GCSE Supporting - first week nearly over

[overthehillswegoo]

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Good luck to all the kids today. Maths is a very weak area for us and will be grateful for a pass on this one. I just hope it doesn't totally knock her confidence for the other exams.

Yep same. Praying for that pass

Good luck to everyone for Maths and other exams today.

Edexcel non-calc for DD. At their school they ask them to bring pens, pencils and a rubber and they provide the rest.

I expect I will be stalking Twitter from mid-morning onwards to see how the paper was. I like to be vaguely prepared for how others viewed the paper before DD gets home and tells me her experience. From what I can tell the general consensus has been that the papers she has sat so far have been kind to them. I expect that means grade boundaries will be sky high.

On the extra-curricular thing - DD goes to a junior conservatoire on a Saturday and they make it very clear that there is no study leave for students in the exam years. Emails along the lines of ‘good luck, we are thinking of you all, keep up the practice and see you Saturday’ 😬

She has a concert tomorrow, one the Saturday after half-term plus a music exam the day after her GCSEs end.

I've wished DD luck but am otherwise keeping out of her way so she can stay in the maths zone as can be a bit skittish when stressed

I wish them all luck in their maths today

DD could get anything from a 3-7 it's hard to tell as it's a higher so they throw in those questions that are nigh on impossible for anyone other than the pupils getting 8/9

I've told her not to be put off by those questions as she's really not expected to know them as they're specifically for the maths geniuses of which she knows she's not one

I'll be waiting for the post exam text of relief or crushing disappointment

I am so strung out this morning!

@HappiDaze I think it's really hard for those doing higher maths but aren't expected to achieve the higher grades. There are so many questions that they won't be able to answer and I know initially my son found it very disheartening, but he knows now to just concentrate on the ones he can do and not worry about he others!

Mine is dreading maths today. She's fine - knows the stuff- but makes stupid mistakes... clings to the top set by her fingernails so knows that lots of others find it far easier. So far she's been happy with everything but a bad paper today would set her back. She also had a really bad orthodontist appointment at hospital yesterday so is both in pain and a bit sad.

@Circleoffifths the girls' Saturday music school - not quite junior conservatoire - is actually really kind about gcses, though they did make dd1 do a solo in a concert last Saturday. Perversely it took her mind off the coming storm. She is planning to go in tomorrow, but I've said we'll talk in the morning if she's not keen.

Thinking of everyone, particularly @TeenDivided - really hope it goes well.

Hope your DC makes it in @TeenDivided

Good luck all. I’m not even sure I know what board mine is taking today. Edexcel maybe?

Thinking of everyone today, DD1 was the 2021 cohort who didn’t do GCSEs so this is our first time through it with DD2. I’m quite glad we’re getting a few out of the way this year to ease the pressure a bit next year. It’s a lot for them - VP at DD’s school said GCSEs are the hardest exams they will ever do because of the sheer volume of work spread over a large number of subjects, including ones which aren’t their strong points. Another teacher friend says A-levels are undoubtedly the hardest - much harder than Uni exams and much more pressurised. Wherever the truth lies, it’s a lot on young minds, and even those who find the academics easier than others, are under a lot of pressure. Hoping we all get relieved text messages later to say the maths papers were more comfortable than expected!

Good morning! May I join?
DD has watched 2 maths videos while eating breakfast this morning. She is not looking forward to it at all.

Joining for solidarity and to stay sane!

My son was completing a past paper while having breakfast this morning. He got a B in maths for his mocks but really wants an A in the real thing as he wants to do maths at A level. I've told him to strive for an A it's good to have ambition but then I don't want him to get disappointed if he doesn't do it . Gosh it's awful stressful for them and us parents my tummy is in knots! Good luck to all x

DS confident about maths, but I now realise I have no idea if he had a protractor or not! Am feeling reassured by the accounts of these being available at school though.

Is that foundation maths? If so possibly my DD. But home after that and two days exams free next week.

DD was really upset after history (crime and punishment) yesterday. Being honest they went off the subject very quickly into it and the revision hasn't really happened either.

For those whose children did Medicine, apparently one of the questions had a misprint about the date a medical text book was released so you may wish to look into that as apparently the exam board are going to look into how they grade it as a result

I’m now freaking out about the equipment thing too! I just said to DS ‘do you have your pencil case’ didn’t think to specify 😩. They do a little talk before the exam so I’m really hoping the teachers told them to check they have everything before so he could sort something out if he didn’t have anything. I won’t know now til the end and the control freak in me is not managing well 😰

"For those whose children did Medicine, apparently one of the questions had a misprint about the date a medical text book was released so you may wish to look into that as apparently the exam board are going to look into how they grade it as a result"

DD was saying one of her friends wrote about a different century so this is probably the reason why.

It's 9am 🕘 and so it begins

If it's like the school I work at the Teachers will remind them before they go in about equipment etc.
They then get asked again when sitting in the hall whether they have everything. If they don't, I'm sure there will be equipment they can borrow. Don't panic!

Nervous about maths today. DS is what you might call a good all rounder - slightly above average in most areas but not top of the class. If he performs well I think he will get a spread of grades from 5-8.

History is his best subject and he got a 9 in one of the mock papers but he is stronger on some topics than others so he thinks it will average down a little.

Maths is causing a bit of stress though. It's his weakest link even though he's fairly competent (compared to me for example!). He's applied for Biology at A Level and the college requires a 6 in maths for the course. In his last mock non calculator he was 2 marks from a 6 and came out with a 5 overall.

So it's nail biting stuff and I have no idea whether college will be lenient if he just misses by a few marks. It's a v popular college so possibly not.

@ggccsseeeee that’s reassuring, thanks for this. My DS is very disorganised and forgot something and had to come home twice this week. Even though I wrote it down in big bold lettering AND reminded him before he left 🤦🏻‍♀️

Yes, do NOT worry about missing equipment. I promise that schools are used to it. The maths department will be on hand, as will invigilators. As someone who worked in a totally unrelated department, I regularly got visits from pupils before an exam looking for sharp pencils, rulers, protractors etc. We never used protractors in our department but it was amazing what we could rustle up for a frantic pupil!

Do you have anymore info about this misprint? This was my sons worst bit of history.

Aghhh! Yes as others have said - it's them beating them selves up after they think they have messed up in one exam, and the recovery time needed to get over that and be mentally prepared for the next one isn't it?

DD (ASD) didn't go into school due to EBSA from February until 3 days before the exams started. We had a few weeks of home tutoring in maths, English and combined science but she has missed a lot! I was in the middle of battling with the school (still at that late stage) to enable her to take them at home - then she suddenly just went in completely out of the blue.

She just needs to get English and Maths to ensure she can stay at the 6th form. All of our eggs are in one basket at this stage.. aghhh