DD15 is not doing a single bit of revision for GCSEs

[dancceeee]

My daughter is going into Year 11 and will be sitting mocks in early November and GCSEs in May. She is literally not working whatsoever. In school, she does not pay attention in lessons and has a laugh with her mates instead. She is well behaved and parents evening doesn't go awfully but I know she gets poor grades in Sciences especially and doesn't bother to try for them. She cares about doing well but it is not willing to put any effort. For her Year 10 mocks, she did not touch any revision until the day before or the day of the exam.

She did get decent mock grades - 29s in History and Latin, 2 8s in English Language and French, 27s in Maths and English Literature, a 6 in Chemistry and then 35s in Biology, Physics and Computer Science.

Considering she barely revised, we were shocked but she wants all grades 7-9 and doesn't seem to understand she won't be getting those if she doesn't put in some effort. She will be devastated to see anything below a 7 on results day and knows this fully well but is more concerned with having fun - which I completely understand and want for her but if she had just done a few hours over summer like her friends have!!! She has Summer homework that she has not started yet. Everything is last minute with her and I despair!

Does she know how to revise?
I wasn't actually taught how too.
You can't just say "sit at your desk and revise" if she doesn't actually know how to do it.
(I spent a lot of time staring into space)
What is her Post 16 plan? Does she have one yet. If she has an idea then find out what requirements she will actually need (ie which subjects she needs to focus on more). That can take pressure off a not so important subject.

In our experience you can’t force them to revise.

mocks aren’t a proper reflection of likely gcse grades as they only test the part of the curriculum that’s already been covered and teachers seem to mark more leniently than examiners.

makes sure she knows how to revise and has everything that she needs, then leave her to it. You’re in for a very long, hard 10 months with lots of arguments if you do anything else.

Does she know how to revise? Properly, and in a way that actually works for her personally? I was told to 'go and revise' but no one ever told me how to. I used to sit and read the text books and think, yeah, I already know that. Not sure what I'm doing here really. I knew whatever I was doing wasn't increasing my knowledge, but I didn't know what else to do.

People would say 'make flash cards' OK. How, why? If I've written them I'll already know what's on them, don't know how that helps. I was too embarrassed to say 'actually, I don't know how to do this' when everyone else seemed to just know and had colour coded timetables etc and was doing hours a week.

Does she know how to revise and what methods work for her.

Does she have all the resources she needs to revise.
Is she happy to do it alone or does she find it isolating - in which case can you offer help, questioning her, revision buddying etc.

Book up shows at the theatre of GCSE texts, make it a nice event with a meal and good bonding time.

Does she know where to find specifications, past papers to practise and markschemes to check her answers against.

DD hasn't started year 10 yet although her school teach GCSE content from year 7, and has her revision plans all set out, shes autistic and loves planning and school work and flipped learning is a big part of what she likes to do I realize that's not typical of most teens. We'll sit on the sofa and she'll have a maths past paper open on her laptop and I'll have the markschemes on mine and shell do the questions and then we go through it together and work out where she's gone wrong and why.

The grades your DD is already getting sound like she's naturally bright and fine with the content, I'd focus on past papers and exam technique.

She’s obviously bright. Hopefully the November mocks will give her a shock.

My son has just completed his GCSEs and did really well. 4 x9s and 4 x8s and 2x7s. He did very little for end of year 10 exams. Not sure they were even a thing, certainly no revision over the summer. He had mocks in Nov and then early Feb. His mocks in Nov were a bit spiky performing well in the sciences, but 3s for English language and RS - two subjects he hated. He did better in the Feb mocks. His work through the year was mainly doing all his homework and going to every extra session that the teachers laid on. His own independent revision didnt really start until a few weeks before his first exams.

It's got to be slow and steady and not too overwhelming. Otherwise they will give up and run out of steam. Too much nagging also backfires.

Also agree with @Singleandproud past papers is the way to go and as many as you can do.

What are her plans after school? DS was hugely motivated post mocks because he was desperate to get into a highly selective college because it was the only one who offered the course he wanted to do. If he didn't get really good results, he wouldn't get in. We definitely found talking about the future was a good motivator and then worked back to what he needed to achieve at each stage to get into what he wanted to do.

Yes I have a degree and still have no idea what “revision” is supposed to be.

Revision implies she already understands the concepts and she is refreshing her memory. The kind of thing you might do the morning of the exam. What most people actually mean is study.

Making flash cards to “revise” trigonometry is not going to help if you don’t understand it.

Okay, so a long time ago - I was the last school year through O levels. But, it's the same thing, really.

Anyway, I didn't revise. I didn't do a thing. I rolled up to the exams and got a A in every subject. In fact, my DSis, two years below me, for her French class, they played the recording of my spoken exam as an example of how it should be done.

My DC also didn't revise. Also cruised through their GCSEs and A Levels.

We're all different and retain information in various ways. Don't pressure your DC. There are many ways of learning and sitting with a book for hours doesn't work for everyone.

I think it's too easy to start "revising" for Winter mocks nor the real thing next year. She'll forget it by the time next May comes around. What's important this early is that she's keeping up with the classwork and homework, revising for any progress tests that are on current work, etc.

You don't "revise" stuff you never bothered learning or didn't understand in the first place. Revision is all about reminding yourself of all the things you did once know and understand.

That's why "true" revision can actually be a pretty quick thing to do with organised notes, etc. It doesn't take much to remind yourself about how pythagoras works if you understood it at the time and got decent marks in homework and progress tests.

