Year 11 - 2024/2025 - Support Thread - the final stretch

[QueenMabby]

A new thread to take is to exams and beyond! All welcome.

If he’s pulling 8/9’s then he’s undoubtedly right that he’s doing enough. Some ppl are born lucky. But I do hope that he doesn’t actually speak to you like that!

I really really want to just leave DC to it and trust in their own self-motivation! In general I consider that they are very mature and responsible for their age. We have had so many calm and reasonably discussions about the importance of being prepared, that it's not a good idea to just wing it on the day because it'll be too late by the time you're sitting in the exam hall feeling the cold sweat.

But it's becoming clear that the maturity, responsibility and self-motivation are just not enough to overcome the teenage bloody-minded head-in-sand procrastination and the immediate gratification of gaming/surfing the web/defying parental pleas.

May be a bit harsh but the question is be asking him is why isn’t he getting 9s on every paper if he’s doing enough?

In my view a combination of quality and quantity is required for GCSE revision. Even with good techniques, 30 minutes a day is unlikely to be sufficient to cover the amount of content and number of subjects DC have at GCSE.

DS’s school has the 7x6 rule anyway, which means they have to do 7 hours of revision on 6 days a week of the Easter holidays.

They have to keep a diary of what they’ve studied and can be asked for proof that this amount has been done. It seems to be working well so far- DS and his friends are following it!

Wow that's quite a lot.
Dd1 did a steady 4.5hrs - 3hrs spread out over 4 in the mornings, plus 90mins in the late afternoon. No way could she have done 2.5 on top of that.

Exactly! Even for DC who are generally doing well, there is so much to memorise and practice.

I'm genuinely at a loss now, I've done the reasonable talk, I've tried suggesting/asking, I've gone into nagging territory. DC do respond a bit to the nagging and will (apparently) log in to online revision but who knows how long for really? And none of it looks like quality revision as they insist they're most comfortable lounging on the sofa.

Today I've tried again suggesting some revision after lunch - "It's the weekend!" 😫

@Poisoningpigeons Does you DC have any sort of revision timetable/plan?

Eg by subject and topic how long to revise each, what is the total, how many hours per day to cover everything?
Or even goals? By the end of the holidays will have covered x, y, z?

Provided by school? Not that I know of, nor would I have expected one really.

At the end of the term I did suggest making their own, as I pointed out they would know their own weaknesses and what is needed. I got a "yeah sure" but clearly it didn't happen. Each day when I ask what DC are planning to revise, I get a "dunno"

I'm beginning to feel that my original reasonable approach for mature people, saying that I wasn't going to prescribe a number of hours per day and how they were doing to work, was a terrible idea. Because they seem to have taken it as an invitation to do whatever they like (i.e. surfing the web and gaming) all day every day, then expecting brownie points if they so much as pick up a text book for 5 minutes.

No not by school, by themselves.
Or as you have now seen, driven by you in conjunction with them.
It isn't too late, if they are amenable.

My DD has a plan which she worked out herself. She gets very annoyed that I don’t know it by heart. And if I want to do maths with her, I’ve got to ask for an audience with the little madam and she schedules it.

That’s clearly a private school. I know nobody would do that at DD2s school, so it would seem very demotivating to most children. DD2 has been told 4 hours minimum. I think she’s probably doing 3 🙄

pancakestastelikecrepe
You can be knowledgeable about teaching a subject without knowing the ins and outs of how the exam board arrange for scripts to be marked. I am v knowledgeable about teaching a subject but know sod all about how the exam board gets markers to do the marking. In any event being rude to someone who is an experienced teacher offering advice in good faith is very unpleasant.

No, it’s a state grammar.

I think a grammar can probs expect more from their kids but I still think a 42hr week for a 15 year old who is meant to be on Easter break (even just a little bit) is pushy.

The way the school (and I) see it is that they have months off in the summer to do whatever they want, and now is the time to knuckle down.

The head at DS’s school drove home the message that they can either work hard now and enjoy their summer, or spend it dreading their results.

That does make sense to work now and enjoy their summer rather than dread results day but still, 7 hours! Mine is doing about 2 and that’s hard work as he has t picked up any revision yet today. However he is starting to do some off of his own back now rather than be nagged. Think he’s realising what he needs to get through and is noticing that his friends are working too. He’s not expecting high grades, just 4’s and 5’s really and a 6 in his fav subject. Maybe the high amount of revision is for those expecting the higher grades?

Have you tried BBC bitesize podcasts? I don’t think DS done much on poetry yet but they looked good to me

Yes @FatherFrosty long term plan - he wants to stay on at his walkable school for 6th form for 3 A'levels that require a 7. I've applied for a 2nd choice college but it's far away and the trains have regular cancellations. So that's his target, he must get at least 7's in 4. (They start with 4 then drop to 3 by Christmas).

Good they can start with 4 @Oblomov25 - DS is interested in 4 but I think he needs to start with 3

So i managed to get DS to let me test him on his English lit quotes. He’s learning them like ‘x…y’ so they don’t make sense as a standalone sentence. He says that is fine, no idea 🤷🏻‍♀️

They need to be able to drop in quotes into arguments such as:
Lady Macbeth considers her husband to be 'too full of the milk of human kindness' so she doubts his ability to go through with murder.

Added: Even single words are fine.

I took Ds shopping today so we had a chat in the car. Apparently he’s only revising the sciences and maths over the hols. He says he doesn’t need to do the other subjects yet. Some subjects like RS and citizenship he says he won’t revise at all. French and computer science also don’t need any revision. So we’ll see how he does in his exams then! He did well in the mocks so I hope the real thing will be as good.
There were 2 revision sessions at school last week, business and geography. 2 more this week.
A levels will be in the 3 sciences and maths (dropping a science) so I guess he wants to concentrate on those the most. English seems to be his weakest subject as he had 7 in a recent paper.

Thanks. It was the …. I was worried about. So ‘no prisons ….no workhouses’ Hopefully he knows what he is doing

Not quite with you? I think they can miss out non relevant bits in the middle using ... but can't just give the start and end if the middle is important iyswim? That's my understanding anyway.

Is Mr Bruff poetry any good for iGCSE edexcel or just AQA please?

if he’s getting 7 in his weakest subject with no revision@icanbewhatiwant I think you can go put your feet up & enjoy the sunshine ☀️ He’s obviously a bright lad.

@Oblomov25 does he have a plan B if he doesn’t get those 4x 7?