Y11 2025/26 The Final Stretch

[UncomfortableSilence]

New thread to see our wonderful DC through their exams and onwards.

Come and join for chat, support and solidarity.

Hope the MFL people got on ok today .

DS is in school tomorrow for organised revision - which is probably a good thing - I don’t think the teacher doing it would be sacrificing his Saturday morning if he didn’t think his class needed it .

Hope it’s not going to get too hot too soon .DS1 has year 12 mocks starting next week too ( for predicted grades - I am going to be peeking between my fingers )

Thank you. And thank you also @Caddycat . I did not realise it's a whole paper.

Yes I hope everyone taking MFL who has had their speaking felt it went well.

In case any are still to come, I have been doing lots of them this week as an external examiner. One tip if it’s GCSE (rather than IGCSE) is that the read-aloud task does not test your French or German or Spanish accent – but whether you are saying the words correctly. So watch out for umlauts in German and endings in French and loan words in both.

That’s interesting! Dd had her Spanish on Monday and felt it went well. Out of interest, how is the new format different to last year? she didn’t have an external examiner, just her own teacher. Are external examiners randomly allocated?

The format change:
Three tasks- read aloud (new); role play (the same but prompts in English); picture task - no questions given, discussion is just on that theme. Examiner has set questions for pic and for readaloud task. Then general convo on pic theme.

AQA - no choice of theme, two pix to describe
Edexcel - choice between two themes for pic task. Two pix, choose one to describe.

It used to be role play, pic with some set qus abd some unseen, general convo.

I do exams in exam centres for HE YP and those taking the exam out of school (eg school does not offer it). I also do some in school but usually A level, GCSE is usually the teacher (A level can be too).

Meant to say new format is MFL GCSE, not IGCSE which is the same as previous years for both main boards (tho there is a big difference between the exam for Cambs and for Pearson)

😂I feel like this too.

I'm way more invested now than I was during my own.

I think I've learn't more maths in the last 6 months than during the whole of my GCSE's 😄

I barely remember mine. I can vaguely picture a very busy O level revision timetable and it was 2-3 week period. I don’t recall revision but I must have done a month or so around lessons

I only vaguely remember sitting out in the garden working on a tan reading a textbook.

Definitely pushing students alot more these days. But was so easy to get jobs in my day.

My only clear memory (I was brought up in Australia) is going with my dad for a long weekend to Singapore - which we did quite often- and getting back the morning of my Politics exam. He went to work and I sat around in our garden drinking rum and coke then went to school for the exam in the afternoon.

But we did not have a GCSE equivalent- just an A-level equivalent. So i was slightly older. I did get into the uni I wanted- but pretty much everyone did in those days. Lord. That was 35 years ago!

I remember it being really hot - and sitting on my bedroom floor with my back to the cold radiator - revision book on my knees .. I know I was bored - felt I’d read it all to death so did a lot of daydreaming . There wasn’t any guidance in those days , no past papers etc

I got middling grades and ended up at a red brick uni - didn’t even get offers from the I really wanted ( Exeter ) .

It was tough getting work when I came out of uni . I was looking for a training contract - I started my career as a lawyer .

Just to echo everyone else. I actually think I could sit the science GCSE and scrape a 6 or 7 given the amount of ‘revision’ I’ve done the last 2 years. 🤣 Physicis is hard though so no chance of me getting anything over a 7. Sad times.

Lol @3GoldenLamps I remember reading a Mills & Boon instead of doing physics revision..I ended up with a D but was so relieved I was giving it up. I did much better in my A levels and did go to a great uni so it didn't particularly hold me back!

We had a long chat last night about whether DD did really want to do art a level, based on art thief comments up thread. She's considering doing architecture which it would be good for, but also I feel that was something she just said she may like in y9 ( we have a few architect friends) so am wary of choosing A levels based on a whim. She's got work experience in the summer so that may help her decide.

We also went down a rabbit hole of looking at modern language courses at uni as she loves German so felt quite inspired by that. @clary may ask for your advice if she goes down this route. She hasn't done another language (she did Latin in yr 8 &9) but would love to start another at uni if possible.

