Year 11 2023-24

[Maxus]

Anyone else got kids starting year 11 in September?

@Gazelda and @Philandbill Less than three weeks to go so hang on in there!

DS is currently painting his Warhammer models like a professional - he can spend hours on the stuff he loves but GCSE art coursework is another matter.
To be fair to him, he has been revising Geography for a while this morning so that's a positive.

@wonderstuff we're in the same boat! No extra time despite many of her teachers adamant she needs it. She wasn't even assessed. We've been waiting now for two years for her ADHD assessment. Just feels like she keeps falling through the cracks.

@LighthouseCat @wonderstuff we have been in the same position nit had any answers from DS school I started nw Jo. A few months ago ft after pt hrs and struggling to get hold of people in the school. His English teacher is as useless as a chocolate teapot. He struggles with writing speed and making it eligible.
Currently on holiday but DS has done about 3/ 4 past papers and a bit of revision since he broke up. Electronics NEA was completed before they broke up so fingers crossed on that.

@LighthouseCat we have been given extra time in exams. I am completely the other side as honestly never knew DD needed extra help so was a big surprise. I always thought she was doing ok. Left primary meeting targets then suddenly here we are. Thankful she is getting the extra time she will need. She goes to a state secondary and it is in a deprived area.

dont feel bad @Midnightstar76 its not a reflection of her abilities. They give extra time even the playing field not to give an advantage. My own dd doesnt have extra time but has a laptop and is predicted mainly 8s but she was at a disadvantage when writing that affected her grades. Other students dont have the problem she has so giving her a laptop just evens out any extra factors and its the same with extra time

DD has been in tears, I feel awful but I don’t know what else I could have done, I chased and chased and just hit a brick wall from school. I don’t understand, when I’m put under so much pressure to keep parents sweet, why they get to just ignore me completely! I work so hard to ensure everything is in place for the kids at my school. Will just have to focus on ensuring what she can write is as good as it can be now.

That sounds heartbreaking. Your poor DD.
However, she's obviously got a great parent who will help her to achieve her best under the circumstances.
I wish I could offer better support that doesn't sound like platitudes. Keep reminding her you're proud of her and that she needs to be proud of herself.

I totally agree with @Gazelda @wonderstuff - your DD (and her cousin, you and the rest of your family) are going through such a lot at the moment. Everything is stressful without this added pressure. Can you escalate to the SLT, or is it too late to get extra time now?

Has your daughter fixed on her college and the course she wants to do yet? What English Language grade does she need to move to sixth form college? I think you said previously that she has an English tutor so hopefully they can focus on techniques to maximise points in each of the questions with a minimal amount of writing. Children put so much pressure on themselves on top of the pressures they get from school

Thank you. She has a place at her chosen 6th form, their published requirements for psychology are 4 English and 556 in science and maths, but she says at interviews they said she needed 5 for English. She’s on track for 668 for science and maths, and I do wonder if that will make up for a lower English score. She got 4 in her mock and actually went down a grade with ET but was able to complete the paper. I have no faith in the English teacher and her tutor feels he grades harshly, but who knows if she’s right?

Anyway, worse case we’re looking at I think is they want 5 for psychology and she gets 4 and she looks to do economics or sociology or something else instead of psychology. Maths and Spanish are fine and the 6th form place is fine as long as she gets a 4. I just think this has knocked her confidence further and it’s not exactly been a great lead up for us. I’m so frustrated with them, I don’t think they’ll bank down even if we escalate (HT is notorious as someone who digs his heels in). I’ve expressed my dismay to the SENCO, I’m now going to focus energies on supporting dd best I can.

Silly question perhaps... once they finish their exams for a particular subject, what do they do during timetabled lessons for that subject? Revise for other subjects? E.g., DD is supposed to attend all lessons (when not in exam) until Fri 24 May, however her Art exam ends on Tue 30 April and her German exam on Tue 21 May. (They get study leave only in June after May half term).

Thanks.

Not a silly question 😊DD will be getting on with self-directed revision during what would have been her art lessons. They'll be in the art room for the lesson time and supervised by their art teacher but not taught. I'm slightly hoping they can pair up with a friend doing one of their subjects and work together. It's a long slog through GCSEs and a bit of yeast to leven the dough isn't a bad thing.

We operate a revision timetable once the main subjects start - they're planned around giving students access to their subject teachers before the exams. Once a subject is complete, they bring their own revision.

Good for you @wonderstuff. I think the best thing we can do for our children is support them through this period. I have heard from many different sources that teachers tend to mark the mocks hard to stop the students becoming complacent. So a 4 in the mock could easily become a much higher grade in the actual GCSE. Always good to have the alternative options available though.

DS still hasn't heard from his school about his exam timetable or their plans for study leave (if any) or what happens during exams. DS has 22 different exams/papers and 15 of them are before the May half term break. I hope that the students will have a timetable structure similar to that which @MrsHamlet describes, rather than revise topics in their scheduled classes, but no confirmation of this yet.

