Starting Year 11-GCSE2021 (title edited by MNHQ)

[indy69]

Good morning Mums,

My DD will start her GCSE journey this September. MN always has such good advice that I thought we could have a new thread to support each other. My DD has 4 options apart from English, Science AQA and Maths Edexcel. She has Art and History - Edexcel, and Psychology and Economics - AQA. It wpuld be lovely to know what your DC are doing and we could share resources here. I look forward to meeting you all on this thread. We have 4 weeks to go to start of term and a ton of homework to finish. My DD is feeling too lazy to do anything at the moment, but I guess they have earned the break. I will start reminding her next week about the work. Thanks

It is going to be like Hokey Cokey though isn’t it? (To the tune of right leg in, right leg out...) sing... We have Yr8 in, we have Yr8 out, in, out, in, out. Deep clean all about. We do the Hokey Cokey and turn around. We have yr9 in, we have.....
Not sure what else we can do though.

Hello there, hope I can join here for my DD, just turned 15 in August.
I've only just found this thread, or a kind person made me aware of it. Got a feeling with the next lockdown going to need it.

We are South West England.

DD doing Biology, Chemistry, Physics, English Lit, English Language, Spanish, History, Maths and Drama.

I've been stressed around the school start and Covid so organising is a way of dealing with it, that and making lists.

English Inspector Calls, Macbeth and either Jekyll and Hyde or Christmas Carol.

At the moment I feel there is a balance between trad academic and right brain artsy things for her and the PE department has laid on activities which are good for stress management.

DD like many I'm sure on here had a tough time, with being an only child and not being able to see friends as often as she wanted to. Hope we will deal with the second wave better.

Keep us posted everyone, we need all the support we can get. Thanks for starting this thread.

NotDonna, the hokey cokey thing made me laugh, yeah totally spot on...

got to laugh haven't you?

Welcome greengreengrass
Yes, I think there’s been a lot of focus on academia despite chatter about mental health. My PE/games hating DD came home on Friday after having a Zumba session instead of hockey... she was bursting with happiness and lovely to see. It’d had obviously been a good laugh.

Dd said to me today that she feels quite stressed. The mocks are coming up in Nov/December and she knows that if exams get cancelled her mock grade will really count but with all the coursework and homework there isn't really much time to revise. I am concerned about their stress levels this year. So much uncertainty and pressure.

I know titsywoo seems like a lot more pressure this year. Mine have hit September with so much work and constant tests. Then there’s added stress of just not knowing what may or may not happen. I’m trying to switch focus away from their studies a bit & onto keeping them sane; telling them regardless of grades it’ll be ok. They’re not the be all and end all. They’re both working too hard I think and not having much fun. When I suggest doing something I’m met with not, I have to do 6 homeworks and revise for 3 tests’. We didn’t go anywhere in summer and I now regret this.

It is going to be like Hokey Cokey though isn’t it?

Absolutely this!

A lot of pressure from the teachers since they went back and lots of testing. DS, by his own admission, didn't work as well with the online classes as he does in school.

We have had a rubbish few days here. DS1 got told on Friday morning that they have cancelled their Leavers Prom for next August as they believe restrictions will still be in place by then and there is no point “getting their hopes up”. He is so upset and so are the rest of his year. He actually said that there is no point in anything because if they truly believe we will be in the same position this time next year, then clearly we won’t do our exams. How to completely demotivate an entire year group in the first 2 weeks of what is going to be an incredibly tough year?

That is disappointing ihearttc
The PTA organise that type of thing here, not the school and there’s been zero chatter about leavers parties. That’ll be a long way down the list. Maybe they had to cancel now to get the deposit back etc and can organise something nearer the time? Maybe smaller groups rather than 100s at a nightclub? To be honest no-one here, including the kids, is even thinking about proms. Albeit Leeds & Reading festivals are on the radar!

I lurk on the coronavirus data thread and it’s not looking like it’ll be as bad this year, providing rules are adhered to.

I'm in a weird position of on the one hand being able to opt out from all this worry, and on the other being in despair about DD.

She is far to anxious to attend school or even access work. So all this talk about bubbles, tests etc is kind of irrelevant to me. However this simultaneously means her GCSEs have been blown out of the water...

Currently thinking that 4 GCSEs would be enough, and doable if we can get her accessing some work by Christmas.

@NotDonna

It’s the school that organises their prom. Nothing is usually mentioned until at least after Christmas anyway so to even mention about cancelling it now is strange when we have no idea what’s happening next week, let alone in 11 months time. It’s not in a nightclub either, it’s in a sort of barn and is a huge thing in their school (it’s basically the only social thing they ever do while they are there) so to cancel it is huge for them.

I think it is crazy to cancel prom now. Prom is one of the few things giving DD hope. School have booked it for a bit later than usual - second week of July I think rather than end June.

@TeenPlusTwenties

Exactly, it was the one thing they were all focusing on to get them through this year and it’s now been snatched away before they have even started.

