Y11 2025/26… come and join

[wonderstuff]

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We received our exam timetable today. Scary stuff. A lot of exams! And no real break apart from
half term

We haven't had a timetable yet, although I did look before the summer to know when would be safe to take DS on holiday. He's a bit subdued since going back yesterday. I think he's starting to realise he's only got 2 terms until exams.

Coming to join in if ok?

I have a DD going into year 11. She did well in mocks but has mooted the idea over the summer of potentially considering Medicine for uni and that seems to have upped the stakes a bit for this coming year. She seems quite nervous about heading back to school but am sure once she back she will be fine.

Welcome @PaddingtonBlah .

Will have to have a look at that @PatientTeacher thanks for the link.

Today DS had an orthodontist appointment and a drama rehearsal so little work done today :(. Suggested he message/call his friend to see what he missed in lessons (due to the orthodontist) and he looked at me like I was crazy…..Meanwhile the deadlines for NEA’s are piling up and we are only 3 days into term. It seems very pressured already.

@PaddingtonBlah- my son is also considering Medicine which came out of the blue as in years 7-10 he wanted to be a Diplomat or Politician!

I’ve started researching and it’s quite overwhelming. I’m not sure if DS is aware of how rigorous the application process is.

Yes, I'm a bit concerned about how competitive it is and don't want her to be overly stressed then disappointed!

I don't know much about it all though so need to do some reading...

Mine back and seem to have had constant you are year 11 talks for the last 3 days.
homework which has been minimal in previous years is ramping up now. Eek

Another dd wanting to pursue medicine here!

Joining you all.

My DC has gone into Y11, did bits of revision last 2 weeks of holiday. No exam timetable given by school yet but have rough idea as looked at exam board website. DC has a full on hobby that I want to continue supporting but worried at the time it takes in a week.

I decided to search GSCE revision support on FB and now am overwhelmed with what's showing on my feed that I have not liked or followed. It's constant revision notes, webinars, l tutoring online, how to get from a grade 4 to 9, mind maps etc! Arghhh

@GucciGin - I hear you about the googling. So much stuff out there, no one would have time to do even a small fraction of it. DS couldn’t cope with it anyway so I am firmly not looking for stuff that I know he won’t do - just makes me more nervous.

Just looking for C’s and B’s here - medicine sounds a whole new level of stress!

There is a whole host of YouTube out there too , some of it better than others . DS2 likes Scarecrow Science ( he does some basic videos useful if your child just wants to pass ) and DS liked Mr Salles for English - again he was just trying to pass . The only subject DS couldn’t find much on was Geography .

DD says she hasn't had any regular homework yet just revising for tests. Wonder of that's what Y11 is going to look like. School have invited parents in next week to hear about how we support the kids through Y11. The kids have had all the talks about knuckling down too.

Following

Hello all

First time for GCSEs in our house.

I have two questions - from chatting to parents of DD's peers, it feels like we are the only family not using tutors. Do others feel the same? It's made me wonder if we're doing the best for her - but she is very diligent so I don't want to add to her workload and pressure just to keep up with the Jones.

Second question - to avail of cheaper airfares, ages ago I booked for us to visit my elderly parents / the kids GPs in Ireland. But now the school has released their exam schedule and DD's mocks start on the very first Monday back. Is it a terrible idea to go away for the Oct half term?

Connected to this, I had booked for us to take off on Friday 24th with the mindset of "oh they never do anything on the last day of term" but now it turns out her German oral mocks are that week. Could I ask her German teacher to ensure her exam doesn't fall on that day - WIBU?

@MakeTeaNotWar. We aren’t using tutors as Ds
is currently working at a good level. With Ds1 he was working below target so we got him group tutoring sessions for Maths and it really boosted his confidence and he got a grade 8.

I may organise some tutoring revision sessions for ds2 when we get closer to exams.

With the trip to Ireland could you still go but have a low key break so dd can revise whilst she is away?

Joining as DS2 has just started yr 11 and doesn’t know what A levels he wants yet!

We are not using tutors.

My DTs are currently considering a wide range of of subjects for A levels. I am glad that they can do taster days where they can try out any subject but importantly some of their potential A level subjects that their school doesn’t do at GCSE (e.g Law, Politics, sociology)

Hello - interesting mix of experience here. My Y11 DS has predicted grades which look very disappointing to him and us. A mix of grades from a 4 media studies to a 7 in Maths. Nearly all of which he did better than in his first round of PPE - with no prep -so don't really know where they come from.

He has done zero revision though and school never set much homework so he's a bit shocked by what they are expecting this year.

I too have an older DC with a very much non standard GCSE experience. She had EHCP and very difficult school experience - only decided to take GCSEs at Christmas Y11 and only started revision at Easter - and now has six GCSE 345567 - the 7 is English and the 4 a maths resit she got this year. So it's enough and probably makes me more nonchalant than I should be about the whole process.

Neither of them will be studying medicine or going to Cambridge though. That's a whole other layer of pressure.

No tutors here but dd1 is quite academic, seems on course for 7s-9s. I would definitely consider it if they were borderline passing particularly for Maths and English. If not, I don't know whether I'd bother.

I think if you're at grandparents and can still do a couple of hours revision a day in half term, it should be ok? How does she feel about it?

No tutors here either. DS had an English Lit tutor last year but he flatly refused to engage so we stopped. He's on course for 7-9's in everything except French so I'm not pushing it. DD is far less academic and did well with tutoring to help her catch up after covid, so we'll probably get her help to achieve solid passes in English and Maths. She's only in Year 8 though, so a while to go! If your DD doesn't need it then I wouldn't add to the pressure by getting tutors.

DS1 was predicted 9-6 but was weak in Spanish and English , school offered extra lunchtime sessions which he only went to a few of , he worked hard at home though and used Mr Salles on YouTube for his English . He ended up with a 4 in Spanish and a 7 and 5 ( near miss to a 6) in English language and literature . 8s and 7s in pretty much everything else . I’m not sure a tutor would have helped as it would have diverted even more time and attention away from his good subjects. DS2 hated being tutored for 11+ and has always said no to tutors .Strangely his weaknesses are his brother’s strengths and DS1 has already done a bit of ad hoc sibling tutoring …my advice is to see what school offer- it’s not in their interests for children to not do well

DS has an hours of maths tutoring a week and have just set up half an hour of English tutoring a week. He’s currently low grade 3 for maths and cusp of 3/4 for English-so it’s out of necessity not because we want top marks for bragging rights. It’s costing me an arm and a leg that we can’t really afford but needs must. We’d be happy if that tutoring gets him to solid grade 4 with the possibility of a 5.

Can I join? DS predicted grades ranging from 4 to 6 from year 10 mocks. We have a Yr11 information evening tomorrow where I am hoping to find out about booster sessions etc. my oldest went to a different school who were great and he did extra classes in the morning and after school which really helped. I hope this school will do similar.

DS is wanting to become a paramedic but that seems to mean Uni these days so we are trying to work out pathways to uni that arent A levels and I'm a bit overwhelmed. DH and I both just did A levels at our schools sixth form so there wasn't a lot to organise ourselves and oldest DS did an apprenticeship from 16.