Current Year 11 2021/2022 support thread pt III

[StColumbofNavron]

Thread for the parents of DC sitting their GCSEs in about 4 weeks time - eek.

Oh god, that's me. My DD is doing very little these holidays, it's a bit concerning but at the same time they have been so assessed up till now, I'm more worried she'll have a breakdown with the pressure.
no study leave either, which just seems cruel.

My DC has gone back to school.

Their beautifully crafted, colour coded revision timetable for the Easter holiday now in recycling, totally unused.
((sobs))

Whoops - forgot to post to the past thread www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4301269-Current-Year-11-2021-2022-support-thread-pt-II?page=39

It isn't finished yet, so people might be slow to post over here :-)

@Glitterbiscuits I'm at the 'just trust in the process' stage.

Lots of revision going on here and back to school on Monday but only a 4 day week as Friday is a training day.

Morning everyone! Back to school yesterday, then 2.5 weeks until study leave starts. As the pp says, Eeek!

Their beautifully crafted, colour coded revision timetable for the Easter holiday now in recycling, totally unused.
My DD also made a time table and printed and put on the fridge. I think she spent longer on that than on some subjects. Eeek. Trying not to pressure her.
Problem is, she usually does fairly well with last minute cramming and I've tried to say that's a risky strategy for GCSEs but I think she hopes she can wing it again.

Found the new thread!

Hello new thread! Thanks for starting it @StColumbofNavron

Hi All @StColumbofNavron thanks for starting this, I'm interested in the English info too please

I'm here too! Can't believe we are on thread 3!

Thanks for new thread.

DS1 has his Spanish oral yesterday and he said it was ‘fine’. But he did smile and unlike most loves Spanish and is doing it for A level so I think it went well. He said it was ‘easy’ but it remains to be seen.

DD gutted as tested positive again this morning which means no school until Monday under their rules. I've just emailed them for clarification though as government guidance says under 18s should stay at home for 3 days after testing positive and then crack on. She's getting quite down about missing so much school.

Dd has her Spanish oral this afternoon, she's prone to massive meltdowns and hasnt had one yet so am taking it as a positive sign!

ENGLISH DEPT ADVICE

For Ref our Boards are OCR (Lit) and AQA (Lang) – that said, some of the advice is

generic.

Literature

Two exams

3/4 topics covered (schools were allowed to drop one unit, this will vary according to school)

Both papers formatted identically and has TWO questions both worth 20 marks

Struggles & Solutions

Timing in exams:

· practicing past papers in timed conditions is crucial. Both questions are worth 20 marks so need equal time.

· Asked us to do the timing and providing a tech free area to do this (I know this is easier said than done)

· Identifying what the question is asking: underline key works, is it asking you to ‘disucss’, ‘explain’ or ‘debate’

Memorising Quotations:

· Encourage them to put post it notes wherever they regularly pass by, e.g. on the fridge, on the screen of their playstation, mirrors etc.

· Record quotations on their phone and listen to them when doing other things.

· Test them with flashcards.

· Complete the quotation – leaving out key words.

Context & Other tips

· Re-read the texts.

· If they will let us help, ask useful questions (I’ve removed the texts so you can insert whatever your DC is doing)

e.g.

Why is this part of the poem/text important?

· Things that have occurred

· Things that might occur

Ways that the writer has created this?

Who says and is it important, why?

Audience reactions when X says Y.

What else does X (or another character) say that is important in this (insert context)

What sort of question will this quote be useful for?

Some debates on the texts (again this will vary based on what they study).

· Statement about a character e.g. Lady Macbeth is the most ambitious character.

· Love is the strongest theme in Romeo and Juliet.

· The Charge of the Light Brigade is about military glory.

· Harry and Hermione are the most similar characters in Harry Potter.

The idea here is to get them to go through the essay structure – (remember 20 marks) – this is my example and the teacher didn’t actually break it down so you can take this with a pinch of salt, I’m just illustrating how a debate might run:

• Intro with the statement

• Other themes in R&J are strong such as ….

• However, Love….. (romantic love; familial love; friendship)

• This chimes with Macbeth where the love shared by the Macbeths leads to etc …..

• Shakespeare focusses on love …. Often with tragic ending ….

