Anyone up for a GCSE handholding thread?

[BaconAndAvocado]

DS2 has his GCSEs in June. He had mocks in November and more (why??) next month.
He needs to get 5 6s to stay at his current school (IB, not overly keen) or to transfer to another local 6th form.
He said he’s going to start revising this week......
Think his school will be helping him devise a revision timetable this week. I’ve bought him flashcards, he just needs to knuckle down now.......

[AnyOldThings]

If it helps it’s great that they are doing more mocks next month. The November ones give the school a baseline. The Feb/Mar ones will tell them if their Y11 teaching is hitting the right spots with enough time to reschedule/focus on gaps.

GCSE’s are heavily about exam technique so mocks are a great way to practice that and also spot where pupils are struggling.

[BaconAndAvocado]

AnyOldThings that makes sense re identifying gaps.

DS’s school had an unusually low achieving GCSE cohort in 2022 so I think the pressure will be doubled, poor kids!

[BrightRedLipstick]

I'll join this for a handhold
There was an earlier GCSE 2023 thread but I cannot find it now.

We are in the middle of mocks and DD is super stressed. Tears, throwing up the whole works.
We have stayed out of it as she was confident of managing on her own but is having such a wobble now that I feel bad I didn't step in earlier.
Though not sure I know how exactly to help.

[BonjourCrisette]

We are in the middle of mocks too and so far it has been OK, touch wood, although DD is very tired. Will definitely be keeping an eye on tiredness levels ahead of the real thing as we too had tears the other night which were about 95% tiredness. No real tips but telling DD to take time out from it all and go and have a long hot bath or similar really seems to help so might be worth a try for yours.

[FlorisFigure]

Same here. There is a very grumpy teenager in the house.

[pinkflop]

We've just received my son's November mock results. They're about what we expected - failing both English Lang & Lit, 5's for maths and science, 7's for history and German, food tech and construction are almost a write off due to lack of teachers.

He's having a hard time at the moment as he had an operation on his leg the week before the mocks and although he's out of plaster now the recovery isn't going as planned.

So much for him to deal with mentally and I feel helpless 😔

[Hersetta427]

DD in the middle of mocks too. SHe seems to be coping well at the moment. We are trying to strike a good balance between revision and letting her contunue her sporting interests so she still has training twice a week which she is out of the house for 4 hrs at plus she plays a match on a saturday and then officiates other games (she is the youngest person in the country with this sporting qualification) and earns a tidy sum working. For the time being that is restricted to saturdays so she can revise on sundays but after mocks she will go back to also working on sundays until study leave starts.

[SolitudeNotLoneliness]

I'll join!

DC has been very unhappy at school and while I don't like to see how easily the phrase mental health can sometimes be used, with her there is poor confidence and anxiety which is being dealt with by a head in sand approach.

Never uses text books, guides, flashcards then cries saying won't pass. Never uses own initiative and just looks vacant at times.

To be honest I'm dreading the next few months as the risk if failing is real, and if so they do resits at a local college, but it would be the end of the world for her

Arrrghhhhh!

[BrightRedLipstick]

Some good ideas here!
I try to force DD to have downtime but no luck.
She has locked herself inside and I am unable to get through.
Finally we had the crying and the throwing up...I had to sit her down and watch a 30 minute comedy show yesterday as she had worked herself to a state
Keeping sports and hobbies going is what I would recommend too.
If only they listen!

[BaconAndAvocado]

Sending out hugs to parents who need it.

DS2 should be bringing home a revision timetable from school today. I’m hoping it’s one he’s customised for his own subjects.
He said his school is recommending the Pomodoro (tomatoes?!) approach. Googled it......25 minutes of revision then 5 minutes break, then repeat. Not sure how many times you repeat....
I’ve that said for now, 2 hours a night on school nights is reasonable. Not sure about weekends??He works all day Sunday.

[LegLegLeg]

@BrightRedLipstick specifically tagging you as Ds1 threw up before every morning exam for the real things from stress. It was the unknown of have I done enough, will I do well and be able to answer the questions? It was horrific for him and us. Staff knew him well enough that he wasn't ill just feeling the pressure. He didn't throw up at all for his A levels even though technically that was more life determining with getting into uni.

@pinkflop the most important one from the failing perspective is the English Lang as that is the one that he will be asked about in future. He is clearly a capable child with 7s for History as it shows he can write an essay. If you want a suggestion, and this goes to anyone on here, if you can get a copy of their mock paper look at that and the mark scheme to see what they should have written. That goes for any paper they want to improve on.

For English in particular, look up the past papers for their exam board and go through each question, figure out from the mark scheme what they are looking for. It is something they should be able to master to some degree. For narratives, have some descriptions of things already written about a setting, ie a house, a park, a forest, and then a person, plus weather. Weather lends itself to creating atmosphere especially cold or wet weather.

