Year 11 - 2024/2025: Heading down the home straight towards that finish line!

[QueenMabby]

Next thread. 10 days of exams to go. Looks like we’re all heading into a busy week this week - good luck!

Thanks @QueenMabby - good luck to all for Biology tomorrow!

My degree (and work) is in molecular biology so I won’t have a word said against biology!

DS couldn’t be less interested - swine!

Very impressive!! What a shame DS doesn’t want to follow in your footsteps 😾!!…

Good luck!

DD3 is my last going through this - completely different to her overachieving big sister or hard working middle one - she’s done bits of revision but only for subjects she likes!

she has a brain injury following an illness in yr 5 and she has a small room, extra time and breaks - doesn’t use them because she doesn’t want to miss break 🙄

Oops - meant to add - god love her, she is way more interested in prom! I love her to tiny little bits and she’s super chill about it all 😂

hoping to pass at least maths and English with art and btec media!

the end is in sight

Half term really upset the momentum here… finding it difficult to keep ASD DD motivated. It just seems to be going on forever doesn’t it? And breath… in 10 days it’ll all be over…

Thanks for the new thread @QueenMabby !

Not a lot of revision here this weekend but lots of naps. DD never sleeps in the day since around 1 year old so she must be beyond shattered. I figure in her case rest is more important.

Good luck to all DC with Biology tomorrow!

Yes, good luck everyone for tomorrow. DD has Biology in am and then PE exam in afternoon. I think she’s done a fair amount of PE revision & given Biology a good go 🤞🏼

Thank you for new thread. 4 this week here. Biology and PE today, Geography on Thursday, and Chemistry on Friday. Physics next Monday and then we can breathe.

I’ve bought tickets for her and BF to Dua Lipa in a couple of weeks, but haven’t told them yet - they’re going to be so thrilled. Then she’ll be deep in sport mode, either coaching or pre season, before the mayhem of Reading Festival comes round. The almost 3 month break will be both well earned and massively needed.

Thanks for the new thread @QueenMabby!

We have had a variety of family events and so DC have done zero revision all weekend. Apparently there's no need to revise Spanish so I said what about your last Geography paper and practising for Further Maths, plus getting ahead for next week's papers? This went down like a cup of cold sick.

Prom excitement is building here too, so we've had a few breaks from their theoretical-revision-time-which-hasn't-really-happened to shop for stuff. We got some nice but 'normal' dresses from a high street shop, shoes were a bit of a headache but they've chosen new 'posh' trainers. No makeup except lip gloss. Initially they were a bit worried about looking too unconventional but they're now clearly at the 'sod it' stage.

DD still has eight exams, 3 x maths, 3 x science, geography and graphics. It’s feeling never ending! Her friends are planning a celebratory shopping trip when she and her friend are doing further maths exam next Wednesday so she’s a bit cheesed off about that.

Other thread seemingly closed after a posted testicle treasure trove text to @mrshamlet!

Good Luck 🍀 to all our Biology Crew!!!!!!!

My DS isn’t last minute cramming, but is not in foul mood, so I’ll take that… I’d rather he wasn’t in panic mode about what he doesn’t understand 😺!

I hope they all manage to keep calm, focus and just do their best. 🤞🙏🤞

Thanks @QueenMabby.

His third but last double today, good luck to all those with Biology then PE.

I just think that timetabling of 3 x PE on the same day as a science is shocking timetabling. It's very common for those subjects to go together so I think it's poor forethought by the timetabler.

I know I keep going on about it, but I feel really bitter that ds has so many exams. I still haven't been able to work out why.

I was just reading that. I’d would never have thought we’d end an exam thread talking about testicles. First thing on a Monday too. 🤣🤣🤣

Biology for us today. Lots of revision done for it over the weekend so hoping for a good paper.

Good luck to everyone for today for Biology, PE and anything else. I’m losing track. 🤞

This is me with Geography! He chose it because I "could help him" but by that, he seems to think the knowledge will just seep through his genes, without any revision.

This thread has taken an unexpected direction! I love it...I remember being forced to put a condom on a banana in school, but latex testicles are a step beyond. Bizarrely we were taught PGCE by a husband and wife teaching team. Which was...odd.

Here, I have ordered the required prom shoes, but it emerges they are coming here rather than going to DD because I forgot to change the address.

Bother. Constant problem because we send her stuff often. Nearly sent 20kg of layers pellets for our chickens to her house the other day. Think she would have died of embarrassment.

