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!

Here, we have W - maths, Th - geography, F - chemistry and M - physics. All of DDs least favoured subjects, poor love!

I still haven’t caught up as it’s so fast moving! But @Sisublondie, re government gateway, yes, the child benefit- it’s on the HMRC app. And @Pinkflower100, I can understand you wanting to wait to see if your dc takes on an apprenticeship! I’m 98% sure that DD will do A levels unless an amazing opportunity presented itself. We return from the US on the 23/8 so I’m worried jet lag and getting ready for college/school will mean I forget to extend it 😬

This! Post of the Thread!!! 🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳🥳!!!! 🙏!

Pretty much what mine said- but, I doubted, and you’ve taken the words out of my mouth!! So, they aren’t being full of shit, 💩 then?! 🤷‍♀️….., Oh, the shame of disbelief!!

Thank you for making me laugh out loud 😹!!

ps- just checking which exam board, tho! He’s AQA for all but one…. I think Geography might be the Edexel ( or similar?!).. 🤷‍♀️..

We've just had an email from Spanish teacher (on the homework app) with last minute links for tomorrow's exam....I did.my bit amd told DD....but since the exam will be started within 12 hours....she wasn't impressed and I barely got a grunt. Been plenty of other stiff sent previously so not sure if the teacher is worried, or trying to help...

Ds has said “don’t know” and shrugged every time I ask how his exams have been. So I have given up. I don’t ask now. But he actually said something at the dinner table tonight, he said the biology had more 6 marker questions than usual and that he doesn’t think he will get a 9.
It will be good when they are all over.

Ooh thank you! Fingers crossed he keeps the momentum going for tomorrow and next week. He was really happy with his speaking a few weeks ago.

DD has been practicing for tomorrow by watching ‘Rick and Morty’ in Spanish. And she did some A level Maths questions earlier to practice for Further Maths. I think revision fatigue has definitely set in!
This is her busiest week: Biology today, Spanish tomorrow, Wed Maths, Thurs Geography and FM, Friday Chemistry. Then Physics, Spanish and FM next week.
Her Prom is next Wednesday. She doesn’t do dresses (or bras), but DM and I have managed to persuade her to get some new trousers and trainers. She might even brush her hair.

Was this edexel igcse by any chance? DD gave similar feedback (and ran out of time too…) Biology is her least favourite science anyway so was a bit deflated.

Oh god, The Prom Bra is doing my head in...

The object of desire is a strapless, backless, push-up, stick-on with gravity defying properties and deliverer of awesome cleavage.

I have said that this does not exist - and maybe if she paid more attention in physics she might work out why it doesn't.

Now all my social media is filled with lingerie ads...

Oh and while the cleavage is apparently going to be on full display, the thought of going to an actual shop with real people is too mortifying for words.

Thank you SO much, @frozendaisyfir this information! I’ve since found out that my DS is Edexcel for Geography only, unfortunately, not AQA.. but, I really appreciate your helpful information on fieldwork/ surveys as, as I said earlier, DS was utterly confused by a previous paper regarding these. He has geography in the am, and I’ll ask him to ask his teacher for help regarding this…. So, I’m very grateful that you replied to my query, as this would not have occurred to me at all! 🌟..

Morecambe bay and tidal energy sounds interesting! I mean, not if it were for your GCSE, but, generally! I’m from that neck of the woods originally, and sounds intriguing.. as does your field trip… in January, tho 🙄🙀🙄!!?!

I hope your Geography goes well- thanks, again, for your help 🤩

DH and I went to the theatre tonight. Left kids revising. Just remembered love island started tonight. No more revision past 9pm then. Not that she ever did any that late!

I’ve just had a look at stick-on bras. I might need a lie down! I can’t see how they can provide any support at all (although I am currently GG cup). DD wears crop tops.

@Sisublondie

We're also Edexcel for Geog - but B not A, so check which your son is.

Last week's paper covered their field work, but DD said it had the weirdest questions that didn't relate to what they had even done in the fieldwork and nobody knew how to answer that section.

