GCSE Stress

[ddgm]

HI just wondering any body else got a child about to take their GSCES my eldest is taking 14 in the next 2 months, really getting stressed already not eating great and i have noticed he is sleeping less and less it it is all he talks about, goes to a grammar school and i feel the expectations are really high there he is aiming for 9 A* 2A and a B/C in spanish. I keep telling him that it doesnt matter to us if he gets straight Cs we will still love him etc.
He needs to get the A and A*s to be allowed to go back to 6th form at his current school, we thought we where doing the right thing when we took him to loook around the local college in case he didint get the required results for his school, backfired he hated the college and is now even more determinded to get results.
Anybody been through this before any advise on how to help him through the next few months?

I sympathise ddgm, DD2 ended up hugely stressed about GCSEs last year and I found this bit at the end when teachers are desperate to get the last bit of work done really piles on the pressure.

I found that once the exam season actually starts and there can be no more timed essays, extra revision lessons after school and no more nagging from teachers the pressure actually eased a bit. Just help your son in practical ways - make sure his revision plans allow for a break and he gets spoilt a bit (exam time means chocolate cake in our house)

The expectations on your DS are very high and even a very bright hardworking child can fail to get an A when it comes down to it, DD2 has two subjects where she missed her A by one mark. Fortunately by the time her results came out she had convinced herself that she had done terribly so she was thrilled with her results.

Best of luck with it all

DS did his a year ago, and has the next set of exams coming up, so I can tell you what helped for him.

It sounds like there's no problem with motivation, which is good in its way, but he needs to understand that worrying and obsessing about the exams will actually be counterproductive.

Try to get him to understand that eating and sleeping and exercise and fresh air and relaxation will all help to keep him alert and focussed. There are a couple of pages for students and for parents which I found helpful.

He needs to decide his schedule to include all the revision he wants to do, but also to include free time and other activities. If he just fixates on the revision he will feel burnt out and not do so well. If he is revising in the evening, he needs to stop a half-hour or so before bedtime and switch off from the studying, so that he can get to sleep better.

Thank you both for your advise
Hopefully you will be right once the exams actually start he will calm down a little.
Will make more of an effort to get him to take breaks and chill a bit, I must admit I have thought that at least if he was revising he wasnt stressing about not revising (Sorry does that make sense to anybody but me)but can see you are both right he needs a break, I was thinking of organising a family trip to Alton Towers on sunday as he loves it there, is this a good idea to take him away from the books for a full day or do you think this will stress him out even more.?

I find it extraordinary if your DC has to get As and A*s in all 14 subjects - frankly that's ridiculous! If it is not all 14 then perhaps there could be some tactics about not revising so hard for every single subject - ie if a few are not so critical.

No-one needs so many subjects as this even to get into Oxbridge or to do the most competitve professional courses so it would be a very sad thing if your DC felt they had to achieve at the same level for every single one IMO.

I have one DC at Cambridge - and one doing GCSEs this year. I think the advice on the sites given above is helpful. Just being around and available and making practical suggestions like those on the site is so important.

I think a day off is a good idea - if he has things like this included in his schedule, then he should be able to relax without worrying about not studying.