Falling back in maths Y10, what to ask at parents evening?

[jennylamb1]

Our daughter was predicted to be working at 7progressing for maths at the end of Y10, however in her Y10 mock she got a 5emerging. She is in a group who are streamed to take the maths (higher paper) in November this year and then to move onto FM for next June. She wants to do Computer Science at university, so needs a 7 in maths GCSE and then a B or C at A level in order to do CS at a 2nd or 3rd tier university.
Her teacher has done very little new teaching over the last couple of months and DD has just been working through past papers continually and then marking the answers, so I wonder how much progress she can make if she hasn’t actually learnt or been taught the grade 6+ content. We’re not very happy given that she got grades 5-8 in her Y10 GCSE mocks and her lowest mark in maths which she needs and which she has been tracking to get a 7 in. Any suggestions for how we should approach it at the parents evening?

Just to add, she revised CS, history and maths the most since she’s looking to do these at A level, and got 7s in the other two.

I would ask if they can identify areas of weakness for your child. Then ask for recommendations for materials and strategies to work on those areas.

if the teacher is already failing to help the student, this approach is likely to fail. The teacher would have done it already.

we have had some monumentally bad maths teachers in our run. To compensate I have just gathered as many materials as I could and taken over teaching myself. Dd preferred me over a hired tutor. It’s surprisingly not difficult to notice the patterns in deficiency if you only have one student.

I would suggest you consider getting a tutor. Don't rely on the school. I would also suggest you check this thread out - I was shocked to read that if you get a 7 at GCSE the most common outcome is a D at A level. Maths A Level - with a Grade 7 at GCSE? | Mumsnet

To my mind the obvious thing is to ask that she moves down a set, doesn't do FM, and aims to have y11 for full teaching and consolidation of higher tier maths. Zero point sitting early unless she is going to get an 8 minimum.

Yes, we are going to ask about that. She was making good progress with her last teacher, but her most recent one is quite negative with them apparently and this plus the lack of input seems to have set her back. Maths is a hoop to jump through in order to do Computer Science more than anything, so a 7 would suffice in order to progress to the next stage. We’re not expecting an A* at A level maths, she is just really keen on coding and designing video games.

Yes, an interesting read. If she got a B or a C at maths A level that would be OK to go to a mid- tier university. In fairness, I would hope that with a good teacher she might make a bit more progress too.

Where are you that she is able to sit her GCSE in November?

I agree with @TeenToTwenties there doesn’t seem much point her sitting maths early (which is possible in England @Lobba24 – November sittings are used for resits of Eng and maths) if she is not going to get a top grade (at very least a 7 and tbh ideally 8/9). Much better to continue to work on it and get a better grade next summer.

Maths is a key A level for CS degrees btw – CS A level tho obvs often taken is not needed; unis look for maths and maybe FM (tho possibly not if looking at lower-ranking unis I infer that you or she has investigated this). It’s true also about GCSE > A level outcomes, in maths more than any other subject perhaps. Ds2 got an 8 in GCSE and his A level grade was a hard-won B.

@Claryyes for resits but not for sitting early

well I am not sure how they would know? If there is a November sitting of an exam, you can sit it.

Thank you, good advice. Her other interests are history and computing (got 7 exceeding in those at Y10 mocks), however it seems as though CS leads into a career much more easily than a history degree, which is a shame. She could live at home and do a geography degree which would save money and be a usable degree I think.

@jennylamb1 if she wants to do a CS degree then all good, that's what she should do. Not on the basis of easy employment tho. A degree in history (or geography) will work well for any grad role needing "a degree". Most degrees taken in the UK are not directly vocational tbh – unless you are taking med/vet/dentistry/engineering or a few others.

@claryyou can’t resit unless you’ve already sat it! Usually if you’re 16+ @jennylamb1which exam board is it?

Don’t sit the exam early

get a tutor

I mean I am suggesting the OP's DD sits it in the summer to get a better grade.

But there is nothing stopping a student sitting maths or english in November. I mean not as a resit. The exams are set, you can sit them. They are not as such only resits. Yes, they are usually taken by students resitting to get a better grade, but how do you think the exam board will know?

You have to be 16+ to sit the November GCSE exams. Think that doesn't apply to IGCSE.

OP if she is only at a 5 now she can still get a 7 in Y11 but should definitely be dropping the further maths and not entering in November.

It sounds odd that she has spent the last couple of months doing past papers rather than learning new content. Hopefully the teaching next year will be better, but I would certainly consider getting a tutor if you can afford it, or start working through online resources like https://www.mathsgenie.co.uk/gcse.php, the earlier, the better. The better the mark you can get in maths GCSE, the better it will go at A-level. The better the mark at A-level maths, the better the computer science courses you can access at uni.

Ah OK my bad, apologies I didn't realise that @noblegiraffe @Lobba24 - I know DC who have sat in November but they must have taken IGCSE. I guess that is what the OP's school takes as well.

Yes, it’s an IGCSE.