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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Year 10 - 2023/2024 Support Thread

642 replies

QueenMabby · 10/08/2023 15:59

Hi all

A new thread for those needing support (or just wanting to chat or rant!) with teens heading into their GCSE years.

OP posts:
Original poster
QueenMabby · 11/10/2023 13:05

Welcome @CactusPeach

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NotDonna · 11/10/2023 17:55

@DataColour yes. I think bc it’s 3 sports it’s quite time consuming. Unfortunately one of DDs sports isn’t accepted (so does 4) but it’s a fave so she’s very reluctant to stop it. The teacher would be annoyed too and given she teaches two of her other sports it would create an issue. At least according to DD. I’m going to see how things go and review at Xmas. Her sport was cancelled tonight so she was early home and said she’d crack on with some homework - I’ve just popped into her room & she’s tidying the chaos. So this 10 hours a week will definitely take her longer 🙄🙄 🤣

icanbewhatiwant · 13/10/2023 10:32

Ds seems to have so many tests at the moment. He had English and maths tests yesterday. Chemistry weds. Geography today. It is endless. Only one more week and they are off for a week. Half term feels earlier this year.

minisnowballs · 13/10/2023 10:39

DD says she has had an end-of-unit test on music and I know she has a maths test, but because she's so far away I don't really have any handle on what she's doing. There must be more tests but I don't know when and can't check she is revising.

icanbewhatiwant · 13/10/2023 12:31

Ds asked me a few months ago for an eye test. I didn't think much of it to start with as none of us have needed glasses (until dh and I hit mid 40's) Then ds asked again so I booked one. We had the test recently and he does indeed need glasses for distant stuff. So now I feel bad dismissing it. But he said he has been able to see the work on screen across the classroom but had noticed it wasn't clear. So Ds is the opposite to dh and I. We need them to read, Ds is fine for reading.

DataColour · 13/10/2023 13:56

I remember being mortified when DD's teacher approached me in year 4 saying that DD needs her eyes testing and hadn't I noticed. Well, I hadn't! Turns out she had taken to walking to the front of the class to see the board! I assumed she was a late developer in primary school and also an Aug born, she was kind of average academically and after she got new glasses she was suddenly top of the class! I felt SO bad, but she never told me she was having problems! @icanbewhatiwant hope your DS gets on well with the glasses at school. My DS needs glasses for seeing the board too, but doesn't like wearing it out of class and is constantly taking it off and on and he's already lost it once and I was not happy! Luckily, they have him a free replacement pair as his prescription changed slightly.

icanbewhatiwant · 13/10/2023 14:08

@DataColour 🤦‍♀️ I guess they get used to it and don't notice that it's a problem. Like me when I started off not seeing stuff up close, I just moved it further away, but after a while my arm was no longer long enough 🤣 Ds did have his eyes tested a few years ago with his brothers. So it is more recent at least. We were watching tv last week and there was writing on the bottom of the screen, I asked if Ds could read it, he could, so he's not too bad. He has to go back in 6 months to see if it is worse or unchanged. We were given a leaflet about myopia management, saying if his eyes are worse in 6 months he may need special lenses. But at the moment he only needs them for tv and distant stuff. He will need them for driving when he gets to that age too.

Original poster
QueenMabby · 20/10/2023 16:17

Aaaaaaand we're done! First half term of year 10 complete. It's been a doozy. Dd is dead in her feet! Two weeks off now and 🤞🏻 for a light holiday workload.

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TenacityWins · 20/10/2023 17:08

Those of yours doing Art, any exhibitions in London over half-term you would recommend?

CherieBabySpliffUp · 22/10/2023 18:33

This first half term has flown by. Obviously I wouldn't say anything to DD but the other day I thought "Oh crap, that's one less half term until the GCSE'S"

SB1971 · 23/10/2023 11:57

We had a mini report before half term that I wasn’t expecting.
All ok marks apart from PE and RS so he needs to work on those but a good start.

NotDonna · 23/10/2023 13:30

We also got a mini report where they are scored between 1 and 4 for three areas. Not hugely informative but after just 6 weeks with new teachers it’s fair enough.

icanbewhatiwant · 23/10/2023 19:16

Ds is looking forward to his termly report. We will get one sometime this term, nearer Christmas i should think. Previous reports have had predicted gcse grades based on year 7 tests, it used to be based on SATS but as they didn't take them they've had to do it differently. Apparently the next report will have predicted grades based on the work they are doing now and what teachers actually expect them to achieve. I don't think the grades will be much different. But Ds thinks otherwise.

MissyB1 · 23/10/2023 19:24

Ds is very relieved to be on half term - but no so happy about having to revise! They have exams starting middle of November. We had a mini report/ assessments, it was GCSE grades based on the work they have done so far this term, but no baseline grades, and no predicted grades so I’m not sure how helpful it is 🤔

Oblomov23 · 23/10/2023 21:02

I haven't had a report yet. His tutor said she will give me an email with all his grades from his recent assessments 2 weeks ago. Maybe when we get back after 1/2 term. Then I'll sit him down and look at whether it's a 6/7/8 equivalent and tell him what I'm not happy with.

minisnowballs · 24/10/2023 17:54

We got a mini report for DD2 - it's a new school so had no idea what to expect. No GCSE grades - just the old letters. Utterly surprised to get anything, but delighted to see that the move from her old school hasn't left her floundering in the new one.

