Page 33 | 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.......

Muchtoomuchtodo · 17/05/2023 12:41

TeenDivided · 17/05/2023 10:05

just looked on JQC site. All watches are now banned.

Fair enough. This must be a new rule since January but the letter that we had from school just said no smart watches.

ladybee2 · 17/05/2023 12:47

DS said AQA Eng Lit went really well.
Macbeth and Jekyll and Hyde. He was pleased with both questions.
Business and History tomorrow.

Titsywoo · 17/05/2023 12:47

DS says Edexcel was good today - Juliets feelings towards Romeo and consequences of greed for Christmas Carol. So far all been easy - are they giving leeway due to covid effects this year? I assume the grade boundaries will be high though!

HappiDaze · 17/05/2023 12:53

DD reports English went well

Lon24 · 17/05/2023 13:01

It looks like IGCSEs Edexcel are vey hard this year. I wonder if this is always the case? My DC´s school are doing a mix of IGCSEs and GCSEs and so far the IGCSE ones are the hardest. Very unlucky for him that all Sciences and Maths are IGCSE as those are his A level choices. Hopefully it is just a coincidence and won´t be like this for all the other exams.

whathaveyoudonelately · 17/05/2023 13:06

Lon24 · 17/05/2023 13:01

It looks like IGCSEs Edexcel are vey hard this year. I wonder if this is always the case? My DC´s school are doing a mix of IGCSEs and GCSEs and so far the IGCSE ones are the hardest. Very unlucky for him that all Sciences and Maths are IGCSE as those are his A level choices. Hopefully it is just a coincidence and won´t be like this for all the other exams.

IGCSEs definitely seem to be harder so far but hope should be reflected in the grade boundaries?! DCs school just does them for Sciences now I think.

ElfDragon · 17/05/2023 13:07

Yes, it does seem that the igcse papers are being reported as the tough ones. Dd2 has maths igcse, so I’m not looking forward to Friday!

Acqua · 17/05/2023 13:08

Muchtoomuchtodo · 17/05/2023 09:15

No he can’t. He’s short sighted but doesn’t like to wear his glasses for written work. They’ve said he can sit at the front. It’s just annoying that it was allowed in January but not now!

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@Muchtoomuchtodo 👓⏰ that's hard for your poor son. It may be too late for his GCSEs (even though you could still ask and get lucky) but ensure when he starts his Alevels next year you speak to his head of year about this issue. They should be able to give him his own personal digital clock on his desk. My daughter has sight issues like your son (needs it for distance but doesn't like glasses on when she's writing) and has had this granted as an accommodation. Did take quite a few back and forth emails. Be nice but firm with them.

Hellocatshome · 17/05/2023 13:20

So DS who has no study leave and before and after school boosters has admitted he is too tired for football training tonight. This is the first time he has ever missed training voluntarily in his life. I think boosters, normal timetable and exams is too much. I dont mind them being in school rather than study leave as he probablybwouldnt study much by himself but his days are currently 8am to 4pm and I think he is finding it very mentally draining.

DorotheaDiamond · 17/05/2023 13:21

ElfDragon · 17/05/2023 12:14

Dd2 (edexcel igcse) says it was a tough paper, but she hopes she’s done ok.

she had the 2 poems from the anthology that she didn’t want, and the character she didn’t want (Candy), but said the unseen poem was good.

she’s got Business studies tomorrow - not one of her best.

Dd said unseen was a nightmare to actually discuss - all her friends agreed was nothing to say about it! Tolerable OMAM questions apparently

Lon24 · 17/05/2023 13:24

Let´s hope the grade boudaries are low. Good luck to them all!

Madcats · 17/05/2023 13:33

DD seemed happy with both CIE igcse English and Edexcel igcse Biology.

I guess it is a matter of luck what/how you are taught each topic and what you have revised.

Studying in lessons 8am-4pm sounds too much (and stressful).

Changes17 · 17/05/2023 13:39

Thanks for the WJEC update - DS still at school. I think he was predicting they'd never had the character of Romeo, and London as a poem is definitely one he's looked at recently. Good news!

kidstaxidriver · 17/05/2023 13:40

WJEC - apparently Macbeth went well but wasn’t quite so keen on the poem ‘London’ - it’s just what you have learnt and prefer. No idea what Macbeth Q was thought or the abstract, just hoping they’ve blagged something for the poem!! Onto PE this pm so not time to mull over it

ElfDragon · 17/05/2023 13:52

DorotheaDiamond · 17/05/2023 13:21

Dd said unseen was a nightmare to actually discuss - all her friends agreed was nothing to say about it! Tolerable OMAM questions apparently

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It's funny how the reports vary, isn't it? dd2 said the unseen was good. she does have ASD, and a slight tendency to answer the question she wishes was written, rather than the actual question posed, but she is feeling ok about it, and right now, I'll take that. She's doing really well so far, and is surprisingly together.

the anthology and OMAM options were the bits she didn't want to come up, but she was still prepared for them. more a matter of preference, I think, rather than panic over not knowing.

