Year 11 - 2024/2025: It’s all downhill from here!

[QueenMabby]

New thread to help us get through the next week or so!

Oh and just before youngster left this morning I said
"It will be so nice to get the revision books out of the kitchen" (we have a smallish kitchen and they cover one full side and the table and a chair most of the time)

And youngster said (Year 9 doesn't take GCSEs for 2 YEARS)

"Then we can get my revision books"

Huh! Are you out of your fucking mind child!

Anyway that's a discussion for another day!

Oh god I also can't wait to get all the revision books out of the kitchen! The two week countdown has begun.

Something a PP said about a friend referring to GCSEs as 'very much a team sport' has really resonated with me! It seems to have taken over our whole lives (doesn't help that revision takes place in the kitchen, see above - DS choice not mine 😫).

Oh no @CatHairEveryWhereNow hope she is feeling better soon, rubbish timing.

After exams have finished I need to find someone to donate our stack of revision books to - my year 9 has picked completely different subjects so almost none will be any use to him, and they are different schools too so I’m not even sure if the English texts and exam boards are the same,

in terms of reform I would love to see the numbers of exams at year 11 considerably reduced. I can see why a move back to coursework could be tricky with the internet and AI now, but maybe some kind of controlled assessments in year 10 would work (with access to the texts in English Lit!)

After exams have finished I need to find someone to donate our stack of revision books to

I'm sure a local secondary school will gladly take them (if they're doing the same boards) to give to kids unable to access the guides.

Got DS to school at 8.10am as requested. He spots 2 of his mates and asks to be dropped off just before school grounds.

I then sent him a stern text saying I'd got him there early (normally he gets the bus) to go to the crammer, NOT hang out and go down the Londis with his mates!

Have emailed school giving my permission for him to leave after 2nd period.

I feel like I need a little lie down before I get on with my work day now!

Good luck to all. I estimate 100% of them will be glad when this stats exam is done (see what I did there?!)

Good luck to dc taking exams today 🍀

@achangeofnameisasgoodasarest I'm hoping it just worse when she first got up.

@frozendaisy I wondered about hay fever as I and DS get it bad but it's been a proper cold alternating between sore throat runny then blocked nose and cough not really been sneezing or sore eye DS and I get - have suggested antihistamine but she not keen to try them yet.

@PrincessOfPreschool I'm thinking GP but DH not keen says it's just a bad cold and we'd only have tommorow to get in - as rest of week it's exams and GP is pretty bad at working around anything but there own schudules it very much take it or leave it another day. She was better over weekend so think that why it feels like a blow to her - she tired but went to bed early and slept all night.

She spoken to some teachers about sweets in exams before half term - even a polo mint and one went to check with exam officer who say they'd have to go in with in in their mouths - and they could be asked to spit out by some invigilators though that was unlikely. Seems a bit OTT to me.

Timing just sucks really. Also worried DS doing A-levels may pick it up though he hasn't yet and he'd had long enough exposure.

Our DC school won't accept revison books - they only have a year left with current exams before huge reform but they've always been like that and weirdly neither will the charity shops. We managed to pass on some histroy books directly to DD2 friends from DS - her friends were greatful as they were expensive - but not much else so ended up selling them for pence with webuyBooks just to get rid of them.

Poor pet. It's rotten for them. Hopefully the paracetamol and some adrenaline will see her through.

DS suffers with hay fever which is mostly manageable, but he seems to have a cold on top as well. He's all bleary eyed.

I remember losing my mind when someone sitting behind me sniffed their way through an exam. I did have some compassion, clearly she was suffering, but I did speak to an invigilator to ask her to blow her nose, and did also approach her afterwards to apologise for being snarky. This was over 30 years ago - I need to let it go!

This made me laugh - I was expert at the flinging of the crappy fiction book before the door was fully open. I think I re-read the entire Flowers In The Attic series instead of revising 'Social & Economic History'...

DD was using your DS's line part of half-term. Then she bought herself the new Hunger Games book and I gave up the will.

I did tell her last night when she was wanting to discuss it in great detail that this was basically English Lit in real life, and could she possibly treat Geography as if it was an extended book on the GameMakers arena plans?

She's gone completely off the boil bar sessions with tutors - and I feel they are probably earning every penny right now twice over.

We have Maths, Geography and English this week. I fear Geography is a lost cause.

Thanks have to admit I hadn’t really thought about giving them to his school but could ask if they would take them.
I’m also a bit oblivious to what the reform is with GCSEs, does this mean the 2027 ones will be very different for my younger DS?

I am not sure our revision books will be of much use to someone else as NoRevision has written in most.

I was thinking of passing onto a charity shop, as they might help someone who would have trouble buying full price, obviously there will be some differences in syllabus but a lot are the same.

(And no my pampered second will not accept his brother's books he wants pristine ones just as his brother had)

So god knows what to do. Just a pile in our bedroom for a bit would be a start.

And no pampered second we are not replacing with your books yet either!

I gave in and emailed the school to ask for their exam boards for each subject (it was so embarrassing I of course totally blamed the child because it is actually all his fault!)

Yeh a school or put them on FB for free, there’ll be takers for sure.

Btw while I agree eng lit needs a rethink (posted this many times!), open-book exams are not the best; what happens is that a) higher standard is expected bc they have the book b) stronger candidates stress about not using the right quote c) weaker candidates waste lots of time trying to find a quote.

The quotes element Eng lit is always focused on but in reality the analysis is much more important. I asked Eng lit grad and 9/9 Eng GCSE DD about this and she agreed, open book would have been a mare for her.

Same we have so many resources and quite a few not used. I have encouraged DS to write in pencil so they can rehomed. Will see what the school will take, ebay, charity shop...

