is now thinking of politics for his 3rd A level rather than biology.

Fibbke · 07/06/2019 21:33

Biology A level is madly hard.

Iambuffy · 07/06/2019 21:34

Yeah. He has really NOT enjoyed the GCSE papers. Dh and I are quietly encouraging him to drop the idea

TabbyStar · 07/06/2019 21:38

My DD got a 9 in her biology mock and fleetingly considered it at A level, the teacher she spoke to said there was a lot of content, she'd really need to like biology a lot, and there was also quite a bit of maths, would she like to know more? DD: "No thank you"!

Fibbke · 07/06/2019 21:50

Dd1 got an A* at gcse and really struggled in year 12. Got a D in her year 12 exams. She spent hours and hours on it as she needed an A. Just scraped an A with extra lessons and a tutor. Chemistry was a doddle in comparison!

Iambuffy · 07/06/2019 21:57

The biology teacher at the 6th form open day said the same.

I think because ds has done fairly well in biology in previous mocks (and he won the science cup in year 9) he felt it was a natural choice.

But then a year 12 at the other 6th form he has applied to said that Martha is "only 10% of the course"!?

He had 2 "back up" subjects at his favoured 6th form : politics or sociology. I think he would enjoy both.

TabbyStar · 07/06/2019 22:04

DD is looking at sociology, and maybe politics (though Brexit as put her off as she thinks she'll never understand it) or RS/philosophy/ethics. It depends where she goes. I did A level biology and I don't remember it being particularly hard, but that was a few years ago now...!

Fibbke · 07/06/2019 22:06

RS is a really interesting A level. And PE has loads of human biology (more human biology than Biology a level)

TabbyStar · 07/06/2019 22:14

RS looks really good, DD has enjoyed it at GCSE and it's definitely one of her top choices, our local sixth form doesn't do it though so she needs to decide whether she wants to travel to sixth form college, she's undecided at the moment.

DeRigueurMortis · 07/06/2019 22:16

I did sociology A Level - loved it.

That said it was some time ago....Blush

What I would say is it's far more Arts oriented than you might expect, so if you're good at English, History or what I consider hybrid subjects like Economics, it's an interesting subject and a good choice (caveat that obviously the syllabus may have changed significantly, but I'd take that into consideration wrt finding out more).

If you're more inclined towards the sciences and not keen on writing long essays etc then I'd probably be wary.

Iambuffy · 07/06/2019 22:19

I did a level sociology too and loved it :)

Iambuffy · 07/06/2019 22:21

Ds did GCSE PE - sadly the teachers have been useless so he just zoned out. Scored well in the mocks though!

TabbyStar · 07/06/2019 22:25

DD started GCSE sociology but it began with all the research methodology and it put her off, she likes the actual topics though. I did sociology at university so I might be some use to her too!

myrtleWilson · 07/06/2019 22:29

Tabby - DD is doing politics, RS/Philosophy/Ethics and English Lit - she's very much looking forward to them - RS was always there but politics has come racing out the blocks after the 6th form taster day at her school. Sociology and classics were in the mix and sociology was her reserve choice if the timetable didn't work out - but it has...!