Year 11 - 2024-2025 Support Thread

[QueenMabby]

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

Parents evening last night was not 'that' illuminating - except I now know DD2's mocks are in January. Most teachers seem to be finishing the course in Feb and then going through it again, and I'm still getting my head around the whole idea of coursework in History and English as well as the standard amounts for music composition and drama. Think it brought it home to dd that she is very much on her own with this one - I can't be there to help. She does at least turn up to her parents' evening - on the spare online link you get - most of her boarding friends don't bother.

Still can't quite work out what's going on with history. She was really good at it and it was her favourite subject at her old school, but has lost all confidence. Got a seven in the end of year exam, marked down for lack of detail and doesn't seem to have had a marked essay since to pull back her score. She was given a nine for every other essay subject she does, so there's obviously something she's not doing in history but is in everything else and I can't quite put my finger on it.

Just checking in - still battling with the general lack of interest in anything 😩 had parents’ evening yesterday which went great, several teachers have said they’d love to have DD for A-level but she still doesn’t have a clue what she wants to do, so I proposed we worked backwards from the top and asked if she wanted to go to university - she said she doesn’t know what university is like so I asked if she wanted to go and have a look. We’re now booked to go an open day at our local university so she can get an idea.

We’re going before her school’s 6th form info evening, then she can have a think about everything… at least when we were filling out the form and they asked what area she was interested in, she said psychology sounded good.

I’m trying to remain neutral and make sure she knows what her options are going forward - maybe we should have a look at the local college too.

A question for those who are further along the line with older children or any teachers who might be about; how useful is it to do additional maths if they don’t want to do maths A-level? Is it worth the effort?

@DataColour - just look to see what the requirements are for where he wants to go. Some places require a wider spread of good grades whereas others aren't so fussed if you have English, maths and the a-level subjects. Those are the ones I'd be inclined to focus on.

@minisnowballs - glad parents' evening went well. Does dd know why she's lost confidence in history? I'd be inclined to ask for an online meeting with her history teacher to try and get to the bottom of it. There's still time for her to get it back but you may need to make your expectations clear to her teacher (nicely of course!).

@justasoul - I don't know anything about additional maths but my ds is at uni doing physics and he didn't do it. Nor further maths at a-level. He got an A in a-level maths without the extra at gcse. If your dc isn't bothered and isn't taking maths at a-level I'm not sure I'd see the point.

In maths news, dd was very happy to get a gold in the senior maths challenge. She's also heard on the grapevine that she also got best in year but nothing official so she's not celebrating that yet!

@QueenMabby I did say in the five minute slot that I didn't think her grade was really reflective of how she was doing in other subjects or how she was doing at her old school and he said she should go through her paper again with him to talk about it one-to-one - so i guess that's a start...

also @QueenMabby very well done to your very clever girl!

Hi,

Re. Sixth forms selective/ comprehensive round here no one seems overly bothered about mocks. They all make very clear that nothing is decided until actual results some come in. The most selective school round here doesn’t even ask what they are!! So I think as long as they are roughly on track for school’s minimum requirements should be ok.

Re. revision I am going to suggest to DS for these mocks (at least) he should prioritise those subjects he intends to continue. There just isn’t time for doing v much and I think he’s be better off trying for a confidence boost in those. Then after that he can look at what he got and work out what comes next…

Hope this helps!

Well done DD @QueenMabby 🙌🏾

DD doesn’t really like maths, and says she’s definitely not doing maths A-level (her maths teacher seemed to be assuming she is though!) - so I was just curious whether having that little bit extra maths would be useful in case she decides to do something like computer science later on 😄 she definitely likes computers 🤣

Well done to your DD @QueenMabby

My DS did additional maths and said it made the start of A level maths very easy. He found it quite straightforward but he is a mathematician (just started at Cambridge.) The school has now switched to doing Further Maths instead so DD is doing that, they don't have extra lessons the top set just cover the further maths content in normal maths lessons. She is not completely sure what she will be studying in sixth form yet but maths A level is on the shortlist and she enjoys it. If you are not going to continue with maths then I'm not sure if it is worth extra stress (interesting and enjoyable though!)

@IThinkImAMathmoMum - great user name! Our school also does FM for top set. I don't know what the different is between FM and Additional maths though.

@justasoul Ditto clueless re the difference between ad maths and further maths at gcse. Top 2 sets did FM at DD1 school and she was the only one taking A level maths who hadn’t done FM gcse. She said there was an initial difference in first few months but nothing too significant & got an A so… But if your DD isn’t interested in A level maths then maybe it’s not worth it. DD2 also in wrong set for FM at gcse but had no desire to do A level anyway. She chose AS level core maths alongside her 3 A levels, which she enjoyed and gave her a grade reduction for Bath & York unis. So maybe your DD would be interested in core maths at AS if your school/college offers it?
@minisnowballs hasn’t your DD asked where she’s going wrong in history? I’m wondering if it’s exam technique. I’ve no clue tbh but I think there’s some short questions and some longer ones so it maybe she’s not detailed enough in the longer ones or something quite easily fixable! I’d definitely encourage her to ask her teacher.

just joining! My elder child now in year 13 did further maths gcse. With hindsight she probably shouldn’t have as their teaching wasn’t fabulous so teaching herself took a lot of time from other subject revision. She isn’t doing maths A level. Trying to persuade my youngest that she shouldn’t do it!

