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!

Dd fell asleep in class today, not like her at all, she’s exhausted but not sleeping well. It’s only first week back after half term, she’s been doing more mocks and talk through papers. I don’t know how to get her to relax more.

Sympathising with anyone stressing over DC and coursework. DS seriously considered taking graphics and I am so devoutly grateful that he ended up opting for computer science instead, he would have been an absolute flipping disaster with any coursework.

Trying to encourage more (or even some!) revision here now that half term is over and it’s not going well!

DD has her drama practical today and felt it went really well- so pleased for her. Food and nutrition practical tomorrow!

Hi all
Just wondering how many of us have children who made their GCSE choices in year 8 and therefore doing the curriculum over 3 years. Our DD chose in year 9 so over two years but has only finished the curriculum in two subjects so far. I'm starting to get a bit jittery with the COVID-19 virus and worrying they won't finish the curriculum in time of children will be off sick. Also getting anxious about GCSEs and if they may get affected.

@mumoftwodc can’t worry about that, it’s not in our control.

I’m also wondering what will happen if school has to close due to Coronavirus, we have several schools near by that have been effected due to children travelling back from Italy after half term .

I have been wondering that Lovemusic. Quizzed DS as to where he is with regards to finishing syllabus. Last module Biology and 1.5 modules left in physics. Wouldn’t have thought about it were it not for his form tutor and friend’s friend but thought I had better think.

If it came to it, the students would have to have special dispensation.

@mumoftwodc we are a three year GCSe Dd has confirmed they are 'pretty much' finished. I know they certainly were for English ages ago. There will be alternative arrangements for coronavirus effects.

It certainly adds a layer of stress...like we need more!

My hope is that if it hits, it hits in March and the worst is over by mid April. But God knows. I'm sure something will be put in place if large numbers can't do GCSE's. The November resits might be massive! Apart from taking normal precautions there isn't much we can do.

Yikes, sympathies on the music/art/DT front - I have to admit I quite hoped ds would take graphics so he had some coursework nailed before the proper exams start, but now I'm glad he didn't - he's another one would would score a solid 9 in procrastination ;-)

Dd is considering music AND drama and making her choices soon - @RedskyAtnight/@lilgreen (& anyone elsewhere dcs are taking them): how have they found them in general? I'd like to steer her away from both but she's not easily steered ;-)

I've got friends who's kids have been sent home for two weeks having come back from Easter ski trips in Italy... fingers crossed CORVID doesn't take off.... DS has finished the course for most now, still finishing history, english and little bits of chemistry/biology....

DD doing music, drama and textiles so nearing the end of all the controlled assessments. Music performance done, one composition done and the other nearing completion. DD loves music and has found this relatively easy to fit in. Drama has been more complicated as 2 different assessments one group (nightmare group one of which didn’t even turn up to do the performance) plus portfolio that’s complete and the other performance (duologue) with a shorter write up due next month. Textiles has been okay, just one assessment and I’ve been helping DD understand the marking criteria. She’s halfway through and it’s due in before Easter. The bonus to all these is 60% of 3 GCSEs are done before the exams. However I too have a DS in year 9 who has chosen GCSEs with no assessments and like others would get a grade 9 in procrastination so glad his are all exams!

DS had his own MFL confusion yesterday. His teacher is not consistent in his messages and gets grumpy of they ask him questions about the speaking ( I suspect because he does not know the answers!)He has just learnt that he ahs a speaking mock on Monday (yup... this Monday!) and has been told a totally different thing than he was last week!

It feels like his school has decided to be laid back about the upcoming second wave of mocks/tests (they are a new thing : DS2 didn't do them two years ago) and so has not given them very much info. This has annoyed him (and me!) though because surely these exams are the lest big reliable test for both school and us as to how they are getting on, and likely to do. The school would want fairly accurate data, I'd have thought. He was told two days ago that he has a LIt mock, when four weeks ago he was told it was just Eng Lang.

His school is generally much clearer than this so not sure why the sudden chaos!

mumoftwodc
DS has done his gcse courses over 3 years and they are still teaching in nearly all his subjects. They do some exams early though so half the syllabus is done and dusted in science and RE. History is 1/3 done. Maths and Eng Lit all done.

DS has enjoyed music as a break from other academic subjects. But ... he's not a natural musician, and has found the composing in particular very tricky. And he's struggled to get organised for the coursework (though organisation an issue in general for him) which has led to where we are now - last minute panic. But I guess that would be the case for any subject with coursework! I would have said not to take music unless your child is really interested / passionate in it .... but ...

(and this might be an interesting question for others to ask too)
I asked DS at the weekend, if, he could have his time again, he would study the subjects he was doing, including being able to opt out of compulsory subjects. He really surprised me by saying he would pick most of his subjects again and he'd actually found most of them very interesting, he was just finding the end of course exam format really stressful (and I think would have much preferred and done better with the previous continual assessment model). The only subject he was adamant about not doing was economics, and tbh he only picked it as best of a bad option group (and his teacher seems to think he has natural aptitude and should do very well; an opinion not borne out in any of his results!)

Roll on the summer!

Losing the will to live with DS. Finding it so hard to just leave him to it. He's stubborn, strong willed and so very Iazy but has great potential

Mock grades have started to appear, he's currently on 5,5,5,6,6,6,7,8. Top two subjects are Maths and Geography ( his favourites). He did minimal revision - I'm talking maybe an hour or two the night before his exams, so I feel with more effort he could do so much better. At parents evening every teacher said he should be aiming at 7's if not 8's and that he deserves a high grade. They obviously see a different hard working boy than I do!!

