Page 24 | Anyone up for a GCSE handholding thread?

BaconAndAvocado · 2023-01-08T14:26:37+00:00

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.......

blue23blue · 15/05/2023 06:46

Good luck everyone (to us and them!!) it will all be over soon 🤞

TeenDivided · 15/05/2023 06:48

Did any of you watch Macbeth on BBC4 last night? I didn't know it was on and came in time for Banquo's murder. It looked good.

Good luck to all you DC this week. Mine is doing maths again if her anxiety will let her in to college that day.

Homeworkhell82 · 15/05/2023 06:53

TeenDivided · 15/05/2023 06:48

Did any of you watch Macbeth on BBC4 last night? I didn't know it was on and came in time for Banquo's murder. It looked good.

Good luck to all you DC this week. Mine is doing maths again if her anxiety will let her in to college that day.

I saw it was on, good timing before the gcses!
Good luck to your daughter.
Out of interest, is this the first time she's retaken it since year 11? Someone said they thought there's an opportunity to retake in November too?

Homeworkhell82 · 15/05/2023 06:53

TeenDivided · 15/05/2023 06:48

Did any of you watch Macbeth on BBC4 last night? I didn't know it was on and came in time for Banquo's murder. It looked good.

Good luck to all you DC this week. Mine is doing maths again if her anxiety will let her in to college that day.

Sorry, I've put dd, but see you put dc
Good luck to your child X

TeenDivided · 15/05/2023 07:06

@Homeworkhell82 Yes a DD. This is actually the first time she has sat it properly at all (if she does)! She is now y13 so supposedly did teacher assessments in y11 but missed the whole year with MH issues and sat a few assessments from home with limited prep. Then last year y12 she was still recovering so just sat English (3) this year (still recovering) she is just doing maths (if I can get her through the door).

Resits - there are resit opportunities for Eng Lang and Maths in November but in our case the college decides who is entered then. Their policy is only resit in Nov if you just missed the 4 (grade 3 is quite a wide range of marks), otherwise you go through to the summer. Again at DD's college, they get 3hrs of any resit subject per week. Another potential problem is they may not sit the same board. DD's college have switched English from AQA to something else this year.

christmastreefarm · 15/05/2023 07:29

Good luck to everyone. We don't start until tomorrow either - think my DD is quite pleased - as she is in anyway feels like a gradual start to not go straight into it on a Monday.

Neversaygoodbye · 15/05/2023 07:40

Good luck everyone. DS starts tomorrow with Biology then 4 more this week. We also have our first A level this Friday for DD.

Homeworkhell82 · 15/05/2023 07:43

TeenDivided · 15/05/2023 07:06

@Homeworkhell82 Yes a DD. This is actually the first time she has sat it properly at all (if she does)! She is now y13 so supposedly did teacher assessments in y11 but missed the whole year with MH issues and sat a few assessments from home with limited prep. Then last year y12 she was still recovering so just sat English (3) this year (still recovering) she is just doing maths (if I can get her through the door).

Resits - there are resit opportunities for Eng Lang and Maths in November but in our case the college decides who is entered then. Their policy is only resit in Nov if you just missed the 4 (grade 3 is quite a wide range of marks), otherwise you go through to the summer. Again at DD's college, they get 3hrs of any resit subject per week. Another potential problem is they may not sit the same board. DD's college have switched English from AQA to something else this year.

I really admire your daughter, she's kept going through everything, you must be proud and wishing your daughter all the best for the exams.

kidstaxidriver · 15/05/2023 07:49

Best of luck to everyone DC (and parents alike)!! Have very much resigned myself to the ‘what will be will be’ and going for an intact child hopefully at the end! Wishing you all well - can resonate with so many messages so this has been v helpful

CornishGem1975 · 15/05/2023 08:25

Thanks all - I know there's not a lot more I could do but I sit here questioning, does he have other issues, are there struggles I don't know about? I've tried to get through to him time and time again. He struggled when he was in the early years at school putting pen to paper and still does to an extent but nobody has ever flagged it as an issue and speaking to him he's always insisted everything is fine, he's just bored. Either way, I've tried, I've spoken to his teachers endlessly over the past two years trying to find a way to motivate him, I asked for a meeting with his year head but that never came to fruition. I've offered tutors, bought him all the revision resources. His sister has offered to help. I'm disappointed for him but there's that old saying that you can lead a horse to water...

ElfDragon · 15/05/2023 09:47

Can I join you all?

it feels as though we’ve been preparing for ages, and now the exams have crept up and surprised us.

dd2 has been giving the appearance of being organised, but has mentioned a few times recently that she has actually been doing more procrastination than revising!

she kicks off with drama this afternoon, and said this morning she hopes there aren’t questions on act 4, as she hasn’t read it. She will honestly be the death of me.

she has a busy week this week, with an exam every day, so hopefully today goes well so she has a good state of mind for the week, as she can have a tendency to spiral.

