Thread 3: Continuing to GCSEs Summer 2020 - Happy New Exam Year!

[OrangeCinnamon]

Continuation of previous thread
Thread 2

Thread 1 Year 10

At the end of last thread there was a bit of talk on prom dresses ( recommend Fonthill Rd in London if you can get there) by @proggymat and @crazycrofter

@TigerMum had a query regarding moving to foundation level at this stage.

Sorry peeps thread progressed without me noticing so none can reply to your queries!

Fingers crossed @PostNotInHaste - hope you hear soon! Is it a very selective school?

Dd's prom dress arrived from Ever Pretty yesterday and she loves it, so that's a result! £32!

Got two results back, 7 for History and 6 for Physics, I'm happy with both of those at this stage.

£32 for a prom dress? you've done well there compared to some of the costs I've seen!

That’s a result with the dress Crazycrofter, I paid around that for DD’s and she looked lovely.

Yes DS’s first choice very selective so all bets are off. Thing is if he does go then once settled DH and I would like to move back closer to my Dad who is getting on a bit. Would have the benefit of easier train connections too and more work opportunities for me . Also he isn’t keen on local alternatives so it feels like the stakes now a lot higher than when he started out on it all this.

I would love to take advantage of an earlier break post GCSE but unfortunately our two younger ones are still primary age so it's not going to happen!

Good luck to your DS @PostNotInHaste

No prom to prep for here as DS1 will categorically refuse to go, as will most of his mates (they are very much the geeky bunch, quite a few on the spectrum etc). Apparently they are planning an alternative party at my house on the night of the prom instead Not sure I am massively up for that idea but at least he won't require a posh outfit

Anticipating grumpy DS1 home today as he had Spanish speaking assessment which he hates (and did very little prep for). Better dig out the consolation chocolate biscuits!

Have just spotted the French oral dates on the school calendar - they’re really quite soon!

More mock results here, and incredibly, DD got an 8 in physics and a 9 in chemistry, to go with her 8 in biology. I say “ incredibly” because ,until year 10, she really hadn’t got off the starting blocks in science ( she got a 3 in her first physics test of year 10).
Back in the day, I only took O level biology and failed it spectacularly ( either an E or U), but I’ve really enjoyed trying to learn it alongside her and help her with revision.

She got her second history mark back today, also an 8, and found out that yesterday’s 60% mark was one mark off an 8 too.

Given that her head told us that the school “ is a selective one , not a special school”, when we asked for reasonable adjustments, to take into account DD’s SEN, I’m feeling pretty thrilled for DD tonight.

@alsoplayspiccolo that’s brilliant - well done to her! And to you for supporting her!

That’s really good news Alsoplayspiccolo, a big well done to her and and to you for your support.

Wow nice results there AlsoPlays' DD.

Only 2 more days of Mocks to go here. I've got to say DD seems to be handling it all very well. She finally started to revise last week of December so hasn't had long, but is working well. She had revised for small tests previously but I know she has realised just how much there is to revise, so I'm sure she will start up again before long.
They are already planning their weekend :-)
No Prom dress here yet, but again am sure she will start asking very soon.
She still isn't sure whether to stay at current 6th form or move to a Grammar School. Either way will be fine, plus and minuses for both so she can't make a wrong decision really.
Also isn't totally sure what A levels to do... She has a lot to think about in the couple of weeks and I bet the Prom dress will be highest on her list of priorities :-)

Although I haven't posted for a while I've enjoyed reading all your posts. It definitely helps to see what others are dealing with and that we are all in the same boat - hopefully none without a paddle ...

I asked Ds1 for his exam timetable. He says he doesn't have it yet. I don't believe him. In desperation I've emailed HoY.
I'm losing the will to live! He is driving me crazy. Minimal revision being done. 2 revision classes cancelled after school, which didn't help.

Oblomov is that the timetable for mocks or the real thing?

DS hasn't got his "real thing" timetable (though I've worked it out myself by going on the exam board websites) and his school only sent out the timetable for mocks about a week in advance (and then had to redo it, as despite timetabling by option blocks, they'd managed to miss out one subject and cause a clash for over half the year). Of course your DC's school may be more organised than here ...

