Year 11 - 2024-2025 Support Thread

[QueenMabby]

Hi
A continuation for those of us with DCs going into year 11 - GCSEs are looming!

Seneca seems good and kind of easy because you just work through online. DS doing little bits here and there.

I am worried, only 4 weeks to mocks here on 4th nov and no revision started by ds2 yet.

Same here

@Elizo yes Seneca is great for learning content. DS does use it for science quite often and also for Geography. It does take a while though. That's why I'm getting my DD who's in year 10 to go through it as she covers the topics in class. But with the Sciences, doing past questions is essential to learn how to answer the longer questions especially in Biology and Chemistry and to apply the knowledge in a long multi stage question. We only have the free Seneca though, perhaps the paid version has these options too.

@Oblomov24 @SB1971 DS has started revising but they've also had some end of current topic tests that need revising for plus homework etc, so finding it hard to find time to revise year 10 topics. His mocks are in just under 6 weeks. The teachers still haven't given out what topics are covered in the mocks (apart from RE), but we are assuming it's more year 10 content, as they have had end of topic tests for the current topics.
DS did well in a maths review test last week. He also sat the senior maths challenge last week with the year 12s. He voluntarily gave up his PE lesson to do maths! He says he enjoys the type of maths in these maths challenges, he's done the junior and intermediate too.

Re, past questions how do you go about this? Save my exams?? For maths they are doing parts of practice papers in school, not sure about Science though. Seneca is testing them so I assumed that was exam style questions??

Thanks

Mmm! I’m not sure about past papers. I’ve never seen Seneca. I think DD isn’t keen on it but perhaps she should look again. I wouldn’t be able to mark them though. She’d have to do that! I wouldn’t have the foggiest.
@Oblomov24 & @SB1971 your mocks are quite early. DDs are after half term. They are her only ones though. They used to be immediately after Xmas. I’m assuming you have a second set in Feb or something?

Save my exams has all the answers and mark scheme. Not looked at it this year but DS did some cramming before the GCSE he did last year

@NotDonna yes it’s been great to have this early on and I hope there will be one after mocks / before exams. Hope there is some progress with the laptop, if it helps it’s worth the effort. That’s why I feel it’s such a waste if he knows his stuff but an examiner finds it difficult to decipher.

Six weeks left to mocks - time flies. There is so much to cover so alongside specific revision homework set by school and ordinary homework and end topic tests at school, thinking just past papers (noting a post that said may not be able to do some questions on topics not done yet - he can go back later) and mini mocks / practice questions across a subject - Seneca (paid version) has facility select all topics for a subject and it randomly generates questions to do! I’ve set it to grade 9 questions. Eventually I assume he’ll have covered all topics. Think now a days they ask too much of kids and in turn I feel I’m asking too much of him but reality is he needs to revise. Any year 10 parents - start getting them to revise! Hindsight is great.

Gosh there are lots of school doing mocks early. For those who have them in November do you have a second set?

We only get one set and it's always the first two weeks after the Christmas holidays. Dd is going to Italy on a school trip in a couple of weeks and some revision prep will probably start when she gets back but the bulk will be done over the Christmas holidays (oh joy!).

Sorry for the second post but wanted to say to @DataColour that my dd also did the senior maths challenge. She missed Spanish for it. Not voluntarily though - the whole year group did it. Dd got a silver last year so it'll be interesting to see how she gets on this year. She did 18 of the 25 questions I think.

Yet again I'm feeling out of the loop with no idea when DD2's mocks are - but i DO have a parents evening on Thursday - one of those crazy online ones where you barely have time to breathe - so i'm hoping more will become clear at that. DD2 also joins these from her boarding house, which her friends think is weird but given I'm not there to help her I think it is best she knows what the teachers are saying.

I was very pleased to see her utilising her grandmother (who was a secondary maths teacher) on Sunday to help explain some homework concepts when she was stuck - maths over facetime is an odd thing, but it shows some determination that she had got in touch with her on her own initiative and arranged a time.

No maths challenge here. Apparently they were asked if they wanted to and she wasn't keen. My foster daughter who is in year 13 thought it was more accessible than last year's though - perhaps just because she's a year older.

