Year 11 2023-24

[Maxus]

Anyone else got kids starting year 11 in September?

It’s so hard not to be involved. My DS has just got annoyed with me for setting out what I think he should do this week. Apparently he knows and can do it himself.

The problem is up to now he’s been doing 1 past paper for 1 subject in a whole week. I’ve said this is not enough at all and he needs to pick up the pace.

I’ve done a timetable for the week and I’m going to leave it at that for now. I don’t want him to feel pressured but it’s hard when they don’t let you help.

We’ve not been told if they’ll finish early for study leave. Parents evening this week so I’ll ask then.

DS got his exam timetable. I also found out his school are in everyday till May half term though whatever exam they have in afternoon will be revising for that subject in the morning. The after May half term on study leave only going in for exams.

Your poor DD.
How is the school at pastoral care? Anyone she can talk to there?
Can she go to the people she does like to get them to sign the shirt?
Thinking back (many years) to when I left school everyone got very giddy and people I'd barely spoken to signed my shirt....

So Easter holidays are looming. As are the exams? Has anyone any thoughts on how much revision to hope for each day?

Mine is off to USA with school for the first week, then is bound to be a bit jet lagged for a few days so I’m not expecting a huge amount.

They only did mocks after Feb half term and they all seem to have gone well, plus the curriculum has been covered in every subject except biology so there’s lots of in school revision going on as well as some after school sessions for certain subjects. Keeping revision it to a minimum at home and carrying on with out of school activities as normal seems like a good plan to me.

DD wants to blitz a few key subjects over Easter: Drama (first GCSE exam), Biology 1 (first week and lots of content), Physics and Geography. School seems to be drilling them hard in Maths and the two English subjects so she will do whatever is set for those. Chemistry and French she’s happy with. Anyway I will sit down with her when term ends and make a plan to get through what needs to be done. I am taking time off work to help her side by side, which is her preferred method of working!

Going back to 2015 here, so pre reform.
My DD took 4 or 5 days off at the start, then did 3hrs plus breaks in the morning, afternoon 1-4 off for activity, 1.5-2hrs late afternoon 4-5.30/6.

Morning was maths, science, in 3x1hr slots. Afternoon was mainly French, Spanish, english, but also some science. Some variation as went to school for English revision sessions on some days (in crisis to pass eng lang I could help with maths and science 1to1; had dropped humanity mid year)

Really interesting seeing the different approaches thank you. Dd is talking about having 3 or 4 days out with friends or us. And on the other days doing 4 hours revision which sounds good. I asked her whether she will have covered everything by the end of the holidays and was met with a “of course not”!

We haven't got a plan for Easter yet. We have mocks results on Monday and parents evening on Wednesday, so that will probably be the decision between some and lots!

No plan here, as yet. (Sorry, I'm a very latecomer to this thread but have been lurking a few weeks!) We really need to sit down and hash something out but I don't want to alienate my son.

My son is academically very capable but hangs out with a peer group who are downright freakish in terms of ability and therefore he often feels very crestfallen at grades that fall short of his friends. (they can rub it in, too...) So there's that...

But I think he's also fallen victim to the praise heaped on him by teachers at parents' evening. They like him, they predict great things. Then his second lot of mocks results start coming in and they're quite a mixed bag. I'm concerned that he's been getting quite cocky, trading on the 7/8/9 predictions and not doing anywhere near enough work to sustain the momentum. He gets very stressed about all this so a light touch is needed, which I don't always manage, and he self-regulates and destresses with his hobbies (Warhammer, watching favourite tv/films online, arguing with mates on Whatsapp...) That's fine but I think he disappears up to his squalid bedroom to 'revise' and is actually painting models most of the time! He also gets very prickly if I suggest he should be doing more revision at home, as 'it's ALL we do at school now!!' - true enough, all his lessons seem to have been revision sessions, exam techniques etc since at least Christmas. Very little actual new content this academic year

I've started getting some revision guides - did we leave that rather late?? he claims almost nobody at school uses them, but was very grateful to me for getting the History of Medicine one as that's the weakest area for him in History. How do you decide which one to go for (obviously you pick the right board but there are often several options from different publishers)? I used to revise by reading my class notes/text books, then trying to make concise notes on cards or notebooks. He claims this 'doesn't work' but I'm gently pushing him on that as I know damn well that writing things down really helps to consolidate in your mind.

I think if I suggest he should aim to do at least 4 hours a day over Easter he will explode at me!

