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.......

DS2 is sitting PPEs ( second lot of mocks!) this week and next.
He said the Physics and Chemistry were harder than anticipated....

My son had his Food Prep practical yesterday despite the strikes, and he's in today to catch up on Construction coursework.

The next couple of weeks are full on with mocks, plus the English spoken assessment, which he's dreading.

To be honest, he's not coping particularly well. Anyone ever tried Bach's Rescue Remedy?

No school here for 2 days just self directed revision, tbh that has benefited my DD after a very busy period of extra rehearsals & show for GCSE dance. But still no second set of mocks and they haven’t finished the chemistry syllabus yet….

@pinkflop is he open to trying a bit of guided breathing? I’ve got a 3min one on the “insight timer” App which is great for calming the mind to cope with anxiety. My younger DD also uses the “smiling mind”app every night to relax.

DS school open to select years including year 11. He had one mock yesterday which had been postponed due to missing a day last week for snow. Results most likely next week, hopefully they'll be an improvement on December mocks.
I use Bach rescue night spray and I definitely think it helps.

Rs mock here today, apparently according to DS, no point as they have hardly covered any of the work as the teacher has bern off sick. Not holding out much hope for this one!! We have had exam timetable and only one day with 2 exams which is ok.

pinkflop
My DD had hers a little while ago. I think a lot of the kids were a bit nervous but actually did just fine on the day. A few wobbly voices and chins but they got there!
Presumably he'll have his written prompts? Get him to practice out loud and make sure he remembers to breathe and pause if he needs to. Make sure his dea is complex but not impossible to talk about - follow the brief. ( That bit was from DD) and good luck.

Thanks Beamur.
He hates English with a passion and finds it really difficult. He struggles to write anything down, let alone stand up and speak.

We have just had the in school revision timetable for the easter holidays and it is full on. Ds will be in school most days. I really feel for him, he looks dreadful at the moment and could use a break in the holidays.

How many hours per day have your DCs been told to study? Mine had been told 6 hours but they are only prepared to study for 4.

Wow that sounds full on for Easter no such expectations this end at My DDs school… they are doing some classroom mocks next week and the school is actually shutting for 2d extra for “academy days” 🙄it’s going to be bloomin amazing if she actually gets the grades she needs for college at this rate..

Can I join? I'm consumed with worry over my dd's GCSEs. She's very bright, at a selective girls' school, on the autistic spectrum and had some mental health problems in Year 10 resulting in erratic school attendance (probably around 50%). She's been much better in Year 11, attendance is better (but still not what it should be) and seems to be working and wants to do well.

Bearing in mind her issues, her mock results were not too bad - 6s in Maths, English Lit, History and Double Science. 5 in English Language, 4 in RS, 3 in Class Civ and 1 (!) in Spanish. She needs a minimum of 46 points from her 8 best GCSEs for her school sixth form, she is currently on 42. The worry at the moment is Class Civ which she has chosen for A Level in spite of really not being too interested in the subject (it was more a case of eliminating all the subjects she didn't like!). So she'll have to do a lot better or choose another subject.

What is her ultimate aim career wise? Does she need to do A levels if she isn't choosing subjects she likes rather subjects she doesn't hate? I think sometimes when a school has a 6th form attached kids sort of think they re supposed to go there and not look at other options which might be more suitable for them.

My younger DD is autistic and I wonder if T levels maybe better option as it’s more practical focused but eqv of 3xA levels, Our local college does a media or computer design one I think. Does your DD have any interests in another area?

I only noticed this as my oldest is choosing a levels but at the college not the 6th Form. There were also multiple btec options that looked good

Can I join? Anyone have any suggestions for a previously motivated DD predicted to do well who is now saying 'what's the point' and has lost her motivation to do any study or for anything. I have tried talking, asking what I can do to help, made suggestions but I am just met with fury and a a door slammed in my face. I have tried not talking about it at all but I can see that it is bothering her that she knows that she should be doing something but won't. Help please 🙏

@SilverGlitterBaubles that sounds really hard. My DS went through similar and has eventually asked for my help. He was feeling overwhelmed with how much he had to learn but didn’t know where to start? There’s such a massive volume of stuff to know for each subject I imagine it’s completely daunting for them.
It goes against the grain as you think they should be revising all the time at the moment but could you suggest a night off tonight to just do what she wants. Say you’re really proud of her and she’s doing well etc. Sounds like she needs all pressure taking off her. Tell her she’s still got plenty of time.
There’s some brilliant resources on YouTube especially for science’s that have massively helped DS. He was just ploughing through workbooks etc and just not remembering it but using YouTube and workbooks and past papers has really helped.

@bloomsburyavenue has given good advice. Ds has 4 revision session in school but after school and i have now stopped him going as they were not helping and he is getting overwhelmed and tired. I have been through this before but the pressure this year seems huge.

Does anyone else get the impression that the Year 11s are further behind than they should usually be at this point? Massive generalisation I know, but my friends' children who took GCSEs last year seemed to have pretty much finished the syllabus at this point and were focusing on revision, and it was the same for my DS in 2019. My DD still seems to have loads to do. Yesterday her Geography teacher said that she 'hoped' they would finish before they go on study leave! In English Literature (AQA) they've barely started on the poetry and they've still got significant topics in science left to cover.

I feel that they've had a pretty disrupted time of it - spent some of Year 10 catching up on what they should have done in Year 9, then lots of disruption due to Covid illness (teachers and pupils), having to self-isolate etc. I know it's not comparable to last year's Year 11s but it seems tough on them.

Yes I’d agree @Bobsbees my DDs school haven’t finished the curriculum in a couple of areas mainly those doing higher triple sciences it’s been so challenging that next years cohort have had one of their option choices removed in yr9 for those who want to take triple sciences. Acknowledging the challenge it’s been this year but not helping our cohort!

@SilverGlitterBaubles oh bless her she sounds overwhelmed. When she’s calmer could you help her just pick one thing a night 30mins to look at. When my dd got “blocked” we literally went through a chemistry past paper line by line to find the areas she was struggling with. Then she made her own plan to look at these areas. It helped to work out what NOT to look at, as it is overwhelming for them. She’s reduced input on her Spanish, RE and Eng Lit as a pass is ok, but she needs higher grades in her sciences etc. that’s helped her too with focus. Plus she has 3n doing no school work as she has a high sport training demand this gives her head a break which helps.

Dc1's school is behind in science and computer science. They have just finished the RE course this week - apparently they'd normally be done a lot nearer to Feb half term.

DC1 hasn't really been very focused since half term. I hope the coming Easter hols will be a bit of a reset.

DS has finished the content so is now on revision. I would be speaking to the school.

@Ndd135632 the school are very aware they haven’t finished content but there’s always lots of excuses- they have been rated poor for 5yrs but when you have no other options as our location does it’s up-to parents to prop up from home.. 3 Engiish teachers resigned last term and the head of physics has been off sick for six months. This is the reality in many schools now sadly.

DD has finished the content. I think they are mainly doing short tests and practice question in lessons now.

@Ndd135632 Speaking to the school won’t help for us. They’re fully aware of the situation and as with @WinterMermaid234 I feel it’s up to us now to put our energies into propping up, ie try and keep DS calm and support as much as possible. We’ve also had lots of gaps in the teaching.