Year 11 - 2024/2025: Half way, half baked, half term!

[QueenMabby]

Continuation of the year 11 support thread. Go!

I’ve no clue about a foundation & higher mix tbh. At DDs school the majority take 10 GCSEs (11 if FM). A small minority take 9 (incl DD). Only a handful have dropped chemistry - and I mean, like 4-5. so some will now take 8 but some will still have 9. I thought DD was going to plead with me to drop it after hearing some friends had, but she’s been happy enough to continue despite her grade 4 prediction.

Teens can say the cruelest things sometimes. Hopefully after this English exam they can all decompress a bit. It’s been a big couple of weeks.

Thank you, Viva Dixie! And, one to you! 🤗

Thank you for saying that about the holiday….(before I posted, I was catastrophising (sp?!) about how that will be ruined, too) but, yes, I have to remind myself it’s not about me……it’s 💯 his confused feelings.. And, last minute update…. He LET ME MAKE HIS BED! 😹! I’d washed everything earlier and wasn’t sure how to play it, but he grunted “ sure”…from his desk, when I tentatively asked if I could…then, thankfully, one of our dogs came bounding in for a cuddle, which broke the ice…. phew!!

Your trip to breathe sounds a perfect plan🤩! Anything to decompress is great!- I’d never thought of that before .. car keys and trainers by the front door till June 16th, now! Another top tip from you!- you’re a 🌟.

I hope you’re tucked up in bed and get as good a sleep as you can ( and karma should hopefully dictate a good one, in return for your good deeds to me tonight! You have no idea how much appreciated it has been). 😻

🤩! I’m loving this idea, 💡 now! I’m going to steal it- 🙏..thank you!

Thank you for taking the time to say that to me, that’s so lovely 🥰

I’m so sorry to hear your DD has been having such a hateful time ( with such hideous timing). I can’t imagine how hard it’s been, on such eggshells, it must be so traumatic for you both. I hope that she gets a paper that is kind to her tomorrow. That is a very good way of looking at it.. they ARE their exams, not ours. All we can do is breathe ( and late eve drives to random unnecessary locations!😈😹!) .. And, yes! Be. More. Zen.🧘‍♀️!! 😺

I hope that they can all see ( at some point) the light at the end of the tunnel…. and the fact that this period in their lives is such a teeny, tiny part of their whole story…….

🍀🤞🙏for the morning!

Very, very true. 🙄.. yes, the half term is coming at the perfect time…

Good to hear your DD Physics went well…… ( Psychology A level would be so interesting!).

She has good thoughts about Eng tomorrow.. I like her thought process 😺

… I think Olly Murs and a fab local food market sound the perfect way to decompress from the last couple of weeks!

🍀🤞to her tomorrow - and Enjoy the weekend off! 😺

Perfect plan!! Good Luck putting it into play with NoRevision.. I’ve got the Jus-Rol Cinnamon Swirls in my fridge I had forgotten about.. excellent 💡.. I’ll see how it goes here ! Thanks for that, I’m borrowing your idea 🫣😺😹

Omg I've found my people! Just spent time reading through the entire thread and feels so good to know I'm not alone in a lot of what me and dd have been discussing /what dd has been telling me about her exams!

She calls me right after walking out of each exam and gives me one iconic sentence to describe it

So glad it's the holidays from tomorrow but I'm laying in bed feeling a little nostalgic as it's her leavers day tomorrow and I'm wondering where the time has gone , I could swear she only just started the other day looking tiny in her oversized blazer and now she's almost my height and taking on the exams so confidently , I'm so proud of her !

Eng language tomorrow and dd has requested we go out to eat tomorrow as a family. Also!!!!Anyone else's child constantly hungry ??? I swear I cant keep up with her and she's as slim as a reed! Dh and I did an M&S food shop run in the evening and also got some flowers and chocs she wanted to give certain teachers (physics and geography). I also wrote out a card for her amazing head of year and got her some flowers.

Feeling very much the end of an era! Even though dd will most likely go to the same sixth form, I mean she's still finishing high school which is absolutely mental when I think about it like that ! God I need to get a grip 😅

DD thought yesterday's physics (Edexcel higher) was utterly dreadful. Both her favourite teacher and I said it doesn't matter. My friend (high school science teacher) went through the content on Tuesday night with her and said she was pretty secure and had a good understanding. She hates her teacher . He's made inappropriate comments about self harming and she doesn't like his teaching style so it's all a bit unfortunate.

English language today. She finds the analysis hard so it'll be what it is.

School haven't told them when shirt signing day is. I assume attendance drops off after that so they delay as long as possible.

Good luck to all the English people out there!

Welcome!!! FABULOUS name! 😹.. “My people”! That’s precisely how I felt last night!!

