Year 11 - 2024-2025 Support Thread

[QueenMabby]

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

@MrsHamlet me thinks this is about DS and too lazy to explain to me how he got on, but he now said he’s seen them, will ask if he got a feedback sheet, he’s very sparse in information giving 😣

If he's in my class, which he isn't because the mock hasn't yet happened, the feedback sheet will be stapled into his book.

But at least 5 students will claim never to have seen the bloody thing!

@mrshamlet the plot thickens apparently DS said they were told his cohort (started year 7 2020 during Covid) has had the lowest grades for a while and at this point if they don’t improve half of year 11 won’t make it to the sixth form as they need 54 points across best 8 plus 6 in English and Maths. DS got 45 points in recent mocks but he did get a 7 in English language. It is a grammar school if that helps with context!!!!!

he achieved better at end of year 10 - 7s and a couple of 8s so there is capability somewhere there! Maybe it’s application / commitment and only he can address that. Lead horse to water / can’t make it drink.

thanks 👍

Hello

I’m on a roll two posts today after I’d been burying my head after seeing DS mock results.

where can I buy / get plain versions of exam board / subject specifications without all the colour etc so printing will be cheaper? Just looking for plain versions?

👍

@ThisPerkySloth or they're messing with grade boundaries, or the paper was easier, or they marked it more generously, or or or....

There's plenty of time

All specs are online on the exam boards' websites. You don't need to pay for them. You can choose if you want to print them in colour or black and white.

Dd has four mocks left. History 2 and Further maths tomorrow.
Last week's Latin language was her fastest yet. 90 minute paper and she had just over 60 minutes checking time!

History 1 was a bit of an eye-opener though. Definitely more revision needed there apparently!

We get results on 4th Feb and they normally go through the paper in class but I'm not sure they get to bring the answers home with them.

It’s also what they used end of year 10/ what they are using now. Presumably now all schools are using past papers more or less. If end of year 10 they were not using full past papers and they are now, if they don’t do thorough revision they could be doing topics they haven’t done for ages. They could even have questions on areas not covered yet. Sounds like the required grades are within reach anyway. Onwards and upwards 🤪

Good luck for those in the midst of Mocks. We don't have anymore since the November ones.

The feedback seems really patchy and not very informative. Maths, and the sciences were ok with their feedback but some of the other subjects haven't even given back their mocks. It's all really confusing and poorly managed IMO. There is a face to face parents evening in early Feb, so perhaps they are waiting till then. I am particularly keen to find out about English as even though DS has seen the marked paper, he is none the wise as to how he ended up with 4 and 5 for Lit and Lang respectively, even though he was a solid 7 for them until the mocks.
The pressure really seems to be ramping up recently. He's had to attend intervention for some subjects, extra music composition time, today he is doing his solo and there's end of topic tests and usual homework. DS is complaining he is tired all the time (he has been ill recently though), doesn't want to do any extra work when he comes home as he says he's worked hard in lesson plus the odd intervention class which means he's either had a very short lunch or extended school time. We don't know how to manage this now as he just want to chill. He will do his homework, that's not a problem, but very reluctant to do any revision. Perhaps it's too early to be worried about it, but just under 4 months seem like not much time to me! Need to tread carefully though as I don't want to put him under undue pressure.

DS's solo went great today apparently, full marks, and together with the duet he did back in Nov also full marks, that's 1/3 of the music GCSE done! So relieved for him really as he was too complacent about them both as he knew them too well really and going through the motions and not playing them properly at home like he couldn't be bothered. But he is good at performing when it matters.

Well done Data ds!

Ahh 1/3 out of the way is great @DataColour I think getting a balance is pretty tricky. 4 months isn’t long in my head but DD (like your DS) believes it is ages away. Do you have a decent time at your parents eve? We have 5 mins - there’s a bell so not a second longer. Would he approach the teachers now and ask for feedback himself? Make notes so he remembers what they say?

That's brilliant @DataColour - can't wait until DD2 has her music performances out of the way.

Most of drama seems to be done already too which takes the pressure off a bit.

@DataColour - well done your ds.

Dd has now finished her mocks. What a relief!

We get the results pretty quickly - 3rd Feb so not too long to wait.

@datacolour well done to your DS.
DD just got her mock results. Didn't pass English language ...they changed exam board in year 9 to Edexcel. It took her a while to grasp Peter paragraphs & then in year 9 ...had to start all over again.
In some of the tests she had a panic attack & was unable to finish. History's paper 1...couldn't do the 16 point marker 😒 she did get a good result in paper 2 enabling her to get 5.5 in history. Sadly she'd need an 8 in both computing & maths for her chosen 6th form but she got 5 this time.
Annoyingly the second set of mocks (to take place in March) has been brought forward before half term in 2 weeks...so we will have to postpone her camhs session.
Parents evening is tomorrow.

Ds says he was given his exam timetable this week. He's not shown me yet. First exam is early may. So only just over 3 months away.

We had a letter about an evening at school for parents and dc's to learn about revision strategies. Ds says we don't need to go. There are after school revision sessions too, Ds has done one, but says he doesn't need to attend. I'll have to take his word for it. His mock grades were all good. Parent's eve is mid Feb.

Ds filled out his 6th form application last night. He will stay at his current school. He wasn't interested in looking anywhere else. He's hoping to do A level in maths, physics and chemistry. They have to start a 4th subject so he has chosen geography. My oldest 2 ds's studied the 4 subjects for the whole of year 12 then dropped one for year 13, with my oldest taking an AS in each subject. Ds2 didn't do AS due to Covid and I think at that point the school dropped AS. Though ds1 dropped the subject that he had the highest grade in because he didn't enjoy it (also geography)

So things are moving along. I think time to the exam period will go by quickly.