If you do AQA English, I recommend the OUP revision workbooks and text guides over CGP. They're more expensive but the series editors are examiners for those specifications.

I've just bought the OUP English Language revision workbook suggested by MrsHamlet.

Easter holidays I've kept pretty clear for DS to do revision. He's got one family birthday, one day out with friends and a rugby tournament (one day). He's not much of a morning person so his revision timetable starts at 11am. He's targeting paper 1's during Easter.

He got some great news yesterday and has gone to school on a real high: he got a conditional offer for the super selective grammar school he applied to (Reading Boys). There were hundreds of applications for just 30 spaces so it was a real longshot. He needs to get 56 points from his top 8 GCSEs to accept his place. He should do this reasonably comfortably but it does give him a reason to focus and study hard now. Like GlomOfNit's son, DS is very capable. But sometimes he can be a bit arrogant and complacent about his abilities. My feelings about a super selective single sex school for DS are more mixed, but it's what he wants so I'll support him.

Congrats to your DS @Waspie that's fabulous!

@GlomOfNit Making revision cards works for many and is often recommended by schools, but it’s not for everyone. DD tried that for Y10 exams and I found her after the first revision morning with a small handful of beautiful cards covering about half a topic and in deep panic about how long it was going to take to summarise 10 subjects!

What worked better for her was to find as many questions as possible and answer them. Start on an open book basis so that you’re getting value from those notes from school, and progress towards closed-book. There is no shortage: past papers on the examining boards’ websites; free sites such as Seneca and BBC Bitesize, inexpensive subscriptions such as my-gcsescience.com and CGP Mathsbuster, the various revision guides. Use quick questions to identify and fix knowledge gaps, and exam-style questions to understand what the examiner wants. In English, for example, I got DD to mark her own practice papers according to the mark schemes so that she could see what is looked for.

Different things will work for different students, of course. I really enjoy this thread for people’s generosity about sharing ideas, including invaluable input from experienced teachers.

DS flat out refuses to go anywhere over Easter. He plans to study and go to the gym.

General question -
How many hours per day of revision should be done in the Easter holidays?
Thanks.

An exam timetable seems to have put DD into action but its hard because its Ramadan and she is fasting. Also how much housework do you expect them to do with exams?

I think it should vary by day no more than 5 at the total maximum. It is very subjective and depends on how much your DC has revised before

I personally didn't expect any housework during exams. Massive slack cut for Easter break -end of exams. Don't want arguments over dishwasher not unloaded to add to the already ridiculous pressure. Stay considerate of rest of household, that's about it.

Morning all lord, they are looming horribly on the horizon aren't they?!

Taking note of all the food revision tips here ready to sit DD down with her well intentioned but could be improved, Easter revision plan. We also get mock results tomorrow so that will either start the holiday on a high or hell

One thing I definitely intend to do is review her flash cards. She started them probably a year ago but I'm not convinced she was using them as a revision aid but rather find a topic on say, Kerboodle and then copy it verbatim! So as she has so many I want to, time allowing, look like atgtjem together to see if a) they are even right , b) she still needs them and for those she does get a traffic c light system going and then FILE THEM AWAY PROPERLY. Then bin the rest as I don't know about anyone else but the amount of clutter of scarps of paper is unreal and she's not good at keeping on top of it. I think this clear out will mentally help a bit.

Also thinking of making breakfast time after Easter, flash card time as she is crap at actually looking at them unless I badger her to do so. So, right now she reads her book for 10 minutes while eating so going forward she can look at her cards. Maybe 2 subjects per am, 5 mins on each. Then after break's when she's normally zone out on her phone before leaving she can do that and /or read.

But yeah - cannot now wait until end of June

Thank you @anoukis

@Marisquita @GlomOfNit - DS recommends AnkiPro app for flashcards. He wasn't a fan - they took too long to make and he didn't find them helpful. But he really rates this app and uses it a lot in his revision.

Dd got mock results back and she’s dropped to a 4 in English, she’s understandably upset, parents evening this evening but couldn’t get an English appointment. I will email him, she’s conscientious , she reads, we’ve got a tutor, I really don’t know what to do. Tutor thinks her teacher marks harshly, but dd use of language is poor, she can’t seem to get her head round using formal language and wide vocabulary.

@tellmewhenthespaceshiplandscoz
For my DDs we ordered revision cards by topics/pages in the revision guide, punched holes on top left and put together with a treasury tag. One name card at the front, one bundle per paper.
Needed 1 card per revision book page for science.

Cheers Teen. I like how organised that sounds x