Mock exam result

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tubby
Posts: 137
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:53 pm

Mock exam result

Post by tubby »

Hi all,

My DS's mock result came through today, and the grades are really bad, scattered Es Cs and Ds, I am really down about it, he is sitting his GCSE next year. He has been diagnosed as Dyslexic , and school are doing their best, he has extra time etc. I told him it is not an excuse to be lay back, but he keeps telling me that he really works hard, and does not know why friends who don't work hard has him gets good grades, all l can say to him is you just have to work harder. School has more or less informed us via a letter with the result that if his grades do not improve we should start thinking of alternatives :( they want 7 Bs. He would be going to one of the crammers colleges for easter revision, he also has private tutors for certain subjects, am not sure what else we can do :( . Sorry about the moan.
SSM
Posts: 646
Joined: Sun Feb 08, 2009 12:09 pm

Re: Mock exam result

Post by SSM »

Has he done any practice tests at home. It might give you some idea where he is falling down. It also helps with exam technique.

What do the teachers say about his results, are they in line with his school work or are the below what was expected?

If he is dyslexic are crammer sessions in the school holidays really a good idea.

My son is dyslexic and very good at sciences, he has done a number of practice papers at home and we have realised that he will be very hard pushed to get an A* because of the wording of the questions. He knows the correct answer when you re word the question, but he finds it really confusing when reading it.

Sometimes a bad result ends up having a positive benefit. It might make him realise that he needs to pull out all the stops.
tubby
Posts: 137
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:53 pm

Re: Mock exam result

Post by tubby »

He is a boarder, he blames poor exam technique, when you say exam practice, do you mean go through exam questions with him :? The one we are thinking of knows he is dyslexic, and caters for such. I know he can do better but he is so lay back sometimes, he needs pushing and it is so frustrating. Thanks for the reply.
KB
Posts: 3030
Joined: Tue Mar 04, 2008 3:28 pm

Re: Mock exam result

Post by KB »

I would strongly urge you to have a face to face meeting with a senior member of staff as soon as the school re-opens in January. If this is impossible because of travelling then arrange an appointment for a telephone conversation. Ask to speak to the Head of Year or Deputy Head ( or similar according to the schhol) & let them know what you want to discuss in advance so they have no excuse for not gathering all the information required.

In the meantime if you look at thhe web sites of the exam boards for the different subjects you can find past papers & mark schemes so you could get your Dc to work through questions & then look at the answers together to see what is required.

When you speak to the school I owuld say that you need to clarify if the problems are with class work and homework or just with exams.
Then you need to know if there is a problem with remembering information, a lack of understanding or exam technique.

Having gathered the information you can then decide if the extra tutoring (presumably at school) is effective or if the focus needs to shift.

If the dyslexia is the root of the problem then I would have a detailed conversation with the college you are going to use at Easter to make sure they know what they are doing or you could waste alot of money & alot of time at a critical stage.

Depending if the problems are due to exam performance or general difficulties then it might be best to look into other options post GCSE.
If a student is struggling to gain a B grade at GCSE then going on to A level study is probably not the best course of action for them.
Maybe there are courses at a local college that are more suitable. With the changes taking place in Higher Education I wouldn't send a DC to University unless they had really good A level grades to get into a top course at a top University. If a meaningful University degree is unikely then there may well qualifications post-16 that are more useful than A levels.

I have Dcs who have SLDs. They are all academic and the eldest two have developed strategies that allow them to perform well in examinations but they do have to work much harder than their peers. It must be incredibly frustrating for your Dc to be putting in the work & not getting the results. I know in the past when my DCs have been having real problems there is a danger that they switch off because it all becomes too much. Iti s important that your DC gets the best results he can but if you could find something in the way of Further Education that he finds fullfilling an at which he can shine that his confidence improves and he may do better in the long run - maybe then taking on further study.

Please don't worry thay anyone will think you are having a moan - there are quite a few people about on the forum who have experience that might be of use and will be happy to give you support.
Belinda
Posts: 1167
Joined: Thu Nov 08, 2007 10:57 pm

Re: Mock exam result

Post by Belinda »

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Last edited by Belinda on Thu Nov 01, 2012 1:09 am, edited 1 time in total.
tubby
Posts: 137
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:53 pm

Re: Mock exam result

Post by tubby »

Thanks for the replies, we had a talk with him, he said he does not know how to manage his time during exams, quite frustrating that it took this to get it out of him, b/c the normal answers are yes/no, but with a bit of stern talk, it is getting into his head that he needs this GCSE, dyslexic should not be an excuse, l know it is extreme but he needs it. l have downloaded past papers for him to answer as suggested by SSM, and will speak to school as well, and thanks KB for the tips.
magwich2
Posts: 866
Joined: Fri Sep 05, 2008 5:33 pm

Re: Mock exam result

Post by magwich2 »

I would try someof the revision handbooks which are available in Smiths or online - there are many which are specific to the exam board. Also, I don't know how your child's school teaches and what kind of notes he has ended up with from which to revise.
Miss Magwich ended up with a collection of annotated sheets, copies of other pupils rubbish presentations, scrawled notes , bits left out etc etc!!
She had to sit down and completely rewrite them (this time 2 years ago) so that she had a coherent set of revision notes and says that it was this exercise that gave her her good results.
For maths DH says do practice papers and more practice papers.
Good luck
tubby
Posts: 137
Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2010 3:53 pm

Re: Mock exam result

Post by tubby »

Thanks for that tip Magwich2, so grateful for all tips, am really having sleepless nights, and l am not sitting the exams :(
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