She goes to a very academic grammar school where most kids want to be doctors, lawyers or bankers so I think is feeling the pressure to know what she wants to be and choose accordingly. So much more intense than just doing the subjects you like which is what I did.

No prom dress here yet which is a further stress but I have friends with older kids who said Zara had a great selection in May half term so that's our plan ATM. Haven't talked heels but we do have the same size feet so she could wear some of mine, if she can walk in them!

Shirt embellishing party planned for next weekend with her friends.

We have heard absolutely nothing yet about The Prom. Ds wants to go mainly because of FOMO. But i just suggested we go looking for a suit to wear and he had a freakout. So who knows. Last year one of the more confident boys wore a sequined jacket and he looked terrific.

One of my students wore ripped black skinny jeans, a red leather jacket and a tee with a sequin teddy bear on it. He looked EPIC.

That sounds really good!

DS's school doesn't have a prom I don't think. Most seem to stay on for A level so there's no big 'end of Y11' celebration.

I was a super diligent GCSE student and revised religiously: 9-12pm and 2-5pm every weekend day, 7-9pm every week night. DS is nowhere near as diligent 😂 but then is far more naturally academic than I was. I can't say I know any of the current GCSE content in all honesty, I don't need to actually help him learn anything - it's just about keeping him on track, trying to stop him procrastinating and providing the snacks!

I'm definitely on for a post exam celebration though. I find it far more stressful parenting a child doing GCSEs than revising and doing GCSEs myself. (Though not as bad as supporting eldest with ASD/ADHD and mental health challenges through his uni course which honestly nearly killed me, DS2 is a breeze in comparison).

First written exam for DS next week - German writing and listening.

Our post GCSE celebration is to go to Australia as soon as the contingency day is out of the way. DH and DS2 will have a couple of weeks together and then they will join us. They both have a shared hobby they love so they will be doing that at the weekends. We will be seeing my parents and hopefully doing a road trip- fuel crisis dependent.

They are doing the shirt signing day next friday and poor DS is terrified no-one will want to sign his shirt as he doesn't really have any friends and is seen as a little weird by some in his class. (He has quite anxiety and autism and struggles socially). It's been really weighing on him and he mentions it several times a day 'No-one is going to sign my shirt'.

That's tugging on my heartstrings @3GoldenLamps. I remember when we had our last day and went round signing shirts and leavers books we all just signed everyone's, whether we knew them well or not.

I know. I'm telling him that people will be excited and there will be alot of adrenaline going around and he will definitely have his signed.

His one and only friend isn't doing A-levels. We are worried for him next year tbh. Even a couple of his teachers have made a point of messaging me and saying they'll keep an eye on him next year. His school is the best. ❤

Ahh @3GoldenLamps that's so sad :( but actually as others say I am sure plenty will sign it. Can you tip off his form tutor or similar to see if they can make sure he gets a few signatures – I know I would have gladly done that in a subtle way.

@Stowickthevast German A level for the win! It’s the best (assuming you can find a setting that is offering it). Happy to advise

My DS couldn’t care less about the prom, I think he is intending to go but don’t know. We are then planning on going away the following day. Assuming by then the exams have in fact finished and contingency is not needed.

today has been a mixed bag. DS was swimming in the regional champs but did an hour of maths before going, an hour of English in the car, and 30 mins of history poolside. His coach thought the poolside part was funny! He’s planning on a couple more hours this evening and then we go again tomorrow.

Dd is having the afternoon today to meet friends in the park and jazz up their shirts ready for Friday! I can’t believe this is the last official day of y11 before study leave!! @3GoldenLampsim sure on the day everyone will want to sign everyone’s!!

It’s all starting to feel very real now!! I’m feeling so nervous but will need to hold it all together. Like someone said up thread it feels worse than doing it ourselves!!

@3GoldenLamps - DS2 has shirt signing next Friday too .. I’m sure they will all sign everyone within reach - DS1 has signatures on his I don’t recognise at all and from the pictures the school circulated it certainly looked that way . Sure it will be fine . It wouldn’t really have occurred to me but I will tell DS2 to make sure no one is left out in his school at least