What on Earth are ‘Peter paragraphs’.
Absolutely none of my business but I’d be VERY reluctant to postpone her CAMHS appointment. You know they’re like hens teeth and I’d be concerned (perhaps irrationally) that they’d take me less seriously. I’m also thinking her mental health etc is likely a priority for you both. Mocks are mocks - and it maybe worth seeing if she can do the one that clashes at a different time. Do you have a good relationship with the school’s SENCO? You obviously know your DD best and which is more of a priority. Good luck!!

@froggybiby - well done to her for getting through them - I think English language is such a weird one, my DD1 found the marking very, very odd (and I've just had to google a Peter paragraph).

You might find school is willing to reschedule mocks for important stuff like CAHMs -if you talk to SENCO you might find they have lots of other exams going on at the same time and could just slot her in on other days.

DD1 has a clash with her actual A-Level exams (Biology and Politics) which is going to cause all sorts of issues especially hers is a dual site sixth form and she is going to have to change where her exam is registered so she can be corralled in one place.

Here, mocks are all done (phew) so DD2 is back to her normal crazy schedule. She reckons all went Ok except she couldn't do one Physics six marker on thermal energy, and struggled with finishing maths (to the point of tears on the phone). But no results yet. We will see. She is much less sanguine than her sister, who said she didn't do quite a lot of the maths paper in the real thing and still got a 7.

Well done to your DS!

DC did their solo yesterday too but as far as I know it was only a mock solo. Maybe I got the wrong end of the stick Will ask for clarification after school, no doubt to be rewarded with epic teenage eyerolls 🙄

Thanks! It's a relief getting coursework out of the way. Next to worry about is the PE videos. Much less info to go on, no idea what the criteria is to get top marks, even the exam board information is confusing. We've just sent in a cycling video to the teacher, which is the easiest to do as there is a lot of example gcse videos online and the skills are clear and easier to record. DH and DS did a hell of a lot of cycling in the summer, time trials, hill climbing etc and it's all recorded on their cameras. Running and cricket is trickier...

We also have a CAMHS appointment for DS end of Feb, been waiting nearly 2yrs for it. Possible adhd. I would also say to prioritise that over a mock exam, which surely can be taken at another time.

DS is having a 6th form phone interview tonight. It's his 2nd choice. Heard from his 1st choice and they are still processing his application. He had an interview at his current school for 6th form yesterday and went over his choices, which is Maths, Geography and Physics now. Will have to apply for his school 6th form as a back up, but he would not like to go there as he can't wait to leave this school.

@froggybiby good luck for the parents evening. How long do you get with each teacher? Ours is just 5 mins I think, it's never been enough and more so now.

@NotDonna I keep asking DS to ask his English teacher what's happened, but apparently he's had no time during the lesson. He went to an English intervention yesterday on Eng Lang and found it useful, so he'll keep going to them, but he hates the fact that he has to give up most of his lunch time, so not sure how sustainable it is.

It's all starting to ramp up now isn't it? First exam for dd (German on 8th May) now doesn't seem so far away.

Next few weeks are busy for us despite mocks being over. Dd has a scholarship exam for her sixth form and scholarship auditions. School musical is taking up a lot of time too. I'm hoping she can take the Feb half term off completely (set school work aside) so that she can get a proper rest before the last big push.

Our A-level choices have to be in sometime during March although there's a lot of movement right up until September. Dd will be staying at her current school and her A-levels are decided. Maths, FM, Biology and Chemistry.

It'll be all over in just under five months.

Agh pressure is on. Staying focused on the glorious summer that follows. Next step of mocks looming. Be aware for MFL speaking exams they start 1st April - AQA anyway, so that really is soon. DS could be working harder, but he is working. It’s hard on them but they’ll all get through it and will soon be history! He is waiting to hear about his 6th form choices.

Yes the PE is tricky to understand @DataColour but DD said yesterday that her footage has all been submitted now. She spent the weekend going through it and adding time stamps and ‘a script’. I think that means saying something like ‘at 45 secs I did a triple back flip’ or whatever. So the examiner can fast forward to all the skills rather than watching heaven knows how many kids’ videos all the way through. Eyes glazing over! It took her most of the weekend as all three of her sports are footage only. No one comes to see them in real life. I’m not too sure when her written coursework is due in but I think that’s soon too. It’s incredibly lengthy by the looks of it. She’s also in the throes of the coursework for food & nutrition. There’s a lot for that too. Plus there’s still exams for both subjects regardless of the coursework. I think she’s keen to do exam based A levels as has found the coursework quite time consuming. It’s put her off A level history.

Thanks @NotDonna for the tips regarding the vidoes. Most of the pupils have been sending in random clips to the teacher according to DS, as there is no guidance whatsoever. I've forgotten about the coursework for PE! DS's teacher did mention something about it at the parents evening back in Nov, but no more has been said about it. They are the worst department for keeping anybody updated. We've had SO many issues with them. We have no idea about any of the deadlines. I saw on the exam board website that the date for submission of the videos is end of May, but obviously need to be in much earlier for the school.
DD is also doing PE GCSE at the same school in Y10. She was chosen to run county level but we have had no information about it, just what we know from googling. It's only a few days away.

Oh I wonder if ours is a different board as I really thought the footage was in well before May. Seems odd to request it now as there’s major competitions in early March which would elicit much better skills than the ones she’s submitted. Anyway it’s in so I’m keeping my mouth shut!

Ours is AQA. I got that date from their exams timetable.