• Conclusion … so love is one of the biggest themes

Language

Both papers similar format with

Two exams

1.(a) Reading Section: 2 questions (20)

1.(b) Writing Section: 1 question (40) – usually story or description

2.(a) Reading Section: 2 questions (20)

2.(b) Writing Section: 1 question (40) – article (the exam board have apparently confirmed this will be an article)

Basic tips:

• Timing again; practice, practice, practice

• Read each question properly to understand what it is asking you to do

• Tone – a story requires a different tone to an article

• Take extra care with silly mistakes like – capital letters, question marks etc)

Parent Help:

• Timed test conditions/space

• Read opinion articles together or at least encourage them to read articles

• Ask questions about the viewpoint that the writer takes

• Could compare with another

• Debate current events: make a bold statement and ask them to write an argument for or against explaining both sides (the past papers will have these anyway)

• Give them a theme or starter sentence to write a description or a story

Ah that sucks. I hope you get some clarity from the school and she can get back soon.

My DC won't be getting the extra time they are due in exams due to SEN. It seems it hasn't been given since year 10 but parents not made aware and DC completely oblivious. I suppose it's too late to do anything about it.

What happens if a child has covid on exam day ? Surely this will effect thousands of children?

Thanks for the English tips, it's really tricky to get DS to do past papers for English, he gets all worked up and ends up not writing anything and tech free is impossible as he types for English! Sigh. I think they are doing lots of past paper questions in school and they aren't doing study leave so I'm grateful he will continue to have input from his teachers. I heard from a friend that another school near here has started their study leave for year 11 already! Seems very early.

@GrannyBloomers there is a thread about that here;
www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4537578-info-what-if-your-child-gets-covid-during-exams

Thanks for new thread @StColumbofNavron . Wow can’t believe we are on thread 3!

The English guidance looks fab and really useful. Luckily English Lit/Lang are DD’s fave subjects so she doesn’t need any help when it comes to revising as she’d happily do it all day!

Good luck to all of those DC doing language speaking.

@CornishGem1975 what a pain for your DD. Is she able to join lessons via Teams or something while she’s at home?

@Silkierabbit the pic of your new Maine Coon kitten on the last thread looks adorable. DD has actually said she wants a kitten as a present over money if she does well in her GCSE’s. I’m not averse to the idea but not sure what our grumpy old cat would make of it if we did get a kitten…🤷‍♀️

Thanks Rollergirl DD and her friends are very keen on the kitten. I think they are great with kids. Not sure how a grumpy old cat would get on with one, when we had a grumpy old cat our vet was quite opposed to new pets though when we got the bunnies a few years ago the cat just ignored them other than glaring at them for being too active and disturbing her 22 hours a day sleep. But we could separate them and can't do that with a kitten. Though would do your DD good.

DC finally knows what they're doing over the exam period. They're in school until the half-term and then on study leave until the exams end. No word of a Leavers' Day so maybe they just drift off?

Performing Arts final performance today, with the last piece of related written work next week.

Think Spanish oral is next week but she was a bit vague about the date.

I think she's going to find revising for the next eight weeks a slog.

The Maine Coon kitten is gorgeous! DC would have a kitten in a heartbeat but our other cats are still relatively young (getting on for four) and frisky. Not sure it's quite the right time for a new furry friend.

Thanks for the new thread and the English pointers.

Thanks for the English pointers StColumbo.

Hello new thread :)

We're going away this weekend for a family celebration as it's DH's 50th birthday on Sunday. I suspect DD will have some revision with her....and DS (year 13) won't...

The bespoke study leave e mails have been sent out today. We were warned that individual students would either required to revise in school during the exam period or allowed to study at home. DS seems to be in between - he is strongly encouraged but not required to revise for some or all of the time in school. The school have also produced a 4 week timetable of revision sessions during the exam period, basically one session for each subject, which are being delivered via Teams for all students who wish to join them, also in Teams if you're revising in school. DS seems okay with this, we have agreed he will do all the relevant Teams sessions & he will do a mix of in-school & home studying, depending on the topics & on whether support will be available in school. Now to re-write the revision timetable 😂.

On a shallower note, if your DS is attending a prom are they wearing a suit? Any tips on where is good to go for these?