Completely different for topics they never learned in the first place (i.e. forgot to the do the homework, didn't bother revising for progress tests), absent from lessons, or simply didn't understand the topics. That's where the time has to be spent, but it's not "revision", it's going back and learning the topic again!

My nephew spectacularly bombed his gcses. Was predicted 5-7s. Got 2 4s, a 3, the rest 2s. Shockingly bad for his ability. Just cba. No revision or homework done at all.

It is possible to get 7-9s at gcses without revision if you've attended classes and are fairly bright with a good memory. Remember they do revision within school, the syllabus is usually finished with half a term to spare.

I'm going to go against the grain and say she might not need to revise extensively... some brains don't work like that. I did barely any revision outside of the structured sessions within lessons leading up to the exams and passed 10 GCSEs.

Knowing myself since then and experiences I've had, e.g. prepping for interviews, I truly believe that had I tried to cram in loads of extra revision at home I would have performed worse.

Maybe keep checking in with her that shes feeling supported in school and prepared, and offer advice if shes not sure about how to revise, while keeping in mind that it might not be best to push for more revision time 'just because'.

It seems early. How do you revise things you haven't learned yet?

I think people retain things in different ways. Ling term revision isn't really revision, more ensuring you fully understand the content/concepts.

Shorter term it is about being able to recall it quickly.

There are limits to the pace people can keep up. The danger of overloading the early part is that you are sick of it by the time the really critical period comes round.

Talking about the future is a good tip.
At this stage I would be encouraging her to make sure she's not behind with her work and instead of revision, suggest she make sure she has any missing notes or work.
Does she have somewhere conducive to study? Look out for revision guides in charity shops. I bought prepared flashcards for DD which were pretty helpful.
Don't stress too much. The school will begin to ramp up the pressure and the teachers are well versed at planning revision.
Offer to take her shopping or fund some new stationery - basically make it as easy as you can for her to study. Make home the oasis.
The climate at school changes in yr11 and most kids start getting a bit more focused.

So. I still don't know how to revise properly. Any ideas.

For me cramming has always worked better. I don't retain the information otherwise. I don't really get how to revise either. I would just re read stuff the night before. Passed all my exams and 1st class hons at uni.

People do work differently and for some months of revision doesn't work. But at the end of the day it is her future and her decision really. She has to have the motivation.

https://www.cgpbooks.co.uk/info/exams-or-demon-fighting/essential-revision-tips

DD isn't academic, but I made it clear to her that she needed to be the best that she can be.

I also made it clear to her that the only person it would affect if she got low results, would be her. Not me, not the school, but her alone.

She needed 5 passes to get into College, and she passed 8/9 exams at a 4 or above so C's in old money, with 1 B.

It is still early in the school year, and the mocks will show what your DD really needs to work on.

I bought DD a lot of revision workbooks etc, and she made a lot of flashcards. Her school also ran a class on how to revise.

Thinking about it I genuinely don’t think I know how to revise. I did do flash cards, and brainstorms (I know they’re not called that now) but it didn’t feel helpful at all. It felt a bit like I was pretending, or just doing the motions? It felt pointless and a bit patronising/juvenile.

luckily, I managed to get decent grades at gcse, a-levels and uni, but thinking back I don’t think I really know what revising is supposed to be/ what it’s supposed to achieve, although if you’d have asked me I would have said yes of course I know how to revise, don’t be ridiculous!
Could it be your daughter feels the same? I think it might be more common than we think.

Thank you so much for all the tips and help - incredibly useful.

I think she does know how to revise. At the start of each year, she performs very well in her tests, even Science, because she's determined to start revising. But after a month or so, she loses all motivation completely. She is naturally smart and always has been but she doesn't pay attention in lessons and doesn't do work at home - so it is impossible for her to do well in some as there is no knowledge in her brain. Her Year 10 mocks were in Feb so there really wasn't that much content but now I'm worried as to how she is going to catch up for November mocks.

She wants to do Law after school. Has no idea what A Levels but is leaning towards Politics, Economics and then perhaps English Literature, History, Biology or Chemistry. She is actually good at Bio and Chem despite her mock grades but didn't try one bit for either of them. And she also wants to go to an excellent uni. This is what worries me - she has such high expectations and is doing absolutely nothing to actually fulfil them. I wish she'd just put in a little more effort and then maybe lower her expectations if she isn't willing to put in the work. She is capable of doing amazingly but it is impossible if she doesn't do at least a bit.

If she's naturally bright but doesn't work hard she'll probably do OK in gcses without tons and tons of revision- but she will crash and burn at A level.

She is naturally smart and always has been but she doesn't pay attention in lessons and doesn't do work at home - so it is impossible for her to do well in some as there is no knowledge in her brain

Kids that muck about and don't pay attention aren't 'naturally smart'.

Well I just mean that at primary school age, she always got top scores (as a lot of kids did so not that special) and she passed the 11+ really well. Now she is in a grammar school and when she pays attention, picks things up quickly. She isn't some child prodigy but certain subjects she can revise literally on the day or before and it will stay in her mind and she'll get good scores - hence why she got 6 7s-9s in her mocks. However she neglected the last 4 subjects and got pretty bad grades for her. The thing is, there was only 5 months content for mocks and for November she will have had over a year. So I'm expecting the grades to be a lot lower than Year 10 mocks if she doesn't put in some actual work and practise.

Going to download some past papers onto my ipad and see if she has any interest in doing some!