Year 11 2023-24

[Maxus]

Anyone else got kids starting year 11 in September?

PS. Last round of mocks will be over tomorrow and DD is taking the rest of the week off - as in no touching any school books from Thu afternoon to Monday. Hopefully the school won't set any homework. We are all looking forward to it😁

@anoukis Very impressive timetable!

Thanks, TBH I think it's not that high... if you translate it to hours, it's something like 2 hours each weekday and 4 hours each weekend day.

I'm hearing from other parents at our school 3+ hours during weekdays and 6+ hours at weekends...

I think how much revision you do depends on when you started your revision. My son started revision more than a year ago. He's at the stage now where he knows the majority off by heart so he doesn't need 6 hour weekends and 3 hours after school to memorise content (cram) He does revision but now it's just reading his notes and flashcards.

It depends surely - my son revised all of year 10 content before end of year 10 exams. Then he revised it again with more Y11 content for November mocks. Now he is revising content learned more recently, and also going back over earlier content. That's not cramming and it takes some children more time than others. Plus normal homework is set all the time which isn't revision, and then there is art and music coursework.

Cramming in my mind is trying to do the whole lot for the first time in April!

Anyone else having to choose A-level subjects soon? It is actually more stress than the GCSE prep.

The expectation from DS’s school is 3 hours a night after school and 4 hours a day at weekends, to include homework. They have also been told that this should increase over the next few weeks.

Tbh I think the 3 hour figure is reasonable if challenging and I would expect most year 11s to be doing this.

Thanks @TeenDivided that's useful to know.

That's a good idea @Tebheag I shall do something similar.

I think 3+hours of revision each night is too much after 6.5 hours at school. DS' school have suggested about 1.5 hours.

DS has extra curricular activities on three evenings during the week and both days at the weekend. However, he does stay after school each day for at least an hour and work through past papers/questions with his friend and various subject teachers. All of his teachers have encouraged them to do this and I think the boys enjoy the support and the more interactive style of revision.

They are also only revising in classes now as all of the course work is completed. As a result I'm not really stressing too much about how much he's doing on week day evenings.

He is revising for a few hours (or doing homework) around his sports fixtures at weekends. I'm not going to ask him to give these up as I think it's important that he gets fresh air and exercise.

Off to google "Pomofocus" now!

I hope those last mocks have gone well for your daughter @anoukis and that she enjoys her weekend off 🙂

@Waspie think they definitely need a break wether sport or hobbies.
My DS it's the gym so far his way is working he got a G5 in Eng Lit for P1. G7 in P1 geography disappointed as he hoped for 8 again they did P1 P2 in February mocks for Geography.

@Waspie thanks. She has 2 more mocks tomorrow, then dolce far niente... This long weekend will be probably the last free weekend until 18th of June for us.

I've just realised that there are only 9 weeks left until exam starts. Then 3 weeks of exams, 1 week half term, and 2 more weeks of exams.

Really proud of DS. Got his biology mock back today. He’s gone from a 3 to a 7 - he’s tried so hard but really regrets not doing more in Year 10. Computer Science got a high 5. Nothing else back yet.

His week is
Monday - 2 hours science revision then hits the gym
Tuesday - 1 hour English, 1 hour of either history/computing and Tassomai
Wednesday - gym and no revision
Thursday - maths tutoring and Tassomai
Friday - 1 hour English

Weekend - catching up on Tassomai revision for about an hour or so.

With not long left now, will have to up this a bit.

@Panic71 well done to your DS that's a great improvement on his Biology.

Thank you
My youngest is Year 9 and it’s making me think start revision now!

@Panic71 my youngest is also yr9 she has been helping her DB to revise.
Think I will have the opposite problems with her as she wants to be a high achiever and stresses out on missed 8s or 9s even on subjects she is dropping for Gcses!

DD is finishing off her mocks this week. Last is tomorrow. She has History and DT today. She has been doing 2 hrs most nights and goes to revision sessions after school. This is including homework

My Dts have really impressed me with their revision timetable. They revise together every day (when I first found out I was expecting twins one of my first thoughts was they would be able to study together!)
They’ve been very focused and the mock results are reflecting that. Very impressed! They have a plan mapped out for the rest of exam season. We live in a very deprived area and my dts in particular sees education as his way out of this area.

That's amazing Panic, I'm hoping for same for dd

We’ve had lots of tutoring and revision though and he’ll need to keep it up now 🙃

Yeah I know it's a lot to go up and mainly down to your son's determination to do it.
DD's school do lots of after school and through holidays guided revision, they bring in tutors on Saturday's too but she won't go to these sessions so far, doing her second set of mocks at the moment so we'll see what they say.

DD has finished second set of mocks. Which is making her feel a bit anxious because the next milestone is The Real Thing!

It's a tricky balance between keeping them calm and stress free while simultaneously urging them to keep revising and focus and give 110%.

I'm keen for her to find a summer job or at least commit to some volunteering, but I don't want to raise this while she's already feeling under pressure.

Oh for the simpler toddler years!😂

@Gazelda I wish for the toddler/early years was so easy

We are discouraging DS getting a job till after Gcses he is desperate to start working.

DS got his email to say he can go to prom last week as got more than enough prom points so went shopping to get a suit yesterday. Should have given him and DH a budget but didn't think I needed to as thought £150 £250 max for suit etc .
Currently home dying my hair to save some cash 😂 stress of DS and mocks got a lot more grey hair in last 3 months.

Totally agree!
My biggest worry used to be which brand of nappy rash cream I should use.
I wish I had enjoyed that stage even more now!! 🤣

In need of help! Dd has severely neglected eng lit and now realises that she cannot revise 15 poems and a novel for tuesday🤨🤨. She is now having anxiety- what would be the best way to help her. Before anyone says anything this is very very out of pocket for her

I would focus on 2 or 3 poems and know these well. You need to compare the given poem to another one so hopefully at least 1 would work. Watch Mr Bruff to learn these well.

Mr Everything English for ten essential quotes for the novel (he does several - ours is An Inspector Calls)

My son has memorised two or three quotes from five poems that span all the themes: Ozymandius, The Prelude, London, War Photographer and Remains. He believes these should cover most (all?? 🤞) eventualities.