Covidisdrivingmecrazy · 17/05/2023 13:53

Hellocatshome · 17/05/2023 13:20

So DS who has no study leave and before and after school boosters has admitted he is too tired for football training tonight. This is the first time he has ever missed training voluntarily in his life. I think boosters, normal timetable and exams is too much. I dont mind them being in school rather than study leave as he probablybwouldnt study much by himself but his days are currently 8am to 4pm and I think he is finding it very mentally draining.

Our school are doing something similar. I emailed that my child is very anxious and will only be attending sessions outside of exams unless she feels up to it. Got no reply and I've just been taking her in for exams and revision sessions that she WANTS to do. Not a peep from school

Taswama · 17/05/2023 13:58

I think mandatory extra revision outside of school hours is OTT. Am very glad that DS school is doing an extra session the day before in a normal lesson slot and that's it.

DS still at school - had English and Politics today. Politics is AS, an optional extra, which clashed with English. So was kept in isolation between exams and allowed to bring food in as long as no writing on the packaging.

bendmeoverbackwards · 17/05/2023 14:13

ladybee2 · 17/05/2023 12:47

DS said AQA Eng Lit went really well.
Macbeth and Jekyll and Hyde. He was pleased with both questions.
Business and History tomorrow.

That’s good news @ladybee2 same exam board and books here. I haven’t heard from dd yet, she’s sitting Class Civ as we speak. Definitely her worst day today.

naughty40me · 17/05/2023 14:40

My DS school gave them all a timetable with exams, revision boosters and lessons and said its all compulsory.

When I was at school (30 odd years ago 😳) we only went in for the actual exam!

No idea how he's got on today as left his phone and won't be back until 4.30pm ish.

mrsnjw · 17/05/2023 16:17

My son is only in for exams. I think it's too much to be at school all day, having revision catch up and sitting papers. No time to recover or catch your breath!

LighthouseCat · 17/05/2023 16:18

AQA English, and another happyish DD here. Enjoyed the Macbeth question, ACC less so but fine. Phew!

TripleDaisySummer · 17/05/2023 16:18

So DS who has no study leave and before and after school boosters has admitted he is too tired for football training tonight. This is the first time he has ever missed training voluntarily in his life. I think boosters, normal timetable and exams is too much.

DS missed an option revision session tonight - there haven't been many put on but he says he just too tired - it's really not like him but he getting on with some History for tomorrow and trying to get some done for Mondays exams as well and having an early night.

PamTheExam · 17/05/2023 16:24

I've got an urgent question re. English Literature. My son didn't realise that he only had to write answers for his two texts and so tackled a question about another of the texts so that'll be three answers (the third was obv quite short as he hadn't got a clue). I'm gutted for him as he's so upset about the mistake which he realised after 20 minutes or so - he is only just scraping 4s as it is and I'm thinking he might be penalised for this or they may take the short answer as one of his "two" - or maybe there isn't a limit! He managed to write a good few decent paragraphs for his core texts. He has got ASD and so that's been accomodated with laptop etc but I think this was just blind panic. Anyone know what might happen?

MargaretThursday · 17/05/2023 16:29

ladybee2 · 17/05/2023 12:47

DS said AQA Eng Lit went really well.
Macbeth and Jekyll and Hyde. He was pleased with both questions.
Business and History tomorrow.

Ds had those two for English lit. He came out very smug saying they'd chosen the easiest questions for both.
I hope he hasn't underestimated the difficulty.

LighthouseCat · 17/05/2023 16:33

PamTheExam · 17/05/2023 16:24

I've got an urgent question re. English Literature. My son didn't realise that he only had to write answers for his two texts and so tackled a question about another of the texts so that'll be three answers (the third was obv quite short as he hadn't got a clue). I'm gutted for him as he's so upset about the mistake which he realised after 20 minutes or so - he is only just scraping 4s as it is and I'm thinking he might be penalised for this or they may take the short answer as one of his "two" - or maybe there isn't a limit! He managed to write a good few decent paragraphs for his core texts. He has got ASD and so that's been accomodated with laptop etc but I think this was just blind panic. Anyone know what might happen?

I think they will take the two entries that get the most marks (so ignore the shorter one) I'm not a teacher or examiner though but am basing this on what is done in geography where it's feasible to make a similar mistake with the case studies. He's not going to be the only one to do this x