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!

@Oblomov20 quite jealous of your half hour meeting! Would love something more than a quick 5 minutes per teacher at parents evening.

Half an hour meeting? , we get five minutes with six subjects only. Oh and we have to pick those subjects before we get the mock results back!

I don’t think I could talk to a teacher for 30 mins, I’m conditioned talking very very fast to get it into 5 mins! We had to decide before mock results which wasn’t helpful.

It really isn't helpful, if I'm limited to 6 subjects I want to know which ones he's doing worst in so I can have emergency talks!!

That's the case in a lot of schools. It's very silly.

Have you tried goggling grade boundaries if you have raw marks?

Googling

We don't have any kind of marks at all yet and booking opens at 7pm tonight.

Saying that, think I'd better put maths top of the list given his form teachers unsolicited remarks after the first exam.

DD finished mocks on Friday and got her first results back today.
I’m a bit miffed about how the school is giving them out - as and when the teachers mark each paper, with some giving % and others giving grades ( and the maths papers were written by one of the maths teachers, so no way of knowing how he’s translating marks into grades).
So, she got 8 in biology (paper 2, combined, higher); 6 in paper 1 and 8 in paper 2 geography; 60% in one component of one paper in history; and narrowly missed a 6 overall ( see my comment above) in the two maths papers.

In her words, apart from maths, she is pleasantly surprised. Given that her strongest subjects are English and drama, I’m pretty happy too; decent enough to be encouraging, but I know she still has lots of room to improve, given the chaotic nature of her revision.

Excellent results Also and a really good springboard for the next few months.

DS had mocks before Christmas, like you the results came back in dribs and drabs and were hard to understand. They only did practical mocks in science as they have their practical exams next week. Most or maybe even all subjects are nowhere near finished yet either. From what I can gather he did ok though. A* in welsh speaking which had us all falling off our chairs in shock and laughter
We have parents evening in a couple of weeks and options evening the week after that so hopefully all will be revealed then.

Revision proper starts this week (tomorrow as he has Mondays and Fridays off for sport). I think his frame of mind is best described as reluctant. He is looking forward to the science pracs though, having managed to bag himself two of his cleverest friends as group partners

Last teachers meeting was so unusually quiet I managed to sneak and see three extra teachers that I didn't book for !

My mistake. It's not half an hour, with Leadership. It's 15.

Still a fair time! How is DS getting on generally, is he getting on with things a bit more?

Have you all got holidays booked?

This is my one time to take advantage of being able to go on holiday during term time : obviously DS1 finishes his GCSEs and my DS2 is finishing his Sats, so I can actually go in term time and get a much cheaper deal.

quite a few of my friends have similar aged children and they're all flying off to Florida for a week, and then going on a Bahamas cruise for a week.

not sure we can quite afford that! but have you guys all got holidays booked?

I want to get something booked so we have something to look forward to.

I have a younger child in Year 9, so can't take advantage of the early finish. But making plans for 2 years time (assuming they will both still want to come on holiday with us then, which is of course, not a given!)

Ouch! That question hurts a teacher....

You can think of me trying to 'teach' when you are all on holiday.

Remind yourselves before you book about the contingency date which I believe is June 24th. It ahs never been used but you aren't really supposed to book holidays until after then. If the queen died ,which -let's face it- is getting more feasible, it may well have to be used , for example.

Holiday booked for two days after contingency. Missing prom which DS is happy about! Just the Canaries but we are going 5 star somewhere amazing that we could never have afforded term time in a million years. He is a hard worker so this is his effort reward rather than result reward! His plan is the days are broken into three alternating blocks of lying on sunbed with phone, reading, swimming. He is also going to go to swim training facility nearby for a day as a treat - waving at @ealingwestmum there as fellow swim parent!

Have something booked provisionally but if DS gets first choice there will be boarding fees to pay unless we can move closer to the school so will need a rethink on holiday front.

Feeling nervous this morning as email after entrance exam said will get the results ‘early next week’, that’s probably today isn’t it.. He’s had a pretty crap time through the education system , does really deserve a break and has his heart set in it. There’s still hurdle of interview yet if he gets one .

Everything crossed for you and your DS, Post.

That sounds like a fantastic break esther, something to really look forward to for him after a tough few months.

We're not able to book as early; the usual holding out to see if she is able to qualify for Nationals (damn that elusive nationals swim cap, her ultimate goal), dotted with summer music tours that she loves, more for the social side.

We have managed to book a short break that will be more a recce than a holiday for prospect colleges overseas. Plan B (or Plan A in her case), though the reality is kicking in on the low odds so UK courses also being looked at more carefully by her now.

Goodluck Post, hope he secures a place today!

Thank you. Email come to say selection procedure taking longer than anticipated and now will hear by end of the week. That’s just as to whether he has got an interview so if he does we have to wait all over again until March.

No holiday booked here. We were just thinking about a short break at half term and I have just seen that DS's passport runs out in 2 months so will have to renew that before we can go - yet another thing to sort out! We also can't go away early as have a younger sibling that doesn't finish until late July.

First day back at school today after the exams I'm hoping we'll get some results but not holding my breath.

Fingers crossed for good news Post.

DH is taking DD to New York (long promised!) for a week after her last exam. Much anticipation and trawling of websites.