Poor mock results - angry

[Anonymousemouses]

My DD goes to a grammar school, and her mocks were disappointing, except Spanish, her worst subject.

I had a thread last year about how she went from a grade 8 last summer, to a grade 3 in tests at the beginning of this academic year, in Spanish. The teacher suggested putting her down to foundation, but DD refused, and ended up getting an 8 (a few marks away from a 9), as she worked hard for it.

However, Maths (one of her strongest subjects and predicted an 8 in it), she only got a 5! She said it was hard and they did stuff they haven't learnt yet. This is particularly upsetting as she wants to do Maths A Lecel and is consistently getting merits and 100% in tests. She didn't revise much for it.

The same thing with chemistry - predicted a 9, based on Y10 mocks and 100% in tests, she got a 6.

The mocks were a couple of weeks ago, long after the secondary schools had theirs, so less time to rectify.

DD is very nonplussed about it. She didnot revise much for them.

My friend's son, who goes to a secondary, was much lower grades, but has spent all his time out of school, in Y11, revising. Every night and weekend, and it paid off.

Unfortunately they were not allowed to bring home their papers, so there is no way of practicing what they were bad at, they never used past papers, so I'm not sure of what they used.

I'm so angry with DD. She spends too much time in SM or watching videos, and says she will burn out if she does too much.

I feel strongly as I never bothered at her age, and only got A Levels after I had my son, Unfortunately my MH struggles became immense after my sons dad attacked and tried to kill us all.

The school have emphasised that the mocks do not represent what they are expected to get in their GCSEs and they expect everyone to go up a grade or more in everything, but how?

As it stands she should get into her 6th form, but she wants to be a psychologist, which isn't going to be possible if she doesn't improve.

The only glimmer of hope I have, is that she went from a 3 to 8 in Spanish in a few months, as she put in the effort. She's done past GCSE maths papers online and gets 7, so I'm unsure what happened,

I think it would be a disaster go away at Easter - as for DS that was when revision really started - he was in a mess school was in special measures and notes were non existant. Once exams started it was really full on but he asked for help and we went for it over Easter and he did really well.

The grils it was less intense but still a lot done over Easter - and younger one got some helpful revision sessions on at school.

It may be she need more direction with revision - actually on-line stuff as part of a wider revision behaviro was helpful for mine - often a starting point in. The revsion books for each subject were also really helpful - basically only two way to revsise that have research behind re-organise into new format notes and answer past questions - just reading though with no recal useless.

My DC past papers were avalaible from their boards - as well as a question bank - but revsison guides also have questions in them.

I'd try and get to some college/sixth form open days so she can talk to them and see what grades she needs to get to next courses she wants. I think she can pull up - chances are school talking to them as well and at GCSE level there a lot of revision done in class time.

I wonder if your dislike for maths was at least in part due to all the stress this caused. Who knows how many other potential A level maths takers were discouraged from taking it due to approaches like this.
Also how exactly did he deflate your grade? Did he just put A level problems in your mock?

I wasn't given my paper back to review so I think it was just a false grade, it was the nineties! I've never liked what I call abstract maths although as an adult I use data a lot to evidence things (work). I don't think I would ever have enjoyed maths I'm just more of a Humanities/social sciences girl. To be honest I do quite well under pressure, and was probably quite cocky as a teenager. I currently work in a senior role in criminal justice, and my job would probably be too much for most, but I do wonder what would've happened if he did what he did to me, to someone with a different temperament.

you really need to chill out or your lives are going to be hell. My son also went to a grammar school and sometimes the teachers just give them past papers and they have not covered sections or learnt how to answer some. My son got 5-7s in his mocks ... and all 9s and 8s in his final GCSEs ... including getting a 5 for mocks in one subject that he went on to get a 9 for in gcses and then an A* in at A level.
Grammar school kids finish the content earlier than the other schools and spend more time revising in classes.
Just ask her teachers what she needs to focus on and practising past papers in the best option

You need to stop. You cannot rectify your "mistakes" through your daughter. You are being too controlling and risk pushing her away from academia.

