GCSE Supporting - first week nearly over

[overthehillswegoo]

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Can someone explain not looking on devises? Are there some children who do the same exam a day after?

Lots of anxiety this morning over English Lit. So hard to remember all of those poems.

Unseen poetry causing a lot of stress too...

This isn't the one they have to retake if they fail though is it? DD says it's Eng Lang...

Same situation here. I've just told my son to do his best and to try not to get stressed in exam if its not going to plan. It's not the end of the world if he doesn't pass.

DD just left to catch the school bus for her exam this morning .She was adamant that she was not going to do well on her English paper - just too many poems to learn! First exam she feels really stressed about.
I wish they had separated the English Lit to one before and one after half term.😐Oh well at least it will be an another subject completely finished.
Good luck to all sitting an exam this morning.

First meltdown of GCSE's over English Lit today. Calmed her down enough for a last minute cram.

Can't believe some of the kids have a full timetable!! DD has to be in school but can go to timetabled lessons to revise with a teacher for support or revise in the library.

After half term it's optional to be in school to revise so I think she will stay home as finds school revision really distracting.

Yes it's ridiculous. Mine has an English lesson straight after her near 3 hour English exam today.

My theory is they simply can't run these 'cram sessions' others are talking about because they are so short staffed. So many classes are cover already, and there's no staffing headroom or classroom space to take students or teachers off timetable. I would like to get DD home but she is very reluctant to break the rules. Will work on her over half term.

Bloody poems.

Eng lit today poems and IC. I hope they don't choose the longest and most complex ones because that would be, well, very annoying

Our school have yet to decide whether after half term the kids can go in just for their exams and have so called study leave. I can't believe they don't all have it like we ( I'm 43 ) had it at school. At least then you could study for your next exam and not do a normal timetable. I'm really hoping they decide study leave starts after half term.

Good luck to all, fingers crossed they choose a nice poem! Unseen poetry is worth more marks than power and conflict/love and relationships yet they’ve hardly worked on that in school.

My DS is supposed to be in on a full timetable as well, but he's been so ill for the past few months that I'm not forcing the issue - I'm just grateful that he's managing to get in for the actual exams. After half term they only have to go in for lessons related to the exams they still have to come.

We have a full timetable here and no study leave at all! It's bizarre. They aren't even study cramming sessions just a bit of lesson and a bit of revision but what is the point when she has finished some subjects now?
My DD asked the head if she could go home yesterday after her french exam and jokingly said she felt sick but he just said no you have lesson to do.
It seems they are determined to treat them like little children until they leave.
Surely kids who won't revise at home won't revise at school either if they aren't bothered.
Anyway she said there is loads of absence and I am letting her have the free days off "sick" as many parents are.
Good luck for Eng Lit today. DD doesn't want any generations topic for Inspector Calls but is ok with the rest.

DS2 has to go in until Friday but all his lessons are revision sessions and, like others have said, he is better off at school away from his computer etc!
Poetry today, the longest exam at 135 minutes....
When I was checking up (spying) on him last night I was extremely impressed with the essay that he’d written on conflict poetry. English is his weaker subject.
When I told him this, he said, Yes but I’m not sure how I’m going to remember it all.

At our school, they've said Friday unless there is an exam they are on early half term and they will review the cram sessions and teachers commitments for the second half.

I know year 10 have end of year tests they now treat as mocks, then there's year 6 to 7 transition and A'Levels of course.

I would like the cram sessions to carry on because DD will end up watching Stranger Things for the eleventh billionth time rather than actually revising.

I will be glad of half term to decompress though.

My theory is they simply can't run these 'cram sessions' others are talking about because they are so short staffed. So many classes are cover already, and there's no staffing headroom or classroom space to take students or teachers off timetable.

That could easily apply to DS school.

I think one of the reason they finally decided after half term there is study leave is because it will free up teachers and that they can drop some of the supply.

It's not so bad today for DS all the lessons still have exams so they'll be doing revision hopefully and tomorrow an exam - which just leaves Friday. He says it's quieter as well so suspect many aren't coming in on none exam days anyway or disappearing after the exam.

Feel really strongly that our teens should not be forced to go in for compulsory teaching. If your teen is exhausted then think best to call the school and say am keeping off sick sue to exhaustion.

dut to exhaustion

Can't believe some schools still have a full timetable between exams! Ours have personalised timetables with revision sessions relevant to their next exams, which they are encouraged to attend. As far as I can tell, there's no ramifications (other than not doing so well) if they don't.

DD's school want them in for a mix of timetabled lessons and target revision until 14th June. They then get a whole two days' study leave before the majority finish on the 16th. Seems crazy to me. They are running pre- and post-school booster sessions as well.

I appreciate the teachers taking the time to run them, but it seems like an approach borne of panic and not setting them up with good exam habits for the future.

I cannot believe after two weeks of intense exams they want them to go in for a normal timetable on Friday. I think DD might well have a headache that day!

It does get silly though - there was 30 kids that took GCSE maths early and during the exam there wasn't a maths class - so they had 30 kids in Y11 dotted around the school in timetable lessons.

Your incredulity shows you are clearly speaking from a position of great privilege.

Many schools in disadvantaged areas keep students in for as long as possible during exams as they know students won't always have the space or environment to work from home and they benefit from the daily structure of school.

There was data in this from teacher tapp recently.

This is the worst part. 10am, kid is in an exam, and I’m trying to send focusvibes 👽 foccccuuussssss

AQA English lit for my son this morning. He's still insisting that he doesn't need to write about structure despite his teacher and the examiners' reports saying that very clearly. On his head be it, I give up!

This helped yesterday.

It was on the BBC website for AQA

It's a very compelling picture but he wouldn't be told (and what's done is done now...!)