Do we pull DD out of her show to focus on GCSEs?

[AreolaGrande]

Background: DD is super bright and a bit of a procrastinator. She has never had to put her foot fully to the floor to get high marks before.

She is heartset on going to a local outstanding 6th form college and knows the required grades for getting in.

One of her teachers rang us last night to tell us that she has got a 7 rather than the predicted 9 in her Biology mock. DD thought she'd done much better than this. This is the first result from these mocks. Teacher rang to give us the chance to tell DD so she didn't feel ambushed finding out at school today.

Had a gentle but firm come to Jesus talk with DD where she admitted she's been complacent/not been revising as thoroughly as she should be.

She is part of musical theatre club at school and adores it (although no plans to follow this career wise) and has been cast in the lead role for their show in the summer. Rehearsals x twice midweek plus a Saturday.

I don't want to take this away from her but I feel that is too much time when she needs to be prioritising her studies?

DD is of course horrified at this suggestion and had vowed to knuckle down as of now.

Are we.being too reactionary/harsh?

Obviously only one grade has come back so far but DD admits she thinks the rest will be lower than predicted.

This has reminded me of the student who was the lead singer in a band who won the opportunity to play Download. It was the day before his first English Lit paper. He got full marks! He’s a bookseller and writer now after getting an excellent set of GCSEs and A Levels.

The show will be giving many things the studying can't that are equally important- confidence to get up and speak in public, confidence in her body, socialising etc.

Plus it gives a necessary break from the studying - the brain can only focus for so long at a time. Studying all the time/thinking about the exams can lead to a build up of stress/adrenaline that needs a physical outlet - the rehearsals will give a good adrenaline release.

She possibly shouldn't do rehearsals on nights before exams but other than that I think it is of positive benefit (speaking from experience, I got straight A* at GCSE, As at A level, first at uni whilst doing am dram/being in a choir etc).

Yes, it's very odd. What teacher has the time to ring the parents of every under performing child? I'm guessing it's a private school?.

What's to stop her not doing them at all if you go down that line?

My daughter does a lot of shows. Near exam time many of the GCSE/A level age students bring their revision with them and study in quiet moments (even the leads get down time). I chaperone and have always been so impressed with their focus to juggle the two.

Don't take the chance away, do help her come up with a sensible plan for getting her revision done. We drop my daughter's chores list around in the lead up to shows just to take the pressure off her a little and to make sure she gets rest as well.

You learn so many brilliant life skills from performing that you can't learn in the same way in school. Plus enjoying yourself is important too

And right here you have shown how little those grades meant in the long run!! 😂😂😂

I feel incredibly sorry for this poor girl. And I speak from very recent experience. My son did his GCSEs last year. He could have got amazing grades if he'd really applied himself. He wasn't motivated to do so. But he got the grades he needed to get into our outstanding sixth form (are you certain she needs a 9, BTW - you definitely don't at our over subscribed 6th form college?!?). I couldn't tell you now exactly what his grades were - even just a few months on. I can tell you he's happy, doing well at college, and enjoying being a teenager. Hooray.

Surely it is up to her ?
By all means talk to her ,but the final decision should be hers
Is she very anxious,seems odd the teacher would alert you when she got what is still a good mark

In terms of the school calling.. my dd got mostly 7s in her gcse and her mocks . The thing is she never bothered revising properly as the school always told them 7 was an incredible grade. And it is, but she herself could have done better. Instead she crammed. If the school had called it may have been the kick up the bum she needed but her school was more focused on getting kids to pass rather than to achieve highly

i went to a top 10 uk school. Approx 50% of my year went to oxbridge.

DD is at Oxbridge and rolls her eyes at the students there who are melodramatic about not getting top marks all of a sudden (she never expected to go, and has a... varied set of GCSE results).

Some kids focus better if the evening looks like 'Uh oh, 45 minutes to get this French done before rehearsal ' rather than 'got all evening free so I've loads of time'. I used to do half my A level workload on the bus.

Absolutely this.

It would be a public humiliation to pulled out of a lead role at School, for the reason that her grades aren't good enough. That's why they have mocks... so that people can see where they need to improve in time for the real exam.

Plus.. this activity and her involvement in it will count in her application to 6th form and beyond.

But GCSE year kids usually wind down activities from about now.

I don't see this in the competitive sports club I'm involved in. Kids who are motivated will balance their studies and hobbies. Just means they have to manage their time better.

I wouldn't ask her to withdraw from what she loves. It probably won't make her study more.

I'm sure very large numbers of kids would work harder if they got personal calls from teachers.
I'm sure very many children could be more focussed. At 16 many are not independent learners and most schools alongside parents help them learn these skills.
Schools can only do so much and I'm sure many teachers are frustrated seeing their students not achieve their potential, but I don't think they should be doing bum kicking in the form of making calls home.

