Starting Year 11 GCSE 2021 Thread 2

[indy69]

Just continuing on from thread one. Let's support each other through these difficult times. Here is the earlier thread. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3653238-Starting-Year-11-GCSE2021-title-edited-by-MNHQ

@NotDonna our parents’ evening went well too - I’d be quite happy for them to continue on Teams after all this is over, it’s so much more efficient!
All teachers are expecting the year 11’s to return to class in March and all are fairly certain there will be set exams in all subjects in May. Now they’ve got their heads around online lessons, things seem to be working smoothly currently, it’s certainly a lot better than lockdown #1!

If exams are not happening and the teacher grades will be used why are exam boards still charging fees?

@indy69 probably because the government still wants the exam boards to play a role, i.e. providing tests (which are not exams, oh definitely not ) and providing guidance to teachers about how to assess grades.

[quote Stormer]@indy69 probably because the government still wants the exam boards to play a role, i.e. providing tests (which are not exams, oh definitely not ) and providing guidance to teachers about how to assess grades.[/quote]

1. The Government don’t understand it is taxpayer money
2. the teachers don’t want parents harrying them so need another body do refer to
3. our children are being given the least information I know about changes to exams in several generations; cancelling exams is massive but the new scenario of browsing some inane comments every few weeks is risible.. but moving the goalposts every month or so is bonkers, damaging and not thought through. DD now ignores.

My DD is so stressed out by the uncertainty over exams. Life for a teenager is hard at the best of times but in the time of a pandemic, it’s overwhelming, isolating, scary and depressing. The government are letting down our kids, they should make a decision so schools, students and families can start to prepare properly instead of at the last minute!

Dogatetheleftovers my daughter is also incredibly stressed. It is awful to witness.

I just hope there is some very clear information on 22nd February. Dd is ok and trying to revise (for what, who knows!) and finish her art coursework. One good thing is that being away from the school means she is feeling more of a pull to the sixth form college she applied for. I guess not seeing everyone for so long has reminded her that a lot of her friendship group aren't real friends as she hasn't heard from most of them since xmas. I would like her to go to the college and not stay at her school as I think she needs a new start. She's never really had a good time where she is and since she wants to do art I think a move is the best thing. I've been very disappointed by the school art department since her gcses started and I don't think she can handle the teachers for another 2 years! We should hear by the end of the week if she got a place. Her best friend has applied too. Fingers crossed!

TitsyWoo fingers crossed your DD gets the good news she wants along with her friend.

@Titsywoo fingers crossed for your DD!

At work colleagues were discussing GCSEs and saying this years cohort are most going to be handed GCSEs. They really are not. DD is working really hard because she's trying super hard to impress her teachers. She's funny been given her mock results and told
They're will probably form the basis of her results. She didn't know that when she was actually doing the mocks. She's a 15yo child who thought she was going to sit the actual exams in the summer term. The results show she didn't give her absolute best in two subjects. I already knew about one because she cried and wrote nothing but in the other subject her teacher is now off long term so I'm not incredibly hopeful for her final result.

Does anybody know if there is usually the opportunity to retake subjects which aren't Maths and English in November if I'm willing to pay?

I’ve no idea about resits but I’m assuming there’ll need to be something more than just the appeal process if teens aren’t happy with ‘tags’. I’m not sure how great the appeal process will be as in normal times the school supports an appeal but if it’s ‘against’ it’s own teachers’ assessment, how can that work?
DD2 had a ‘surprise’ maths test today, which apparently didn’t go well. I’m not sure the point of these as there’s no way she would walk into an exam without revising like crazy. Maybe it’s just to check understanding prior to half term. I know they’ve finished all the maths topics now. I doubt they’ll get the results tomorrow, before half term though. Shame, as they could use half term to look at their individual weak points. Albeit she can probably work these out herself by thinking about how she ‘felt’ about certain questions.

A surprise maths test? My DD would be like a rabbit in the headlights and score zero. Then be really cross and have a massive strop, which I'd have to talk her through. She and I would both worry it would count towards her final grade, although I wouldn't mention it, because who knows if it will or not?!

What the hell are we doing to our children? When I say "we" I mean the government.

Hopefully we'll end up with a generation of people who can cope with any crap thrown at them at short notice, and the ability to cope with uncertainty.

DS had to write a story for English this week which is not his forte, he is very much Maths and Science focused but it was actually really good. I managed an A at English when I did my GCSE’s and it was better than I could have done. It’s been graded a 6 because apparently he changed tenses within the text. He did do that but it was done deliberately as the character was doing something now and another character did something in the past so he changed tense with the different characters.

He is absolutely beside himself because he has been getting 7’s and now he has a 6 so he is convinced it will pull his grade down. Honestly this can’t carry on until the summer.

[quote LynetteScavo]@Titsywoo fingers crossed for your DD!

