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

[QueenMabby]

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

You could try kalms - I'm not sure they do much but there can be a placebo effect

DD revising English with her dad and maths with me this weekend in addition to her other topics. We’re all frazzled and knackered. Can’t wait for all this to be over.

DD2 asked me to 'mark' an English language question for her - was not overjoyed when I pointed out that misspelling the name of the country she was writing about, when it was ON the paper might be frowned up.

AAARRRRRGGGHhh

I hope those with anxiety manage to stay calm. My aunt who was a GP used gl recommend beta blockers but I don’t know if that is still advised.

DS has finally realised that there is too much to do and won’t get it all done. Now I need to make sure he doesn’t get too stressed. 😫

Only in the writing section though :)

I think the more you do, the more you realise there is always more to do.

I'd take this as a good sign in a way and if his exams don't start until the week after next, remind him he still has a fair amount of time left

Thanks, yeah. I would have preferred him to have got to this point earlier, but he is learning. I told him you’re never going to get through everything, just keep going and keep prioritizing. He has Spanish oral this week - not sure which day- he told me Friday but then said he wasn’t sure. He said there would be an email Friday but I got nothing. 🤦🏻‍♀️ He is prepped for that though so will just have to step up when called. Then everything else starts week after.

I popped a few drops in DD1’s water bottle. No clue if it actually works or not. Maybe a bit of a placebo effect. Both DD1 & DD2 had rescue remedy pastilles. No clue if they actually used them or not. Sometimes it’s just good to know there’s that option. Breathing exercises are useful… imagine a square. Breathe in for 4 slow counts along the top, breathe out for slow 4 counts down the side, in for 4 slow counts along the bottom, out for 4 slow counts up the otherside. Repeat.

The face immersion in cold water makes a huge difference, if that’s a convenient option.

How does this work? Just stick your head in cold water?

Yep.
We fill a large bowl, but a sink would suffice

I'm a bit concerned...
Dds extra curricular activity sent their practice schedule email out last night and instead of 4 x Sunday practices they are now doing 6!
Dd definitely won't be attending one of them, not sure about some of the others 🤔
Sigh. Something else to try and squeeze in!

Dd has after school revision sessions before drama exam on Thursday.
I was hoping that the English department might do some sessions but 🤷‍♀️

I've just been checking DD2s stationery before she goes back to school tomorrow. Her calculator is broken, she has one biro and one pencil that she keeps in her bassoon case. I've done an emergency Amazon order.

Hope that includes a few black pens and a transparent pencil case if she doesn't already have one.

Omg!
Teenagers! 😬🤣🫣

Had to get dd a new clear water bottle
She "lost" the one I got her in November for mocks 🙄

Dd requested a Sharpie S-gel order from Amazon last week. She’s a classic fountain pen user but prefers blue ink which she can’t use for exams so the s-gel is her chosen alternative.
She still has her clear pencil case and water bottle from last year’s GCSE although she tells me she’s packed two rulers because her long one doesn’t have any numbers on it anymore! 🤣

Are gel pens OK?
I thought they were ones that faded under heat and therefore not advised for exams which are scanned in?
But that might be a different type.

typo.

The frixion ones are the ones that fade.

The blacker the ink the better it scans.

I'm sure I read somewhere that the ruler should be 30cm but I can't find that source now and I had been wondering which clear pencil case would fit a foot ruler!

Clear plastic food bags make good pencil cases for exams, the zip lock style.

What clear water bottles are you all using? I’ve got two Zoku from John Lewis but only one lid as the other lid smashed. Now out of stock. They’re expensive and not resilient so I’d like a back up.

Any plastic bottle with a sports top and label removed.

Yes I'm putting the impact on the environment on the top shelf for the duration of the exams and have just bought a pack of smaller sized plastic bottles with sports tops to reduce spillage damage should the bottle tip over...

Plus I know they are "compliant" once you've taken off the label.

Can probably reuse 2-3 times to assuage guilt (unless they are scrunched up in frustration at the end of the exam!!)

I got a clear water bottle from amazon.
It's quite large!
Dd has a stash of pencils and black ballpoints.
Fairly new calculator so that should be OK.