Current Year 11 2021/2022 support thread pt II

[StColumbofNavron]

Thread for those with Y10s finishing July 2021 ready for Y11 in Sept 2021.

All welcome.

Mocks only in January here. The school said they wanted to focus on teaching

We have late Nov/early Dec and March mocks. We’ve had ‘assessments’ for the last two weeks which seem to be in class mini mock practice type things. It literally is just revision, exam, revision, exam for the whole year.

Year 11 DS just has the one set of mocks (so far anyway!). They are first week in December. Think the year 13 have theirs straight after Christmas.

I was suprised to hear that the coursework is almost all done for ds in most subjects - should be finished by Xmas. I guess the whole of the spring term will be revisiting topics.

DD has mocks in December but is currently completely focused on maths, as she's sitting those papers the week after half term.
She's wondering about sixth form which surprised me because DS Y13 just carried on at school without even considering any alternative. (He has enjoyed sixth form but I must say that their handling of uni applications actually has me hoping she will go elsewhere.)
Our local enormous college is the only other option as she wants to get out of the school environment. Applications open next month so we'll pop over and have a look at some point.

Half term here with mocks straight after. Dd has spent 2 days socialising, think is now preparing but is secret squirrel in her room. I got very ill from the covid/long covid and ended up in hospital, out now but still about 70% dead.

Sorry to hear you were so ill @Silkieschickens, take care of yourself.

DS has November mocks starting in three weeks so I have said he needs to do some work each day in half term (weekends off). He needs quite specific instructions so general vague "do some revision" from teachers is not enough. I may have to come up with some more directed tasks for him myself! He is watching some Mr Bruff videos (English) this morning (well I hope that is what he is doing!) I think they are doing half the papers this time and the other half will be in the Feb/March mocks.

Still hoping we will have some time for relaxing, watching some movies on Disney+ and playing board games. We are meeting up with family and friends a couple of afternoons as well. Anybody else got nice things planned for half term?

I'm in deadline territory (again) so not much planned here. I've told DS1 an hour a day which he can split into two if he wants plus he needs to produce the timetable leading up to Mocks. He is on track so I am a little inclined to let him have this holiday a bit because we were strongly advised to book no holidays in Feb and Easter, hence not really pushing for more than an hour. He has said he wants his grades from pre half term assessments to see where he needs to work, which makes sense, but he also knows that maths and science are his weak spots and where he has the least interest so makes sense to prioritise those. He is also meant to have a go at answering the lengthier questions on one of the sixth form applications.

I'm afraid otherwise I am basically a Playstation Parent this week unless they all want to take themselves off to the football pitch.

DD sprained her ankle in PE just over a week ago and has spent the last week before half term unable to weight bear so had to work at home, Half the days she has been marked as absent anyway but she was at least doing something.

Mocks here are a few weeks after half term and they have been sent various revision tools such as maths watch videos to access and she has loads of intervention classes even during half term.

A bit of work happening here. Our mocks are in Jan so I’ve advised ds to get all his quizlet flashcards and his mind maps etc done by the start of the Christmas holidays so he can test and do practice papers from then til mocks. Not sure how much he’s actually doing (he’s had school work too) but he tells me at least Chemistry is nearly done!
We all had covid so both mine were online learning in the last week before half term.

DS doing more work than usual which is good. Not sure how much info he is retaining as he has a poor working memory. I'm helping by testing him on his language GCSE for the oral exam and also marking his maths papers.
I've read about mind maps and flash cards but honestly don't really get what you put on them? Can anyone give any examples. Also how do you revise for English? I'm clueless.

Glad you're out of hospital now @Silkieschickens that must have been scary. Hope you start to feel better soon.

@IThinkIMadeItWorse
I've had to start directing DS too as I think he's overwhelmed otherwise. Not surprised, they seem to have so much to learn. I used to have a near folder or exercise book and just used to revise that. He has numerous thick booklets, sheets, exercise books etc for each subject. Where to start?!

@zighead - my ds finds mind maps better for more essay subjects and flashcards for science.

mind maps are useful for themes and things so say for MacBeth you might have a theme (supernatural) in the middle with examples coming off that and quotes and analysis off that. Or say Russian revolution for history in the middle with causes and consequences radiating off.

