Year 10 assessment results - any tips/advice

[HurlyWhurly]

My DS's end of year 10 assessments results haven't been great (understatement). He's not naturally academic but wants to do the best that he can (and is always so hopeful of doing well). He's feeling despondent as he felt he worked hard on his revision.

Any tips/advice on what helped your kid(s) turn things around at this stage or helped them to keep going?

I just want him to do the best that he can without stressing himself out or disengaging completely. He's probably capable of 5's and maybe a couple of 6 grades but only if he keeps putting effort in - he won't be able to wing it and come out with pass grades.

I suspect developing some better exam techniques may help.

He has a tutor for English.

Thanks

Did he get his papers? If so, look through them and try to find out where the problems are. Is it actual lacking of knowledge, understanding or plain and silly mistakes?
Don't forget, if they did proper GCSE papers, some questions will be about topics they haven't done yet.

DD actually failed maths in the Y10 assessment and in the October mocks. She then got a 6 in February after a tutor worked with her through the various modules and together they found out what was missing (illness at the end of Y10 meant she lost too many lessons) and worked on a system of what is achievable and what is a would-be-nice-if. Let's hope it carried over for the acutal exams.

We ended up also doing a fairly strict revision timetable at home. She definitely works better with a routine so together we set her topics each day, time depending on what she also had on in extra-curricular activities. The school suggested no electronics, a bit difficult if they needed the laptop but putting away the phone definitely made a difference. Also, we got her the workbooks so she could test herself a lot better.

Not every technique works for everyone, DD for example can't cope with revision cards, regardless how many teachers told her how good they are, she just doesn't learn that way.

CGP Mathsbuster (an online revision and practice resource for GCSE maths) is £12.99 for a 3-year licence and well worth it in my view. They have separate versions for Foundation and Higher, so make sure you get the applicable one. If you search online there’s a free online demo so that you can see what’s on offer.

Thanks so much Reluctant, that's really helpful.

He reckons he made lots of silly errors especially on the maths and science papers but he also has a habit of writing answers a bit loosely rather than making specific reference to key concepts/phrases.

Some papers have come back and we'll work through them.

I'm still trying to work out how he learns best. I don't think he has a clear idea either. Will have to suss that out pdq!

I'm definitely going to be more proactive at setting a study structure without micro managing him (that would not go well!).

I hope your DD's GCSE results go well.

Thanks Honor, I'll check that out.

There's definitely a lot of resources around (not like back in my day - very very pre-internet!). Always helpful to get a recommendation.

Lots of question practice, including timed. (One of DS’s issues was that what he wrote was often very good but he didn’t complete paper.). Understating what was required for each type of question (lots of help on You Tube on this).

Attend and actively take part in any extra sessions offered by school.

However, having started out with the attitude that he needed to do it for himself / be independent (which worked well for DD), we eventually realised it wasn’t going to happen so we ended up pretty much tutoring him ourselves using CGP books and past papers plus micromanaging. It’s been exhausting but has hopefully paid off (awaiting results but from what he said they went well). But now we need to try again to get him doing it independently for A levels as we can’t hold his hand throughout life!

Ali - I may yet be taking that approach too! Whatever happens I reckon I'll end up re-learning topics I last looked at 40 years ago.

Thanks for the tips.

Good luck with the GCSE results and then "operation independence" beyond that.

My DS bombed his recent Year 10 progress exams, predicted 5s but got some 3s, 2s and one 1. Gutted and very worried for him.

@HurlyWhurly @biggreentree Do come and join us on the Y10 (going into Y11) thread if you like. It hasn’t been hugely busy during Y10, but we all have a big year ahead 😫

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/secondary/4615526-anyone-want-a-thread-for-starting-year-10-this-autumn?page=1

Agree with PP.
You need to go through papers and see where the marks were lost.

Silly mistakes in maths - is there a pattern to it? Just being aware of the type of mistake he makes can help. e.g. DD has a tendency with 8x8 to go for 8+8 instead. Other DD often misread graphs.

Science it is really important to be precise.

Other subjects - was it lack of knowledge (weak revision) or lack of in depth answers etc. Is he writing enough for the number of marks etc.

I could have taken DD1's GCSEs by the end of y11.

sorry, but if she has a human brain she does learn that way - maybe she is using them wrongly

@orangeleavesinautumn I'm not sure about 'wrongly', which of course if possible, but some learn better with mindmaps, or seneca. if a student finds another method more engaging it may work better for them surely.

I agree, your son does need to go through his question papers and mark schemes with a fine tooth comb, and write out WHY he lost marks on every single question - it is most likely to be reading the question wrongly - that is what most marks are lost on. He needs to list the type of mistakes he is making, and learn from them

For example, if he is told to evaluate, is he evaluating or describing? Is there a conclusion to his evaluation? If he is doing a calculation, is he showing his working? If he using the correct unit? Is his answer even likely? If he is told to answer to 3 significant figures, is he doing so? Is he reading the instructions carefully in 6 mark questions, and answering all of it? If he is told to use the data supplied, is he referring to it in his answer? If he is asked How? Is he answering how? If he is asked why? is he answering why? I can't count the number of times I have marked students who have been asked "why.....?" and have answered as if the question was "how....?" ( and vice versa)- so the y have answered the wrong question, so no marks

etc etc etc

He needs to practice with exam questions, revise a topic, answer an exam question, mark ( himself) with the mark scheme, answer the next question, and so on

Seneca is exactly the same as revision cards - except the student learns less through not having designed the cards themselves.

Seneca forces the student to be interactive.

I think it can be easy to woosh over revision cards (which is of course not using them the right way).

Plus making your own revision cards relies on being able to pick out the key information and having good handwriting (both a no for DD1, second a no for DD2). I made DD1's cards.

@biggreentree sorry to hear that.

The way I'm looking at it is that the results give us a benchmark to move forward from. There is time and, at the end of the day, our DS's will find a way through go life beyond GCSE (even if it ends up being via a more wiggly route and/ or via the continued efforts of a concerned parent supporting them through).

There's options whatever the final GCSE outcomes - just obviously easier if they can get 5 (preferably decent) passes.

This parenting lark isn't easy is it.

Thank you @Marisquita ive taken a look but seems to quite a few people worrying about Oxford entrance exams which makes me feel even more of a failure that I’m just hoping he gets some basic passes. But should man up and follow and just get any useful tips I can get!

Exactly. After we had DD in tears in Y10 because they actually had to do revision cards as a holiday homework and we did them with her to see how it works and why not for her, we told her to bin them and focus on revision techniques which work for her.

She does mindmaps, seneca to an extent (I think because it is more interactive) and lots and lots of reading and practice questions.