At work colleagues were discussing GCSEs and saying this years cohort are most going to be handed GCSEs. They really are not. DD is working really hard because she's trying super hard to impress her teachers. She's funny been given her mock results and told
They're will probably form the basis of her results. She didn't know that when she was actually doing the mocks. She's a 15yo child who thought she was going to sit the actual exams in the summer term. The results show she didn't give her absolute best in two subjects. I already knew about one because she cried and wrote nothing but in the other subject her teacher is now off long term so I'm not incredibly hopeful for her final result.

Does anybody know if there is usually the opportunity to retake subjects which aren't Maths and English in November if I'm willing to pay?

[/quote]
I've just paid the invoices for our November series and there were quite a few subjects other than Maths and English so that should be an option.

Are they grading every single essay heart? DD2 just gets feedback and maybe a percentage or a mark. Absolutely nothing is graded. For some subjects she’d have a good idea what the grade would be (history if she gets 15 for a 16 Mark question for example) but the focus is very much on the feedback and where marks have been lost. So in your DS’s case the change of text would be relevant but not the ‘6’. Maybe it’s a kick up the backside grade? Knowing that he’s capable of 7. I wonder if he’d have been told to watch tenses but still got a 7, he’d have listened less?

lynette luckily DD2 is incredibly resilient but a lot of her friends were in tears over it. Sometimes I feel like heart says, this is just too much to continue to summer but I recall DD1 taking GCSEs and that was pretty stressful for her too.

@NotDonna

Every single piece of work is graded but it has been since the start of Y9 (they do 3 year GCSE’s). In normal circumstances he wouldn’t be bothered but they have been told that every piece will end up contributing to his final grade. He absolutely put his all into that bloody short story. I’ve read it several times and I can’t see what she means. It starts off in one tense but it’s a woman looking up into the sky then it switches back to show what has happened. I can’t see how he could have written it differently with the story starter they were given (which was in the present tense). It’s annoying me far far more than it should do probably cause he works harder in English than any other subject. It’s so much pressure on them.

Having had two children go through GCSEs already I found it nowhere near as stressful as this year. Maybe because DD is boarder line 4s, so when she gets a 5 we breathe easy and rejoice, but a grade 3 is like like punch in the gut. If it was just lacks and final exams then we'd deal with it by plodding thorough, but living on the edge with each online test is just hideous.

Mine don’t show me any of their work otherwise I’d most likely be the same as you heart!
I’m wondering lynette wouldn’t you be just as worried about normal summer exams? I think borderline students suffer more from the hit and miss that are exams. They’re a risky business.

Are any of your dc planning on revising over half term? DD has been set homework in most subjects but apparently no teachers have mentioned revision. I would have expected in a 'normal' gcse year for her to be doing some sort of revision.

But dd just said what is she supposed to revise for?

Hopefully we'll end up with a generation of people who can cope with any crap thrown at them at short notice, and the ability to cope with uncertainty.

@LynetteScavo My DD is autistic, so you can imagine how much fun we're having with all the unexpected change at short notice and huge uncertainty!

And yes a 'surprise' maths test or surprise anything test would throw DD.

I'm not sure if DD is giving revision. I'd mentored revision to her a few weeks ago and she see said the same as your DD tree. But she said today she'll be doing work over the half term. Some of that is homework and some will be revision tests/materials they're given.

Oh and like @NotDonna's DD, mine gets a percentage and feedback but not a grade. She only got grades for her mocks which she did before Christmas.

Dd got an offer letter this morning as did her friend! Yay! @LynetteScavo we were told the results from the Nov/Dec mocks would not be used as a basis for the actual GCSE results (we were a bit annoyed as dd did much better than usual!) so I wouldn't assume that is true!

Dd will be revising in half term. The school are asking them to revise for their second set of mocks in May (which may actually end up being the tests the government are touting as an alternative). She will also be doing art coursework. She has lost all enthusiasm for the coursework so the next week will involve a lot of nagging and stress for me 😫 I truly can't wait until this academic year is over.

I’m hoping DD’s December mocks are taken into account in some way. She did well.

I also absolutely can’t wait until this academic year is over. I’m so looking forward to DD being in sixth form at a new place, she and I think it’ll really suit her. And there won’t be 10 subjects to juggle!

Yeah to Stormer’s DD and friend!
Having spend minimum 6 hours a day revising over Xmas for no mocks DD is planning zero revision this half term. Having said that she did mention checking stuff she doesn’t fully understand & consolidation of the topics she’s learnt this half term. She losing momentum and so needs a holiday. We’ve not had a night away now for a year. Like many others. A proper break would do us all the world of good.

What are you DC going to study at 6th form? Do they need specific grades?

DD2 is thinking History, Psychology, Economics and core maths. She needs 5 grade 7’s to stay on (out of her 10) and 7’s in History and maths, which can be included in the 5. The new subjects, economics & psychology, aren’t grade dependant. For proper maths and sciences she’d need 8’s. Quite a lot of pressure.