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Secondary education

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Original poster

GCSE Sciences

19 replies

Clue1ess · 08/10/2021 11:29

Hello
My child is in year 10 and is doing all three gcse sciences but he has said that he is struggling with the subjects.

There are so many books out there, as well as revision guides, practice books and question type cards. My mind boggles, can anyone recommend tried and tested books that have helped?

Thanks

OP posts:
RedskyThisNight · 08/10/2021 11:41

One of my children liked the CGP revision guides.
The other really liked Seneca. (not a book; interactive tool)

Depends partly on how your child learns.

AlexaShutUp · 08/10/2021 11:43

My dd also liked the CGP books and Seneca (which she could access through school). If you do buy any books, make sure you get them for the right exam board.

Might you be able to stretch to a tutor if dc is struggling? I appreciate this may be unaffordable.

TeenMinusTests · 08/10/2021 11:48

Combined or Triple?

Either way DD also used CGP guides and Seneca.

If doing combined the CGP guides come in foundation or higher tier.

For separate sciences for some reason they don't (or at least DD's biology didn't) and so I had fun working out which bits were higher tier only.

inferiorCatSlave · 08/10/2021 12:04

senca

Possibly tassomai but it's working out very expensive with change in their pricing structure though it covers more than science for us.

Best bet find the exam board and read then search GCSE that board that science subject on amazon and read the reviews.

Though it also depends on them doing them - DD1 was bought loads she made some use of the books but not as much as I'd have liked and didn't touch the workbooks. I think the workbooks may suit DS better so they've been passed down to him.

There are also quite a few resouces on you tube:

www.youtube.com/c/freesciencelessons
Science and Maths by Primrose Kitten

So I'd have a talk - see what he thinks will help the most ie what he actually willing to do - maybe try free resources first.

Also find out the exam board - see if you can get someting taliord to that boards subjects and style or if you'd be fine with more general books. We've gone for more general books for DD1 A level maths - as DH says the maths is the same - as the board books aren't great apparently and the more general books are avaliable second hand at very reasonable prices.

greenlynx · 08/10/2021 12:09

DD used CGP guides, they were really good but they were recommended by her school as well. I would double check with your DS’s school which one they would recommend. And usually they are bulk buying them for the year 10s, highly likely it’s just not sorted out yet.

Original poster
Clue1ess · 08/10/2021 12:14

@TeenMinusTests

Combined or Triple?

Either way DD also used CGP guides and Seneca.

If doing combined the CGP guides come in foundation or higher tier.

For separate sciences for some reason they don't (or at least DD's biology didn't) and so I had fun working out which bits were higher tier only.

Triple science. So if he was in top set, do I need to focus on higher tier?
OP posts:
TeenMinusTests · 08/10/2021 12:22

Triple science top set sounds like he is well capable (and definitely expected to do Higher tier), so maybe it is just a point of getting into the subjects. have they only just started the syllabus or did they start in y9?

Is it

  • understanding
  • learning
  • or applying to questions
that he is having the problem with?
Original poster
Clue1ess · 08/10/2021 12:29

Thanks for the recommendations. Cgp and Seneca sounds popular, I will also look at the others.
I will try and find out which exam board it is and take it from there.
Any further tips and tricks will be gratefully received though x

OP posts:
AlexaShutUp · 08/10/2021 12:30

Before you pay anything for seneca, check that your dc can't already access it for free through school!

Original poster
Clue1ess · 08/10/2021 12:35

They started in year 9. The school decides if you are doing combined or triple science so you don’t get a Choice.
He didn’t do too well in his Physics CAT. I assumed Physics would be his best of the three as he enjoys maths and is top set. But he said he doesn’t understand the science to work out the maths?

OP posts:
RedskyThisNight · 08/10/2021 12:44

@AlexaShutUp

Before you pay anything for seneca, check that your dc can't already access it for free through school!
A lot of the material is free anyway. DS's friend had the paid version and we weren't convinced it was worth the extra money.
inferiorCatSlave · 08/10/2021 12:46

Seneca is free - though you can pay for more additional courses - which I did for DD1 but I don't think it was worth it really though she did have covid disruption to contend with.

Some schools offer tassomai access but our certainly didn't.

The secondary here also didn't do any bulk text book buying - though for DD1 they did recommend some science books at the start of term but they haven't even done that for DS yet.

DD1 did have issue as due to teacher shortages and moving around of science of seperate subject to all science classes in her Y9 pre covid -they'd missed a lot of the physics syllabus which meant her teacher found they had a lot more than the should have to cover. She did well in the end but her confidence throughout was pretty poor as a result of feeling she was behind. We struggled to find a tutor in the subject.

DS used seneca and tassamai to cover gaps he was aware of over the summer coming into Y10 due to covid disruption but he's very motivated and he had DD1 example as well.

AlexaShutUp · 08/10/2021 12:48

Grin Shows what I know!

inferiorCatSlave · 08/10/2021 12:49

But he said he doesn’t understand the science to work out the maths?

I'd suggest the free stuff on seneca and you tube to go over the basic concepts - and then if he's willing to try workbooks or past papers to practise applying the maths.

StephJTK · 12/10/2021 08:40

Hi @Clue1ess,

Take a look at www.coresciences.co.uk. This is a platform where pupils can perform GCSE Science experiments virtually and learn about the theory behind the experiments. All of the required practicals for Biology, Chemistry and Physics are on there.

Students can also play games and take tests based on what they have learned.

I hope this is useful! Smile

Original poster
Clue1ess · 12/10/2021 23:16

@StephJTK

Hi *@Clue1ess*,

Take a look at www.coresciences.co.uk. This is a platform where pupils can perform GCSE Science experiments virtually and learn about the theory behind the experiments. All of the required practicals for Biology, Chemistry and Physics are on there.

Students can also play games and take tests based on what they have learned.

I hope this is useful! Smile

I’ll get him to have a look at that thank you x
OP posts:
extrastrongmints · 13/10/2021 06:53

Seneca is pretty good and bbc bitesize is also a good resource.
my-gcsescience is also good, and, while not free, is not too dear.
There are some good free channels on youtube:

Biology:
MrExham

Physics
DrPhysicsA

Chemistry
Cognito
Tyler DeWitt (not specifically aligned with GCSE but such a good presenter he's worth a look)
RSC also has some good resources

MyOtherProfile · 13/10/2021 07:00

Speak to the school. Our school has Seneca and Tassomei plus they recommend specific revision books (CGP). Check what they recommend and get their input. It's in their interest to make sure your child does as well as possible.

EducatingArti · 13/10/2021 07:03

This sounds like he would benefit from Primrose Kitten's amazing videos on YouTube.

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