Starting Yr11 Gcses 2020 Support Thread [Edited at OP's request]

[OrangeCinnamon]

A continuation of a Year 10 support thread
previous thread

Last thread was great and supportive as some of us tried to navigate year 10 and some very helpful peeps steered us through.

So sad for your daughter, Silverhill. Having suffered from anxiety myself, I know how all-consuming and debilitating it can be. One day at a time is a great plan, or even one minute at a time (time seems to go very slowly when you're trapped in anxiety). Is she doing any kind of physical activity? Anything to burn off some of the adrenaline ( I found yomping up and down stairs good).
My lifesaver was a book called "Self-help for your Nerves" by Claire Weekes.

Silverhill I do feel for your DD and for you. DD got very anxious for GCSE and it got to the point where we focused on just getting through to next stage. It wasn’t easy but things have improved hugely . I would say bring on the other side of it have things for you to look forward to next year and be quite active in the self care front. That goes for all of us really though.

Someone was saying to me they don’t use flash cards any more but have apps that do the same. Actually it might have been DD thinking about it.

There's a flashcard app called Quizlet, you can make your own flashcards or use other people's.

I also found the book Self-Help for your Nerves very helpful, I have it on Kindle app on my phone. It is quite old but still very relevant.

Hey everyone, dd started back at school this week

@Silverhill I'm sorry to hear your dd is having a tough time, my daughter has had some anxiety in the past which affected her at school. I really hope she find some helpful coping methods, its so difficult isn't it.

Dd found out her English Lit. mark (they take it in year 10), it was a secure 6 but definitely not close to a 7 (teacher forecast a 7+ and dd was hoping for a 7). She feels like she'll do better in English Language this year (creative writing is definitely her strong point) but I think, as someone else said above, really her issue lies in interpreting what is wanted from the question. She's actually a real bookworm and seemed to quite enjoy and get English literature when she talked about it last year but that didn't translate as well as she hoped to the exam (although 6 is still a really good mark as I keep telling her). There's been a couple of youtube tutorials/revision guides mentioned above that I will point her in the direction of for English language.

Still no word from the school about whether they'll be running Further Maths, she also doesn't really know when her mocks are (this could be down to dd or the school) and there's no dates for them or for parent's evening on the school website. I'm not feeling all that impressed with them at the minute.

She's decided she'll do around 2 hours of revision/consolidation every day apart from Tuesday (2 extra curricular activities). During the week she's going to concentrate on going over what they've done in classes (so approx 25 minutes per lesson) and making revision notes, and at the weekend she'll revise last years stuff and make good notes.

I have no idea if this is the right approach but it doesn't seem like a bad plan and she's got off to a good start these past two nights. I think her mocks will be in December so hopefully they'll give us a good idea.

Dd said her target grade in History has gone up from a 8+ to a 9, her report from the end of last year showed she had progressed from 7- to 8, but she only got a 4 in her mock! All of her target grades were 8+ last year because she got level 6s in her KS2 SATS, but surely the teachers should revise them based on her actual progress. She doesn't seem to think a 9 in History is all that likely.

I have to say, as much as I hate to wish life away, I'm looking forward to this year being over. I even had several stress dreams that I was sitting exams/late for school over the summer.

Thank you for your kind words Alsoplayspiccolo PostNotInHaste and notoldenoughforthis

She had a slightly better day today and felt well enough to spend lunchtime revising with a friend.

Alsoplayspiccolo - she goes for a short walk most days and longer walks at the weekend, and this seems to be helping a bit.

Thank you for the book recommendation Alsoplayspiccolo and ExpletiveDelighted I will look at it and see what she thinks.

Gad to read your dd has had a better day Silverhill. DS has autism, and anxiety associated with that - he did a mindfulness course at school and found it really helpful, but of course says its still hard to remember the techniques when you're actually in a stressful situation! He also uses - and loves - headspace, which is a mindfulness/meditation app, and often does a mediation before school and before bed. You can download a free trial iirc, but if you like it, it's actually cheaper to join anxiety uk, who give you a years free access to headspace as part of your annual membership!

DD is off out to another party tonight. If she puts half as much effort into her GCSEs as she has done into perfecting her outfit tonight she’ll go far. I’m not confident however.

Dd is already starting to feel stressed and overwhelmed too. She’s really good at doing homework the night it’s set usually but she says she’s had 11 pieces over the last couple of days!

She’s worried that homework takes so much time there’s no time to revise. Whilst I’ve told her to treat it as consolidation/revision, she’s just said this term’s work won’t be tested in the mocks so she needs to look at last year’s work! Aaahh!

Her school is very academic and she won’t be staying on there but they had a sixth form talk today and the head reassured them that they ‘only’ ask for 8s not 9s in the subjects they’re taking for ALevel!!

Wow @crazycrofter only 8s! No wonder she's feeling stressed.

I don't think dd has had any homework yet, she did bring some English home to finish but she hasn't mentioned being set any homework.