Exact same here! DD'S start 5th Nov and her plan is to start 2 weeks before and considering she hasn't touched revision befoer this, it will not work.

Dyou have to pay for ‘save my exams’ ?

mocks used to be those two weeks after Xmas hols and it did spoil them. Now they’re after oct half term and the only ones they’ll do.
I need to chase senco for DD to be taught how to use the laptop & reader BEFORE the mocks. The apathy is annoying me! DD has emailed twice and had a wishy washy reply saying someone will be in touch soon. They go on half term after next week, then exams.

We didn’t, not sure if you can upgrade.

Yes, we have mocks again, 2nd set in about Feb.

Same here. I think it works well having two sets, both after half terms, with a bit of a break from it all over the Christmas hols. Although someone told me her DD got burnt out with all the revision from having two sets of mocks. Somehow I don't think we'll have that problem with DS 😬

We also have two sets of mocks. They use the November mocks to set predicted grades for the sixth form applications which need to be in by Christmas. Then there is another set in March. It was pretty stressful when my DS did his GCSEs in 2022 as they kept saying that the exams could be cancelled and the mocks were therefore especially important. I'm glad he did get to sit his summer exams in the end.

Sympathy to @NotDonna I also remember from DS that SENCOs can be so frustrating - sometimes you just need to keep chasing. Hope you get a response soon.

@Elizo We use physcis and maths tutor website for past paper questions for science and geography. They have the mark schemes too and it's all free. There are flashcards on there too.
@ThisPerkySloth Exactly the problem we are having here. No time to revise for the mocks because of homework and end of topic assessments, which aren't topics covered in the mocks. But any revision is useful revision I guess. The issue with DS is that he doesn't seem to have retained much information especially in the sciences from year 10 so it's like learning things all over again! My DD is in year 10 and I will encourage her to revisit topics when there's time. DH is a chemistry teacher so he's helping him sometimes with the sciences, going over his mistakes etc. but DS is so tired these days after school it's not been very successful so far.

We only have once set of Mocks in Nov. The 6th form applications need to be in early Jan.

@DataColour starting to think just keep doing something however little is better than nothing and it’ll all pay off for exams if not mocks! We’re doing practice questions randomly selected on Seneca on most subjects so might cover all areas eventually 🤞having read posts here a Little worried now they might be making decisions off the back of November mocks re sixth form plus I think whether doing foundation / higher - have emailed school to find out.

DS was given 50 questions as homework on Germany and Cold War for history to complete by late October - has to write an answer to each as revision because the teacher realised when they returned to school in September they’d all forgotten what they’d learned in year 10. That would be great for every similar subject - then they know exactly what they need to cover!

@DataColour the your son's history revision sounds really useful. I think at this age revision should be structured like that. A lot of schools seem to put the onus on the pupils which at 15 seems a tall order especially when their books are filled with random bits of paper which have not yet been stuck in.

In my day ( ancient), it was only at university that one took real control of one's learning... became an "independent learner". Until then homework in year 11 was essentially exam practice questions. I don't think my daughter has had any MFL grammar homework that she actually has to write down ( rather than on a computer) and as for the sciences, there's masses of content to learn. Where does one start?!!

Somehow I don't think we'll have that problem with DS 😬

Made me laugh and unfortunately very relatable @HereComesYourMam

DD's school are quite vague about this and nobody seems to have proper information but apparently there is another set in February after their ones in November. If not, there will be lots and lots of subject specific mocks for practice. At least I hope because a lot of the content is not getting covered in mocks at all!

@aliceinanwonderland I’m guessing this response was for me re history revision but either way I also think it’s a lot to ask of them and expect them to readily know how to revise!

yes school books seem very patchy - the art of note taking whilst listening and keeping up is not easy at their or any age!

My worry is also about the 6th form applications and offers on the basis of mock exam results. I wonder whether it'll be better to focus the mocks revision on the subjects DS wants to do at A/L. Of course these are the ones that he finds easier anyway (maths and geography), and gets good results without much work. Sciences are the problem here, with so much content to cover and DS not enjoying them. They all do higher tier here as it's a grammar school.

Not much time for revision this weekend. He's doing a cross country competition so that'll take up most of Sat and on Sun there a 6th form open day and a cricket end of season event.