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.

@Silkierabbit

Yes no study leave here. Infact they are supposed to go to lessons inbetween exams. Mid mocks here. No practical subjects here.

Wow, that's a bit harsh of the school Silkies. Hope Ds school don't do that as he relies on last minute cramming!

We haven’t been told about study leave. The rumours are that they have some sort of lessons up until may half term but I’m not sure whether this is based on anything at all!

DD’s mock results have been starting to come in and so far so good 😊 Although she’ll be getting maths back today and is a bit more apprehensive about that

We've not had any information about study leave but DS thinks that it doesn't start until the first week of the exams. As apparently school have only finished the curriculum in one subject () I assume they will be teaching up to the Easter then doing revision in classes - which might not be a bad thing as it will force the revision to be done. DS has his first exam on 17 May & the last one on 27 June so it's a long period over which to maintain momentum. DS has told me the Prom is on 24 June...so before the exams are over!

@legosnowqueen - that's an early prom! Ours was going to be the 23rd but got moved to the 30th due to the exams finishing later than anticipated.

I think it's such a long exam period as they've timed it this year to have 10 days between each subject's papers to cover for covid (if a child misses one then they shouldn't miss the other so a meaningful grade can still be produced) but you're right - it is a long time for them to remain on it!

Not sure how much revision is happening here. DS should be doing a subject a night on top of school work but....
To be fair for a good few subjects the homework is just past paper questions now so that counts.

We are at a boys school so no prom here. Well, I suppose they could have it just the boys but I’m not sure it would be well attended. There are two girls schools very close but there is not much desire to do things together - I’m (and he) not bothered about the prom but joint drama productions would be good.

Every single lesson at school is revision plus he is staying for the after school study hubs and interventions and will attend Saturday maths revision after this week and they will be running some in school sessions over Easter so he is doing loads really. Most evenings he does a bit - probably one thing, usually a Spanish past paper!

Seems strange for them to schedule the prom while there are still exams! I thought the whole idea was that it was marking the end of school and time to let your hair down. DD’s prom is 6th July.

Agree it’s a long time for them to keep up momentum and focus. But I think DD is quite glad that she only has a few days where she has more than one exam so is pleased that they are fairly spread out.

Hi everyone, hope you're all doing ok.

2nd set of mocks have just finished so DS has no homework set this weekend and seems to be intending to do nothing! I'm just glad they are finished, they were much more intense than the real ones will be with two exams most days. Glad they are more spread out in the summer I think he only has two or three days with two exams.

DS says he thinks that prom will be on the 24th June (which is the day of his last exam) but he is not sure if he wants to go or not. He says they have finished doing new material (though there is still some additional maths to do) but he may be mistaken as I think they have been focusing on revision in the lessons he has had between the mocks. They have been running extra revision sessions which he has been going along to though I think they didn't really run these last two weeks because of the mocks.

Still no news on study leave, but they haven't yet told us about the revision sessions for Easter (other than the fact that they hope to run some in the first week) and that's only two weeks away. They said it depends on teacher availability. We have been promised the results of his mocks before Easter so I think they are frantically marking at the moment.

Our last exam is on 23rd June so 24th for prom would be good timing, but it's a week later.

We're still in TAG and mock hell, DD is drained and it's not long really until exams proper! No study leave before exams for us but some subjects like art and business will be finished before Easter and they'll be able to use that time for revision sessions in school.

DS prom on 24 June but his last exam is on the 27 June so not the best timing. Revision plodding on mainly focussed on the subjects he wants to do for A level.

Hi, do you mind if I join in? Think I was on the Year 10 thread last year but fell off the threads quite quickly (no excuse really).

DD is doing her second set of mocks right now, having done the previous ones before Christmas (but she came down with Omicron half-way through them, so only did about 60% of the papers). She is really fed up with revision, revision, revision this year. Not sure how we're going to get her to focus with the real deal exams, spread across five/six weeks!

She seems to be heading in the right direction with her grades but we're certainly not anticipating a full set of top ones for her, although she may well surprise us (she is the type to 'wing it'). She said yesterday that she values her mental health far too much to put that much effort in!!

No info here about anything after Easter. They've not finished the curriculum in the three sciences (bad!) yet, but have in most of the other subjects. She really doesn't concentrate on revising in school though (she needs silence and to be alone to do so), so I'm really hoping they don't insist on keeping them in school unnecessarily. Although if the teachers are going over stuff it will be more useful than just leaving the pupils to silent study!

It's all getting very real now, isn't it? Less than two months time and they'll be in the thick of sitting their GCSEs.

DD has asked people she knows from older years and it seems that they have to continue to go in to school before or after their exams up until half term. They will spend the remainder of their day revising for the exam the following day with their subject teacher.

