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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Year 9 - 2022/2023 Support Thread

339 replies

QueenMabby · 23/08/2022 17:25

Hi
Having got a lot out of the thread for my ds who's just finished year 11 I though I'd start one for anyone wanting support/chat about dcs in year 9 from September.

Some schools will be starting GCSE syllabi this year and for those that don't there'll be options later in the year.

I have a dd starting year 9 in September. Her favourite subjects are languages and chemistry. We've not taken gcse options yet - that joy is to come.

OP posts:
NotDonna · 25/03/2023 08:35

School broke up for Easter yesterday so DD3 is jetting off to sunnier climes with her dad. I’m staying home to support DD2’s A level revision which is all getting a bit close now.
Surprised we had Yr9 reports yesterday - all ok. Nothing too disastrous but plenty of room for improvement.

icanbewhatiwant · 25/03/2023 08:40

Yes ds3 is doing a subject in year 10 that includes religious education. I can't remember what it is called I think it was PHSRE. Not as a gcse. He has to do citizenship as gcse though. My friend works at our other local secondary and citizenship is taught but not taken as gcse. So it's obviously compulsory. A language is to be taken by those in most sets, but those in lower sets don't have to. Which I guess is a good thing.

School reports came this week. Parents online consultations next week.

Oblomov23 · 25/03/2023 09:24

We only did our Options form a couple of weeks ago, so haven't had confirmation yet.

I agree with OP, that this part of Year 9 feels a bit meh and inconsequential, a bit like the whole of Year 5 in primary, just a bleugh year, and we now need to get it over with, and get onto the proper stuff. Wink

icanbewhatiwant · 25/03/2023 17:08

My last post should say obviously NOT compulsory for citizenship.

Quartz2208 · 25/03/2023 17:13

I work in Exams and citizenship always looks interesting. Prone to clashing with other exams though!

Original poster
QueenMabby · 25/03/2023 19:22

No obligation to do RS or citizenship or anything like that for us. We do have a separate pshee-like subject every week although it's not Examinable.

OP posts:
Original poster
QueenMabby · 22/05/2023 09:43

Hope everyone and their dcs are getting on ok.
Exam week for dd this week. She has 14 exams over the course of the week. Roll on half term!

OP posts:
IThinkIMadeItWorse · 22/05/2023 10:03

Gosh @QueenMabby 14 exams! Sounds like a very full on week for your DD!

My DD is counting the days to half term, there is a lot about school she is not enjoying at the moment. Her friends seem to keep falling out with each other and she feels caught in the middle. Also in music they do a big performance in groups at the end of the year and most of the other people in DD's group seem to spend the time messing about (or are just not there) so she is finding it stressful, she is not a natural performer anyway and would much rather not do it. She can't wait to drop music (and drama and DT and geography!)

Her year 9 exams are after half term and spread over two weeks so hopefully she will be motivated to do some revision next week, we don't have much planned. (Her big brother has year 12 exams straight after half term which are quite important so I didn't book anything.) Looking forward to some time to relax and chill at home. Hopefully I can take DD to see the new spiderverse movie. Has anybody else got exciting things planned?

Original poster
QueenMabby · 22/05/2023 11:21

@IThinkIMadeItWorse - my DD's big brother has yr 12 exams too! His are this week but he doesn't have to be in school if he doesn't have an exam so I'm taking him in at lunchtime for his afternoon exam. Thank god for wfh!

Have just had a call from school. Dd in the nurses' office with v bad cramps and feeling faint etc. they've given her a drink and biscuits and are going to give her ibuprofen before her next exam so 🤞🏻 she carries on ok. If not they do have catch up slots if she misses any.

OP posts:
MissyB1 · 22/05/2023 11:23

Hi all. Ds has his exams the week after half term, all over one week so quite intense. However this weekend coming he goes on the D of E expedition, so they will arrive back on the Monday of half term - no doubt completely knackered! Then he needs to immediately be into full revision mode, not ideal!

