Year 11 2023-24

[Maxus]

Anyone else got kids starting year 11 in September?

DS's mocks don't start until the 4th of December...feels late, but I think it is nice to end the term on them, and then have a break over Christmas. We are hoping he'll stay where he is (state grammar) but needs to get a minimum of 7x7s, though he is currently on track to exceed that (according to his teachers) so we're keeping fingers firmly crossed that he's putting the work that he says he is, in!

Well done to those who have finished, and I hope the marks are fair; sending strength to those in the middle of them, and others waiting for them to start!

(DD's school used to deliberately give them really hard papers, mark harshly and then watch the girls tailspin (same for A levels) to try and encourage them to excel in the real things. I think it was a really awful way to do it, especially as th MH of many girls (single sex girls grammar) wasn't the most robust after Covid etc. The boys' school seems more sensible about things!).

Our mocks aren't until January, but the pre HT test results are trickling in. Geography was a 7, one point off an 8. I think we are all in shock! 😲

Mocks here are in January too, though they did have quite full-on Y10 exams. @gingercat02 out of interest, what are pre HT tests? Well done to your DC!

Just in class tests, but GCSE questions, not full papers (as far as I know). They do them every half-term.
I'm not expecting the rest to be that good, but any improvement on his Y10 results is fine by me! He has worked hard since his horrific Y10 progress report.

Yep our mocks are January but lots of topic tests going on at the moment. Also has Art mock beginning of Dec and Spanish oral and listening I think. The topic tests are getting harder, DS had a chemistry one on Friday which he said was the hardest set of questions he'd ever seen and he's normally very good at Chemistry.

Well done to those finished and good luck to those starting now.

We're in the second week of mocks, I'm not expecting great results as only last minute revision was done, I'm worried that she's secretly stressed and keeping it inside and also that she will be discouraged by the results, and again, keep it inside making her even more stressed and overwhelmed.

Well a turnaround from DD as on Saturday with no prompting she sat and revised for English lang&lit and did a good three hours. I was flabbergasted but proud she is trying. I have got hold of mathbuster and she went on that on Sunday and this evening has done some DT and English. I am just happy she is trying.

That’s great news @Midnightstar76

Hi everyone,
My DS has started mocks this week. He’s supposedly in the top sets, but his mocks are all Foundation papers. My DS says everyone is doing Foundation to check they can get a 5 and then they will do the Higher papers for the next mocks in Jan.

Does this sound right? We’re supposed to put his predicted grades on his 6th form application and he says if they get a 5 they will be predicted 6. So the highest we can put on his application will be 6.

Everyone else in other schools seem to have predicted grades 8/9 but I have no idea how he’s really doing. His report last week just showed 4s and hasn’t changed since the beginning of year 10.

Anyone else in our position?

No @HoppingLady thats sounds very odd. Have you checked with his form teacher?

Not for all the papers, but for Spanish. My DS is in the foundation despite consistently getting grade 5 in his practice papers and mocks. I asked if he could get the higher paper, but they sprung it on him with no warning, and he got a low grade. They said they would reconsider after the mocks, but I'm a bit worried that they wouldn't have covered the content in time. He is fairly fluent in Spanish speaking and gets very high grades, which may be inflating his reading and writing grade so I'm not sure whether to leave it. It's a difficult one if all of them are foundation. I presume they woukd be covering all the content ifvthey are intending on putting some in for the higher papers.

The last parents meeting we had was at Easter and they said he was doing well and should get ‘at least 5s’. The did some exams in June but we didn’t even get told the results of those.

I thought we would get a clearer picture after these mocks but again it seems they will only show whether he can achieve level 5s.

I only found out he was doing Foundation papers after seeing his timetable yesterday and he told me every one is doing that.

Im desperate for a parents meeting so I can make sure this is the case.

So glad to hear those of you whose DD/DS have had their mocks are through the other side😁.
DD has started hers today - spent her birthday eating birthday cake in tiara kvetching about the injustice of having a birthday during mocks.
Seemed relived today to have gotten the first 2 out of the way, esp dreaded physics.
Good luck everyone who's in the throws!

Nice to hear @Midnightstar76 😊

@CactusPeach they get themselves into a right anxiety spiral at times. Plenty of time before the real deal, I think encouraging them to do little but often so it feels less of a mountain.
My one can be a worry wart, I just tell her it's not the end of the world if things don't quite pan out (it really isn't!).

This isn’t what ds’s school are doing. They are doing higher paper mocks for top sets. I would email his head of year and ask about it.

As suggested I’ve sent an email to his head of year now

Hopefully you will have an answer soon ( and some reassurance) as to what’s happening.

My nephew in year 11 has just sat a proper gcse maths foundation exam, along with the rest of his school. Those that do well will sit higher in May. Has anybody else heard this is a thing?

That's pretty nuts for anyone expected a 7 or more.

That’s what I thought, especially as the results from May will show as a resit.

What? You mean the Actual GCSE? I thought you meant as m8cks which is bad enough.

I thought the November GCSEs were only allowed as resits these days??

Yes, the actual GCSE. He is in Wales, so maybe different there.

They are very different curriculums.
if a student is borderline 5 they should get a 5 on rather paper, and so there will be some discussion about which is best for them. They might just get a 6 if they are stronger in geometry and algebra.
Obviously if they are aiming for a 6+ they have to do the higher,

Sorry! This was in reply to the gcse maths papers ⬆️