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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

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paganbilly · 02/12/2020 04:52

@Toobuktim

Thanks *@UncomfortableSilence and @paganbilly*, it seems so bizarre who gets it and who doesn’t. DS’s sister had to isolate as she sat right next to a boy in registration for ten mins every day who tested positive, she didn’t develop anything. It’ll be 50/50 with DS though as the boy is his friend and he sits next to him for 4 hours a week too, so if he comes through it uninflected it’ll be a surprise!
I suspect that ds and I have been exposed to it a few times and maybe have gradually built up immunity,

That or the fact that our hay fever has been so bad that we've been bunged up for weeks and sneezing all the time so the virus hasn't managed to get through 🤷‍♀️(not entirely serious there but who knows)

UncomfortableSilence · 02/12/2020 07:34

You still here judging my parenting Eleanor Confused

DD has been having lots of talks in CP about options for next year including teachers giving tasters of A Level courses that they don't study at GCSE. DD is favouring History, Business and Physics as they are her favourite subjects, her school also does the LIBF which is the London Institute of Banking & Finance Diploma, she really fancies this and it would sit nicely alongside Business and they have to do an EPQ.

Still very much in the deciding phase, she's feeling a bit demotivated but she had a lovely long chat with my DM, we lost my DF very recently and it was sudden and traumatic and she has really struggled with it as they were very close so I think the talk with DM done them both so good as DM is finding things very hard, so hopefully she will be back on the revision today, she asked me to print some past papers for her so think she will focus on those.

UncomfortableSilence · 02/12/2020 07:37

Titsy, did you keep your distance from her? If not you may unfortunately have to isolate, the criteria we use in school is anyone who has been in close contact up to 48 hours before symptoms start.

Fingers crossed for a negative result.

Neversaygoodbye · 02/12/2020 09:20

DD finally back to school today with maths & computing mocks! Phew!
So with regards to some comments made on here, I would like to say that some parents may well suffer with their own anxiety which in my case seems to multiply tenfold where my children are concerned. Like others have said, coming to forums like this is a way to express these anxieties while trying to keep a lid on it in front of your children. Thanks to all those parents here willing to share such feelings, it's good to know I'm not alone. I've always wanted to be one of those calm chilled out parents - it was never going to happen, luckily my husband balances out that side of my personality.

paganbilly · 02/12/2020 11:04

@UncomfortableSilence

Titsy, did you keep your distance from her? If not you may unfortunately have to isolate, the criteria we use in school is anyone who has been in close contact up to 48 hours before symptoms start.

Fingers crossed for a negative result.

I had to self isolate when somebody tested positive who I hadn't seen for 3-4 days.
KittyMcKitty · 02/12/2020 13:04

Titsy if she’s positive you will need to self isolate but no one else in your household needs to unless you develop symptoms then everyone needs to counting 14 days from onset of symptoms. We’ve sadly been there for the t shirt in the COVID lottery - 50% of household got it - although I was strict with staying in bedroom / using set bathrooms after the positive tests we weren’t before so it does seem fairly random- pretty certain I got it from being in car with dc going to testing centre.

Pipandmum · 02/12/2020 18:02

@UncomfortableSilence in regards to taking physics - my daughter loves physics and at last weeks parent/ teacher meeting said she should get an 8 or even 9 (!) and was encouraging her to take it but what he doesn't know us she is in third set maths. Still should get a 7 in it but certainly does not want to take math A level, so she assumed that would mean no physics too. So has your daughters school said its OK to do physics without maths? It would be purely from interest my daughter wants to go into creative arts field. She hasn't really spoken to her current school about options as she is moving for sixth form thinking art, history and biology and psychology (if she goes to a school that allows a fourth).

paganbilly · 02/12/2020 18:36

Physics is one that my DS is considering but he will not be doing Maths. He can do four A levels at his school as he' will be in the stream that can do the EPQ.

