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.......

Good to hear no coursework is also working out OK for the non-perfectionists (aka normal people)!

I would have hated coursework tbh (firmly in non-perfectionist camp).

DD seems to have a fair chunk of iGCSEs and other boards: It seems to stretch things out for weeks (which may or not be helpful)

She did a speaking thing, a few months ago, but the rest is exams.

For music GCSE (not sure what board)
She had to submit a performance video and a composition to a theme.

Otherwise it is all about what happens when she puts pen to paper in the sports hall.

DD's are also stretching out for weeks but I am quite glad. It's good that she is getting a lie in occasionally and can do some non-revision stuff once in a while without feeling guilty.

DS2 said his English Lit AQA (I think!)was ok. Christmas Carol and Much Ado About Nothing.
History tomorrow. Just been going over the info. Rise of Naziism and Vietnam War. So much info to remember!!
Then Maths and Computing on Friday.

Thanks @Nowfeeltheneedtopost

The spreading out of the exams (which is for everyone, not just IGCSEs, as they mostly follow the same timetable) is the main Covid concession for this year group.

Ds2 who did GCSEs in 2019 had a brutal timetable with 9-10 exams a week in some weeks.

I think the varied boards are just bc a dept may favour (eg) AQA English but the maths team prefers Edexcel. Tho AQA is becoming dominant Imo.

Ds2 who did GCSEs in 2019 had a brutal timetable with 9-10 exams a week in some weeks.

Oh my, this sounds like really hard work. Well done to him on just getting through it!

DS1 has 5 papers this week, 4 next, 6 the week after half term. But I think this week is the most brutal cos he has well over 10 free days before the 6 paper week!

DD had 4 exams yesterday, 3 of which all clashed so she had to be supervised during breaks, and sat exams from 9am to 5.15! She was absolutely shattered but pleased she got through it as that was by far her busiest day. Day off tomorrow then 2 on Friday!

Oh poor her!

Good Luck everyone doing History today!
Let's hope the papers are kind. Not an easy GCSE and so much content.

Oh my...thats insane. Glad she gets a rest today!

Really crossing my fingers for History today. Hope it goes well for everyone. Ds so deserves to do well.

I’ve never heard of that before! How did you get on in the end?

No exam for DS today. Just science booster after school. He goes to every booster and revision session but has done no revision at home. He's skipped some extra curricular this week as the earlier mornings have taken it out of him a bit. He'll be at school every day in half term for extra sessions, must get thank you chocs for those wonderful teachers.
Hope history goes well for everyone.

That's how it was left at the walk in centre. I am phoning GP this morning and school to let them know and find out if they can apply for special consideration. No exam today so no morning booster so I am just taking him in for normal school time rather than making him get up early for the bus hopefully a good night's sleep will have helped.

Good luck to those also doing history. DS also has maths revision session in the afternoon so will be in all day.

History of medicine today for DS. Keeping everything crossed as its an A level choice.

Good luck to all doing History today

DD absolutely dreading History today, they only finished the curriculum about a week ago and for months the lessons have just been studying on their own in the classroom with little teacher input just to actually vaguely cover the content.

Don't know what's happened really, the teacher is really good, experienced and enthusiastic but I think their different teacher last year spent too long on certain topics.

Anyway, DD doesn't want to do History A level (never wants to go near the subject again!) so I keep telling her it doesn't matter really, but she doesn't want to disappoint the teacher. I suspect the school's History results won't be their best ever. At least it means that she's quite chilled about Maths tomorrow.

Good luck to everyone today.

Good luck to all those doing History today. Dd has Business Studies this afternoon, which she isn’t particularly looking forward to, but it should be ok.

Hello
Hope its OK to crash the thread
DS2 has had a horrendous Yr11 attendance is hovering around 50%. (ASD & anxiety).
Maths and sciences are his thing, but English has been a huge issue. He'd never successfully completed an English exam ever. His last mocks were horrific, with me having to come and get him as he was in such a state, and sitting for 2 hours writing nothing in the next one he tried.

But yesterday he had English Literature And felt it went well! Obviously a long way to go and he's missed o much school it will be a tall order to get the grades he needs for A Levels, but a huge milestone achieved whatever the outcome. We found a brilliant tutor he started with after Easter and he's boosted DS2s confidence no end with dS2 smiling after each session. A rare sight this year under any circumstances.

hes got history today and hes missed most of this year's lessons so will be a tough one. I will be picking him up straight after as he has counselling booked.

Good luck to all our young people, and here's to favourable questions.

interesting to see all the different options within subjects. DD1's English Lit was Othello, and Blake. According to her the extract was odd, and not particularly characteristic , but the 12 mark questions was on a theme she'd hoped for. She did feel pushed for time on both sections though - didn't get much of a conclusion done for the Shakespeare, and forgot to add context for the poetry. History today is Crime and Punishment. She really liked history in YRs 7-9 but GCSE has apparently been much less enjoyable, so she's not relishing this one.

Tomorrow's maths and computer science are subjects where she really wants to achieve highly - it's a bummer that they've fallen on the same day.

@TheTurn0fTheScrew interested to know what board that is? Blake and Othello sounds tough - DDD’s A level texts!

Anyone else got dc doing film studies today? I don't think it's a very widely taught GCSE but ds took it because he has a special interest in film, and he thought it would be useful as he plans to study history and politics at uni after A levels and the university he's hoping to get into has optional film history modules as part of the joint honours BA.

@PennywisePoundFoolish ah well done to your son, and good on you for sorting the tutor for him. It's so hard for kids who have missed a lot to pitch up and face down that exam paper, knowing some of it will be impossible. I have so much respect for them.

@TeenDivided is your DD's maths tomorrow? Best wishes to her, I hope she make it in.

History for mine today. She was definitely flagging with her evening revision last night so we need to make sure she doesn't burn out. It's a long road ahead still.

DD did Othello for Cambridge iGCSE along with some poems from Songs of Ourselves and Purple Hibiscus (Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie).
It sounded as the booklet with all the text extracts they were examined on was huge.

DD dropped history so it is just Business Studies for us this afternoon.