DD's school hasn't sent out the real exam timetable either.

It is possible they haven't sent out the timetables yet, as they include the tier of paper for some subjects and they may want to adjust some for some pupils.
A few years ago I don't think we got ours for DD1 until after half term.
Make sure you and they check that every paper is listed and the tier is right. A couple of years back the ever helpful prh47bridge's DC missed an exam as he hadn't been entered for it...
Also they have to be entered in their legal name, not a 'known as'.

However you can go onto the exam websites and find the dates yourself and then double check when the timetable comes through.

We had mocks as soon as school went back after Christmas, so DD isn't really revising at the moment. She is still exhausted following mocks, so I don't think there would be much point to revision anyway. Bits and pieces will be done in school, and set for homework, but revision won't really start up again until half term.

2nd lot of mocks in February. 1st lot they found were marked quite harshly so could be that particular mark scheme. DD has revisions classes every day after school for an hour and also now on Saturday mornings til noon. I can't see this being sustainable as she is so tired already.

Has her practical drama GCSE today and her group are not a good team as some don't turn up to rehearsals. So unfair. She now does not want to choose drama for A level despite being awesome at it. Her portfolio is great according to her teacher but what does that matter if your group are lacklustre 😕

Her school have only just mentioned the prom date (despite DD being deputy head girl and asking if they was one and not getting anywhere last year) and it now clashes with our holiday we had booked as an end to GCSEs - who does a prom at the end of June when last exam is mid June. She is now on the planning committee for it but can't go. She is not the only one either as others have done the same assuming the prom would be w/b 22. I made sure we booked well after the June 24th contingency day too.

No timetable for us either, trying to get DS to tell me which boards so can make my own.

Well done to those with results that are exceeding their DC's (or parents'/teachers') expectations. It's great when things start to click. And for those who are struggling with getting their DC to knuckle down, I hope all improves as we get nearer.

I know many of your schools are putting on extra classes mid week/weekends - but not all are, and I, like some others, do not have a DC who has launched straight back into revision mode post mocks. I don't expect her to do so for a while yet, but just keep working and consolidating through the school lesson stuff. Trying to minimise her being severely bored and despondent through Y11; so thankfully one set of tests has been sufficient to get her to pace herself to May, whilst keeping status quo on non-academic schedule.

No revision sessions here yet either (I don't think her school do them) and some subjects won't finish the syllabus until Easter anyway. Dd plans to start some revision at half term but I'd like her to have a bit of a break then too. She's away for the weekend at the start of half term anyway.

Even if they start the week after half term, that's ten weeks before the first GCSE (dd's exams start on 11th May - not sure if anyone starts earlier?). Even 10 weeks in advance seems very early to me, they'll be so bored!

Must admit I’m rethinking my ‘get DS1 started after Feb half term’ strategy-it’s a good point that they’ll get bored and tired if they start too soon. I have to be careful with DS1 anyway as he has some SEN and can easily get overloaded, and pushing too hard is simply counter productive...

Daily after school revision sessions and a whole Saturday morning at this stage does sound a bit much @AnneOfCleavage - surely they’ll all be exhausted by Easter (if not before!) on that schedule?

DD’s school has paired yr11s up with Yr 12 A level students, who offer them 30 mins support time a week at lunchtimes. Seems to be working well.

DD’s elder brother went from a Mock 6 to a 9 in Maths (with little visible effort) which I worry is lulling her into a false sense of security...

Oh ok. Sorry.
Yes HoY emailed back today the official exam timetable hadn't been released yet.

I must've misunderstood some other peoples posts because some of you seemed to know which exam was when.

but maybe you'd actually worked out the dates yourselves? Of when certain AQA or Edxcel ones were!

I think all the boards have released their timetables now, so if you know which exams your DC is doing, at at which tier, you can work it out.

DD’s school uses 4 different boards, so it was a bit of a faff.

DS just had email to say he is through to interview stage. I think I have and still am more nervous about this then I will be about A level results. You can all laugh at me about that statement in August 2022