Oh I didn’t mean to sound glib @ihearttc it does seem rather premature doesn’t it? but I wonder if it was about getting back a deposit. Nightclub or barn it’s still lots of kids. Hopefully, you’ll be able to organise something nearer the time. But like you say it’s disappointing for the kids... it’s soooooo good to have something to look forward to, I totally understand.
Awww teen that’s really hard. One of mine had anxiety and school refusal for several months and it was heartbreaking. Is she seeing a therapist? Sending hugs!

No I know you didn’t. Just really frustrated. The school is planning on a school trip next summer for over 200 kids to France yet they the Y11’s can’t have their bloody prom when they have been all together all year anyway.

A trip to France? Mmmm... I think there maybe another disappointed year group there. All our trips have been cancelled.

Hello again,
Yes, I'm with the approach of 'just doing enough' and trying to stay organised and be thankful for things that I have managed to organise, although often enough as you can imagine I sit there early morning with no one to talk to and think 'how on earth are we going to do this...'
but then I snap out of it, grab my notebook and make a list of things to do, open the windows and be grateful for things like DD is getting a big sleep today...

Just wanted to offer something, school here did an online presentation this week which intended to allay parents worries and help dealing with uncertainty. Unfortunately it didn't make a good impression on me probably it is so difficult doing such things by Zoom without the human contact. I know we've had to get used to it and i am learning but I am no longer young (though young in my head) and it takes me ages.

Long and the short of it is I've asked for another meeting and collecting questions and issues on a notepad until then.

One of them somehow being prepared for DD possibly not being well on the day of exams and from a parents point of view what to do.

Whether Covid or normal flu etc (in which case they may not be able to go in_

Hopiing to clarify this this week and pass it on to this thread, at the moment to me it is clear as mud. Though that might be my stressed brain. There has been some talk in teh press about a second set of papers?

Also, try to check the news only once a day in morning as it is too scary otherwise, but wanted to pass on this from a national newspaper don't know if it is true...but I'm really rather hoping that GCSE exams will be scrapped altogether as it seems really not wise to put kids and parents under this kind of stress in the current circumstances, here is the quote:

The Observer says a coalition of private and state schools elsewhere in the UK is expected to launch a campaign to end GCSEs - and a growing number of schools are already looking at alternatives to the summer exams"

looked at the observer but couldn't find any info on this coalition, I would like to support it. Or sign a petition if there is one. Anyone found anything?

Thank you everyone for being here, it is difficult to stay calm amidst all this I find.

@NotDonna

It’s a 2 yearly thing that they do every other year, got cancelled this year so they have rearranged for next summer apparently.

Found the link, just googled 'coalition to end GCSE's and found this, haven't read it yet but thought I would post. Is it worth a seperate thread or is it okay to talk about it on this one? I am not that skilled at knowing how long a thread can be. Can someone advise.

Off to read this now
www.theguardian.com/education/2020/sep/20/private-and-state-schools-bid-to-kill-off-gcses

I have emailed the link to the head teacher of our school as personally I feel the current system is not working. It is quite a long article and so it is taking me time to get my head around it but I thought it was important to flag it up with the head and say 'Rethinking Assessments' seems right in these circumstances.

The Observer says a coalition of private and state schools elsewhere in the UK is expected to launch a campaign to end GCSEs - and a growing number of schools are already looking at alternatives to the summer exams"

I'd be in support of that as I really feel DS would better with assesments throughout the school year. Hopefully it would put an end to slacking off all year and cramming for exams at the last minute.

I’ve posted it in ‘staff room’ but I’m thinking it maybe just speculation. I’m not sure how much a group can influence Ofqual etc.
I don’t know what I’d prefer. DD2 yr11 has always done ok & there’ll be lots of evidence, so should get good CAGs. But I think she’d do best in exams.
DD1 (yr13) is doing well but will do better nearer the time. She’s also taking a subject that did dreadfully a few years ago. So if they do the historical data thing she’d get a dire grade. She’s also in a super smart cohort so if they rank then she could score poorly in another of her subjects. I think she could do much better with exams. But having said all that a couple of her GCSEs were surprises and especially frustrating when missed a grade by 1 mark in two subjects. So, I don’t know which is best from a personal point of view.
CAGs; continual assessment etc should be fairer for everyone but the chaos last year is worrying.

I agree but lets hope this will help our children who need the support the most.

My ds has exams this week and he is no way ready. I really feel for him but am just glad he is keeping up with his sports on Saturday for his release.

Hopefully this will help the school to identify gaps in their learning

I think a discussion on ending GCSEs would be better placed in a separate thread @greengreengrass14 . It is a bit of a moot point for our y11s, but may be interesting for a much wider secondary audience.

The old GCSEs were massively open to abuse imo. So dependent on the amount of help from parents / tutors, let alone teachers being 'flexible' with the rules.