Original poster
QueenMabby · 22/05/2023 13:04

Ooof @MissyB1 that's a tight schedule!

I'm glad ours are before half term. Dd is planning a full stop and flop!

OP posts:
icanbewhatiwant · 22/05/2023 14:31

Gosh...are these all year 9 exams? I don't think they have any exams at ds's school for year 9. They often have tests for progress and will be doing them ready for sets in year 10. The only thing he has done was to give a speech which will go towards gcse english.

We still don't what subjects Ds will be doing from his options list.

Original poster
QueenMabby · 22/05/2023 14:53

Yes. End of year exams. Dd has one for each subject. Two for maths - calculator and non-calculator.
They're only an hour each so not too onerous. Plenty of downtime between each one and they finish early each day this week (3:30pm) as compensation!

OP posts:
icanbewhatiwant · 22/05/2023 19:47

@QueenMabby nothing like that at our school. I'm glad really.

Oblomov23 · 22/05/2023 20:15

Ds2 has exams for all subjects after the May bank holiday, partly to set them for year 10.

DataColour · 23/05/2023 10:12

We've had end of year exams the week before last, so DS has been getting his results back. Did OK in English, average marks, he seems to be happy about it, but I think he can do better! He's an avid reader of good books, so can't be his lack of reading, but I guess it doesn't always translate to good writing. Any ideas to improve his English?
.He did pretty well in Geography and Maths. Currently they only set for maths at his school, and that's just one higher set, which DS is in. Some of the higher set is offered further maths, wonder whether they decide on these tests or once they are settled in year 10.
My DD in year 8, in the same school, is doing her exams this week. All done by Friday, a big sign of relied all round.

DataColour · 23/05/2023 10:13

sigh of relief!

Original poster
QueenMabby · 23/05/2023 11:51

@DataColour - glad DS's results all positive. I think for good English results it's all about learning the structure of the answers that are required by the exam papers. My ds (currently year 12) was definitely average at English but oral contributions in school and general understanding was v good. Once someone had sat him down and taken him step by step through how to structure his answers to the questions he flew and got an 8 and a 9 in Lang and lit respectively come gcse time!

In my DD's school top set maths do gcse further maths and it starts straight from September as they teach it alongside the main maths curriculum. I expect your school will have a pretty sore idea of it all before the summer based on exam performance and year long attainment.

OP posts:
minisnowballs · 23/05/2023 12:01

Hope all with exams are coping OK. Our Year 9 has hers after half term, and since big sis is taking her books with her to revise while we are away at her grandma's (she's mid GCSEs) she's hopefully going to do so too. However, DD2 is switching schools in September, from her current comprehensive to a specialist music school.

She thinks they'll pass on the data, but I'm not sure the new school will take any notice, as she's done CAT tests for them and I suspect they use very different assessment methods at this stage. I'm not telling her that though - it will be good to get her to do some revision!

On English @DataColour we definitely found that the marks improved as DD1 got higher up the school and the school explained the mark schemes and how to structure answers - even those who would otherwise be good at english don't do well without that so maybe time will improve it. You can buy books of 'sample essays' (we inherited some) which might give an idea of what is being looked for but we found it just improved over time.

icanbewhatiwant · 23/05/2023 19:09

On ds3's report they have a target range for GCSEs. This target is based on tests in year 6 and 7. For English ds's is a 7 but it says working well above his target range. Yet he never reads, he hates reading. He has a book in his bag to read if he has to at school. So there must be other things that make him better at English. That might all change in year 10 though. I'd like him to read more. But ds2 was the same. He wouldn't read at that age. Now ds2 is studying for a history degree, so obviously he has to read for that, but he's started reading other books now too.

DataColour · 25/05/2023 10:51

Thanks for the advice regarding English. It's reassuring to hear that he might improve with the right guidance. His teacher says he's "bright" and good at the subject, but when his results seem average compared to the rest of the year group, it's difficult not to worry a bit. It is a grammar school, but still.......
I don't know whether the school is using any baseline testing to project their grades. They didn't sit for SATs did they. The school did do CAT testing.

