Year 11 - 2024/2025 - In the thick of it!

[QueenMabby]

New thread. Sorry. Forgot to start it - I hope everyone finds this!

@golemmings i can relate to this as we had lots of issues with Biology in y10 as it was barely on timetable and she missed lessons. Ended up trying to teach herself and I remember her breaking down in a parents evening. Does she need that science for her next step?

We've got 2 x English, Chemistry, Physics and EP next week. At least it's one each day though. By the end of next week Business, EP and English Lit will all be finished. No study leave here and have to be in school for every lesson until basically the last week. She's already knackered...

Any tips for last minute poem anthology and unseen poem sections on Lit paper 2? DS trying to cram in some practice as he's done non whatsoever so far. They practise these questions in school don't they so it should be ok??

See posts below suggesting some videos picking out which poems to work on (assuming AQA power and conflict poetry – but if not there will be lists for relevant spec). There is no need to have a full grasp of all poems as you are given one and pick another to compare it to. So it's good to work on a few that cover all the themes between them.

Unseen poetry - obvs cannot revise the poem but can ensure they have a good grasp of the terminology and the methods used by the writer to create the effect they aim for, so that's worth checking.

Ds2 has gone to watch football today. Tomorrow morning he's refereeing at big football tournament at our local club, am only.

Then he has chemistry and PE on Monday, both his A'level choices.

@golemmings
sorry to read this. What can we do to help you and support you?

They probably are - mistakes still happen. Nothing ever goes out perfectly. I remember going through the 100th Anniversary Alice in Wonderland and it still had errors in it.

Plus the business error wouldn’t necessarily be a proof error decrease/increase is a different question but not one you can pick up proof reading

@golemmings i have a very anxious child (younger sibling to this one) let her have time off. I manage DS very much now with the odd day or two decompressing time

@golemmings
I agree with pp.
Keep her at home if that's what's best for her mh

@golemmings that’s a lot. We are all going to jump in and advise. But we don’t know you or her so you do what works for you both. Hopefully there’ll be some good ideas that work. Most importantly look after you. You can’t give her anything if you’re empty. And definitely vent here!
Do you think she’s in sabotage mode? You mentioned previously that she seemed determined to do less well than her predictions. Which correlates with not changing the CPG book but yet staying up all night is quite the opposite! Is she doing any practice papers? Can you make a deal that she can stay home if she does papers? (Or whatever). Would some sort of agreement help?
You also mentioned disordered eating and I’m just wondering if the activity for a full day is a way to exercise (an element of EDs)? Is that playing a part here?
Remember you’re doing a GREAT job. She’s going in for exams. That’s huge! And surviving them. Only achievable with your support. If she doesn’t reach her potential then whilst frustrating it is absolutely not the be all and end all.

DD was revising for Eng Lit paper 2 and realised she missed a two letter syllable out of the name of the esoteric literary technique she wrote in paper 1.

She's dyslexic. I've never even heard of the word.

Will she gain a mark for naming the technique but lose a mark for spelling it incorrectly?

Beginning to think GCSEs are a test of neurotypicality.

DD has been told to use the vocabulary she would if she was talking and just have a bash at the spelling. Generally she spells phonetically so you can have a good guess at the actual word. Apparently she should get the marks as long as it is clear what word she is intending.

Most subjects have specific questions where SPaG is marked and outside those it shouldn't be marked down. Total marks are generally around 5% for that aspect. English language it's 20% sadly and less leeway/

DD will happily spell the same word 4 different ways in the same paragraph and be utter oblivious to doing that, so I've spent a lot of time trying to get answers on this.

And yes, it is very clear that GCSEs in particular are very much designed with NT non SEN children in mind. And no, access arrangements do not make up for it.

Certainly with Eng Lang, DD's tutor said she would gain more marks for interesting language than she would lose on spelling the words poorly.

Thanks @OhCrumbsWhereNowand @TeenToTwentiesthat's good to know.

Spelling a word differently on the same page is what I noticed in her revision notes and why I got her tested fairly recently.

School rarely take books in so they hadn't noticed.

In AQA Lit, there are only 4 SPAG marks in each paper so it matters very little.

Marks for content and marks for SPAG are awarded separately,

There are no marks per se for naming a technique; they're for the associated analysis of the language.

In short, it doesn't matter.

Absolutely!

I tell my students this all the time - it's better to use great vocab with "lively and interesting" spelling than basic words with perfect spelling.

Vocab appears in both parts of the writing marking scheme; spelling only in one.

DD was explaining what she wrote in History and said the word ‘unstability’, which we frowned at. She thought about it, had a ‘oh yeh’ moment, then added, ‘it’s fine, I’m sure I wrote it both ways!’ 😊

I am going to get eldest up soon and "make" him revise, I guess, because we think cramming does work, a bit, with some things.

