Y 11 2023-2024 thread 3

[Techno56]

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

@panic DS did IGCSE English and there was no coursework. It's 2 exams for each of lit and lang. Good job really as DS better at exams than coursework would have been. I believe some IGCSE English can have a coursework module but our school doesn't opt for that.

I thought it was no course work as well, my friend tutors for it.

Also, it was brought in originally for international students and therefore had no course work because you cannot moderate when those sitting are all around the world. It was considered to be either a positive or a negative thing that is was course work free depending on how much you like exams.

thank you, she is mostly out the other side now, it started in Covid, but it was just horrendous at the beginning.

My dd has just sat IGCSE English Lit. Hers was composed of 50% coursework so one exam. I think coursework benefits some not others. Normally, I would think that dd would have done better in exams as she is very conscientious and has been less so with the coursework. But now running far from full capacity, the coursework element will have been advantageous for her.

I am so glad to read that. Until you have a child / someone you know well going through ED, it is hard to imagine. And hard to appreciate just how much of a danger to life it can be. I like to read of recovery because it feels promising for my very stubborn dd.

The best person I've found for history for my DD is on TikTok of all places - History with Mr Atkinson! Depends what topics they're doing though. Seneca is also supposed to be good.

Morning all 😃

I'm back to work today leaving DD to revise. She has done very little over the last few days, which I have gone along with as she was very stressed last week.

I am a bit concerned she has lost focus now though, as she seems reluctant to get back on her maths revision after doing so badly in paper 1. She needs to get her confidence back before Monday so I am gently advising her to get some past papers done to show her she can do it.

Feel like this week is going to be me 'encouraging' revision rather than her actively doing enough, which is unlike her!

Oh well, only 8 exams left, and the promise of seeing TS at Anfield the day after her final exam as the best reward 😂.

There is a coursework option, which replaces one of the exams.

It's perfectly possible to moderate coursework from all over the world - I've done it for more than a decade! My exam board has very smooth procedures in place, and I love reading coursework from places such as Nevada, Nepal and the Ivory Coast.

I don't do it any more but I used to moderate both gcse and igcse coursework. Parcels arriving from all sorts of interesting places - I loved it.

DS did coursework for igcse English lit. English is his strongest subject. He absolutely hated the coursework assignments. He much preferred the exam questions.
But he didn't have to worry about 50% of his exam. A huge advantage.
Despite this, he purposefully chose A-level subjects with no coursework.

DC at private school and didn't do iGCSEs. I don't know any local indie schools that do. Bog standard GCSEs for us.

@MrsHamlet , it's great, isn't it? I always think it's so strange that coursework from somewhere as remote at St Helena can end up on my desk ✈

@DoggerFisher yep. I loved it. It's definitely possible to moderate work from all kinds of places

My niece is at a private school which is very international (lots of armed services and diplomatic staff children) and they do iGCSE.

I have no advice for @steppemum or @Mummyoflittledragon but I wish your daughters all the best. I hope they get through this stressful time

Interesting discussions around study leave vs being in school.

DS' school have run study sessions since before the November mocks, ramping up through the Spring term. During these exam weeks there are breakfast and after school study sessions plus "masterclasses" in the holidays for certain subjects. DS is going to the maths one this afternoon but has turned down history as he's confident in that already. DS hasn't been going to the before and after school sessions since exams started as they are very full and he's not finding them beneficial as a result.

At his school it is the disruptive children who have been given the study leave. Seems counter intuitive to me but what do I know? I get the impression the school just hope these kids turn up on time to the exams and bring a pen but aren't hoping for much more. I hope I'm doing the school a disservice.

DS's state school also have a supportive and enthusiastic team and they have done some after-school sessions for several weeks now, as well as revision days at Easter and this half term. DS went in for maths today and will do a history day too, as the content for history is staggering, and he didn't have a great teacher in year 9 (wasn't his expertise area). While he claims to have done a tiny amount of revision yesterday, I suspect he didn't (he had a great day with friends though) so today marks the first day back to the grindstone. It's so hard not to lose momentum and just go 'ah sod it' (or is that just me??).

Does anyone else feel like they their DC’s are treating this half term as just another holiday and are not hitting the books much?
I totally appreciate DD was feeling burnt out by the end of last week with an exam or two every day, but from Wed afternoon (before Thursday’s English Lang which she didn’t revise for) she has barely opened her books, yet has 8 exams still to go. There are no revision sessions at school.

I thought after a day and night out yesterday she would now refocus (plus has done plenty of socialising before that), but no, she’s organised that a friend is now coming over for the best part of the day tomorrow (the friend isn’t local so I can’t really limit the time). DD promises she will do some revision either side of the visit but I know it won’t be much (& in addition screen time is ridiculously high). I’m not saying she has to be chained to the books but I did think she would be doing more (as demonstrated by her mocks etc).

I know she’s been caught out by a couple of the first papers so needs to do well on the paper 2’s.
How can I make her see that it is the final push to keep up the momentum? She just doesn’t seem to have any drive (and I do suspect previously having done quite well in her mocks has lulled her into a sense of security). But we all know that papers don’t always go your way so you have to be prepared.

Thanks @Waspie

It is hard @Bellini12. We're just over half way through so a reasonable number of exams still to go as well. We've just tried to remind them that although they might be missing out on half term this time, they've got far more time off afterwards. Not sure if this is entirely successful though

Bellini12
DD is definitely treating half term like a normal holiday although she is in school for revision sessions for 1.5 days and has a session with her Maths tutor on Sunday.

DH is using the completely ineffective bull in a china shop approach of demanding why she's not revising when he comes in from work.

I'm trying to trust her approach and when I do catch her revising, I ladle on lots of praise.
It was alot easier before half term when she was at school all day!

Sounds exactly like my DH and DD @MonkeyTennis34 - he always goes in like a bull in a china shop, leading to a row and tears. I try to gently encourage and ask her what she's doing and how I can help, rather than just giving her a hard time!

Very similar here Bellini, DD hasn’t done anything!

DD had a revision session yesterday and then a friend over all afternoon. She’s meant to be up now but is snoozing , and we’re going out for lunch later and are also out on Friday. I’m hoping it’s about quality not quantity of work….! Saying that, I think I’ll go and get her out of bed now !

My DS is definitely treating this like a normal half term and is doing barely anything bar a couple of sessions with his maths tutor. In his head I think he's already finished as school is done apart from the exams and he's very much looking to his summer plans now! No amount of me saying he has 2.5 weeks to go and then all all that time off afterwards has any effect, or the thought of resits in college. As to any of the other subjects apart from English and maths, they seem all but forgotten..... very very frustrating!

I'm sure a bit of cramming will occur next week and he has a science revision session plus his English tutor but aaargh! He knows the bare minimum he needs (not going to 6th form for A levels) so is aiming at that! What is frustrating is if he put effort in I think he'd sail through. He just does not like academic learning at all!

Roll on the 14th June (when they are over for him!)

In desperate times with the level of revision here too I’ve booked 3 maths lessons, 2 science and 2 English 😵‍💫🙄

I sat with DS last night and went through the biology Paper 2 required practicals.

I've persuaded him that there is sense in doing revision for exams later next week as well as just maths (he's refusing to do History revision as he says he knows it all ). He'll then focus on maths (and hopefully some history) later in the week and at the weekend. He's finding it hard to motivate himself though.