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!

All this talk of languages and I've just had the invite for ds's options evening. He needs to choose 3 out of History, Geography, Music and German! You're all making me think I'll steer him away from German!

DD sat French reading and listening back to back during her mocks (hence my previous comment about 3 elements).
Looking at the Aqa time table French reading and listening are both timetabled for May 12th am- perhaps there was method in her school’s madness me finks.
DDs weakest element in French is listening but in the mock she dropped more marks than usual in the reading which was strange as she is really strong in writing.
In the speaking, she got full marks on the role play section but dropped marks on the picture card- she’s convinced her teacher gave her a boring hard one as several of her friends got ‘much better images’.[grin
That said, if a picture card doesn’t enthuse conversation it’s perhaps best to focus on ‘boring images’?
Also,In the speaking DD realised she had used a wrong tense several times but then corrected the reply to the correct tense.She ‘asked her teacher afterwards if this can be done in the exam proper and was told yes.
Perhaps marks were dropped in the speaking because DCs didn’t realise a corrected response/reply could be offered?

So interesting to catch up with this thread. My ds is another child who is finding language difficult. He goes to a local, very good comprehensive and I have to say, I think his teachers are wonderful but he just doesn't seem to have an aptitude for french. I think a lot of it comes down to embarrassment in the speaking of the language. He got a 5 in his pre-Christmas mocks and was delighted but considering he is mostly an 8 student, it is a marked difference.

I have heard that french will be marked slightly differently this year to bring it in line with the more lenient way Spanish is marked. Sorry I sound so vague but I have no idea how Spanish is marked. This was a Radio 4 news item a short while ago so I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I don't feel overly concerned about his French for GCSE as I'm sure he will pass and do just fine in the rest of his subjects but i do think it is a shame that we don't seem to educate students effectively in languages in this country. It seems such a waste of a lot of time and effort that so few students come out of school feeling confident in the language they have studied.

I found alcohol a good way of getting over the embarrassment aspect of speaking another language on German Exchange in the 80’s but I don’t think it’s to be recommended as a GCSE technique

Dd has officially handed in her application for 6th form, she’s gone for English, maths, computer science and won’t be going for a 4th option. She says only one person has gone for a 4th option and that was for further maths.

Crazycrofter I would steer away from German, dd is doing History and really enjoying it but it’s mainly because she’s good at writing (English), there’s a lot of writing involved, her best friend chose geography and is enjoying it. I’m annoyed that DD’s year had to take a language as it seems a waste of a GCSE, she would have rather done another humanity subject.

Post 😂😂😂😂😂

Changing the subject completely, Piggywaspushed, am I right in thinking your area of expertise is film studies? DD is interested in doing it at uni (not making films, the other film studies) and I’m clueless about it all.

Post
If only such antics could be included in ‘extra curricular’ activities for the dreaded 6th form applications

@PostNotInHaste alcohol might a very good technique to help parents through the GCSE stress though

Love
Whilst I can empathise that you are annoyed that your DDs year had to take a MFL as it seemed like it was a waste of a GCSE.
However, I’m concerned about the narrowing down of the curriculum and 3 year GCSEs.
For me, this means less DCs will choose a MFL, less A level MFLs will be offered and less universities will run MFL degrees for those that not only have a genuine passion for languages but also want to teach them.
Don’t get me started on classical languages

Proggy, DD is doing Latin and really enjoys it. She's take Classics next year if she could.
At DS's school, everyone starts Latin and Spanish, and students can drop Latin for German or French but are expected to carry on with Spanish until the end of year 12.
In the local comps, Welsh is compulsory.

Yes it is piccolo ! It's the greatest subject ever! Where is she looking? Does she want to do a practical or academic degree?

Sorry, you answered that bit....

red, this is true about French. It's not that Spanish is leniently marked; it's that French (and German) were identified as being punitively marked. Scandalous really.

shimy , yes he does but (as discussed before) we are struggling to find a sixth form that is definitely offering Spanish and has decent teachers...