Good luck to all with biology, menstrual cycles, endocrine hormones and all.

Dd got a fair bit of Biology done this weekend, but is still watching revision videos over breakfast.

There has been a last minute panic on the chat group, as it seems different classes have been told different course content is on the double vs triple. They had to teach themselves sections of their science courses, as the school had a swathe of resignations from the Science department and it took forever to find replacements. Now one of their teachers is being sacked after multiple complaints, failing to teach all or even the right topics and teaching others really badly and dd’s teacher kept getting confused between double and triple content and teaching them the wrong ones. If she had told me sooner I could have helped her look it up, instead she has apparently revised both!

Good luck those doing Biology this morning and those that have PE this afternoon.

Biology here we go. Just been roped in to revise/re-educate about the hormones in the cycle.

All the best for Biology this morning and for those who also have PE. Very glad DD only has one exam each day this week.

Sadly she has been hit with a heavy cold and felt quite rough yesterday. She has dosed herself up with calpol and gone in this morning but says she might have a nap when she comes home.

Really hoping we don't get too much of a heatwave this week, could it just hold off until the exams are over please!

Three exams left..

It makes me emotional that she will be done with school on Friday 🥹 Sixth form is the plan but open to change.

Good luck everyone for Bio today - hoping all the DCs smash it (or should I say 'are cooking') this morning.

DS said he's nervous about all the paper 2s for science - first real glimpse that it's getting to him - he's been really quite chilled up to now. He's set his heart on 9s for chemistry and physics (both A level choices) and he's admitted he's feeling the pressure because he's put such high expectations on himself.

I've tried to remind him that his physics teacher has said he doesn't predict a 'nailed on 9' because you never know when you might get a weird exam paper or have a bad day. I've also tried to say that he mustn't think we will be disappointed in him whatever happens - we know he's capable of getting 9s and that he's working at that level, but if they end up as 8s and not 9s then so be it.

Oh well...I thought we'd sailed through relatively smoothly (except for the mountain that was/is history) but it looks like the stress is all coming to a head this week.

@mojobrojo with DD1 the school wouldn't predict 9 for anyone - it was just policy, and certainly our experience was that grades were occasionally unexpected both ways so this seemed wise. DD2's school it seems to depend on the teacher - DD got high 9s in the mocks in drama and the drama teacher wouldn't call it, but the english teacher seemed happy to. I've just told her that even the most sought-after unis won't really differentiate.

She's in a slightly weird position that she'll either be aiming for unis that require very high grades or conservatoires that require two e offers - perhaps both at once.... Not sure which she's best suited to (if either) so we'll just have to see.

Good luck to them all anyhow.

Our school has explicitly told them that 'top unis' will care about GCSE grades - I can only assume they were talking Oxbridge because they didn't specify institutions - but I think they were talking about the a rouge 6/7 rather than 8 vs. 9. But, either way, I didn't find it a very helpful conversation as its a lot of pressure to put on them. He's also got kids in his class for whom 100% on science/maths papers isn't uncommon. That piles on the pressure too.

I thought DS hadn't really internalised it, but it seems he has. Just the last day or two he's been doubting his A level choices because he thinks he might not be good enough for them. Its not true, but for now we need to focus on the upcoming week - I've told him we'll have the A level discussion AFTER the GCSEs are done.

I had a couple of school friends who were applying for Oxbridge with the potential of a 2xE offer but also debating whether they preferred the vibe at top Russell groups who would be looking for 3xAs (A*s didn't exist back then!) - it was a weird situation to be in.

@mojobrojo as far as I'm aware Oxbridge don't differentiate between 8-9 for most candidates, and probably aren't going to care about 7s in subjects you aren't going to take further. But that might depend on the type of school. Your poor son getting stressed about it.

DD2 is in the world's weirdest science set - it's all musicians and they take a mix of foundation and higher... so the ability spread is vast (as it would be if you're only differentiating on how well a child can play anything from a marimba to a tuba), and many of them will only be targeting 2 e offers at conservatoire and most miss loads of lessons for orchestra.

I have no idea how the teachers cope!

Good luck to everyone for today. DS has never enjoyed biology and looked very tired as he headed off this morning as he’s been studying hard all weekend alongside preparing for an audition recording. Tomorrow is exam free for him, then one each day W/Th/F and three next week.

Sometimes it feels like the end is in sight, then 5 mins later like it will never end!