Y 11 2023-2024 thread 3

[Techno56]

For when the other thread fills up tomorrow as we all discuss English lit 2 😁

Dd had yesterday off sick as she's tired and no exams, she's going to have a couple of days off but is going in a couple of mornings in half term for revision sessions.

Her schedule after half term is quite full on, 6 exams the first week then 6 the next, but after that she's done! 😅

Unlike the other schools mentioned here they are not on study leave after half term, the gaps between exams are plugged up with revision sessions including morning sessions before first exams.
The leavers assembly is at the end of June after all the exams and parents are invited.

Our school also did a small U turn on attendance and made it that if parents signed a form, the pupil could be absent when no exam on.

I wasn't too impressed by a teacher not being available in the time tabled subject and an exam the following day so what was the point of them being in school when they can revise better at home

DS making most of freedom again was out last night with mates and today gone into town. The atmosphere at home is so much nicer too as he is relaxed and not so stressed.

DD got up at 12, had some food and then has been in tears most of the time. Finally settled down with a reading book.
So still quite difficult here ! Hoping a telly eve and early night will help.

It was DS’s 16th birthday on Tuesday so he had some friends over for a sleepover last night. They have gone out on their bikes today and then going to the cinema tonight. Then it will be back to work for the rest of the week. I do have a concern that he will lose momentum with the revision during half term so I need to keep him on track. School have laid on a 2 hour Maths revision session in school next Sunday ahead of the Maths paper on Monday morning so he will do that too.

dd has gone to revise at a friend’s house. I’m not convinced she’ll revise much but she’s worked hard up to now so we’re pulling back a bit. She’s in school for 2 half days in the half term (optional revision sessions) then it’s full on for 2 weeks, done on 14 June. I’m wishing this term away. I also have uni deadlines which isn’t ideal at the same time. Roll on July!

Hurrah, half term at last. DD has eight exams left, four each week of the fortnight after half term. She went out to her sport club this morning and saw out of school friends and then had lunch with one of them. She's having today off so is quite cheerful. She certainly deserves the day of as she's pragmatically trekked through the last few weeks with minimal complaints and no histrionics. Unlike her older sister when she did A levels which was exhausting for her and the family...

Anyone got any advice for able GCSE student who seems to have hit the wall for revision in half term?

They've now done more than half and are happy with how they've all gone so far (and have finished Eng Lit, French and Psychology), the weeks post half term have a lower intensity of exams but today they are panicking they have too much to revise and not enough time, and weren't happy to take advice to just leave it for today if they're worried.

In case of DC, TBH, even if they did no more revision they would not get below a 6 in anyway but they say they feel very beholden to their predictions, which are pretty much all 7-9. We have not pressurised them to get any particular kind of result except one they are happy with and have told them we'd rather they dropped a grade than gave themselves a nervous breakdown. I'm hoping it's just a wobble and they'll feel more positive tomorrow, but not sure what to do if they continue being in a tailspin.

Let them sleep and recover for the weekend and start again Monday

I'd be happy for them to do that, but they say they'll spiral more if they spend too long not doing anything. They're out with friends seeing a play tonight, so hopefully that will help.

@Echobelly maybe encourage a walk or some sort of exercise (both of these seem to help my DD) and/or get them distracted with something else - cooking, baking, something fun on TV are what tend to happen here.

Or, if more helpful, suggest doing half an hour of maths or whatever “to keep it ticking over” but with a timer set for something completely different to start once the half hour is done.

Well ds spent the whole day in bed pretty much. Coming down for meals. He seems to have recuperated a bit. Gentle start back into it.

@Echobelly let them have a day or two of rest and recuperation, tidy up their room a bit if it's too overwhelming with stuff everywhere, get some fresh air and exercise and start off gently with some YouTube videos to just watch and see if that sets the revision mode back on.

Good idea about the videos, I think they've already been doing that a bit. Part of what's stressing them out is that they feel they can't find good revision materials

thank you for your support. Dd is refusing to do any English revision now as it is a 'waste of time' as there is no way she can get enough on paper 2 to balance her awful paper 1 (her words not mine) in her mocks and all practise papers she has been getting 4s, and has had loads of 1:1 from her English teacher which made her a secure 4 or maybe a 5. Paper 1 has blown that.

She also has to do a lot of work for biology and physics both of which had a bad paper 1, but she could pull it out of the bag with paper 2, so she is pushing those.

from what she said on Friday, she will not be allowed to start 3 A levels without her English, so that means doing 2 this year with an English resit which she desperately doesn't wnat to do. (and means 3 years at sixth form college)

What subject? We might be able to help.

DD has her first exam induced tears. She hates the Migration topic for History which is half of paper 2. It's bloody huge! Luckily she loves the other half Elizabethans. Not a lot of YouTube on it because hardly anybody does the Migration topic.

We told her to change topics and do something she liked. Still couldn't concentrate so we nipped to the supermarket for snacks. Then made notes for a Chemistry topic! So at least felt better in the end.

I think if your dd won’t do anything on English there is nothing much you can do. She may well not have done as badly as she thinks. Sometimes kids have to live and learn. An extra year at college seems an age but isn’t really in the scheme of things. My dd should have passed everything but with an active eating disorder and wasting away before my eyes, idk if she’ll even be well enough to start A levels next year. I can’t be worrying about that tbh otherwise I will make myself really ill. Things will be as they will be and all I can do is endeavour to get her on the path to recovery. Right now she’s still very much in denial…

We had a couple of days off and it's they're now doing a couple of hours a day tickover over half term. They'll do more if they want to but nose in books all day every day isn't going to help stress levels for them or is.

Paper 2 is 50% - that’s huge!
If she wants to pass and not resit she can do lots of things that can help. Read models for q5, watch Mr Salles exam technique etc.

Gosh @Mummyoflittledragon I really feel for you. Must be so hard seeing your DD struggle with an ED and then having to deal with exam stress on top of that. I hope you're getting the support you need.

DD's college puts 'near miss' students in for the November resit, so getting a v high 3 may still be better than a low 3.

@steppemum she cannot possibly know how she's done in Lang one, and Lang 2 is no more difficult.

DS was saying he was having the weekend off revision, but he was on his phone for most of the morning yesterday, so Ive asked him to at least do maths today and tomorrow for an hour, which he is doing.
@steppemum I sympathise. I have the same with DS and maths. He feels he did really badly in the first paper, so he felt he would have to go to college to resit. I don't know what to suggest. I sat down and did a revision timetable for DS yesterday for the half term, and put in an hour of maths every morning. It didn't seem too much written down, as he could see gaps in the day where he was doing other stuff. We'll see how that works out!

I’m letting mine completely chill for the weekend. Their school has revision sessions during the holidays which they will go to (no study leave for them) and they have a revision schedule for home. I think they’ll be ok.
I got DTS a suit for prom for £5 off Vinted, it fits perfectly and looks great. What a bargain.

No revision here so far this weekend but we have just gone through DDs desk and bagged up everything from the 3 subjects she has finished completely. Looks a lot tidier now!

We’ve run out of cake so I’m going to suggest to dd that she makes another one today (this is very calming for her)and also plans her revision timetable for the week as we have a few things planned in now so she needs to be happy she can fit all her work in. Yesterday was a day on her phone and she watched a film so would like her to start to move towards ‘doing stuff’.

An hour of maths a day sounds a good plan I will gently suggest !! 😳