Glad to hear your dd had a better day yesterday @Silverhill I second the recommendation for the headspace app, we sometimes recommend it at work and it seems to get good feedback.

Dd had a look at the Mr Salles youtube videos tonight and she thinks they seem really helpful so thanks to whoever mentioned that.

Is anyone's daughter/son doing Further Maths? Dd remembered to ask her teacher about it today and was directed to the head of department. He said the new headteacher doesn't want them to run it this year (it has previously been after school and presumably optional) as last year's students didn't do very well as a whole and quite a few of them did worse than predicted in the Maths GCSE. He's having a meeting with her next week about it.

Dd is really good at Maths, its her favourite subject and she seems to find it very easy, she's predicted a 9 and will do Maths and possibly Further Maths at A-level. I don't think she scored under 98% in any of her tests last year. I think she'd be a pretty good candidate for it and I would think it would be really good preparation for A-levels.

Am I underestimating the extra work involved? I can see the headteacher's point about not wanting them to spread themselves too thin but I think if they were selective about who could do it (e.g only those predicted 8/9 as opposed to anyone in set 1) they could get some good results.

I'm going to email the head of Maths anyway and tell him dd is keen.

crazy surely this terms work wil be in mocks- if your DD is sitting them in January! And yes Yr10 stuff will also be included but after Yr10 end of year mocks/ exams that will entail recall ?
I can imagine all 7s at some schools but not 8s
not DD is doing further maths- started in Yr10 , it is taught alongside core maths in top set

Proggy apparently some teachers have said this term’s work won’t be included - they do them in November.

Not, dd’s school do Further Maths but she opted out of it. From what I recall it’s not a GCSE but a ‘free standing maths qualification’, is that right? I’m not sure how much it would help with A Level as loads don’t do it so I wouldn’t worry from that perspective. I’d be reluctant for dd to take on anything else now but I can see it’s tempting if it’s a strength.

Ds's school do advanced maths - I'll confess I only heard about this today when he announced he was going to take the test to see if he can do it! He's decent rather than stellar at maths, but keen to do A level so i think it might be a useful test of whether he could... Does anyone know anything about it?!

DS doing Further Maths I think. A few years ago they put loads in for it which caused a lot of stress and now they offer it to top sets and it is optional. They finished the GCSE syllabus last year so are now doing Further Maths and GCSE revision . He’s looking at doing Maths and FM A level and possibly Maths degree so works well for him.

I get a bit confused between Father Maths and Advanced. maths but think it is the former he will do.

Joining in. DS in yr 11 generally works well but is getting quite a lot of homework so fitting revision in as well and finding a sensible balance may be tricky.

Mocks in November.

DS is doing further maths, it is offered to top set only and I suspect select ones in top set. It is optional and after school once a week starting next week. As I understand it it’s well worth doing if they intend to do maths A level as it covers a fair bit of the course. But can be dropped if timewise it is too much.

As I understand it, FM is a level 2 qualification equivalent to GCSE. It doesn't have to be declared amongst GCSEs grades for uni applications.
It's not necessary for progression to A level maths but is thought to help with the 'step up' from GCSE.

It doesn't have to be declared amongst GCSEs grades for uni applications.

Is that information from UCAS? Their website says "You must enter all your qualifications from secondary education onwards – whether you have the result (even any that were ungraded) or you’re still awaiting exams and results."

Tumbleton no, that came from DDs school. Yr11 info meeting next week so I will raise the question.

OCR Additional Maths FSMQ (free standing maths qualification) is a Level 3 qualification (above GCSE level)

AQA Further Maths certificate is a Level 2 qualification (equivalent to GCSE level)

At DDs school FM is compulsory for top set. They've finished GCSE syllabus and are now doing FM in lessons.
Thinking back to options evening when FM for top set was mentioned a few parents were concerned about workload and impact on GCSE grades. It was explained that the FM qualification does not sit amongst the suite of GCSEs when declaring grades.

Hi, thought I’d join the thread, dd1 just finished GCSEs, did well and got what she needed for a levels but a little bit of a mixed bag and waiting for 4 remarks...

Dd2 now starting y11 and we could be in for a different ride this year.... She is at activities 4 evenings per week but they are her passion so we’ll have to see how it goes.

It was explained that the FM qualification does not sit amongst the suite of GCSEs when declaring grades.
That makes sense. There's a section for GCSEs where they will input each subject, exam board and grade. Then other qualifications such as F.Maths will be added in the same section but as a different type of qualification, and be listed below the list of GCSEs.

My DS1 is doing the Additional Maths FSMQ, which we've been told is a level 3 maths qualification, a bit like (but not) an AS level. It's a good introduction for kids who want to do Maths A levels, and apparently counts in the points system for university entry.

Further Maths GCSE is a level 2 qualification, so will be counted with the other GCSEs.

FSMQ = Free Standing Maths Qualification

Can anyone recommend any online resources for Spanish please?

www.duolingo.com/ does Spanish though it's not geared towards GCSE same with www.memrise.com/learn-spanish/