They are not allowed to bring papers home but she can ask to take photos of the papers and then you can see for yourself what she wrote down for each question. They should have gone over the papers in class to fill in any blanks and they use these for revision aids. You can see how much she missed on each question.

I know people are saying leave her to it etc but she might not ace it all out at the end, there are lots of students who don't. Ds's mate wanted to do maths A level and got a 6 at GCSE so was not allowed. Instead of celebrating his GCSE results like his mates he spent an hour working out what other subject he wanted to do and finding out if there were any places on that course. He was the only child in their friendship group who didn't go to university because GCSEs are an indicator of A level grades. There are tracked grades you can find online by Cambridge Assessment.

If she wants to do maths A level then she really needs an 8 at GCSE otherwise the jump will be too big (a 7 usually translates to C/D at A level) she needs to revise even if that means you sitting over her shoulder to help her. She cannot see the bigger picture. Maybe the question to ask for any A level subject is if a child comes in on a grade 6 what do they usually come out? I would also look ahead to university for entry grades and she needs to know that entry grades are the minimum they take students in on, most successful applicants come in on much higher grades.

This is a child at a grammar school who should be meeting her potential. I would want to talk to her teachers about her performance in her mocks to get their take on it, not just your DD's. I don't think this about you and your academic experience per se but seeing that she has the potential to do incredibly well and you will be the one who has to deal with low grades, helping her find A levels she can do and working out how she would get into uni.

I wonder if she's still traumatised by her brother trying to kill you all? Maybe she feels that academic work doesn't really matter in the wake of such a traumatic event. Has she processed it?

You have received some good advice OP and your situation is so frustrating but also you need to approach the situation carefully as you risk pushing her away if you go in too hard.

As others have said, ask if she can take photos of the past papers and see where she's gone wrong.

I would also consider tutoring in key subjects to try and help bring grades up - your DD is clearly highly able but might just need some more structured support around revision. My older DS who has severe ADHD really struggled with A levels and we found tutors via the mytutor website, which I would highly recommend.

At the same time though this generation do have so many online distractions that their parents simply didn't have and I think this needs bearing in mind - I was very focused when studying but then there was no such thing as a mobile phone or the internet in the1980s!

With my DC (I also have one in Y11) I find that they are much more productive if they work downstairs, not in their rooms, and if phones are put into a different room to the one they are trying to study in. I try to encourage short 30 minute sessions of targeted work followed by a 5 min break - then another 30 minutes and 5 minute break - and so on. My eldest needed a LOT of study support - current Y11 DC needs less but still benefits from help with structure and focus.

Absolute hard no to any trips away during Easter or May half term in an exam year - but they do also need to have a balance between studying and relaxing. DH is taking our younger DC away at Easter and I'll be home with our Y11 so that he can study, but I definitely plan on encouraging him to break this up with some chill out time/occasional days or meals out etc.

Good luck, I have definitely found it far more stressful trying to support DC with doing their exams than actually taking them myself!!

Maybe she is struggling due to the trauma of her brother, hope you are all ok. This is probably just a wake up call and all you can do is encourage her

I think sit her down and talk about her goals. What A levels does she want to do (biology maths and psychology, for example), She should focus on achieving her best in those subjects, at least, and at least 6/7 in the key subjects like Maths and English. Uni courses can be quite competitive.
I would give her some clear goals to work towards and help her access the official past papers. In Maths and Chemistry, it is typically 90% to get a 9! So every topic needs to be well understood, timing is key etc. Biology is very content heavy, for example.
My DD who did GCSEs last year also only really started studying in the Lent term. It is not too late, but it is a marathon from here, not a race. I would not be going away in the Easter holidays either.

I would offer support if they asked for it otherwise I would leave them to it . I never got involved in their revising it was up to them to want to do it.

It wasn't my son, it was father. My son was 13 at the time and it affected him badly (we weren't living together due to DV before DS was born).

DD was not affected by this as she's never even met DS's father - he was in prison for 5 years then moved away. DS doesn't see him either.

Thank you, that's it exactly. She has the potential I didn't have, her brother also as he also went to grammar school (neither was tutored).

DD's friends seemed to revise less than her and got even worse results, as if that matters.

I've spoken (calmly) to her. She said she never bothered with maths revision as she expected to sail through.

