How best to help Y9 child struggling with Science?

[thisist]

DD seems to get 45-50% in any test for science since she started secondary. She starts the gcse years in Sept. It’s her weakest subject and she hates it. How can I help her? She doesn’t want to use study guides/reading and she wouldn’t manage 1:1 tuition (additional needs). Any good online programmes or some way of online learning? We just want her to get a 5 at the end of year 11 so that doors aren’t closed for the future. Any advice greatly appreciated!

Would she let you use study guides and then go through things with you?

Why a 5 not a 4? If she isn't progressing with science, why would she need a 5? (Is it a school requirement for A levels? Are there other A level options? Might BTECs be better anyway?)

CGP Study guides for science are really good imo.

There are online things (PrimroseKitten for example) but you can't skim through online the same way you can a guide.

We have the CGP guides. I think they’re amazing, so well laid out and easy to read but she won’t pick them up. I think her school requires 5 x grade 5 GCSEs for a-levels and she’s only doing 7 GCSEs total for various reasons. Yes, a-levels might not be appropriate for her but we don’t want to shut that door yet, as starting a new setting might be impossible at 16, yet she may have matured more by age 18. She is on track for very high grades in other subjects.

Seneca is good - no need to pay. And Cognito.

Second Seneca. It's much easier to access the material than paper study guides.

A 5 is a very achievable target even from where she is now, and starting to think about this in Y9 gives her a real head start so you're in a good position!

Given she doesn't want to read study guides and wouldn't manage 1:1 tuition, video-based learning is probably the best route:

Cognito on YouTube is genuinely excellent for GCSE science — short, animated videos that explain concepts really clearly without being dry or overwhelming. a lot of students who hate science actually find these engaging because they don't feel like school. completely free and covers the full spec

Freesciencelessons on YouTube is another solid one — very calm, methodical delivery, good for students who find science anxiety-inducing

BBC Bitesize is worth knowing about too — interactive, broken into small chunks, less intimidating than a textbook and she can move at her own pace

For when she's a bit further along, Kingsbridge Education and Save My Exams both have good science resources and practice questions that are mapped to the exact spec useful for building up to the actual exam format gradually rather than being thrown into full past papers straight away

The grade boundaries are very low for combined science. 50% is easily a grade 5,5, so I’m not sure you need to do anything right now.

It’s quite common at this stage, especially in Year 9 where the foundations for GCSE start to become important.
Revision books and videos can help, but often the difficulty is that students don’t know what they don’t understand, so they end up going over things passively rather than really improving.
What tends to work better is focusing on a few key topics, checking understanding through questions, and helping them explain ideas clearly rather than just reading or watching.
I’m a Head of Science and I also run a small tuition setup supporting students with this—happy to share more if helpful

With science is easy. She memorises and you then sit and ask her detailed questions. Ans what she didn't get highlight and again.

This is a matter of your involvement

Www.exambuilder.co.uk

a great website (only £1.99 for unlimited use) GCSE practise questions with instant feedback and then examples/shows how to develop to get full marks! My boy is on it and it can be used on a computer or a phone and it’s brilliant! Highly recommend x

Hey! I’m a science teacher & tutor and would recommend including lots of exam questions! Often students focus entirely on learning the content but a huge huge part of the science GCSE revolves around science skills and knowing how to answer the questions. I work online with several students with SEND needs and find a really structured build from content to application makes a huge difference to their grades

Wow, so much good advice and info here! Thanks all :)