You've made me realise I have literally no idea where DDs revision guides come from. She has loads and they all look new.

They've not been billed to us - perhaps they belong to the school or we are getting a nasty shock at the end of the year?

Her scholarship/funding is deeply confusing to us - i never know what it covers and what it doesn't until we get a nasty/pleasant surprise. No-one ever sits us down and explains anything!

Just in - DS says stats 'was good'. Coughing fit wasn't.

This lad got a U in the summer, a 4 in the winter mocks and now feels confident.
This is pretty much down to a change of teacher in year 11 who has turned the whole class around. I could hug her.

Dds books are going to my dn who plans to do very similar options to dd

Sorry should have been clearer - it's Wales only thing their doing massive reform of GCSE.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cw4vk7nzg4wo

It's not necessarily a bad thing - DD2 French teacher think new syllabus is much better - it's just a huge change which TBH I'm glad DD2 is missing.

It is supposed to be less emphaisis on exams and more assesments thoughout course. As DD2 will sit 17 this exam period - been few oral and science exams on top of that before the exam period proper started -and she sat 6 GCSE exams last year end of Y10 and two in Nov Y11 to finish numeracy early - cutting down seems like a good idea.

Just means there less of a market for current syllabuses guidebooks as changes are substantial.

I suspect school will have supplied them and it will depend on the department and how they manage their budget if they want the back (the ones you don’t write in!). Dd has loads too. Most she can just keep but a couple are on the “textbooks list” to hand back.

@QueenMabby Sounds very plausible, thanks. I'm not sure we've ever been given a 'textbooks list'. Maybe DD2 has and just hasn't shared with me. As you can tell we are not experts at all of this. Had no idea independent school parents pay for GCSE entries either (though fortunately it appears we don't!).

We don't pay for GCSE entries either. The 'competitor' independent does charge for GCSE entry fees as additional costs, but our school covers the standard 10 subjects and we just have to pay for any 'extras'. So we've been billed for DS's advanced algebra qualification. Our school does charge for A level entries though - not sure why one and not the other.

Anyone got dance this afternoon? And yes the private school exam entry thing. Couldn’t they just add it onto the fees along the way?

I've only just found this series of threads, what a great idea - thank you!

DD2 is doing her GCSEs at the moment, and has been thoroughly committed to her revision schedule for the last 3 months. I'm not sure where she gets the drive from (certainly not me, and DD1 did around 10% of the revision DD2 is doing and did well!)

DD1 has been revising for 10 hours a day over half term, starting at 8, regular breaks to walk round the block, quick coffee, shower, lunch, dinner etc., but otherwise totally immersed in her books, mind-maps, timelines and flashcards.

She is putting a lot of pressure on herself to do really well, and I know some of this is driven by the general anxiety of the exams themselves, the thought of getting into an exam and not feeling prepared is too overwhelming for her to contemplate at the moment. It doesn't mean it's been plain sailing though! She felt underprepared for History Paper 1, and English Language Paper 1 was "horrific, I nearly cried". DD2 has a processing disorder, so uses blue paper, but several exams have been printed on white, which causes stress at the start of the exam when she has to put her hand up (mortifying, apparently) to get the right paper. Her processing disorder means reading the extracts in Eng Lang takes 3 times as long, and even then, she struggles to process the info.

DD2's main issue with exams is working out what the question is asking her. She knows so much information (she says "if I can write it on a flashcard, I can learn it"), but the processing disorder means if the question is asked in a way she hasn't seen before, she may not know what they're looking for. She was only diagnosed 18 months ago, and because she's bright and has found ways to manage and cover up the problems she has over the years, school didn't feel she would be entitled to extra time, and at the time of diagnosis, DD2 was already really embarrassed to be "different" and be using blue paper, and wouldn't let me push for extra time testing - she feels differently now we're in the thick of exams, but we will do so for A Levels. She's planning to do Maths, Physics and Design, so there won't be as much need for reading great blocks of text, but still worthwhile, I think.

She has had Stats this morning, the school only entered around 50 of them in March, but haven't taught them any of the syllabus, just told them "You know most of it from Maths, just do your best", but DD2 has been working through the syllabus on her own and was feeling pretty good about it this morning.

I'm off to pick her up early from school now, it's DD1's 18th today, so cake to either celebrate or commiserate!

Hi @OliveWah! Hope the Stats has gone well.
Sorry to hear so many DC are unwell: I’m sure the stress affects their immune systems, poor things.
After all the kerfuffle, DD spent a grand total of 4 and a half hours with XH (who lives in the USA) on Saturday. And, predictably, she was not in a good state yesterday. Managed to pull her together for a meal out for a family birthday, and she later went over a mock paper for Latin, which reassured her she knows the material. She is lying low today before it all starts again.

I have a question about Statistics and the grade distribution. Not sure if anyone knows the answer? In principle everyone does stats at DCs school but in practice they decide in y11 who will take the exam and it is generally the top sets. I assume this is similar in most schools - or where it is a free choice that the kids choosing stats are usually better at maths. In which case are the grades distributed the same as for maths, which almost everyone takes, or are they skewed higher as broadly speaking it’s taken by the more academic/higher maths ability kids (tried to word that as inoffensively as possible, apologies if I didn’t manage it!).

Just because there is only so much Eng Lang "I will react on the day" revision I can squeeze out of the NoRevision stone we decided to run through the biology paper 2 topics to see where he needs to concentrate on.

I think it's safe to say we will not be going through human puberty, menstrual cycle and reproduction together! "No way mum absolutely no way" :-)
Which has been a small piece of entertainment during a long, "I know all this we went over ALL THE WORK in school" day.