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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

How much support are you giving for GCSE?

31 replies

Thesecretsunnygardens · 04/06/2026 14:52

After reading some other threads I just realised that we are not providing much support to DC who is in year 10. Apart from providing food, tutors for maths and science and asking them if they need help with anything which they normally decline,

Predicted grades are not great so I feel we have been failing DC somehow. How do you get time to work and do other things?

What are you doing? Studying with them? Checking their homework? Reminding every day to study.

Once they move to secondary school we pretty much leave school to them or expect them to reach out to us/take the initiative if they need help/support.

OP posts:
ShesRunningOutTheDoor · 05/06/2026 07:11

It’s taken most of my spare time since Easter tbh. But I’m spending all that time with my child so I don’t see it as time lost at all. I’ll probably never spend so much time with him ever again so in that way it’s quite precious

PotolKimchi · 05/06/2026 07:25

I work full time. But I have always done extra work with both my kids at home and I am continuing to support DS1 (DS2 is still in primary school). Throughout secondary school every week we discussed what topics they are learning in school and over the weekend either DH or I sat down with him and made sure he has a solid foundation and that he has all the notes. We buy him lots of extra books to look over.

Every year before over Easter he’s sat down with us and drawn up a revision schedule for his exams. He’s extremely academically able so I don’t supervise the revision but I did teach him how to make effective notes. He’s also used the holidays in secondary school to spend a couple of hours a day looking over material (usually 30 mins on languages and then one subject/topic of his choice per day).

I also keep an eye on his time management and make sure he takes breaks and does other stuff. My parents did the same for me. Made sure I had a good conceptual base, all the revision material and time and space to study and kept an eye on my mental health.

So we are now doing the same for the GCSE. For what it’s worth I am a University professor and so were my parents and even now my dad will read my work (I am mid 40s!!) and make suggestions. The last few months of my PhD I moved home, buckled down and locked myself in a room and wrote. My parents occasionally read my chapters, fed me, and kept an eye on my stress levels!

CuntOfTheLitter · 05/06/2026 07:31

My son is completely self directed and organised.

I provide tea, biscuits and sweets!

but my younger son…. He’ll need intense hand holding for sure 😩

ScouseScram · 05/06/2026 07:45

From day 1 of secondary I never asked how was their day, I asked what they did in each lesson so they came home and whilst eating their snack gave me short answers like History, French Revolution, Maths, algebra etc. This led to conversations and potentially wider "reading" (youtube) on the matter. School were also very hands on. Parents in before year 7 setting out expectations as parental involvement which can massively improve grades and the school was rated outstanding with an incredible Progress 8 across all abilities including low ability students.

School also provided all the CGP revision guides, used them in class in conjunction with work, especially English Literature Poems which shows the breakdown of all of them and pointed out the high scoring level 6 responses of both form and structure.

School invited parents in again for revision evenings, laid out Assessment Objectives (AOs) for subjects like English and History, provided WAGOLLs (what a good one looks like) to the children which were stuck into their books and colour coded with the AOs so it was obvious in the paragraph which part was AO2 or whatever. Basically school did everything, and I mean everything they could to help a child pass their exams.

What I did as a parent, helped my child work out what revision works for them, flashcards, mind maps, brain dumps etc. Summer of year 9 read all the books for English and the poems. Watched the plays/films of the English books they were studying so they could understand the setting ie A Christmas Carol, watching other films set around the same time with all the introductions, bowing and curtsying. Read MN a few years ahead so I wasn't taken by surprise by something and knew what was recommended for revision help.

For year 10 the most important thing for your child to take note of is any test they did in class and end of year tests. Look back over it. Get them to understand they start with 0 marks and gain marks. How you gain marks is the most important part. For any book they have studied for English literature in year 10 looked at a past paper for that book and the mark scheme to see what the exam board is looking for.

Provided snacks, drinks, support, a place they could complain. I also explained the exam grade curve, what that looks like for grade boundaries across the years and how tight some of them are. We also looked ahead together, so if you get mostly grade 5s can you take A levels? What grades does that translate to at A level? What grades do you need for university or apprenticeships? What jobs and apprenticeships are actually out there?

I had no parental involvement at all in any school work I did and I always thought I wasn't very smart, I did go to uni by the skin of my teeth. I think how much better I would have done if I had even had a desk to work at rather than doing homework on my lap on my bed. So I did go to the other extreme. Both my children went to uni with incredibly high grades from GCSE on.

Thesecretsunnygardens · 05/06/2026 09:30

Thank you all.

Because school has always been a bit of a struggle for them I have just been happy they go to school and don’t have complaints from the school; I have pretty much left school to them apart from providing tutors, asking if they need help with anything, providing food, entertainment, suggested exercise, drops off.

However the academic pressure started from the end of year 9 and this has impacted DC mental help. I can also see how anxious school makes them sometimes. When they are out of school they are happier more relaxed. They have friends, go out, enjoy other aspects of life and school; just not the academics. A very personable teen, kind, respectful, responsible, do jobs for neighbours when available,

They have never liked having at lot going and need downtime. They used to say school is like jail 😅😂

They don’t need a lot for what they want to do next but need to do more revision if they want to get the passes they need. I will have a chat and spell it to them.

OP posts:
Talkingfrog · 05/06/2026 13:23

Each teen will ne different and want different things from no support, to massive amounts of support, and anything in between. It isn't easy to get the balance.

Sounds as if you are able to talk with them, and understand how they feel, which is a massive thing- not everyone gets on with their teens.

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