@NotDonna I will have a look at core maths, thanks! The a-levels brochure has vanished from the school website, I’m guessing they’re updating it ahead of the open evening…

DD is doing Further Maths. It’s not a GCSE, but another Level 2 qualification apparently. They do it after school, once a week. We’ve been to two Sixth Form evenings this week - one at her current school, one at the local school (she didn’t get a place for Year 7) - and we’ve been told it makes the transition to A level Maths easier. DD is pretty certain she wants to do Maths, Further Maths and Physics (+ probably Spanish) so it’s useful for her, and she enjoys it. But I can see it’s probably not worth the extra work for anyone who doesn’t want to do Maths A level.

I think at DDs school (selective) it was only offered to the top 2 sets because they’d barrel through the regular gcse maths so FM kept their minds busy towards the end. I know for sure they didn’t have extra lessons for it, so I’m assuming it was purely bc they’d finished the regular stuff and kind of ‘why not’. I say assuming as none of mine are in top two sets.
@justasoul Core maths btw is nothing like A level and DD2 found it an extension of gcse rather than a step up. There’s differing ‘core maths’ a school can offer but hers was financial stuff and quantitative analysis- she says it’s been very useful for her current studies (business degree).

Not Donna- ours is the same. Set 1A must do, set 1B have the choice but study the content.

Wow that's great @QueenMabby well done to your DD!

My DS is doing further maths too, but he definitely wants to do maths a/l , and also further maths a/l so worth it for him. They do it in the normal lesson time in the accelerated set.

No cross country competition for DS today as he got kicked in the thigh during football yesterday and now his thigh and knee are so swollen and painful. He has to do 4/5 races to qualify for the nationals so now he has to do all of the rest. He has been doing some biology revision today in-between playing video games, so that's something!

Well done to your Dd @QueenMabby !
Mocks start after half term here with another lot in January I believe. Revision non-existent and am getting bored of my own voice to be honest. They have been set homework which is revision focused and he seems to think that is sufficient.
It will be a shock hopefully if he does poorly -let’s see.
He is into the college (results dependent) of choice and there is a timetable of interviews,taster days etc.
Am trying to remain chilled but it really is not in my nature…

@Elizo maybe different but my DS for sixth form needs points I.e. sum of grades totalling 54 so I’m thinking if he was to be offered conditional place he will need to show he can get that in his mocks? So therefore would need to ensure does well on more than just his subjects he wants to do at A level. Plus think needs 7’s in subjects he wants to do as minimum plus maths / English I think.
but I’m still waiting for school to confirm mocks will be used for assessing sixth form application.

there is so much content I see your logic though!

Hi all just had school email with list of all topics to be covered per subject for November mocks and if DS isnt panicking I am. There is so much to cover especially maths. hoping we can come up with a doable revision plan for the next few weeks. Really helpful of school though to send to parents. Seems like a lot more info coming out than in pre yr 11 years!

one thing I must do is print a past paper for each subject with mark scheme / examiners report that he can read through / understand what’s expected. I think someone here mentioned this was good thing to do. At least they will then know what they are aiming for. Going to do the same my DD for her a levels. Just hope does not scare them.

At least DS has promised to do some past papers at half term - it was a pinky promise which in our house cannot be broken😊

interesting. Are you talking internal or external applications. DS has to go external as no 6th form. I think predicted grades were way off their minimum they would question it but I get the impression not much really happens until results day. I guess it’s different everywhere. Was very struck by super selective (they want 79/80 across 9 GCSEs - maddest thing I ever heard) don’t even want to know what predicted grades/ mocks are!

Sounds like you have a plan. I hear Corbett 5 a day is really good. Hoping DS might do some over half term

@Elizo it’s internal - points but does need a minimum 7 in subjects he wants to do, I’m hoping he can stay! Yes all comes down to results day!

We have an information evening in the early part of next month for internal and external sixth form candidates. It includes a subject carousel where you each subject gives a presentation. We shall be going to that.

Mixed week for dd this week. She didn't make the final of the internal piano competition she entered (which was unexpected and disappointing) but did get more than just an ensemble part in the school musical! Swings and roundabouts as ever.

We didn't go to DS's school 6th form open evening yesterday. He didn't want to miss running club and besides he really doesn't want to stay on at their 6th form. Can't go without him so that's that. DS had a Geography field trip on Wednesday and he's going to Iceland next week for a few days for another Geography trip. He's excited about that, but we still need to sort out his equipment list...job for this weekend!
We still haven't had a list of topics for mocks even though they are only just 4 weeks away, but just assuming they are mainly from year 10. DS seems to be very unbothered by the mocks, will do revision if I ask him to, otherwise it won't enter his mind, he'll just play on the PC all evening. I'm going to get him to sit down and draw up a spreadsheet of topics for each subject to make him aware of the extent of the content. I thought of getting him to do a timetable, but as long as there's constantly homework been given and revision for end of topic tests required, cant' see a revision timetable working. Any ideas? The school is having an external provider coming next week for a day to do study skills workshops for the kids and then there's a parents forum that evening too. DH will definitely not go as it'll be a busman's holiday for him but I'll go, to see how revision techniques have evolved since I was at school!

I was trying to help DS with some questions on monoclonal antibodies last night and I knew nothing despite having an A/L in Biology and doing a module in cell biology in my first year of uni (to be fair that was nearly 30yrs ago!). Using the right terminology and writing long answer questions is something DS really needs to work on.

I don't think we have a points system for the 6th form DS want to go to. Just minimum grades.

Congrats to your DD on the school musical part @QueenMabby what part is it?

@DataColour - she's a dancer (one of five) but has lines so is more than just background ensemble. She came home from the first rehearsal absolutely mortified as the dancers are supposed to be "sexy" and that's waaaaay outside her comfort zone! 🤣🤣