Piony · 15/05/2023 09:49

Good luck to them all.

@TeenDivided extra special luck to your DD, I hope she manages to go on the day. @TriceratopsRocks I think you're quite right, getting them in is a goal in itself. I was worried about DD going in but she seems surprisingly chilled out this morning.

@CornishGem1975 it sounds like you have put a lot into supporting him. Is he going to college? If so, the transition might be the perfect time to see if they can assess for any underlying issues. We know a couple of young adults who were diagnosed with quite severe dyslexia at college. Their very academic school had missed it, and said for years that they just weren't putting the effort in.

CornishGem1975 · 15/05/2023 09:55

@Piony He's applied to two colleges to do BTECs and he should get the grades he needs to do this but he doesn't want to go to either, he's so negative about it all. I actually think there could be some dyslexia there - he muddles up words and letters sometimes but he just laughs it off, his dad does the same but was never checked for anything. He does go to a very academic school, very results driven but they seem to put all their focus on the higher achieving kids.

Hernameisdeborah · 15/05/2023 10:35

I've been lurking on this thread for a little while and it's nice to be among others in the same boat! My son's first exam is his biology one tomorrow, with another three this week. I honestly don't know if I've been going on at him too much about revision over the past three months, or not done enough. I've bought various revision resources and encouraged him to attend the virtual revision sessions his school has created. He hasn't attended any yet, to my knowledge and I'm not sure if he's been paying much attention to the textbooks and cards I've bought him, especially not the subjects he needs to revise the most (his least favourite subjects, English Lit and Lang). I've decided to step back and just be supportive now without further nagging. He says he's feeling quite confident. He's bright but a stubborn little bugger and as so many of you have said, you can lead a horse to water but you can't make them drink!

SheilaFentiman · 15/05/2023 10:44

“especially not the subjects he needs to revise the most (his least favourite subjects, English Lit and Lang)”

DS1 the same! He’s doing iGcse English language though, so he’s done that one at least.

StandUpForYourRights · 15/05/2023 10:54

I'm also delurking, having followed for a while. My DC will just be finishing RE and I'm waiting for a text.

Having suffered anxiety during mocks, this morning was calmer than I expected and it will help massively if the RE paper was okay.

I'm more nervous than he is I think 🤔

MrKenTuckey · 15/05/2023 11:01

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HippyChickMama · 15/05/2023 11:23

Hope everyone's dc are feeling okay today and not too nervous. Ds has his first exam today (apart from his MFL speaking which was last week) and was a bit nervous this morning but not too bad

EmmaStone · 15/05/2023 11:34

Good luck to all. We've got GCSEs and A Levels in our house, DC2 finished History exams last week, so at least has one subject under his belt. Busy week this week with 5 exams. He's on study leave but decided to go to school as normal this morning to revise in school. DC1 has her first 2 A Levels this week. She's much more academic than DC2, and is very stressed out, keeps saying her GCSEs grades weren't real (Covid), and it's all a sham, and she's going to fail (predicted high grades). It's not been much fun. DC2 seems not to be stressed at all, and is just plodding through each day as it comes. We'll see what happens in August!

TripleDaisySummer · 15/05/2023 12:01

We've got A-levels and GCSE as well - the A-level child is actually more of a concern revision wise. They had practical last week - and first exam tomorrow and are calm at the moment.

DS had first exam this time last week - we did few days before have an episode of don't care - unnecessary school induced stress and home project failure - but he calmed down and refocused. He comes home very hot and tried out from school which isn't great for getting work done in evenings but he will at least eventually settled to some revision.

jamimmi · 15/05/2023 12:38

Anyone heard how the RS exam was. Can't get a message form DD untill she's home at 4 as she still in school.

Chardonnay73 · 15/05/2023 12:41

My ds found the RS paper ok. He said he found the 12 mark questions easier than the 5 mark ones 🤷‍♀️

Hersetta427 · 15/05/2023 12:42

DD did RS this morning (edexel so Christianity paper for her). She is actually happy with how it went - better than mocks she said.

Back now and doing Biology ready for tomorrow and muttering about her friends who are doing combined have loads less to revise for this paper than the seperate science people.

Beamur · 15/05/2023 12:43

DD sat RS this morning. She says it was ok, nothing terrible, one of the 12 marker questions was a bit tricky.

ilovebagpuss · 15/05/2023 12:58

Good luck to everyone! DD first Biology so we have a bit of time to revise tonight. DD is very bright but she has struggled with MH and frankly done very well to stay in school.
I'm trying to keep that in mind and just focus on getting what she needs for college and not stressing her.
Her mocks were good so I think it will all work out but I just need to focus on keeping her well and rested for the next 4 weeks! She won't eat breakfast normally but I have suggested those Belvita biscuits and a drink as a compromise.
Anyone else have any food/snack/relax tips?