In science he knows his stuff, he is doing triple separate, they are his a level choices, but we established yesterday doing a couple of questions, the ones where you are asked "describe and experiment a student could do to prove x........", his answer was overcomplicated, yes it would work in a NASA lab, but a school chemistry lab, not so much, he needs to take a moment and simplify it.

So we are going to find questions like that from all over and go over them again and again.

(If you let the gas escape you can just measure what's in the tube because retaining and 'weighing' gas is difficult - that was the main issue yesterday if that helps anyone!)

For anyone struggling with their teen to revise, not sure if this will help, but can you just ask them, will revising with me today help?, because that is what we do with him, he came home from Maths 1 on Thursday and said "thanks that would have been so much harder without the past week" (of my and his dad finding the gaps in his exam technique more than anything and boosting his confidence - he can do the maths he just needed a bit of guidance on how to pick out what maths to do and when).

Our revision sessions are not entirely stressful, in fact we enjoy spending time with him because he's 16 and parents are like totally lame, so we are grabbing any time we can spend with him whilst we can. We drink tea (or open cans of diet coke), make snacks, go off on tangent chats, put classicFM on quietly in the background sometimes then turn it off and let him practice some stuff we have gone over in silence (exam conditions), anything he knows we skip over, yes we don't have time for that.

And of course we look after his mental health, he isn't a quarter of the way through his exams yet, no coursework at all for him, he needs to stay steady. So it's confidence and calmness to keep him going, not easy, we say, you know your stuff, the exam board, your teachers want you to do well, but they also want to test you, challenge you, and that's ok, think of it like the Level Boss in gaming, now is the time to show off, let them know all that is in your amazing brain, relish the opportunity.

This is what we do. It's our first time taking a child through exams, so we don't know if what we are doing is effective or the right thing.

(Little brother is around today so he will get roped into doing some way out of his league chemistry questions no doubt and then older brother will hold court, like we do to him, explaining it all away, the tutor becomes teacher.......not sure if we really have the time for this but they both enjoy it seemingly and we might be kidding ourselves that some learning is going on who knows).

Our advice for unseen poetry, read the poem twice
The look at
Who is the poet talking to?
Are they talking about something/one specific or a general feeling about "love/war"?
Are they talking about past/present/future.
Is the language, upbeat, sad, reflective.
How do they use the structure of the sentences, do they rhyme, flow, are disjointed, this should give an indication of what feelings they are trying to bring up from their mind.
Is the poem happy/celebratory, or depressing/full of angst

And then to give your personal, informed, opinion on how successful you think the poet is in portraying their ideas.

@golemmings I am so sorry, that sounds so stressful. I think they get really overwhelmed - there is just so much content in so many different areas.

@frozendaisy that sounds like a good plan. DD2 has certainly found cramming has 'worked', in the sense that going over things like the practicals for science that are definitely going to be in it has got them into her head fresh for the exams so I'll be encouraging her to do the same today. I've done some sessions with her like that over facetime- even having me reading through which bit of the syllabus is on the upcoming paper so she can explain to me what it is seems to have worked ...

Another mum of a day pupil took DD2 yesterday. They revised chemistry for a bit, went to a pottery painting cafe and watched eurovision.

They then had a sleepover and the mum will drop DD2 back this am. With the two here just started their A-Levels I am SO grateful for this help from a mum I've not even met... she even sent me a picture of them revising together in the sun.

She's only got two exams this week - chem and physics, so at least can give each some time as then it's half term!

Dd has just told me she "might" do some poetry today ...
She's going to an extra curricular thing this afternoon and really excited to see her friends again (it's only been 3 weeks...) 😊

My DC only has Chemistry, Physics and Computer Science this week. Chemistry is 9am tomorrow morning but DC wants to make today a day of total rest and not do any further revision for it.

No English lit and lang?

My DS has those plus the English x 2. 5 exams this week. DD has French instead of comp sci so also 5.

We had all the Eng Lit & Lang last week & week before. Must be a different board.

Mine has got the two English, chemistry, physics and French this week. I don’t think he’s done much for English Lit on Tuesday as he doesn’t like it. He seems tired too, I think exams every day plus being in school is a lot

Just Chem, Physics and Eng Lang for us this week. Eng Lit is finished for us (thank God - it’s DD’s least favourite!).

dd currently doing history (Russia) revision but is struggling to do much. School does Edexcel for Russia but apparently most schools using Edexcel do the Weimar option so she’s struggling to find resources. She’s finished the Seneca on it and BBC bitesize doesn’t cover it. She’s done most of the available past papers. Any other options?