Year 11 2023-24

[Maxus]

Anyone else got kids starting year 11 in September?

DS has had some results back now, he has done well so far except his Biology is 1-2 grades lower than he expected. They haven't gone through the paper yet so will be interesting to see what went awry there.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn Well done to your son!

Re: Biology. My son's biology result was lower than expected too. I wonder if our boys did the same AQA exam as their mock? DS's teacher had (according to DS) "a complete rant" about how pedantic the mark scheme was for the exam. One example was a question about mitochondrial division and if the student didn't use one particular word they got no marks at all even if they obviously knew what they were talking about.

@Tebheag thanks DS has applied to 6 sixth forms and hopes to get at least 5 interviews. The last one is to a super selective grammar with very high entry requirements and very limited numbers so getting an interview/conditional offer would be the equivalent of winning the lottery!

@Waspie DS does Edexcel but if it's anything like the Biology A level that his older brother sat then it is exactly as you describe, super specific in the acceptable wording - even if it's very clear that the child understands the content you lose marks for not using their exact wording.

Not the same exam then @JustHereWithMyPopcorn but possibly the same issue.

DS' biology teacher said that his experience of GCSE marking is that the student should be showing understanding to gain marks and has less emphasis on specific terminology. I guess by A Level the student is expected to be very precise with their understanding.

DS is now revising like crazy for biology and going to the after school sessions.

The school has also just sent out their additional sessions for February half term and DS has applied for sessions for all the subjects he is taking. He didn't need any prodding from me to sign up either - result!

I’m hoping they go through the paper properly in class so we can see if it’s about exam technique or he just doesn’t know enough (or a mix of both) and take it from there. I imagine if additional classes are offered DS will say no. They offer an Easter revision course here (which we would pay for) and I have offered to sign him up but he is adamant he isn’t going. We’ll see… 😄

Wow 6! DS only applied to two 6th forms. @Waspie hope your DS gets into the one he wants.

DS was told to apply to at least 3- One aspirational, one realistic and one disaster planning.
He applied to 4, but has now gone to a few taster days and has narrowed it down to 2 -his first choice ( current school sixth form) and a backup.

ankipro flashcards are great.

Can I ask if anyone’s child has been granted 25% extra time?
Our friends children have, having both scored very highly in mocks, grades 6,7,8,9s. One is at an independent school, one not.

DD has no idea what to do next at college. She was going to go for health and social care but has backtracked now saying she does not want to do nursing. I did point out that there are lots of different careers. She has applied for a level 2 health and social care but thinks she should apply for level 1 as well. Does anyone recommend any career quizzes to spark her interest in? I went through the college courses available with her and nothing was of interest.

Extra time is/should be about processing speed or handwriting speed, not about grades. If the 6/7s would be 8/9s with the allowance then it is reasonable.

Both my DC got extra time, it enabled them to show what they could do. All the extra time in the world wouldn't have got them 7s.

(It is probably possible to cheat the system on the tests for extra time, but a school would be risking a lot to do so.)

It is a double edge sword for those with slow processing as it extends the exam load.

@Midnightstar76 probably they will take her on the level1 course anyway if she doesn't get the grades for the level2, but worth checking with the college anyway.

What skills/ interests/ hobbies does she have?

I was just surprised a child would have slow processing speed if they could achieve so highly in mocks. The parents were surprised as never any mention of processing issues in years 7/8/9 and yet quite a few have now been diagnosed in the autumn of year 11. I’m a little sceptical 🫤

Thanks @TeenDivided will check it out with the college.
Will sit down with her today, yesterday we established that she likes helping people and would not want a desk job sitting at a computer all day so that’s a starting point. Her interests are fashion, makeup. However I am not sure she want’s to do hairdressing, beauty. It would more be the fashion side of things but the only course is art and design and she is not interested in this either.

H&SC would possibly be a good way in to being a family support worker or something like that?

@Panic71 I think some brighter children can get away with slower processing for longer as their academic skills hide it iyswim? Independent schools will have the funds to screen whole cohorts whereas many state schools only screen if the disparity is obvious or parents push.

Quite a few very high achievers at DC's school get extra time. Indie school. We're talking all Grades 7-9 pupils. AFAIK there's rigorous assessments so they get it. Sadly my friends in the State system have told me there's less assessment unless they push for it, and CAMHS have a huge backlog.

My son is getting extra time but is quite low achieving. In his November mocks his highest grade was a 2.

We screen everyone's writing speed in my state secondary. I have a number of students who get extra time because they write so very slowly.

I’m a qualified exams access assessor, for extra time kids need to demonstrate slow processing in two psychometric tests in two different areas of processing, so it is a fairly high bar, but there are many different tests on the market, a few years ago independent schools were awarding 40% of their students extra time and state schools around 15%. The need for two instead of one test was introduced a couple of years ago.
I have got quite sharp elbowed with dd school asking for them to assess her, after her never finishing an exam in essay subjects, they gave her ET in mocks but still haven’t tested her. Deadline is end of March for applications. In my state school just over 20% get ET, because I am able to do a lot of testing. Not all schools have an on site assessor.

My dyslexic DD qualifies for extra time after being duly assessed. She easily meets the criteria. I don’t normally talk grades on here, but she got all 9/8/7 in mocks and is aiming for 9s and 8s in the real thing. The extra time has done wonders for her ability to show what she can do - but also, crucially, for her motivation and mental health. We went through a very bad patch a couple of years ago when she lost her motivation to do well because she simply couldn’t get through the questions in the time available, so “why bother?”. She’s now a different girl, pushing hard to get the very best out of herself and dreaming of a particular course at university which would be great for her.

Too late now for Gcses but how do you go about requesting extra time? DS has ran out of time on all his practice English papers. All his teachers on other subjects have said time and time again he needs to write more fortunately he has managed passes on other subjects except English. Got a feeling he may have to resit.

You can't just request Extra Time.

You'd need to ask the SENCO to screen to see if he might be entitled.

With English, they need to learn how long to spend on each question before they move on. The high tariff questions are at the end so spending too long on the early ones is almost always the issue.

@MrsHamlet thank you never spoken to Senco before. It is painful watching him write due to the speed. He does keep an eye on the time though hence why he gets answers down but looses mark as not enough info down and no time is ever left to check his answers. He passed one past paper but was over on time any others done in time limit have been fails.

@Tebheag I'm surprised noone has ever spotted this. I've referred many students to our Senco to check writing and processing because I know what an average amount for each question looks like.
Email the school today. Tell the senco that you're concerned about writing and processing speed and ask if they can test him.
In terms of "enough" in English, though, it's not about how much (except in the writing) but about meeting the criteria. Does he know what they are?

@MrsHamlet he had help in primary for speech and writing but nothing in Secondary. His English teacher was off ill for quite a while so he had substitutes! It's the teachers that say he needs to write more as he keeps all answers short. If there are about 6 to 8 lines for answer he used 1.5 to 2, guessing due to hard writing will email teacher this evening. I did get the book you recommended but he hasn't enjoyed it as no answers to check if he is right!