Year 11 - 2024-2025 Support Thread

[QueenMabby]

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

I don't think dd will be seeing any of hers!

She's hoping to sign up to be an academic peer mentor this year - she'll provide academic support to a younger pupil once a week. DS did it in 6th form and supported a y7 boy in science and found it really rewarding.

Hi, can I join? DD goes into Year 11 on Thursday. She’s doing Maths, Further Maths, Physics, Chemistry, Biology, English Lit and Lang, Spanish, Latin and Geography.

She is bright, but she has ASD and OCD, and finds school quite a struggle. Her handwriting is very poor, and has significant problems with timing in 2 x English/Geography exams. I’m hoping she can get extra time or she will be allowed to type in the actual GCSEs.

She does most of her homework in morning break/long lunch hour, as she doesn’t do much socialising at school. There is no way I could get her to do two hours’ homework after school, as she needs the time to recover/decompress. I’m worried she’s going to get a lot of lectures at the start of the year about working harder which are counter-productive, because they just make her anxious.

I am a single mother and EH lives abroad. I only work part-time, partly so I can be there when she leaves for school and when she gets home. I just hope I’ll be able to support her through this year.

I’m hoping she can get extra time or she will be allowed to type in the actual GCSEs.

If she doesn't already have this accommodation, start pushing for her to be tested for it asap. It must be her normal way of working to be allowed in the exams.

Welcome @ChannelLightVessel. I agree with @MrsHamlet. Engage with school asap at the start of term to get systems in place and remind them to apply for the extra time etc.

@ChannelLightVessel do you have a senco at school? Speak to them asap. I’m guessing she has a formal diagnosis - ensure school has copies. Don’t let them fob you off! We were initially told ‘we already have too many children with extra needs so can’t give your DD extra time/support etc’. Errr, no!

Contact the senco and examinations officer and copy in her hoy.

If she has a dx, she should get extra time plus a laptop if needed but you will need to make sure you start the paper trail now.

(I've done exam invigilation)

@elkiedee hello my DS has his homework set on Teams, he’s logged in on my iPad permanently so I can directly see what’s set when - it’s helped as he “forgets” to check sometimes. I don’t look at the messaging just the assignment tab - clearly lays out what is required and by when. Sometimes it just says finish what started in class.

parents also get a weekly email usually a Sunday saying how many items set, how many DS did on time and how many late.

All schools are different but maybe something that might help you if your DC is prepared to let you log in or get them to show you.

👍

Hello me again!

I went through with DS re what had covered on each subject at school and maths is largely done with just two topics left which on Seneca don’t have much in them, some have a couple of topics with physics having four (apparently teacher broke arm so they got behind). Exception is English re books / plays / poetry yet to cover. Spanish is also exception - they did all foundation level in year 10 and now will be doing higher level in year 11.

has anyone else found this? Might this mean yr 11 will likely be mainly revision? Very much hoping so!

I think DS has covered the majority of the science syllabuses in year 10, I think a couple of topics left in each of the 3 sciences. Not sure about any of the other topics though.

We went to see an excellent adaption of Animal farm in July done by a small theatre group. It was called Construct theatre group. I think they might be touring.

DS is back from a weekend of cycling, 100km ride with lots of hills. Hill climbing is his thing (strong legs and light body!) and he did over 1200m of climbing. He loves pushing himself physically, even when he nearly throws up with the effort!

Thank you all for your helpful replies. She is getting a new electronic device from school which is some kind of tablet/laptop combo, so I’m going to see what that is first.

We sorted her school books/folders today. Several of them seem to have been savaged by a leopard. I really don’t know how she can find anything.

There are a scary amount of book savaging leopards around!

Hi - was just wondering how many grades one might reasonably expect to go up by between end of year 10 and GCSEs? Are 2-3 grades do-able? Thank you.

Think they definitely are personally. DS was at 5s and 6s in Year 10 mocks and got up to 8s and even a few 9s. But he put in a lot of extra hard work.

Having both survived the desk tidy, we've taken delivery today of twelve "aesthetic" magazine holders for dd to put her books and folders in. She has zip up plastic folders for all current books that go to and from school but there are plenty of old exercise books, revision guides etc that need storing at home.

We chucked all her old stuff (she still had plenty from years 7 and 8 knocking around) and all her current stuff is now organised ready for the new school year.

Last summer holidays job tomorrow will be picking up her pointe shoes and then the frantic scramble to sort out available slots for her three lots of music lessons that she has in school. Nearly there!

Does anyone have a link for a large handbag style (not rucksack) bag for DD?

She's just decided her existing bag is too tatty.

@HammerTimeNC every single girl at DDs school has one of those longchamp dupe bags.
@Wafflesandcrepes it really depends if DC have a) the potential, b) did zero/minimal work for yr10 end of year exams and c) willing to put in a LOT of work this year. If yes to all three then absolutely but if DC are already working their socks off then it’s much less likely. Esp by 2-3 grades as that quite a jump. Is that across the board or for just a couple of subjects? Again, more likely if the latter.
@ChannelLightVessel Im sure the senco (or whoever has arranged her laptop) will go through the device with her, but encourage your DD to ask questions and ensure she knows how to use it, including all the settings esp for the speech & headset. In end of year exams my DD had a device on her exam desk but had no clue how to use it. Didn’t realise it was hers to use until she asked. A tech chap briefly explained but she wasted the first 15 mins faffing with it. She’s now made an appt with the senco to to have a session. They don’t bring them home to practice with and don’t seem to use them in class - only for end of year exams. Not sure if that’s just her school.

Large tote bags seem the thing here :)

It is possible, yes

My older dd got a 3 in maths in the March mocks - big shock

She got a 6 (not far off a 7) in the exam

Lots of hard work, though, and she went to all the holiday sessions and after-school sessions

She just needed a 5 for her post 16 plans, so was delighted with the 6 :)

@marshallmum and @ChannelLightVessel hello both! I will probably follow your posts quite closely on this thread as my son who is going into year 8 is diagnosed AuDHD and school is a struggle for him. He’s bright, and I think capable of lots of high mark GCSEs, but I need to keep him in school and motivate him to work 😬
He is also a twin, but his sister is NT and at a different school - she and my older daughter (going into yr 11, hence me being in this thread) go to an all girls secondary.
We’d planned on sending our son privately as we felt the smaller class sizes would have been better for him, but they all turned him down and so he is at a large, co-ed mainstream state secondary which is quite overwhelming for him.
He’s been begging us not to send him back 😢

May I join?

This is fantastic news that they can improve by 2-3 grades !!!

Longchamps if you have the funds/as a bribe haha (or there are very decent copies on Amazon)

@alialiceinanwonderland

They absolutely can - with lots of hard work

Dds school does holiday revision sessions from February half term and lunch and after school sessions, too

If funds allow, there is always tutoring. Sometimes local A level students tutor gcse pupils (dd has tutored gcse history pupils)

We used mytutor.co.uk for A level geography tuition, and dd had a great experience, but it's pricey.

DS went from a 3 in his RS mock to an 8 in the actual exam.
Obviously that was the only actual GCSE he did last year early so it got a lot more focus vs when they are doing them all at once this year but it shows that progress can be made with study and candidly a bit of luck thrown in.

A valid point.

Sometimes pupils do get lucky and recent revision crops up as a high mark question

DD has finally sat down and just finished a load of Biology summer homework!! Only 2 days before school starts..

Now she has French homework that was due around two months ago (her teacher's very lenient) and Maths+English summer homework plus a lot of revision for topic tests and a mini History mock so we'll see how that goes!!