How to help DD with GCSEs

[BananasAreEvil]

This academic year we've come to the decision that we're going to be more involved in DD's schoolwork as it's become clear that she needs the support. As a parent, what can I do to provide support that is consistent, helpful, meaningful and won't make my DD hate me? She's on board with he help, by the way, I just know that when we're all tired and busy, all good intentions might go out of the window.

Apart from encouraging her to set up a work routine she can actually stick to, minimise chores so that she can focus on schoowork and spare time is spent on things she likes, a tutor for her hardest subject and finding and printing past exams online that she can do, what else can I do?

y11?

Make sure you have the revision guides, and/or access to seneca or tassomai.

Wait to do past papers until later in year when they think they have learned content.

Be interested in tests, offer to test their revision, ask what score they got, encourage reflection on how revision/test technique could be improved.

Help them with a realistic revision timetable if they can't make one for themselves.

Make space over xmas for revision if they have Jan mocks

Make space Easter onwards for revision, don't organise holidays without checking first, don't commit them to going to second cousin Tim's wedding at the opposite end of the country the weekend before exams.

Make sure they stay balanced and exercise & relax too.

Other tips for success:
Don't have a pandemic in the GCSE year.
Don't have a child with MH issues.
Don't have a child with dyslexia, dyspraxia and processing issues.

Thank you @TeenDivided. Those are helpful tips. Unfortunately we already suspect inattentive adhd, hence wanting to put all the support in place now that she's starting Y11. It sounds like you've had your fair share of challenges along the way.
Is there a specific website to get past papers? What happens if they practise with a past paper than then comes up in a mock?

I have 2 DDs. Eldest did GCSEs 7? years ago. She has disorganised dyspraxia. My list was based on her. My update was based on DD2 (who missed all of y11).

With DD1 I did most of her revision 1-1 with her as her mind would wander otherwise. I also wrote the revision cards as she couldn't see what was important, and what wasn't. She wanted to do well, and tried hard and it was a point of steady revision as she wouldn't have coped with cramming long days at the end.

The boards all have their own past papers on their own websites. However there haven't been many 9-1 exams in most subjects due to the pandemic and missing 2 years.
Mocks are usually done using the last years papers which are not put on the websites to maintain integrity.

The best learning is active and effortful rather than passive and easy. So reading something and then testing yourself (with book closed) is better than just reading, making notes with book open etc. So when I was doing exams I used to learn my notes off by heart and then recite them to my Mom while she looked in the book. I did 10 subjects. So did my sister. We were twins. My Mom was amazing, she must have spent hundreds of hours doing this and never once did she say she was too busy or tired, or looked bored.

I have just supported my DS through his GCSEs. He has inattentive adhd. He didn’t do well in his mocks and therefore he was Ok with me helping. He understood everything and actually his knowledge and understanding of subjects was very good, but his planning, organising and motivation were pretty lacking (all due to adhd).

Like @TeenDivided I sat with him 1-1 for revision and so the revision cards.

i read aloud to him, we watched lots of videos on YouTube and bbc bite size.

I read past papers to him and he gave me answers verbally and then we went through the mark scheme together.

we did different things depending on the subject, how much he liked it, how confident he was and how important it was.

he just got his results and he improved some grades by 4 grades and passed them all.

All the hard work was worth it to see just how delighted he was to get an 8 and 9 in his favourite subjects.

it was a huge commitment from me, but he had no support from school and he really needed someone to help him.

Echo the advice about avoiding too much ‘busy work’ revision - making lovely notes etc, which is the part of revision many students focus on. The bit that does the work is forced recall ie making yourself pull the answer out of your memory. This is the part where your support is invaluable - testing her little and often - in the evening then again the next morning is effective. Closer to the exams as many past paper questions as she can cope with - lots online just make sure you get the right exam board. I would email teachers of her most tricky subjects- they should be able to point to resources online. Lots of workbooks on Amazon which are relatively inexpensive.I am always very pleased to hear from parents like you - help at home can make a huge difference. If you can stretch to a tutor that can also be a game changer for students who are capable but under confident - often just getting the feeling that actually they can do it has a massive knock on effect.

Just asked DD who did GCSEs this year and these are her suggestions.

There’s a website called physicsandmathstutor that DD used for past papers. Also has other practice questions on there.

Youtube and website called Cognito for maths and science. There are good explanations and quizzes there.

And having a parent test her for active recall.

Your final comment is not a bar to success at all. My DS has all 3 and has 9 x A 2 x A at gcse and 3 x A at A level.

agh the bold thing
that is 9 x Astar and 2 x A

and 3 x A star

ncase.me/remember/

Make sure that you revise throughout the year to get the benefit of spaced repetition.

Go through past papers and find the questions that pertain to each topic. Prepare answers to them at each stage of the revision.

Agree with all that is said.

Also: it's important to understand what you need to do to pass the exam - which is what we are doing here, not learning to speak French or analyse English lit. So look at mark schemes and examiners reports on past papers and see what you need to do.