I know several bright children that learning came easy to. Exams mock results then came out and the grades were not as good as they expected. It was a shook that along with being bright they had to put in the work to get the higher results.
Then doing timed exams and knowing how the papers are structured marks wise for the mocks helps them for the actual exams.
Their is a lot of study and what exams questions require to get full marks online. Then reading the question 2 or 3 time or seeing all the parts of the question helps.
Some times turning to the next page shows the last part of a question.

I would let your daughter do her play but she is aware now that she has to put in a bit more effort to bring her grades up. Ask her to get feedback from her teachers as well on how to improve her grades.
Also when she leaves school and university she will have to apply for jobs.
It's not just a list of a grades but it's the extras she did in school and how she comes across as a person in interviews. Having good people skills, being able to listen and getting on with other people are important to and doing drama helps with this.

She my feel at A level stage and in the few months before the exams to cut down on extra circular activities would be a good idea.

I currently know a girl doing a master's and previously she did a hard degree. She stayed on top of the study from day 1 and turned down events when it was coming up to exams or when papers had to be turned in. She learned how to manage both studying and having a life outside of study.

I know several bright children that learning came easy to. Exams mock results then came out and the grades were not as good as they expected. It was a shook that along with being bright they had to put in the work to get the higher results.
Then doing timed exams and knowing how the papers are structured marks wise for the mocks helps them for the actual exams.
Their is a lot of study and what exams questions require to get full marks online. Then reading the question 2 or 3 time or seeing all the parts of the question helps.
Some times turning to the next page shows the last part of a question.

I would let your daughter do her play but she is aware now that she has to put in a bit more effort to bring her grades up. Ask her to get feedback from her teachers as well on how to improve her grades.
Also when she leaves school and university she will have to apply for jobs.
It's not just a list of a grades but it's the extras she did in school and how she comes across as a person in interviews. Having good people skills, being able to listen and getting on with other people are important to and doing drama helps with this.

She my feel at A level stage and in the few months before the exams to cut down on extra circular activities would be a good idea.

I currently know a girl doing a master's and previously she did a hard degree. She stayed on top of the study from day 1 and turned down events when it was coming up to exams or when papers had to be turned in. She learned how to manage both studying and having a life outside of study.

Exactly this! A 7 is amazing.

I feel sad this was an unintended consequence from adding basically A star and Astarstar. They're given out on a curve so it's not achievable for most people. Yet it's moved the boundaries.

7-9are all As. They are all "top grades".

Its a stupid system failing even the high acheiviers like your daughter if this is the message she is getting when she is getting A grades 😞.

But A isn’t a synonym for top marks. It’s an A. And a 7 is literally equivalent to what would before have been a low A.
A* is top marks.

Exactly. They're giving 9s to the small subset of A grade students who achieve the very highest. It's quite statistically not achievable by many...

Mine isn’t she dances 3 times a week plus works at 2 other classes and is preparing for a show over Easter. Dancing relaxes her and gives her focus away from studying and actually means she finds it easier to study. And barring Spanish got 8 and 9s in her mocks

it is quality studying over quantity and letting them have a wel rounded life

it is quality studying over quantity and letting them have a well rounded life

This is so important it's worth repeating.

Honestly anyone crying, thinking their life is over or being disappointed in getting a 7 probably needs more extra curricular activities so they realise there is more to life than getting a higher A in their GCSEs.

My DD was doing 10 clubs at school and 10 GCSEs. They need to do other things. A bright child will be absolutely fine. A teacher rang a parent??? Good grief! My DD had a few dips on the way to exams but got great results in the end. Mocks are there for a kick up the backside!

What does she need for 6th form?
DS hopes to go to an excellent 6th form college and they want 6's and 7's.
He got those in his mocks and I almost wish he hadn't as he is being a bit complacent now but if your DD is prepared to knuckle down now then i see no reason to stop any extra curriculars. Its good for them to have something else other than just academics bothe for their MH and for their CV/college or uni applications

It would be a disgusting thing to do and so glad you are not doing it.
She has got a decent grade. Not the top grade but a good pass. Assuming she does not want to be a biologist! Extra curricular are vital for tens and forcing her to give up the lead role in a play she is passionate about is something she will never forget, yet she is unlikely to remember what she got in a biology paper when she is in her 30s.

I cant believe you even considered it for more than a nano-second. Ds2 is a bit too laid back for my liking, and only just finished 2nd mocks yesterday. He still plays football, and goes out with his mates for Nando's piri piri chicken. I'm expecting a lot more effort and revision in the next 8 weeks, but I wouldn't even consider stopping the football.

Is this private? I'm assuming so. Ds2 needs a 7 to stay on for A' level. Our school is very good and even they encourage a balance of all studying, sports and downtime.

I had a bright procrastinator - he worked so much better if time was pressured.
If he had a whole day to do something, come the end of the day, it would still not be done.
If he knew he had school, and a music rehearsal and scouts, the thing to be done would be done somewhere in the middle.

The school he went to always said that those that did lots of extracurricular always came out with better results. It teaches them time management, organisation and responsibility.

And yes - DCs definitely need down time whilst in exam season.