I’ll write more later.. just a quickie as setting off to take a quiet/nervous/ snappy DS now ….

GOOD LUCK TO THEM ALL!!!

🍀🤞🙏

@Sisublondie bahaha we've all got a shithead in our lives 😂

Dd has left for school ( dh does the secondary run), I've text her how proud I am of her and just to stay calm, take a few minutes to really understand the question and structure what she's going to write and how, and to make sure she goes back and reads and edits where necessary. And again how proud I am of her and how amazingly she's doing , because quite frankly I don't think anyone gets told that enough.

Also on that note I would genuinely like to say how amazingly you all are doing , it sounds like pretty rough going for some of the dc and parents on here and in the face of it you are holding up remarkably well. I read the thread last night and thought how resilient and positive you all were and it really inspired me. 💐

I was also laughing at the 'you cooked' reference as my dds have explained the difference to me .. so whilst it's happening it's 'let him cook' (as in let him show how amazingly he's going to do) but when it's done it's 'she ate ' as in she's done amazingly well. Also see 'she ate and left no crumbs' 😂😂🤣 I think !!! From what my frazzled brain desperately tried to remember because when I was at school mums cooked and the kids ate and that was the end. 😂

I have to say I have been surprised at how stressful I am finding it and how needy DD is, particularly in terms of food and attention and I can’t wait for it to be over.

She isn’t keen on half term as she just wants to get them done now - Eng Lang is not a favourite does not like creative writing

weirdly though there is also I’m cooked which means it isn’t going to go well

It is not just the exams and the pressure stressing them out. It is an end of an era, a massive transition into a new and more independent life in Sixth Form, many will have friends leaving and they hardly get time to breathe. Usually around half term it hits home and some of them grow up massively in their heads.
We have the added complication in our house of a sensitive Year 6 going through the transition emotions and not liking the fact that his sister is getting more attention.
Last night DD doing GCSEs was actually being very Zen for once, said she has learnt a lot from the process itself and is figuring out which subjects she likes best really and it is not just results driven. They get a second chance at confirming their A level choices in August. We also applied to one IB school so there is that. I just really want her to know which subjects she actually likes best and wants to take further and I think she has learnt somewhat how to revise. That is what GCSEs are about, as far as I am concerned.

@Tiswa I forgot about I'm cooked 😂 definitely hearing that one more often than I ate from dd at the moment 🫢

Dd seems a bit tired this morning, but was still awake at 11.30pm last night, so not surprising
Everyone in my house is crawling towards half term...😫

I think this might be true if you pick A Levels you are really good at - that were maybe brought down at GCSE because of other subjects that were harder. So getting 6s all round despite being brilliant at History and English but dragged down by the time spent on maths and science.

Our school told us that A Levels assume knowledge of the whole GCSE course (and skills therein), and start from there. So if you are not capable of a 9 at GCSE, you are already playing a bit of catch up. Of course, most students will be playing a bit of catch up, it just depends on their ability and desire to do that.

DC1 struggled with A Levels because he was better with more contact hours, and thought the free time actually was free time, and not the time when you were meant to do the real work!

Good luck to everyone doing English this morning (and anything else that's on too).

Apparently you can also be ‘eating’ and that’s a good thing too. My daughter says ‘my hair is eating up today’ and that means she’s got her curls looking good.

@SomersetBrie Our school told us that A Levels assume knowledge of the whole GCSE course (and skills therein), and start from there. So if you are not capable of a 9 at GCSE, you are already playing a bit of catch up. Of course, most students will be playing a bit of catch up, it just depends on their ability and desire to do that.

DD is very concerned about this as she’s starting 4 new A levels none studied at gcse yet the 6th form she’s going to do study three at gcse. I’ve made light of it but after your comment above, perhaps she’s right to be worried?

Good luck for Eng Lang this morning. Dd has announced that the rest of today after the exam is going to be dedicated to self-care. An “everything” shower (whatever that is!), face mask etc and reading. I thought that sounded very sensible! She’s desperately in need of a good chunk of down time.

Anyone else whose DC are on study leave notice they are happier at home, organising their own time and away from school drama?

Dd was feeling a bit emotional I think, as it's her last lesson (after the exam) with one of her subject groups
They are having a party apparently 😊

Welcome @whostheshithead - I get the iconic sentence too - my favourite one was after drama:

'It was a shitshow, but not as much of a shitshow as the mocks so that's a winner! 😂

DD2 explained the "cooked" thing to me last night. Apparently, "Either you're holding the pot, or you're in it"

So I asked, "Which one was Physics?"

Answer: "Tepid... Put it this way, I was in the pot BUT the hob wasn't switched on!"