Struggling to know how to support my year 10 DS

[firebrand123]

I have a son in year 10. He's just had his trial GCSE marks back and he's mostly scored 3 or 4. He's a bright kid but he struggles with revision and exams. I just don't know how to support him. If it was just one or two subjects we could get a tutor but it's everything apart from geography (which he got a 6 in).

I find it harder because I work long hours/long commute and he's also with his dad half the week but his dad is honestly no use at supporting him academically so it's all on me (when I say "no use", I mean he just doesn't really try, it's like he constantly forgets unless I tell him what to do and when to do it).

We've got time for him to improve before his actual GCSEs next year but I just don't know where to start. He can score more highly - he's had a couple of resits in the past and done really well in the resit. All I want is for him to score the marks I know he's capable of.

Any tips on how to tackle what feels like a mountain are welcome.

The most important GCSEs are maths and English. They are the ones he will need to resit if he doesn’t pass. Not passing will also impact what courses he can do after GCSEs.

so first step - look at what he got for those. If there is a risk of him not getting a 4 then focus your attention and or money on those.

after that, it depends on what he wants to do after GCSEs. Presumably with those sort of grades he’s looking at btecs and possibly apprenticeships or vocational courses rather than a levels.

so work out which GCSEs are useful for his next step and then focus on those.

How is he revising at the moment? And how is he with classwork, is he quick to finish homework/classwork, how is his reading? Has he had a dyslexia screener? My DS was the same, nothing was flagged until his year 10 exams, we had him sit a screener and then pursued a dyslexia diagnosis as his screener showed he was highly likely to have it (he does). He learns much better now that he's got supports in place and accommodations. Talamo | 7-16 dyslexia screener.

If that comes back that he's not flagged for it, it might just be the way he is revising, like you said. Seneca is brilliant for all subjects, it works to make sure that information is retained in the long term memory through repetition.

I think part of the issue is he doesn't know what he wants to do so he's not got a focus. Good advice re English and maths, thanks. He got a 3 in English Language and in maths so makes sense to start there for sure.

I think a big part of it is he's a bit too relaxed. He blasts through stuff, doesn't concentrate properly, is just generally a bit unfocused when it comes to homework and revision. I'm seeing a lot less Xbox in his immediate future, that's definitely not going to be helping. He's never had a dyslexia screening. He's always been fine with reading but trying to get him to pick up a book these days is impossible...

Seneca in that case would work well, since it's got the interactive element to hold attention 😄

Agree with @xmasdealhunter get him on Seneca now. It's free. If he does an hour a day 5 days a week he'll soon cover lots of ground.

Ok, great, I'll definitely get him onto that then!

A n online tutor turned English around for DS2. The school predicted 2/3 he got 4/5. We only got the tutor about a month before GCSEs and I regret not doing it sooner.
This was a tutor who specialises in DC who have struggles engaging/out of school etc

Maths:

getting a grade 3 to a grade 4 is very do able,

firstly does he have a calculator? If not get him whichever one the school recommend. They are incredibly useful.

then I’d be doing these sheets with him.

https://corbettmaths.com/5-a-day/gcse/

there’s 5 questions for every day of the year. If he’s aiming for a 4 he needs to be doing the foundation Plus sheets. Any question he can’t do the site has videos taking through how to do them.

There’s a lot of stuff on YouTube as well to help teach how to use your calculator - there’s three maths exams and two you can take a calculator into.

Our Year 11, sitting GCSEs now, was an utter flake in year 10. End of year 10 exams 4/5/6s
He was reading complex sci fi novels, is obsessed with maths and science but did no work and had been effectively doodling all year.

So we sat him down and told him the truth, if you want to get to uni, study physics and build spaceships then you need to sort this out. Because grades like this won’t get you there.

Five weeks after year 10 exams he had his English speech “exam” he got a distinction because he knew it wasn’t a practice it was the real thing. And that helped, he worked, he saw results and throughout year 11, nov, jan, march mocks his grades have improved and crept up.

All effectively means nothing because his grades will be just on the exams he is taking now.

So don’t despair OP you and son have time but I would advise he seriously needs to think about what he wants his GCSE grades to give him options for.

To help I would read the texts he has already covered in English Literature, get a study guide and talk through the characters, plot, play/book structure.
And go through each subject bit by bit covering what he’s done and get him to tell you about it.

But if he isn’t going to put the work in he won’t be ready it has to come from him.

An English tutor will help in answering longer/essay questions in other subjects. There will be a lot of availability coming up as the GCSEs are almost over. I would be happy to recommend ds’s via MyTutor- it’s not results day for a while but she seems to have made a huge difference in the few months we’ve had her.
Reading widely is a huge help too.
Seneca is great for content.
Youtube is good for most subjects
A lot of it is bluntly telling him how much effort he needs to make and massively limiting other distractions such as Xbox. Strict bed times with nightly reading like when he was little. Predictable meal times. Enough downtime and fun to make it sustainable over the next year. Look at streaming platforms such as national theatre live or marqueetv for Shakespeare plays and watch them several times. Learn the poetry from the set poems together over dinner. Podcasts are also good for a distracted or lazy - have them during dinner or on car journeys so you can talk about them. Ask for a meeting with his maths teacher and/or form tutor to ask how you can better support him and is there any revision help in school. Not knowing how to revise is a problem, but a fixable, one. Go through his maths and science revision guides and highlight areas he’s less confident with and work on those with online resources.