@minisnowballs hope your DDs transition goes well. She must be very good in music. What instrument does she play?

I'm starting to worry a bit about PE GCSE that DS has chosen. Don't know how good he would have to be to get good marks, needs to speak to the teacher. He is not as "good" in sport as he was a year or so ago, as he hasn't had a growth spurt yet and is small compared to the other sport boys. So he is falling behind in the sports that he is doing outside school. I'm trying to get DH to start taking him to the velodrome or hill cycling (no hills near as alas!), as he's a good cyclist and it's something that he can do even without being tall and broad!

minisnowballs · 25/05/2023 10:59

@DataColour - average at a grammar sounds pretty bright to me. My DDs' school doesn't set for english at all so there are children in her class who will fail the subject as well as those predicted nines. I suspect you'll find it all comes good by Year 11 if he's good at the subject - some of what's required is a really artificial structure that just needs to be taught -I should imagine most of his cohort will get very good marks in English so he'll do well too.

I suspect a lot of PE marks will come from the written work and biology knowledge. If it's anything like music and dance the actual marks that come from being skilled in the subject might well not be that high. DD2 is currently doing dance, has never had a dance lesson in her life, but has good predictions as she's good at writing on the subject. The subjects have to be accessible to children who haven't had specialist lessons from a young age so this seems fair.

And thanks re transition. We hope so too. She's a woodwind player (and singer) and will be full boarding three and a half hours away from us so it's a huge step! We are going to miss her so much.

DataColour · 25/05/2023 11:26

Yes, I agree that GCSE options should be feasible to all children, and shouldn't depend on extra curricular activities. I think he'll be OK. He is good at pushing himself physically, so I know he'll try his best, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed for a growth spurt in the meantime!
Wow, your DD must be very talented. Is she going to be there for 6th form too?

icanbewhatiwant · 26/05/2023 10:50

Ds2 did gcse pe. They were meant to do a sport out of school. Ds dropped out of the football team he used to play in. He was and still is small (5'4" now at age 19) so they rarely played him as he was so much smaller than the other players. He was getting fed up with sitting on the side lines. So he dropped out. His pe teacher said he must do a sport out of school, submit photos/footage of him playing etc. luckily the pe teacher let him use footage of him playing in a school match, then covid hit, exams were cancelled and none of it mattered. I thought it was unfair they needed to play an out of school sport. He really enjoyed the theory part and had really good marks for that part of it. He would have liked to study it for A level too, but he just didn't do enough out of school sport.

NotDonna · 26/05/2023 17:53

Just catching up…
With those non-readers please double check their eyesight - not necessarily opticians but a chat. My DD2 (now upper 6th) at age 13 said the letters bounced about. Opticians said nothing wrong. In Yr10 had a dyslexia test and confirmed there was an issue. She didn’t read as it was exhausting, couldn’t follow the lines and avoided as much as possible. She’s since had eye exercises that have helped plus coloured overlays (wouldn’t wear the colour glasses). She still only reads what she absolutely has to and zero reading for fun but still got 8’s at both English GCSEs. If they don’t read at all it’s worth checking out. She thought letters bouncing about was normal.

@DataColour DD3 (yr9) doing PE GSCE starting next year too and there’s been no mention of having to do a sport outside school. @icanbewhatiwant thank heavens for covid in that sense for your DS. She’ll be doing gymnastics, dance and trampoline for hers.

She also has end of year exams after half term. All subjects bar creatives so 12, I think. But they have them every June so it’s no biggie. They only set for maths at her school, all other subjects are mixed ability. Top two sets do further maths, so she won’t be.

@minisnowballs is she excited about boarding? I used to nag to go to boarding not realising it actually cost anything. I had visions of being at Mallory Towers.