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.

There's forums where people discuss what was on the paper today and what answers they got. They start discussion as soon as they leave the exam but it's anonymous (like MN) so you don't know who the real person is.

My ds isn't interested in a post Mortem which is probably for the best

DS thought biology was ok and doesn’t like to dissect so left straight after. English language tomorrow, he’ll be glad when that one is done!

DS and DD are discussing maths. Soon I get to test DD on some geography flash cards. Fun evening here 😂

So glad to have found this thread.

dd is terrified of exams. Almost phobic. Freaks out, room spin level of fear.
she did biology today, thought she’d done ok but has since found out that others found it easy. She’s now panicking that the grade boundaries will have been raised.
I hate the post dissection..it’s so awful seeing her so stressed 😩

Biology is her weakest science but she wants to do physics and chemistry at college so she's pushed herself with this because she thinks she needs the same grades 🙄. She's still in school, and all I got was "fine" in text at lunch so I was panicking but she thinks she's done well.

Wish she wouldn't do the post mortem. Not even kidding, she goes through every single question and scores herself.

English and German tomorrow ... teacher did a teams this evening so I've been relieved of any flash card fun this evening.

I think doing a PM of papers is really counterproductive. 'Onwards and upwards' is a good mantra for exam season.

Just realised I probably shouldn't have mentioned specific exam content so have asked MN to remove my comment but my point was @Stormchaser1502 that on talking to other kids who thought the exam was easy it because apparent that they weren't all correct in their answers...so easy doesn't equate to right!

My DD know she missed one question because she read it wrong, which she is very annoyed with herself about!

I think the most important things are:

• did they answer all the questions? Even if they guessed, you cannot get a mark for an unanswered question.
• did they manage their time and finish with time to check through

Sciences are DS1’s weakest subjects, so I guess we’ll see. Ultimately, it’s important he has enough of the grades he needs for his next step.

I did tell her answer all questions - even if it's a wild guess.

As I commented to DD, sometimes the 'easy' papers aren't the ones one does best in.

Good luck everyone with English Lang this morning and any others DC’s might have. 🙏🤞

My son studied so hard and is not allowed to sit the exams as tested positive for covid. Gutted.

Oh no @salsamummy that's a shame. Our school issue guidance which basically said to come in even if positive (if well enough!)

@salsamummy oh no, that's so disappointing

The stress levels have defintley dropped now DD has started the exams, english and classics today so the first 2 exam day but after weeks of moods and anxiety, she seems much more chilled. lets hope the next few weeks go smoothly for them as they have had such a turbalent few years. @Salsamummy I think I read that your Ds will have his mark averaged by the other exams in the subjects he misses providing he can make some of them? so hopefully all his hard work will still result in a good mark for him. I hope he is ok with it, still lots at my school are off with covid including the head. its still around in my area.

Does anyone else's DC's room look like a disaster zone? I'm trying to keep it clean, but frankly at the moment it's awful. There are notes and books on every single surface.

@Womblesaremyfavouritefood sadly it's my dining room that looks like that, despite the fact that he does most of his studying (pretend studying ) upstairs.
Can't imagine my DS has looked at any exam since doing them, much less talked about or marked. It's really pointless but I would definitely have done this if it had been possible when I was at school.
Sorry to hear @salsamummy hope they don't feel too ill.

@salsamummy sorry to hear your DS has Covid. How many exams will he miss? They have spaced the exams 10 days apart to counter for this situation so as long as he manages to sit the other paper he should still receive his grade.

@Womblesaremyfavouritefood yes DD’s room is so so bad. It stresses me out going in there. I do what I can to try and make it less like a hell-hole, removing all cups, plates and glasses, folding up discarded clothes and putting them in neat piles. But she has piles and piles of paper, books, notepads everywhere that I just have to leave. It doesn’t look like DD has a system but I’m sure the chaos makes some kind of sense to her! 🤷‍♀️😬

Try not to worry @salsamummy, as the others say they should take an average grade from the rest of the sat papers.

Our house is a tip - I really dislike the mess, books everywhere, revision cards strewn about then a panic when Ds can't find anything! Just closing my eyes for the next 5 weeks and not looking at it.

Won't give content away for English Language but the advance info the school sent seemed to be wrong. Ds likes to pick it all apart and thinks it went ok but I could tell this threw him a bit. German this afternoon.

Sorry if paragraphs aren't showing - think there is still a glitch on the mobile site.

DS found the English paper difficult, and he is usually quite good at comprehension and spotting things to help him answer. Not this time. (I know the text and wondered why they have chosen it). DS hasn’t read it before. He is hoping the examiner will like his description in Part B. 🤞

My DS said it was ok. He quite liked the extract and nailed the timings which he was most worried about I think.

History tomorrow for him.

DD said it was an awful picture that was used for the writing in the English Lang paper. She thinks she could have done better. But she always says that and does well.

She also has History tomorrow.

Hi everyone-hope you don't mind another person joining in.

DD2 thought the English paper was ok, she didn't use the picture for part B but used the description instead.

DD1 is still at school & ignoring messages so I don't know what she thought of it. She has trouble with timings but still managed an 8 in her mocks so, fingers crossed.

History & Drama for DD2 tomorrow but DD1 has a day off from exams, the full steam ahead for Maths.

Roll on the weekend.