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Secondary education

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

Original poster

Starting Year 11-GCSE2021 (title edited by MNHQ)

991 replies

indy69 · 01/08/2019 05:57

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

OP posts:
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Toobuktim · 06/10/2020 21:44

We’ve not had a whisper of any parents’ evenings happening, they usually are around November for the year 11’s, so I’m hoping more information will be shared soon.

NotDonna · 06/10/2020 22:30

Well DDs meeting with the teacher re 6th form was a bit of a non starter. No discussion of A level choices but discouraged from doing the EPQ, which I’m surprised at. It’s very very early days but we obviously need to find out more about the EPQ.

treeeeemendous · 08/10/2020 12:33

I see Scotland have cancelled their Nat5 exams.

Would be great to get some sort of update from the government regarding their plans for GCSEs, be it cancelling or moving or a further reduction of content.

AsPerMyLastEmail · 08/10/2020 14:50

Yes wouldn’t an update be lovely, it’s not like this is quite an important issue causing anxiety for students and school alike or anything Hmm

Instead DD’s headteacher has sent us a letter saying the students need to treat the mocks in December as the real thing, because there’s a high chance they’ll end up being almost treated as such.

Titsywoo · 08/10/2020 15:49

@AsPerMyLastEmail

Yes wouldn’t an update be lovely, it’s not like this is quite an important issue causing anxiety for students and school alike or anything Hmm

Instead DD’s headteacher has sent us a letter saying the students need to treat the mocks in December as the real thing, because there’s a high chance they’ll end up being almost treated as such.

This makes me so cross. My DD has exams in Nov and Dec then again in Jan and Feb. Not sure which are considered the mocks as they are just called Key Assessment Points. She feels very pressured to do well in these in case they use the grades if the summer exams are cancelled. BUT the homework has been piling up and she has loads of coursework for art still to do. There's no study leave so no proper time for revision just what she can fit in around the homework. If the summer exams go ahead it feels like there will be no respite from the stress!
AsPerMyLastEmail · 08/10/2020 16:03

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

NotDonna · 08/10/2020 17:28

Have they said anything about when they are going to make an announcement? I thought they said in a ‘few weeks’ a few weeks ago, so should be imminent.

Titsywoo · 08/10/2020 18:15

15th October rings a bell as a date they were talking about letting us know what's going on?

Cuddling57 · 08/10/2020 21:34

I'm with you all about the homework and coursework piling up and mocks looming in November, then again in the new year. Feels very stressful.
DS seems to have coursework deadlines for two subjects as late October. Does anyone know if this is a school deadline or or an actual gcse official deadline? I haven't heard back from the teacher yet (understandable).

NotDonna · 09/10/2020 16:58

No coursework here at all so no idea about deadlines. What subject is the coursework for @Cuddling57?

Titsywoo · 09/10/2020 20:29

@Cuddling57 DD was told by her art teachers that her coursework was due at the end of October. Turns out that was bollocks to scare the people who did bugger all in lockdown into getting a move on!

Toobuktim · 10/10/2020 08:04

Well that’s my ds at home for two weeks due to coming in contact with someone who tested positive Sad Then it’s half term and then he’ll only have three weeks of school before his mocks.

portico · 10/10/2020 08:20

Dep Head has been scurrying in and out of most Y11 classes to scaremonger students into treating the Mocks as the ‘big one’. This was spelt out again in yesterday’s Y11 Mocks Letter. The thought of CAG scares, as I have no idea as to how it’s constructed and validated. Would sooner take our chances with exams in June 2021.

baffledmom · 10/10/2020 08:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Cuddling57 · 11/10/2020 13:37

@Toobuktim oh no. What's the online teaching like at your school?
Hopefully your DS stays well.

I have been searching the internet for coursework deadlines but can't find dates.

Toobuktim · 11/10/2020 14:24

@Cuddling57 it’s supposed to be good, but we’ll see. But at the end of the day it’ll never be as good as being at school.
One good thing to come of this is that teachers must know they’ll never be replaced by robots or online learning permanently Grin we’ll always need teachers physically in person because they make such a difference to our children.

Blubell46 · 11/10/2020 16:46

@Toobuktim oh know!!!

I totally agree teachers can definitely not be replaced. I feel for them they really do have a hard job considering they still dknt know what they working towards.

My ds has just completed his exams that he would of done in June. They didn't go so well and he is normally on his game...his mocks are in Jan. Am really hoping teachers take that under consideration if they are used in any form...since he has been off since March.

He was down and I really feel for him- normally he gets the results but now he is worried he wont do well! Trying to boost his confidence...

toffeekiwi · 11/10/2020 17:52

I've got a DS in year 11 so joining the thread. I've just told him that he should treat all work as GCSE coursework and all exams as the real thing just in case.

portico · 11/10/2020 18:53

I don’t quite understand Mocks. Are the schools being given the same exam papers to set their students. Or do they make up their own papers. If the board sets the papers, I assume they will leave it to teacher to assess only on content learnt for the teachers to mark it. I am unclear about this bit.

NotDonna · 11/10/2020 21:30

That’s the whole problem portico schools set their own mocks. They’re not standardised in England.

Titsywoo · 12/10/2020 13:37

We've just had a letter from the school re Eng Lit exam content for AQA. They are dropping An Inspector Calls. DD will be upset. She hates the poetry and the amount of memorising quotes that it entails. Plus she is just better at writing about novels.

NotDonna · 12/10/2020 13:57

Has she already covered Inspector Calls? I thought they’d drop whatever they’d not yet covered (unless it’s the compulsory Shakespeare).

Titsywoo · 12/10/2020 16:57

@NotDonna

Has she already covered Inspector Calls? I thought they’d drop whatever they’d not yet covered (unless it’s the compulsory Shakespeare).
Yes she has covered it already. AQA decided that poetry was too important so dropped the post 1900 novel instead. So frustrating.

Not really sure what to think about the 3 weeks exam delay (although that doesn't include maths and english). Sure it will help a bit but they were out of school for 14 weeks! Either way I'm glad the exams won't be cancelled.

Cuddling57 · 12/10/2020 17:38

One maths and one English GCSE exam will be held just before the May half-term, giving any Year 11 pupils who are affected by Covid-19 the best possible chance of still sitting a paper in each of these core subjects.

What does this mean? Are there more than one exam for maths and English?