DS' MFL speaking is in three weeks time and we had an email from head of MFL yesterday that the Saturday before they will be running speaking revision workshops with all students. Of all his subjects DS finds mandarin hardest and it's not a subject DP or I can help him with in any way.

Can I urge people to double check their DC’s exam timetable against those published online by the boards. I checked the one sent out by DD’s school and they had put one exam in the wrong half of the relevant day. At least it can now be corrected, so no harm done.

DD finishes lessons on 2 May and after that they will have their subject teachers available according to the usual timetable but can be revising at home or at school as they wish. She’s doing well with her revision these holidays and maintaining her sense of humour. Wishing everyone well.

When checking exam timetables / entries, don't forget to check tier of entry where appropriate, and the right number of exams per subject.

We need to get some air tomorrow :/
Today after maths tutor had left, we did an RE and History paper - I typed and DS instructed. He sent those off to his teachers following some rather roasting feedback from his history teacher. I read it and thought flip! I love honestly but savage was more the word :(
Im skint from the maths tutor and my head is banging from attempting to type on an exam paper - technical I’m not!

May I ask a question to those of you whose children are applying to sixth forms different to their current school please?

Have you/your children had email confirmation of their offer and acceptance of their offer?

DS applied to several and has had offers, but the one he really wants has only put the offer on their portal. He's accepted it (and taken screenshots of both offer and acceptance page) but we've not had any confirmation of the acceptance. The offer acceptance window closes next week so I'm wondering if they wait until then before sending out emails? I'm not sure if this is normal or standard for some schools. I'm itching to email the school but DS is asking me not to! They are on Easter break anyway I'd assume so I doubt I'd get a reply.

We got an email confirmation a couple of weeks ago from 6th form college, they did an interview and then confirmed after that. May be different here though because no state school 6th forms, everyone goes to college and it seems everyone who meets criteria gets in, colleges are so big they can flex to meet demand. Does mean class sizes are large but they seem to get results.

Thanks @wonderstuff . That's the same as most of those DS applied to. Sixth form colleges do seem to manage their applications and admissions process very well. I guess they don't have year 7 admissions to have to deal with at the same time though! DS' second choice is Farnborough Sixth Form college (Hampshire), which is enormous but has a really good reputation and good student outcomes.

My Dts have both been accepted to a 6th form college and a school 6th form (their school doesn’t have a 6th form). They had interviews for both. The college is their preferred option so fingers crossed!!

DS is much more focussed on his social life than revision.

He thinks he is doing a lot of work (up to 2 hours a day)

He is very bright and should be getting mainly 9s but struggles with application. He does have ADHD and autism. The ADHD has only just been diagnosed and he hasn't taken it on board at all.

He probably should be having extra time (he got a 4 in English Language in a previous mock because he didn't finish the paper) but he has refused to consider this - as he doesn't think he has a problem.

He does use a laptop as his handwriting is so illegible.

I have been trying all year to get him to adopt a revision timetable, even a very loose one, but he downright refuses. He has begrudged every minute spent on school work but would happily argue with me for an hour or more if I encourage him to revise.

I think there may be a bit of PDA in there - the Educational Psychologist that he saw in December agreed with me - so I backed off with demands.

However, he got a 4 in spoken MFL - and I can help him with that - and school have asked all parents to support with practice for MFL as those exams will be first up after Easter. Wow, is he being uncooperative.

It is sad as he has so much potential and really isn't focussed on maximising it right now.

But he has been getting some 9s in mocks before Easter, so I guess we'll just see how he gets on!

@Waspie

Regarding sixth form, DS applied to 2 (his current school and a very good 6th form college) and has got email acceptances for both.

I'd have a low threshold for double-checking with the college if there isn't a confirmation.

I worked in Fleet until recently so F6th was our main feeder. They are good, I would get clarity on their threshold for staying on after lower 6th mocks I think they are a bit ruthless on some courses at off rolling kids who aren’t doing well.

Dd really isn’t doing much revising at all, spoke to dsil yesterday and she’s worried about dn, I’ve asked dd to get together with her for revision, I worry they’re both a bit complacent.

Did spend an hour or so on English today, thank you to whoever recommended Mr Bruff, really good.

She’s far more interested in organising her summer than focusing on exams!

Thanks @Gunnersforthecup - I've redone the acceptance on the portal for DS and if we don't get anything back from the school by deadline of 15th I will speak to them. He doesn't want to miss this opportunity due to some admin system failure.

@wonderstuff that's interesting to hear, thanks. I have heard similar. Lots of the kids from DS school go on to F6th and say that they are ruthless about monthly testing, and if students aren't making the grade the are managed to other courses. It's a great campus, great sports facilities, and lots of DS friends will be going there, so he's keen. It's a train journey away so at least an hour's travel each way for DS.

DS loves Mr Bruff too Your daughter revising with her cousin sounds like a good idea - they can motivate each other. DS isn't doing that much either from what I've seen - he's playing basketball today and playing rugby tomorrow. Hopefully next week he will get down to some proper revision.