For science a flashcard normally answers a question (how do you tests for proteins in a food sample?) for example with the answer on the back. Or vocabulary/sentences for languages.
Hope that helps!
@Silkieschickens - so sorry to hear you’ve been so poorly. Hope you’re on the mend now.

Thanks @QueenMabby
Sounds like mind maps will be helpful for English and drama, he doesn't do any other essay subjects.
I've bought the revision cards for the science subjects so I guess they are similar to flash cards. He does use quizlet already so perhaps he could do his own.

Thanks very much Its, zig and QueenMabby I am getting better slowly.

Hope all the mock and y11 preperation is going OK and all had good half terms. DD has mocks from Monday for 2 weeks. She seems to have spent all half term socialising and partying in skimpy gothic outfits from Shein changed 10 times a day, out with friends every day and currently on a 2 day plus Halloween parties sleepover with a girl. Its great she is having fun and has friends but do wonder if any mock preparation has happened but says it has. I hope she gets some sleep at the sleepovers, she isnt great at sleeping though the Dad seems nice but strict so may have more luck than us.

DS is the opposite just here by himself snuggling his rabbit and quiet as a mouse, dont think he has done any work. Wish had been well enough to take him out though seems happy enough chilling at home with some Hobbycraft things.

My DC have started using the scribble revision method and they like it - info is online but basically you do this:

1. read up on a topic actively trying to retain the info - not too much, maybe a couple of pages of a revision book
2. close the book and quickly write down as much as you can remember of what you just studied. Try to use your own words, as if you are explaining it to someone else.
3. open book again and check through, comparing versions and seeing what you missed out or got wrong
4. close book again and quickly write out just the bits you missed or got wrong

I think this is a really quick and effective way of learning in a lot of subjects because your brain has to be engaged. DD used to spend ages making flash cards but half the time she was on autopilot and just copying things from the booklet, so not really gaining anything.

We've got mocks here starting Monday spread over the next 3 weeks. DS has had revision sessions at school each morning during half term for certain subjects so we having a rainy chilled day today and hopefully not too much drama until this lot are all over

DS1 showed my the exercise book he is apparently using for revision and had a few small sections about Normans and Vikings. He has been a history buff since he could pick up Horrible Histories so not only not much there but also nothing he doesn’t know already. He keeps starting with Spanish and History which are his strongest subjects so I have to keep reminding him maths and science actually need more revision in comparison. Mocks are end of November so he says he is waiting for the assessment results from October to see the gaps - except we know maths and science is weaker so ….

DS2 year 9 completed his memorise homework by copying and pasting from Google translate. I turned into my mother and said he was only cheating himself because he is learning nada! He HAS to pick a language so he is really shooting himself in the foot.

I used to love revising my favourite, well known subjects and topics too @StColumbofNavron I've caught DS doing that too

@singingstones the scribble method sounds good. I used to learn best by that sort of method. I've tried DS with lots of different ways to revise and he still doesn't seem to know which way is the best for him.

I'm impressed by a school doing revision sessions during half term @yellowstoneranch Is that a private school?

Good luck to all the year 11 starting mocks on Monday!

No not private but it is an academy school.

I'm guessing the teachers were prepared to give up their half term mornings to push for the best results our kids are capable of after the last 18 months so much respect to them.

Good luck everyone, feel like we are on a rollercoaster ride

Ds still revising for current tests. Getting fed up of the school not giving them any time to revise the older stuff for the mocks in Jan despite saying they should have started by now. English Lit is the main problem. Hoping ds will start writing cards on the characters and themes of each text from today. He too would much rather revise the topics he finds easier and more interesting ie; sciences.

First day of mocks here. DD left an hour early to help an anxious friend but then school marked her not in school so was worried. But turns out everyone is wrongly marked as not in school.

We have two 6th form open evenings this week and I need DD to actually look like she is doing some revision for her mocks in a few weeks.

It's a massive source of stress here that I think she is doing far too little and she can't be bothered to up her game.