Y11 2023-24 thread 4

[Techno56]

New thread for GCSE survival 🙂

Contingency day wasn't used for Grenfell. Those poor kids sat their exams the next day and the days after. I remember seeing a girls with her chemistry revision notes going to an exam when she had no home to go to and was in emerg next accomodation.

Contingency days weren’t introduced until (I think) 2019.

That's horrendous and really puts things into perspective 😔

Thanks for explaining the three issues @Paperclipp

Because it didn't exist. It's why they now exist.

The hexagon/circle question was not that bad when you have time and space to think about it. Obviously in an exam setting, it’s a question that’s nothing like previous years. So would throw most kids into panic.
DD read about it one of the chats, and she came to me( not her exam board) Took her time, I read it out loud and she went ah! And managed to get to answer.
But also said she would only finish it, if there was enough time. Def a question differentiating the high few percentages. saying that many would be able to get 1/2 marks on it, may not finish. If I start with that question in exam setting, I would keep thinking about it and get others wrong too 😢
The mathematically correct angle one, is something I don’t really care if I am writing the exams( decades ago, questions were just that, didn’t have to be policitay correct) You just find the answer-x. But DD keep on changing the answers/methods on few occasions beacuse it doesn’t sound logically correct. What do others do please? Would like to know what others think about it

@Paperclipp my DS said he couldn’t be confident he’d got a single questions right on FM 😂 luckily he saw the funny side! It’s a new one for his school and they’ve just been doing a lunchtime session since January to cover it so it’s a bit of a wild card for us!

@Newlease no problem, pm me any questions or queries! While a lot of people do go for a stint overseas (us included) there’s a huge array of decent avenues here too 👍

@Newlease I think the problem with the hexagon & circle one is that the proof only works if you know, or can infer, that the larger hexagon has a longer perimeter than the circle. There wasn’t enough info in the question to know or infer that.

I had genuinely never heard of a contingency day!

I think they introduced contingency day BECAUSE of Grenfell didn't they?
It highlighted that there was no way of changing the exams in this situation.

I have always thought though that it had ot be nationwide.
So in grenfell's case, they would have cancelled ALL exams nationally on the day after and the whole cohort used the contingency day?

Another query on contingency day - if there’s been no issues for any exams are we free to be away for it or could it be called last minute?? DH wants to take DS to Cyprus for a long weekend but we’re wondering if we should do it as soon as last exam on 19th or wait a week just incase…..

You should have been told about the contingency days when you got the exam timetables. Our parents were told that they needed to ensure that students were available for those dates.

If someone needs to be in on contingency and isn't, that would just be counted as absence from the exam.

We were told by school that the children must be available for contingency days. We have booked our holiday for the weekend after for that reason.

We’ve had no communication on it at all, I think we’ll book for after to make sure

I've just checked our school website. It's on there that JCQ require all students to be available for those dates.

There are 3 for GCSE, one of which is now.

I knew about contingency day from here but no one else at school seems to be aware. I’ve just checked and it’s in the exam booklet that every student was given at our school.

Same here.

We were also told by school.

Can’t believe this was never once mentioned! I’m usually pretty hot on these things so asked a few parents. A couple had heard of it but it wasn’t universal. Hope it’s not needed here!!

Our school makes it clear that you have to be around for that date also. My friend who has a Yr 11 at another local school has booked a holiday spanning that date also. She wasn't aware but apparently it was in their info too.

Contingency dates were explained in an early email when other dates were given out. However many parents on the school Facebook group insist they have never been told!

I forgot all about it but was told oops we have a holiday only just booked couple of weeks ago. Can't believe less than 24grs to go and DS will have finished need to remember to get a photo og him in his uniform for last time tomorrow.

Talking of holidays, we'll be away on results day and I foolishly assumed if you weren't there to collect in person they could be emailed (DD's were but that was COVID times).

I've just had an email from DS's school and exam results will not be emailed under any circumstances. So we have the option of getting someone else to collect them for us (which in our case means grandparents I suppose, and I suspect DS really doesn't want them seeing them first), or provide a stamped addressed envelope and have them posted which means we won't see them until we get home on 28th.

Gah!

My other dc got A levels results online first last year before going in to collect. Do they really make the kids find out what they got for the first time in a hall full of people? That seems really cruel for people that havent maybe done as well as they'd have liked?

Maybe it's up to the school to decide whether they'll email them?
I don't think there's any expectation they have to open them there and then, just that they have to go in and collect the slips in person.