Year 11 - 2024-2025 Support Thread

[QueenMabby]

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

Thanks all. We have an appointment with a clinical photographer which dd is very interested to be attending - I'm sure she'll ask lots of questions! The GP says it's virtually unheard of for children to have cancerous moles and she's as confident as she can be that there's nothing sinister there. She just wants it formally checked and recorded so they can keep an eye on it over the years.

@minisnowballs - difference between a specialist and non-specialist school - all DD's music lessons have been re-scheduled to fit around her mocks. Her mocks start today too. She's been consistent with her revision so fingers crossed they all go smoothly. Likewise for your dd too. .

@QueenMabby reassuring for your DD from GP - will be great just to have the confirmation though.

Physics mock over with. DD2 sad as she couldn't remember the equation for residual energy so couldn't finish the six marker. DD1 a bit like 'if that's the worst of your worries it doesn't sound like a disaster'...

@minisnowballs - don't they get the equation sheet in the exam?

Dd had Eng Lit and Spanish 1 (listening and reading) today. Both fine. Eng Lang tomorrow.

@QueenMabby apparently not - DD1 did but doesn't it change for this year? Biology and English Lang today. We will see.

I think they are allowed the formula sheets this year?

https://www.aqa.org.uk/news/gcse-maths-and-gcse-sciences-formulae-and-equation-sheets-for-2025-2027

Great- I have no idea why she's had to spend so long memorising equations then - maybe she's completely misunderstood!

I did have an amazing app that uses AI to track moles (history in family and I am very moley!) - I need to look into paying to get it back as it gave me such piece of mind! SkinVision | Skin Cancer Melanoma Detection App | SkinVision if anyone is interested

So apparently the school will be providing revision sheets - so each subject broken down into he areas for revision within that subject (eg, Biology / Cell Structure), and teachers will be highlighting any problem areas for each pupil on them. This sounds incredible!

@JusteanBiscuits that sounds great! We got that for two of DS's a level
Subjects after mocks last year - it was given out at parents' evening. Not sure if we'll get it for GCSE's. Sounds very useful though.

The sheets sound good - DS' schools produced QLA (question level analysis) for mocks which is super helpful, but time still needed to act on it! Maths did bespoke homework based on individual weaknesses which seems v v well organised. Homework is piling on. They have apparently not got time to get through science curriculum so using tutor time now - eek. Feel like we're on an accelerating tram ride! I am studying too with exams similar time so it's going to be getting stressy round here! Hope everyone OK!

Wow!!! That’s amazing! Is it a small cohort as that must take a lot of effort?

Misread message

Mmm! Need to ask DD what her feedback was after mocks. I don’t think they got any - just a grade. She’s no clue where she’s gone wrong. What on Earth is ‘question level analysis’ - is it ‘where you went wrong’ ; ‘what you should have said’ for every question?

It basically marks by question linked to topic. Ie 3 questions on electronegativity - 1/3, 4/5 bla bla.

Nope, just your average state school! I'm really really impressed.

Not technically a mum of a Yr 11 but just wanted to post that my Yr 12 son just passed his English Lang re-sit! He is bright but does NOT love academic work and got very overwhelmed/lazy around GCSEs. While he got 6s in Science and Maths, he got a 3 in English Lang. But he resat and has just heard he got a 5. Phew. I found the whole GCSE year really really tough, cajoling and trying to motivate him (not to mention sitting down to do German with him 3 times a week…..) Wishing everyone lots of luck.

@Holdonforsummer that is just lovely news! Congrats to him. And frankly to you!

Congratulations! Well done DC

@Holdonforsummer - well done your ds. That's a great achievement.

Dd has come home from her maths mock pretty happy although there was one probability question that gave her some trouble. She was very happy to have got it in the last five minutes of the exam until she came home to tell ds about it (doing a physics degree) and he pointed out a bit she'd done wrong so now she's in a strop about it! 🤣

Nothing else now til Physics tomorrow pm and she has a music lesson and a musical rehearsal straight after that so it'll be a fun end to the week.

Today she's making brownies for ds to take back to uni on Saturday. She loves baking and it'll be a bit of downtime for her.

DD is trying to think of international dishes for school aged children that will show off all her skills but can all be prepped & cooked (and tidied up) with the 3 hour time limit. She’s not really decided on her dishes - she wants one main course, a veggie version of it & then a pudding. It’s quite tricky to cover all the high level skills without it being too time consuming. The exam is in a few weeks!!

DS2 is getting results gradually - 8 for Physics (great, but somewhat surprisingly so) and 6- for Maths (I'm guessing that means almost a 6?). He has an interview next week for the college he'd most like to go to - for a BTEC type course in Music Performance.

@Holdonforsummer Congratulations to your DS

@QueenMabby aren't older siblings grand? DD1 spends a lot of time telling DD2 that everything they learn in GCSE biology is wrong. Not really helping!

Sounds like she's done amazingly however.

DD has (I think) now done English Lang, Biology and today should have been English Lit - however the school keeps removing their smartphones so my entire knowledge of how anything has gone is summed up by the phrase 'ok I think' (a phrase that has in the past elicited anything from a 5 to a 9).

Congratulations to Summer sibling Eng Lang success.

Those Biscuits revision sheets sound so cool. I'm pissed off our school doesn't do them.

I'm just really pissed off and fed up generally I think.
Booking tonight for ds2's parents evening next week.

Anyone with any advice for finding a cheap all inclusive holiday post GCSE's. I started a thread. But finding one, once you check the reviews is so hard.