Science tests after half term apparently. Not a lot of revision going on...

Original poster
QueenMabby · 24/10/2023 19:36

Glad DD's getting on well @minisnowballs. We get 9-1 grades here. DD's all 7-9 but teachers don't grade very consistently. She got a 7 for maths which seemed odd as that's probably her best subject but a 9 for biology which she doesn't think she's as good at! All grades were good though so that's the main thing.

Dd doesn't have much set holiday work but she does have 4 or 5 tests in the first couple of weeks back so needs to revise for those. Some Greek work too for her GCSE this year.

I'm giving her a bit of leeway though as she's shattered. She had a big school musical the last week - and it was full on. She needs a rest before I start nagging on the homework front!

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DataColour · 03/11/2023 11:02

How's all the year 10s doing?

DS seem to have tests to study for most of the time, a couple of tests a week, plus lots of homework. It doesn't feel like too much to handle, but more than he's used to. It used to be that all exams where crammed into one week twice a year in year 9, but now it's when it's end of topic type thing, so a consistent trickle of them. Especially for the 3 sciences!
He's been doing well for some of them, he got 8s for Maths and English, a bit lower for the sciences and he's still got RE, Geography, another biology test and a music test next week.

We have been told to find work experience for them for next July. DH says I should take him to work but I don't think that's the best thing, to be stuck with your mum for a week! I'm in science, and I'm not sure how keen he'd be, plus there'd too much healthy and safety paperwork! I asked a friend who's an architect and it looks like that's a distinct possibility now and something that DS might enjoy.

Hope everyone's DCs are doing well.

minisnowballs · 03/11/2023 11:09

@DataColour Oh, the joys of work experience - I remember this from DD1 - eventually I sent her off to a financial pr firm I'd done a bit of work for. She enjoyed it but came out knowing she didn't want to work in an office. I guess that's progress (!) Architecture probably far more fun.

Not sure what happens with DD2 as she's at boarding school and its sort of semi-vocational anyway.... will see.

That sounds like a lot of testing. I guess it's good practice though as the GCSE slog is brutal.

my year 10 is still in bed. We drive her back to school on Sunday. She can't wait and I'm dreading it. She's vaguely learned her science equations for her test - emphasis on the vaguely - but mostly it's just been music practice here.

IThinkIMadeItWorse · 03/11/2023 11:17

We had a restful half term which DD appreciated, she did loads of reading. She is finding the homework demands more than last year, especially art, but I think that is normal. She also has work experience next July which we are thinking about, just four days though. She seems to have good days and bad days but is always exhausted by the end of the week. No answers from the Drs about her fatigue/tiredness, the blood test she had just ruled some things out but no suggestions.

Original poster
QueenMabby · 03/11/2023 17:03

@IThinkIMadeItWorse - that's a shame for your dd. Presumably they tested for the usual B12/iron deficiencies? Has she had Covid recently? Are her hormones ok? I'm sure the docs have ruled all these out but it's horrible when they're not right but no cause can be found. I hope she feels better soon.

@DataColour - lots of tests here too. Also the first piece of coursework done. Our school does an iGCSE for English lang and lit and each has two pieces of coursework. Dd submitted the first draft of her essay on An Inspector Calls just before half term and has been told to expect voice notes via teams from her teacher with areas that need working on!

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Original poster
QueenMabby · 08/11/2023 16:59

Dd home in high alt today with the news that she got a silver in the senior maths challenge and "best in year"! Went down like a lead balloon with ds who's in U6th and doing maths a-level - he got a bronze! Oh well.

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IThinkIMadeItWorse · 08/11/2023 18:14

Well done to your DD!

The Dr said they had tested for all the obvious things but didn't actually show me her results. Hey ho. She decided not to do a day trip with her friends on Saturday because it had an early start and she thought she would be too tired and stressed about getting her homework done.

Original poster
QueenMabby · 08/11/2023 19:40

@IThinkIMadeItWorse - oh bless her. It's horrible when they get stressed about school work. Dd was stressing this morning about a physics test and about not having done enough revision. When I asked if it was today she said no - Thursday next week!! <eyeroll>.

She was wondering aloud if she suddenly had a lot more homework or if she just expanded her work to fill her available time - I said definitely the latter!!

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icanbewhatiwant · 08/11/2023 21:45

Lots of tests here too. They seem endless. I wish Ds wouldn't have such high expectations. He was second in his class with his chemistry test. That wasn't good enough for him. Then in the maths he only got 15 out of 20. He was really upset about it. I told him he can't be top
at everything. He had French test yesterday. Business studies tomorrow. I hope he does well for his sake.

Yes Ds has mentioned work experience. We've not had a letter about it yet. It was difficult to find stuff for ds1 and ds2. So I'm dreading it. We don't get any help from school. There isn't much locally. Ds2 ended up at the primary school that he attended. Not the best idea.