@PaddingtonPaddington

DS prom on 24 June but his last exam is on the 27 June so not the best timing. Revision plodding on mainly focussed on the subjects he wants to do for A level.

Yes, I am encouraging DD to focus on the A level subjects, English and Geography are a chore for her and she's on track for a good pass, she never intends to take those further so she's paying more attention to maths and science.

Yes, DD is motivated to get a 9 in geography. I think she'll have a range of grades, from (hopefully) 5 to 8/9, with most somewhere in the middle.

Hi @NewModelArmyMayhem18 and welcome back.

Yep DD says also not finished the curriculum in any of the 3 sciences. Whereas her lessons for History, Geography and both Englishes are now purely going over past content. She has lost the will to live now with the sciences and Spanish but is still hoping to achieve good grades in them so is plodding on.

Feeling like we’re on countdown till the exams now.

I think this is the toughest time for them. They had the huge build up to mocks and got results.....but not really and now they have to do it all again and it's so hard to keep going at that level for all this time.

We've still not finished on about 5 subjects incl History and Spanish. It makes it harder to revise too when there's still homework and new information to process. DS just wants it to be the Easter holidays already so he can get his head down and focus.

First "for real" exam for us is two weeks today!

@QueenMabby, yikes! What real exam is that (isn't it the Easter hols in two weeks?

Thanks, @Rollergirl11.

I've advised DD to have the next week and a half off (assuming she has no HW but she may well do!), once these mocks are over. And then to start low-level revision (a couple of hours a day) over the Easter hols. Some of your DC may well be 'full on' with revision by then, but there's no way that DD will sustain that level of revision for 11/12 weeks. If she starts too soon, she'll be totally beyond caring by the time the exams start in earnest!

We're still in revision, trundling along Groundhog Day. DD has decided she doesn't want to go to her prom but she has ordered a leavers hoodie.
She has finished the syllabus in most subjects now but her English teacher has been off since the start of January as it is late in the year there are two classes being taught together but they have done different books and it's tricky. The only saving grace is that the teacher is a lead examiner for English language so they are getting some great pointers.

We haven't heard when they are going to finish but she has got a visual guide on the landing of how close the exams are getting to try to keep her nose to the grindstone. She also wants a new graphics card for her PC and I have said not until the exams are over, I want to see effort being applied to school work not gaming.

I'm pretty sure that DS's school only have a prom in year 13 but will check. His last exam is also the 23rd June which it seems is the same for most people.
He only has 17 compulsory days left in school so I really hope they have finished the syllabus in all subjects. They can go in during their study leave if they want to work in the library. Have no idea what DS plans to do, he's not very forthcoming about anything.
Are any others signed up for NCS in the summer holidays? DS has his in August.

We are supposedly in the middle of the second set of mocks here, but DD is taking the attitude that they don't count for anything, and has not been doing anything particularly strenuous, as far as I can tell, by way of revision. Just regular homework and a bit of extra revision that she would do anyway.
We also have our first real exams in two weeks - being the orals for her two MFL subjects, one on Tuesday 5th April and one on Wednesday 6th. The school has decided to do them before Easter, rather than after (the exam boards allow a window, which includes that week as the first week). Some work is being done on those, more than for the mocks at least.

DD doesn't finish until 27th June, which is already frustrating her, as most of her friends will finish on the 24th.

@zighead DD has signed up for NCS on 15th August. I was quite surprised she wanted to but I think a few of her friends are also going to do it.

DS1 has a drama exam tomorrow - it is the performance element so not sure if it is the real thing or a mock - which are also happening this week. He seems to continue to be motivated by Spanish - I think because it was his only 9 prediction and he seems determined to get it. Everytime I ask it is Spanish. I wonder if we are heading for a change of degree choice or at least a combo of History/Spanish.

Also, I've just looked up NCS and don't quite get it!

It’s not the greatest website @StColumbofNavron but basically it’s for year 11 or year 12. They have a five day residential doing activities such as abseiling, canoeing etc and then the week after it’s a five day community project. It only costs £50 so is a bargain really.
@MrsPnut my DS has his starting on August 8th.

[quote NewModelArmyMayhem18]@QueenMabby, yikes! What real exam is that (isn't it the Easter hols in two weeks?

Thanks, @Rollergirl11.

I've advised DD to have the next week and a half off (assuming she has no HW but she may well do!), once these mocks are over. And then to start low-level revision (a couple of hours a day) over the Easter hols. Some of your DC may well be 'full on' with revision by then, but there's no way that DD will sustain that level of revision for 11/12 weeks. If she starts too soon, she'll be totally beyond caring by the time the exams start in earnest![/quote]
It's ICT. They do the Cambridge board so the practical exams are on 5th and 7th April (yes - Easter hols 🙄) and the theory exam is on 10th May. At least he'll have a whole gcse done by the time the main lot begins!