He's hoping for a place in a fairly renowned college in September, over subscribed. He needs to pull up his socks but doesn't care. I know he'll be GUTTED if he doesn't get that place ( as it's where his friends are all hoping to go ) but he just won't talk to me. I've offered support, told him to tell me if he wants me to test him , buy him more study guides etc. Nothing. Won't even look me in the eye when I'm talking to him.

School are sending out regular emails reminding the students that by now they should be looking at a couple of hours revision a night. They should have been doing this since Christmas, but not DS! He has an excuse for everything.

His mock results aren't bad ( bearing in mind he didn't revise!), but they're only just at the minimal entry requirement for the A Levels he wants to do so I feel he can't afford to be complacent!

I'm tempted to leave him to it and let him possibly mess up, but I just don't want that to happen! I didn't bother at school and ended up leaving with poor results and have regretted it ever since . He's a bright lad with so much potential.

Oh that felt good writing that down!

I think the only revision dd is doing are the 2 after school sessions she’s attending. When ever I check on her at home she’s glued to a games console or talking to friends on video chat 😐. She is pretty stressed and finding all the mocks and prep hard work mentally. Luckily her mocks were really good and she has her place for A levels but I do with she would put a bit more effort in to maybe push a couple of her results up a grade. She sat biology mock this week and said she didn’t do very well and that they hadn’t covered most of the paper, I’m a bit worried that several subjects seem to have not covered half of what they should.

We also have an issue with her business studies and computing as the teacher left at Christmas and the new teacher doesn’t start until May, her mock was a level 7 in computing which was disappointing for her as she is predicted a 9. They have a supply teacher but they are just giving them practice papers rather than teaching anything new.

I will be pleased when exams start, can’t wait to get it them out of the way and get dd back to being herself.

DD’s school have contacted us about her exam clash; I’d really appreciate people’s thoughts.

In a nutshell, she has 3 exams in one day, with 2 of them scheduled for the same pm start time.
Because of qualifying for extra time and rest breaks, taking all 3 on the same day would mean a late finish ( by that, I assume they mean later than everyone else ).

One of their suggestions to solve this is for DD not to take her extra time.
The other alternative is to move one of the exams to the next day, but she already has a morning exam, so she’ll have to be supervised all day, and supervised overnight, no tv, radio, internet, mobile phone etc and being escorted to and from school by me/DH.

I absolutely understand it can’t be helped, and it’s just unfortunate that it’s happened on an exam-heavy day, but I feel really anxious for DD - the exams involved are 2 subjects she finds hard and one that is an A level choice, so no room for extra stress, plus her ADHD means that that amount of exams in one sitting is going to be really draining.
The fact that the SENCO has suggested she might choose not to take her extra time actually makes my blood boil ( and is one of the reasons DD isn’t staying for 6th form).

From what I can tell, her total exam hours with rest breaks and extra time go over the recommend maximum, but aren’t enough for 2% special consideration, so doing one of the exams the next day might be the better option, but then again, would the whole thing of not being able to move without supervision/not having access to the internet to revise be equally detrimental?

What level of supervision would really be needed at home?

If you confiscate her phone & laptop (and those of any siblings) won't you know she doesn't have access so she can move around?
Depending on the subjects, last minute revision could be via revision guides or her own cards.

If it were my DD who gets very tired at school, I'd go for the supervision and spreading out the exams. Not taking the extra time seems crazy, and 3 in one day sounds like a nightmare.

Do you get to pick which exam gets moved?

I didn’t mean supervision at home, but supervision at school - for 2 days, she’d be supervised from 8.30am until the end of the day/last exam.
From the email we’ve been sent, it seems the school has decided which exam is moved, based on exam length. So, they would move the shortest one, whereas I think DD would move the longest so that the 2 days are balanced.

There is NO way she’s not going to have the extra time she’s allowed.

DS had to do 3 exams in a day during his mocks.
He found it absolutely exhausting and there was no way he managed to do himself justice on the exams that were the last of 3. And that's not allowing for extra time. So I would suggest not going for that option.

I understand the overnight supervision is a pain, but you do have plenty of time to make a plan for it, make sure she has access to materials that she needs, talk through how you're going to manage it etc.

also I replied on your other thread to this... supervision is the only way to do this, I'm afraid. It's JCQ regulations and is - genuinely -there to protect young people.

As I mentioned, DS did it, too , and he hated all the supervision in school as it's pretty intense but it had to be done.

Some schools let students pick the moved exam (I know mime did because I was annoyed as a teacher by the choice a student made!) but DS's didn't because it had knock on effects to other students.

They are allowed TV!

What they are not allowed is internet ... so take the phone and other devices. Print off any useful webpages in advance.

Nothing wrong with watching telly!

I know there is no way of avoiding supervision, it's just the choice between one day of it, or 2 that we're having to weigh up.
I d think the overnight choice is better, in reality, but I'll be biting my nails, worrying about inadvertent breaches (DS mentioning anything he's read online, DD forgetting and checking her phone on the way home...).

Other than that it's the shortest exam, the school hasn't given any other reason for moving that particular exam, so I might ask DD what she's ideally prefer and see what can be done.

I am not an expert but I thought the 2% was given to candidates if they did not use extra time because they might then exceed the hours allowable (it's the alternative to overnight supervision) .

Someone said on the other thread you can exceed the maximum and then be given 2% consideration but I am not sure that's accurate (or humane...)

Honestly, try not to stress. She really should /will have done all her most important revision for any subjects by the time she is in the midst of exams. Not being able to lean over a laptop reading not always helpful webpages all night might actually rest her brain. She could practise some exam questions instead or do some gentle mindmapping/ self testing/revision card things or uses printed revision guides.

What subjects are they?