Revision is about chipping away. Mine couldn't get their brains to work after 9pm so didn't even try. They found coming home from school, snack and break, then revision until dinner so 2 hours ish a night. Usually in year 11 homework is either revision or show us the revision you have prepared. There are vast amounts of resources on YouTube from teachers. Find what method works for your child. And most of all, good luck.

[Hellocatshome]

Yes please hand hold needed here. DS1 doing GCSEs this year. Since September we have had a very unsettled time with DS1 being told by an ex she was pregnant causing a certain amount of going off the rails and ultimately turning out to be a lie. Even without this he jsnt the most academic so we are just hoping for 4s across the board so no resitting maths and English and can go to college to do a vocational subject or his preference is an apprenticeship although they are increasingly hard to come by.

[HippyChickMama]

Ds has just had his November results, his last mocks are in March. He's done ok, a couple of 5s, mostly 6s and 7s and one 8 in his mocks, his predicted grades are all 6s, 7s and 8s. He has an interview for 6th form college this week as there's no 6th form at his school and if he is given a conditional offer and achieves his predicted grades, he'll get in. He has ASD and is also a very young year 11 (mid August born) and our biggest worry is how he'll cope with the real exams emotionally., exams make him very anxious.

[DorotheaDiamond]

I’ll join….dd convinced she’s going to fail (high flying indie, all we friends get nothing less than 95% in any test). she’s been informed first 2 days - won’t say anything about exam after it’s over!

on a related subject (for a distraction )…how close to the real thing do their schools make the mocks? I work in one where it’s done exactly as a real exam right down to “official” answer books - my other place where it’s normal notepaper, but strict on pencil cases/checking for phones/watches/clear water bottles etc. Dds school isn’t even enforcing that which surprises me!

[BrightRedLipstick]

@LegLegLeg
Thanks for providing hope. She came back much more cheerful today.
As a PP said, its also the tiredness.
They have up to 3 subjects most days which seems a lot.
Taking it one day at a time

[Hersetta427]

@DorotheaDiamond

I’ll join….dd convinced she’s going to fail (high flying indie, all we friends get nothing less than 95% in any test). she’s been informed first 2 days - won’t say anything about exam after it’s over!

on a related subject (for a distraction )…how close to the real thing do their schools make the mocks? I work in one where it’s done exactly as a real exam right down to “official” answer books - my other place where it’s normal notepaper, but strict on pencil cases/checking for phones/watches/clear water bottles etc. Dds school isn’t even enforcing that which surprises me!

DD's is very strict. Phone taken away, clear pencil case, clear water bottle. Hands checked for writing etc.

[pinkflop]

@LegLegLeg thank you for the advise.

He's been having English tutoring for a year. We swapped tutors in September as he didn't seem to be improving, and to be honest he's still not improving. He despises English and is convinced he's rubbish at it, so he switches off. He knows he's just needs to pass and then never worry about it again! We've asked for a copy of his papers but have yet to receive them.

[BaconAndAvocado]

This is the timetable, not sure what the blue hilighted bits are.
It starts tomorrow night.

DS2’s school run the mocks/PPEs in exactly the same way as far as I’m aware.

[BaconAndAvocado]

pinkflop DS2 also hates English and can’t wait to see the back of it.
Just hope he gets a 5. He got a 4 in his Mock before Christmas.

[pinkflop]

Apologies if this is a stupid question but do your children do all of the papers for each subject? My son did paper 2 for chemistry, biology and physics for combined science but not paper 1. And only 1 paper out of 3 for history. And only paper 2 for English language.

[pinkflop]

BaconAndAvocado mine has no idea what he wants to do when he leaves school. But fortunately he has no desire to do A Levels! He's been looking at T Levels and BTECs but can't decide what to do. He's going to have to pick something soon!

[gimmeabreakplease]

@pinkflop

Apologies if this is a stupid question but do your children do all of the papers for each subject? My son did paper 2 for chemistry, biology and physics for combined science but not paper 1. And only 1 paper out of 3 for history. And only paper 2 for English language.

This is quite common for mock exams.

It is unusual for students to do all the papers for all their subjects during mocks.

First, could be because not all the content has been covered yet.
Secondly, timetabling issues. If sports hall is needed then those PE lessons need to be reallocated to other classrooms and it can be a logistical nightmare. When exams take place in the summer, it's generally warm, so most PE lessons happen outside anyway and don't need a classroom like during the winter.

[Hersetta427]

Dd has done all papers except for one eng lit paper on war poetry- not sure why. Think it's because they only did it recently.

[DorotheaDiamond]

@Hersetta427

DD's is very strict. Phone taken away, clear pencil case, clear water bottle. Hands checked for writing etc.

That’s what we do where I work!!! Gobsmacked dds school don’t (although I heard rumours of girls with writing on their arms in their GCSEs last year getting away with it….so not over surprised)

[pompei8309]

And you need a handhold because….? just leave the boy get on with it , he’s 16 not 6, have you not got anything else to do but to stress him out? 🙄