Y11 2023-24 continued

[Techno56]

New thread for when the other one fills up, I need somewhere to panic away from my son 😁

My DD is back and believe it or not she used the word “weird” to describe it too.

I think DD gets a 20 minute break - I guess in isolation. Why have anything clash with Chemistry which (nearly) everyone does?

It's so hard, isn't it? I know that the strategy of going straight for the longer question at the end of the paper is one that's often recommended - but of course as you say, the lower mark answers might well be easier in terms of scooping up those lower hanging fruit. But then you might be out of time and not be able to attempt any of the longer answer, so ...

I'm rather dumbfounded, because after reading on here about the dire Edexcel Higher Maths paper and then reading about it on TwiX and Student Room (plenty of 'amusing' memes already but I really feel for them), DS comes in full of the joys of spring, saying he found it 'ok, really' and nowhere near as bad as he'd feared! He's in the top group for maths but always felt he didn't belong there, despite his teacher saying he was fine. He doesn't like maths, anyway. So there may be a degree of relief there. (Or maybe he just got lots wrong!! He said his friends, virtually all of whom are extremely good at maths, found it pretty ok too -maybe they, as a class, were just lucky?)

Off the back of that, he had a snack and fairly chirpily went up to revise Chem. He says he's more ok on Geography and wants to do Chemistry for A Level, god help him ...

My ds said the same ran out of time only 1 kid in his year was happy with it but he was a maths whizz. Even some of the 8 and9 students where not to happy.
On plus side DS did check back his answers and made corrections to his silly mistakes so picked back up some marks.
Currently looking forward to Geography tomorrow and revising for chemistry.

Braveheart35

That's good news.
The idea of DD having to resit Maths is discouraging to say the least 😂

If it’s any help, according to DD Edexcel exams are always hard, they do revise with edexcel past papers to find hard questions.
probably the school/teachers/authority do this with Edexcel kids too.. And grade boundaries definitely goes up if the exam is bad, even when one question goes really not straight forward, would be more lenient marking.

Saying that I really feel for the kids, all grades, they sat in the hall, worrying :( and now would think about until the results.
@bluefineliner I am really sorry to hear that, I have one of those at home. Luckily today was good ( AQA, but got simple multiplication wrong after finding the answer for the quirk! )
And she is amused by the fact that I ask her about pencil case and demands to know how the exam went straight after it. I don’t think they understand what we go through!
I just made her cry, not that I did do anything, she made me ask questions and she is not even getting the facts right in Grography, okay sort of , also with her slow writing, I can only imagine what would be reaction tmrw. Luckily it’s the easy Chem paper tmrw ( her words) and I am happy Geo is afternoon and then we have weekend to recover! ( can you see I am already ready for it to go “not so good” )

I've not caught up with DD yet (just in from work and she's already gone out to extra curricular). It's driving me mad not knowing how she felt AQA higher maths went today.

Chemistry tomorrow. She's doing combined science, and chemistry is her better of the 3 subjects so hopefully she'll do well to compensate for physics which she really struggles with.

She's exhausted though. Thank God it's Friday tomorrow!

Argh, despite DD initially saying Edexcel Higher was 'harder than mock but OK' she has now just come down to say she's upset as she's looked at TikTok and thinks she has got way more wrong than she thought. At least back in the day we were in blissful ignorance until results day!

Does anyone know if predictions can now be made on the Edexcel higher calculator papers based on today? DS mentioned a website?

The school phoned about his RS blunder -feel better now - not ideal but not the end of the world x

That was good ofvthe school to ring. What did they say?

Mine says he was at a disadvantage from the start, in maths, as they were all given a pack containing a few things including a protractor before the exam started - except him! So when the question came round where they needed to measure an angle he had to put his hand up to be given one, and he felt really distracted 😫

One of the most reassuring things about this thread is that they're all cramming the night before their exams! I had been telling ds to make sure he had a revision plan, space it all out, give each subject enough time etc etc, but he just does it the night before. What can I say! I did the same, and he did this for his mocks, so maybe it's the best way. Good luck for tomorrow all.

Apparently edexcel maths 'ok apart from the 6 marker right at the end'.

Anyone elses DC lost the motivation to revise after exams started? DD was really good before but i think the exams drain her

Yes - it’s a big struggle now. I think exams are exhausting, so it is really difficult for them to buckle down again for the next one…

I think it is so important to remember that these days there are so many different options available e.g apprenticeships. Some on the gov.uk website don’t even require Maths and English GCSE.

Want to become a solicitor but don’t fancy Uni? Do an in house apprenticeship. Do AAT to become an accountant etc.

Blah, blah!

Dc school do Edexcel Maths but for one of my dc who's in year 9 they've decided to change to OCR for them when they start GCSE work in Sep.

Head of Maths on parents evening said he believes it's easier for someone on Foundation to get a 4 or 5 on OCR than Edexcel? I guess schools need as many children to pass as they can. I don't know how true this is or why he thinks it? Maybe its easier to teach?

There should just be one exam board I think for everyone.

I think for me, the best thing about having a bad day today is that we've had to revisit what happens if maths doesnt go well at all, and DS has realised its not the end of the world. He will be able to do A Levels, he will just have to do them at his second choice.
Re apprenticeships, even though some don't say you need English and maths to get on the course, if you don't have them you need to do functional skills (which is easier)but you have to do it while working and doing your course. But you are absolutely correct that there are many options available.

Absolutely. Ds was really good at revising before they started but is now finding it all too much. Cramming the night before is definitely not for him - just makes him worried about what he doesn’t know, loses confidence and stresses more

It would be interesting to hear from teachers as to whether they think competition between exam boards (as to attractiveness of specs, support for teachers, assessment methods etc) is overall in the best interests of students or not.

DS was pleased with maths today. IGCSE Edexcel. He actually phoned me and DH after and I could tell he was on a high. He never calls after an exam! It's an A level choice and he really wants a 9 and it's 'his subject'. He checked his answers with his mate who is the maths class genius who rarely gets below 100% and knows got a couple of questions wrong but overall is confident he did well.

I have noticed that if he thinks an exam has gone well he comes home really motivated to revise for the next one (rather than disappear off with his mates to the park!). So he came home and started revision for tomorrow's chemistry and geography. Can't wait for the weekend so he can recharge a bit for next week when he has 7 exams. My goodness though it's a bloody marathon. Older DS didn't sit them as he was 2020 and first year of cancelled GCSEs although that proved very stressful at the time too of will they or won't they happen.

I don't mark this paper but I do mark one where there are choices. We mark everything (yes all 12 lit essays!) and input all the marks and the system chooses the best acceptable combination.

We don't just mark the first one.

This is basically what the school phoned and said. They were great. Said not to panic and that it was just one of those things he won’t do again.
He felt it went ok and had the knowledge to answer but was tight for time 🤣

All would be marked and best score added 🤪

Have you really ever marked exams unless you've marked dozens where they answer all the questions instead of two? I say not.