There was also apparently a photo of a park in Manchester labelled as Mayfield Park, and a question asking 'How do you know this is Mayfield Park in Manchester' - DD said there was nothing giving a clue in the photo, so she just wrote 'because you labelled it as Mayfield Park, Manchester, and I assume you know what you photograph is of' ... I would love to know if that gets her at least one mark, given it's correct.

I am several days in... and I never want to see one ever again...

DS has 5 left - ermm stats, maths, history, physics & chem (not in that order).

He struggled this evening thinking he'd better not search for Nazi and Hitler in Tik Toc......

I have to say, I am very proud of how he's taken it all in his stride. He's been taking them seriously, but not losing his mind, looking after his sleep, exercise, social life etc.

@OhCrumbsWhereNowjust wait until you wash them and a sticky lump comes out the machine.

Next you'll be saying they can't go in the tumble drier?😱

@OhCrumbsWhereNowprobably not meant for the washing machine tbh 😂. Dd still chuffed bra lady said she had a lovely figure and a lovely pair of boobs too!

only 2 left here, hooray.

Did anyone do AQA higher combined biology today? There was a question asking about c-peptide and insulin, which, according to DD, is not in the specification. In fact it is an A level question!! Seems like these exams are getting harder every year......

History and Spanish tomorrow, chem Friday, physics Monday and Spanish Tuesday and we are done!

😹😹😹, thank you !! You’ve made me laugh as well! Your DD’s answer to that insane question! I bloody hope she gets full bloody marks for that question!!!! If I was an examiner, oooooh!… reading answers like that??…. absolutely!!! I’d def give that a mark! She answered the question! Madness question !

I did check, as it sounded SO like how DS described it when I picked him up, said none of his mates thought it made sense, either, yep, he is B, Edexcel, too!! It’s making sense to me, now, as to why he couldn’t make a link between what it must have asked re fieldwork, as he genuinely said he thought “Well, I’m shafted here! I have obviously been asleep when we’ve been taught this”! ( he often puts his head on the desk in class, when it all becomes a bit much, or will go to the Quiet room)… but, if it wasn’t just him, and was a bit of a 🦇 💩 question, then…… makes sense!

Okay this is cheering me up as I just assumed DD had paid no attention at all.

She said for field work they went to the coast and measured pebbles and did a survey on tourism and cars (?) and then went to Stratford (London) and did a survey on building development and cars.

Then in the exam the whole section was asking about shop surveys - but they never did a shop survey and so none of them knew what to write.

I did ask if it was something they could have just used common sense for. She said she tried that but no, not really. The exam board just messed up the question.

Spoke to a friend tonight who said Edexcel have some thing about assumed knowledge where they will ask about things that aren't on the syllabus but assume you have read around the subject.

So now I'm bloody furious. They have quite enough subjects and content without examiners deciding they're all spending hours reading about extra stuff - especially for subjects they're only doing because they have to rather than want to.

All I want her to get is a 4... and if Paper 3 doesn't behave we are sooooo screwed.

These kids have had enough of their education messed up without the exam board playing silly buggers.

No geography students in my household but I remember my friends measuring rocks on the beach in the 90s!

DD was calm by the time I got home yesterday and it sounds like her (younger teen) brother actually dealt with her pretty well!

Roll on the end of today, Spanish x 2 and history ...

Morning all. Dd very nonplussed about AQA higher biology yesterday. Definitely not happy about the peat bog 6 marker (though sounds like she nobody is!), and the lack of all the stuff she spent ages revising - homeostasis, kidney, eye, menstrual cycle! Pretty disappointed by the lack of human biology in either paper - seemed like all plants and ecology. It is a shame as biology is one of her favourite subjects and an A level
choice. She was hoping for a 9 and has worked really hard - now I think she is hoping for an 8, though it is so hard to know with the crazy biology marking schemes.

Got a break today - good luck to the history and Spanish people.

Can also relate to the sticky, gravity defying bra conversation... dd appears to have ordered some online so I have not got involved!

Yes Biology IGCSE edexcel. PE was AQA. DD also struggled to finish. She wasn’t grumpy about it. She was just disappointed re the lack of human questions. She happily spent the rest of the afternoon baking cookies!