Toobuktim · 02/12/2020 19:11

At our 6th form they say that if you want to do physics, you should do maths too. It is actively encouraged to do so and very much discouraged not to.

paganbilly · 02/12/2020 19:17

@Toobuktim

At our 6th form they say that if you want to do physics, you should do maths too. It is actively encouraged to do so and very much discouraged not to.
I can see why they say that but DS doesn't plan to do Physics at university but it's one of his strong performing GCSEs and he prefers it to Chemistry. He wouldn't want to do Maths so we will have to check and see what his 6th form say.
UncomfortableSilence · 02/12/2020 19:36

Pip our DDs sound similar, she has consistently got 8/9s in all tests etc she just gets it and she loves her teacher but she is also set 3 for maths and she struggles, she's predicted a 6, her teacher said she definitely has the ability to do it at A Level but they would usually recommend maths with it but it's not compulsory.

She also likes the look of psychology, she would have liked to do sociology too but that's not offered at any of her first two choice 6th forms.

She's not set on a uni choice or career yet so I just said to her to do the subjects she enjoys and is most interested in, she's my first going through this so not sure if that's the right advice?!

paganbilly · 02/12/2020 21:07

DS has just said he got a 5 for English, a bit of a shock after his 7/8/9 for the other subjects. Still it's a 5 that they need I think.

Toobuktim · 02/12/2020 22:05

I suppose it’s like computer science, my dd in year 9 really enjoys it and it’s going to be one of her options for gcse, but she dislikes maths. They say those two subjects are hand in hand too - she’s thinking, maybe, when at 6th form to do the core maths and hope that is enough to help should she continue computer science to A level. Maybe doing core maths for a year would be beneficial for A level physics?

NotBabiesForLong · 02/12/2020 22:06

Core maths is a great option in 6th form.

ihearttc · 02/12/2020 22:14

@paganbilly

DS1 also wants to do A level physics without maths. He is predicted an 8 in both but feels the jump to a level maths is huge.

His teacher has said he can do it, Y12 would be ok but then Y13 would be more challenging and he’d need to be prepared to put a lot of work in at home (or a tutor) to cover the maths he’d need to do. He’s still trying to decide. He wants to also do Media Studies and PE so in theory Biology would perhaps be a better fit but he is better at physics and enjoys it more.

Pipandmum · 02/12/2020 22:19

What she would really love to do is five A levels (less intensely). Not the IB as you have to take English and math and a language (I believe) but she really resents having to narrow her choices down! It's too much a means to an end rather than a journey of exploration. How many 15 year olds know what they want to do at uni and the rest of their lives?

paganbilly · 02/12/2020 23:23

@NotBabiesForLong

Core maths is a great option in 6th form.
That's what my ds will be doing, his stream will be expected to. Re his 5 in English, it turns out out he found some old grade boundaries online and assumed it's a five, actually he doesn't know
UncomfortableSilence · 03/12/2020 05:30

Extra measures 'to ensure fair exams next summer' www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55160374

Today's announcement on the measures for their exams.

Toobuktim · 03/12/2020 05:34

Just read this now @UncomfortableSilence, what do you make of it? I see they are giving out formula sheets, I wonder if they’ll have open book exams in English too

portico · 03/12/2020 10:18

When they say advance notice in SOME topics. What does SOME mean. If there are 10 topics in Chemistry and they provide notice of 2 topics, I still read it as learning those 2 topics plus the remaining 8. Have I overthought this?

paganbilly · 03/12/2020 12:43

@UncomfortableSilence

Extra measures 'to ensure fair exams next summer' www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-55160374

Today's announcement on the measures for their exams.

It sounds too good, what's the catch ?
Goldistheanswer · 03/12/2020 12:51

I agree portico. What does “some” mean? It’s a really vague description when our kids need clarity and reassurance.

AsPerMyLastEmail · 03/12/2020 14:43

Agree our kids really need clarity and reassurance.

UncomfortableSilence · 03/12/2020 16:01

Agree it's still fairly vague, but a start! Let's hope they find out really soon what the finer details are as there really isn't very long once they go back after Christmas.

Cuddling57 · 03/12/2020 18:08

Maybe the advance notice of topics will be enough to get them on their way to a pass but not enough alone to get a 9?