In my subject (MFL) for example, the key things to learn are verbs (tenses) and vocab; it's vital to include opinions and reasons plus a range of tenses in your written and spoken work.

In Eng Lang and lit there are very specific criteria and things that need to be included.

Finally - consider how your DC learns best. My DS1 struggled with revision and did best when we went through a past paper verbally, rather than writing things down. We went through them again and again to try to embed the learning. No point endlessly writing spider diagrams if it doesn't help you retain the information.

Remember that a lot of help is possible for 1 year, but isn't sustainable for 3. So if they need a lot of help to get say 6s and 7s, don't immediately assume A levels is the next step without thinking if they can cope independently.

@SeasonFinale I guess I meant don't have all the things I listed in one go.

Well done to your DC.

I honestly think if she struggles best thing you can do is get a tutor for her weakest or most important subjects.

If you can afford it of course

My dd went from a 2 to a 5 in maths
A 4 to a 7 in English

And 2/3 in science to 5/6

I think tutors are worthwhile for understanding & exam question technique but not so helpful if the student 'just' needs to learn content. Happy to be persuaded otherwise however.

Agree @TeenDivided a tutor is most useful for explaining what needs to be done to pass the exam - esp at this stage. So if you use a tutor, make sure they are well up on the GCSE spec and especially the board your DC does as of course it can vary. Don't be afraid to interrogate this in detail - any decent tutor will be happy to clarify.

DS has inattentive ADHD and his school books were a mess. I spoke to the school and got all the relevant work books and sat with DS to work through them. We started very early spring and worked at weekends. This was the basis of all his revision, although the school did organise peer tutoring in maths (some grade 9 students tutored him before school and the school paid them). This was very effective as maths isn’t my thing and lifted his mark by two grades.
I also got A3 paper so that DS, who’s a visual learner, could make a mind map for each topic of each subject eg for Romeo and Juliet a box with the characters,
another with main themes, another with quotes etc. I got him to write these down so that the info would sink in.
We made the decision for him to not revise French as he was predicted a 2 and just didn’t get it. This was a good decision (he ended up getting a 3).
Anyway, it was hard and intense but did the trick as he passed all well bar French.
Have access arrangements been put in place for your DD eg extra time.
Good luck.

If you can get copies of her year 10 mocks and the mark schemes go through each one to work out where she lost marks and identify why. For science subjects you can use MARCKS -
Maths - a simple mistake in calculation
Application of knowledge (knows it but couldn't apply it to this question
Read the question? Did you miss a key term like describe rather than explain
Communication - understood the question but didn't word your answer correctly especially missing key words and specific terminology
Knowledge -Do you understand the concept
Statements, it is a 4 mark question but you only made 2 statements

I agree with everything everyone above has said and especially Clary we said GCSEs are a game you need to know the rules to get the marks. In English lit if it says how does Shakespeare show male aggression in Romeo and Juliet you say Shakespeare demonstrates/displays/highlights/conveys/presents male aggression through... etc. Youtube, Mr Salles and Stacey Reay for English lang and Lit. Ds went in with 4 prepared narratives that could be adapted to the questions.

Past papers are great but only when you have covered the content. Have the paper on one screen and mark scheme on the other and go through stuff question by question and see what your answers are compared to the mark scheme. We worked through these together, we called it learning to fish, fishing was what he did in school without me and in exams. Right up until the end, I was teaching him to fish.

History is learning the facts but then applying those facts to the question and knowing how to structure the essays. Both my sons did incredibly well in their GCSEs. Ds2 has just finished year 11.

Re the MARCKS bit, mark each question with the letter that applies as to why they haven't got full marks and see if there is a pattern ie a lot of C category things.

If you suspect adhd it may be worth seeking a diagnosis asap? If your DD has timing issues then being allowed +25% in the exam can make a huge difference. This would have to be in place before mocks though. My Dd was diagnosed end yr10 and she often writes half her essay papers in that extra time. It made a huge difference when she did her GCSEs. Also sometimes a tutor can be helpful just because it means active recall for an hour, even if she already understands the concepts. Good luck

I think it's nice to support in wider ways too. Whatever they're studying in English or history- can you find a play or a film to watch. Visit somewhere relevant. Links ti real life are great.

Oh definitely. We took DD to see Macbeth & An Inspector Calls pre-pandemic. I think seeing the plays really helps with understanding and enjoyment. (Shame DD then didn't sit Eng Lit really )

Little and often is better than trying to spend several hours in one go. Try to ensure she does something every day and more at weekends/holidays.

I'd strongly recommend the CGP booklets which are pretty cheap from Amazon particularly the practice question booklets which have a lot of questions based on past papers alongside more basic "knowledge" questions. They also have revision books which explain the basic facts they need to learn without all the waffle on long/boring text books.

And yes, sit with her and work with her to help her concentrate and keep her motivated.