Hi All - Skin gone a bit spotty here as well. Found the Kate Somerville stuff 'Eradikate' is amazing. Drys out the spots - DD is so happy a friend recommended it.

Currently sulking as DD should have had increased print size for mocks, and they forgot! Increase size confirmed for GCSE's, endless emails apologising, SENCO, teachers, the lot. But still it made it hard on DD as she needs the increased size for maths in particular. Not helped by stressed DD not saying anything until it was too late!

Sorry to read about the hassles with languages. It's such a hard one to 'top up' on your own I think (but I think because I found French impossible and still remember staring at French tests in despair.).

Piggy, it's all a bit of a recent thing with DD. She's been mad about drama as a subject for ages, and through going to live theatre and NT Live screenings, has really got into analysing production/ direction etc. From that, she's found out for herself that she could study film. She always intended to take drama and English lit for A levels, and had thought about psychology as a third, but has done some research and found that certain unis look favourably on a history-based subject for film.

From my own brief look into it, grade requirements at the top unis are pretty high, so it seems sensible to choose subjects that play to her strengths (I'm not sure 3 essay subjects would). Other than that, I have no idea what a BA Honours in film would involve, or what it might lead to in the way of a career.

Any help/advice you can offer would be hugely appreciated (even if it is to say that DD is barking up the wrong tree!)

I'll PM you!

Thank you for the KS tip Wheres. We've tried Paula's Choice and Sand & Sky ranges; nothing worked so far. Will give it a go!

Wow - I feel a lot better about DS's french mark now, knowing that there are so many of us in the same position. Thanks to everyone for sharing.

You're in great hands with Piggy there Piccolo* but just to say the BBC have apprenticeships she could look at as well..

DD applied for one and was very close to securing a place. She applied for a broadcasting one but there are others. It's all about hazy but I think it was for 18 months and left university open afterwards.

This is also very true : also Sky and ITV.

BBC do seem to be making a LOT of cuts, however.

Word of caution re Reading. DD1 (18)went last year. The conditions are truly dire. Long walks to taps for water and bottles being sold for £7. Toilets absolutely hideously filthy, non flushing and with no sink. Drugs everywhere. She was there in the heatwave too which probably compounded all those issues. She still had a good time but says if she did it again she’d do 2 nights not Wednesday to Sunday.

DD2 got her mock results today and is pleased. They range from 9-4 with her strength being English/humanities(9/7/7/7)and less so maths/science. (5/5/4)

Re MFL, Piggy is right, not enough teachers, not enough good teachers 😥

Also yy German and French are being marked less strictly this year, but I don't suppose teachers have been able to take this into account when marking mocks (as I bet they don't have the detail!) so you may all find that the results go up in the summer from mocks! sorry not Spanish tho.

Reading and listening are always done on the same day as they are relatively short exams. Still two skills tho, a lot of people find listening hard, worth doing any past paper you can find, even old spec and other boards, just for practice listening to native speakers.

Really advise against doing higher if you are struggling for 4 on foundation. The questions are a lot lot harder so it's loads harder to get the marks. Skill is to do what you need on foundation to get the marks eg picture on the writing one just say il y a xxxxx four times. Look at the spec and the examiners reports.

Foundation paper needs about 62% for a 4. Higher needs 50% for a 5, about 43% for a 4. I would never enter a student who was a 4/5 for higher. Imagine being unable to access more than half the questions at all, how dispiriting.

Another one here struggling with MFL, German in DS's case.

He can do the listening fine but not the rest. His teacher has a plan to put him in for foundation for everything apart from listening and higher for listening. It's so much easier to get a C at foundation that he will should get high Cs in all the foundation papers. And then if he does well at his higher listening paper, that should push his overall mark to a B, that's the plan. (We are in Wales hence the letters.)

My point is that this is only the plan because it's so much easier to get a C on a foundation paper than it is to get a C on a higher paper. 🤷‍♀️

*disclaimer - all info filtered through DS. Our parents evening is next week.