She did do the markings and got marks for that, but said the questions were written differently to what she was used to, so it took longer to decipher. She has said she is practising where she went wrong.

I have bought her CGP books in higher maths (no one takes foundation there), so will be supervising her and standing over her.

She has had second thoughts about maths now. We see the teachers at the end of this month, so will discuss it then. She is thinking of doing physics??? Not something I would have thought of, but apparently she loves it and is not enjoying maths as much. She wants to do core maths as an extension subject.

I did not in any way influence her decisions. Originally she was going to do literature, English language and psychology, then she decided on maths as she thought it was better than two English subjects.

I did buy her some CGP maths flash cards and a revision book before her mocks, but she never even looked at them. I've now also bought some past papers and 10 minute tests, which I will supervise her on the dining table.

Also my son did NOT try to kill us. It was his dad! I left him when pregnant with DS due to DV (I now have to walk with a crutch due to the injury he caused to my leg, causing a malunion in my tibia and arthritis, which has got worse as I've aged). The attack on us was out of the blue, although he had been diagnosed with schizophrenia. The attack did affect DS, but he's doing really well now, he was 13 at the time.

It was DS's dad and happened years before I met her dad. She's never met DS's dad and never will, as he attacked his own father after his mother died last year, and is now in long term psychiatric care. DS is doing well and was very brave during the attack

I've reported my OP, as I wrote it in bed and didn't explain. It was my son's dad that tried to kill (him, me and DS).

You might find she put too much energy into her Spanish thinking she was ok in the other subjects. Maybe talk to her about revising all subjects, especially the ones she wants to do for A levels

Sorry to hear about all the challenges you have had, how difficult for you all.

It is quite normal for them to start learning how to revise from now. Especially if they have good memories and sailed through tests in the past. If it is any consolation, like I said, my DD started around now so did most her friends and she did really well. She is now working really quite hard in Year 12. I really do not regret her not starting much earlier, GCSEs are miserable enough as it is. They deserve to have some other interests during their early teen years.

For Psychology, Bio and Chem are good, but Chem A level is really hard. English is supporting too. I would not recommend A level Maths without an 8 or a 9 personally. She may well get there in Maths if she works hard now. But she needs to enjoy it as well. I think that is most important at A level, enjoyment of the subjects.

Hard no to going away at Easter.

Your DD getting 100% in tests is quite feasible if she was being tested on what she had been taught, and Yr10 exams are usually based again on what has been covered. However mock exams are usually a full exam paper and therefore given we are still a few months away from the final exams there may be chunks of work not yet taught. Depending on the course, teaching of new material may be finishing in the next few weeks and then targeted revision will begin. As a former teacher I would expect most students to improve by a grade or two between mocks and final exams assuming the work is put in. Mock exams are used by teachers to learn where support is needed to enable the revision to be as effective as possible. You state your DD worked for some subjects but not all, don’t go putting her off working towards the summer exams by going off on one. Take it easy and support her, and don’t try to make her do too much too soon or she will burn out before she gets to the actual exams.

@Anonymousemouses sorry to hear of your personal struggles, I cannot imagine what you have endured.

Re the maths, and I am sure @noblegiraffe will agree (they are a maths teacher and provide brilliant advice on here) practise helps, so working through past papers all of which are online and free but I do know the revision things you bought. For the past papers my children did a question, answered it, then looked at the mark scheme. That way they knew instantly if they were on the right track and then could work at that question if they were wildly off.

Physics A level has a lot of maths so where we are if you don't do A level maths you have to do Core Maths to bridge the gap from GCSE to A level content needed for physics.

What you need to explain to your DD is this really is a one shot deal, if they failed maths/English they would resit it, you can't really resit something you got a low grade in. She still has time to turn this around and bring her grades up but she needs to commit to this. School should be running revision sessions after school anyway, ours did, they did a maximum of 3 sessions a week, for 1 hour and it was targeted to the child with their own timetable for it.

She needs to work out does she know the content and can she apply it in an exam? Testing herself with apps can help with that and school can advise. She can ask tomorrow what they recommend. Mine did Seneca and had a specific GCSE language pack for the Memrise app.