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MrMacky's Road to GCSE Success!






CoffeeGeek's Road to GCSE Success! (GYG 2015 COMPETITION - THIS IS AN OLD THREAD, CLICK LINK AT BOTTOM TO BE FORWARDED TO THE NEW ONE)







Hey my name is CoffeeGeek, I am 15 years old in year 10 and I live in the UK. I decided to do this blog because I need to motivate myself, because in the past I haven't really pushed myself that much but as time went by and I had more exams I kind of built some confidence within me to get through exam week. This year is going to be a lot harder than previous years, I have started my GCSE courses with nearly every subject except Maths and Science, which I started last year. I'm going to be doing the new GCSE's in 2017 for Maths, English Language + Literature. It's going to be hard since I'm going to be among many of the first to do it but I'm going to push myself as hard as I can and get the best grades I can get (A/A* and if not then no lower than a B). I can get really frustrated at times when I try hard at something but don't achieve what I want (top grades) so I would get a bit depressed, yes I am one of those freaks who screams if they see a C lol.

Some simple tips about me so you get to know how I am doing, academically:

I am in set 2 for Maths, well set 1 just mix abilities (top-peforming).

I am in set 4 for English, after having bad teachers throughout year 7 and year 8, my english teacher (now my form tutor) helped my class get the levels up, he helped me get into set 4.

I am in set 3 for my science classes after achieving 3 A's in my end of year internal examinations, which I am still happy till this day. This year I am aiming for at least 1 A* in three of my science subjects.

I wasn't the very brightest when I started in my school, but with a lot of hard work and motivation I worked my way up and I hope I get to motivate some people with this blog because today, more than ever, students procrastinate and most of the time they don't even notice it.


SUBJECTS I'M TAKING FOR MY GCSE'S:

- Maths (Edexcel)
- English Lit + Lang (AQA)
- Chemistry (AQA)
- Physics (AQA) ---> I'm doing triple science.
- Biology (AQA)
- History (AQA)
- Geography (AQA)
- French (AQA)
- Religious Studies (AQA)
- ICT (Edexcel)

{Lol, I just noticed that most of my subjects are on the AQA exam board... interesting :tongue:}

Year 10 Report (most recent progress report):
Maths (6) - 6
English (6) - 5
Chemistry (A) - B
Biology (A) - B
Physics (A) - A
Geography (A) - A*
History (B) - A
French (C) - D
Religious Studies (C) - B
ICT (C) - B
- = Grade achieved
() = Target Grade
Green = Above TG/Yellow = Achieved TG/Red = Below TG

If you are reading this blog and you're in Year 10 then join the Year 10 Thread :smile:

I hope you enjoy the blog :smile:

Here are some study tips that might help others in my situation, I used these last exam week in order to achieve the grades/levels above:

Be persistent.

Use the Pomodoro Technique (google it if you don't know), it is a really effective way of getting a lot of work done in a short amount of time.

Listen to some Focus music on Spotify or something to help you concentrate!

Be organised and neat with work so you can easily review it later when you need it.

If your struggling, ask the teacher (or friends) or do some research by yourself on the internet to help you understand. Things like YouTube, BBC Bitesize et cetera...

Be creative with notes, don't just write them out, highlight important things to remember and keywords.

Don't just copy from a textbook, you won't understand (well I don't). Instead read the textbook then when you're making the notes try to put it into your own words, simplify it so it can be easier to comprehend.

I drank lots of caffeine (especially coffee because it is slow-release) during exam season to make me more alert and do stuff... quickly It actually helps most people but I wouldn't recommend drinking any quick-release caffeine or drinking it after noon because it is going to be hard to go to sleep.

On that note, get LOTS of sleep.

Also on that note, read your notes/textbook/work before you go to bed because it will be easier to remember.

Find out your learning style. You could be an audio learner, visual, kinesthetic... I am mostly a visual learner. Click here to do a small test to find out what kind of learner you are :smile:

BIG tip. Plan ahead, if your going to do 2 hours of studying tomorrow make sure you do that, if you only manage to do 1 hour don't let that discourage you. You can always make up for it the next day, maybe the next day your planning to do 2 hours but since you missed out on 1 hour that day you add it on to make 3 hours. Just have that mindset and it will get you through it (like it did for me ).

Don't stress, more you do the more likely you are going to freak out mid-test and possibly fail. (I freaked out in Paper 2 Maths test and I did bad, but not too bad because I somehow ranked 36/150 and moving up to set 2 )






CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE NEW THREAD FOR 2016![scroll]JUST TO BE CLEAR THIS THREAD CONTINUES FROM LAST ACADEMIC YEAR.[/scroll]




(edited 7 years ago)

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So this is what happened for 9th-13th Feb 2015.
Original post by MrMackyTv
So this is what happened for 9th-13th Feb 2015.

Sounds great so far :woo:
What are your overall aims to get?
Original post by Gingerbread101
Sounds great so far :woo:
What are your overall aims to get?

As in for end of year exams? I want to reach my targets for my subjects I am going to do next year which is:

Maths - C
English - 6c
All Three Sciences - B
Religious Studies - B
French - 6c
Geography - B
ICT - 5a/6c
History -6c
Original post by MrMackyTv
As in for end of year exams? I want to reach my targets for my subjects I am going to do next year which is:

Maths - C
English - 6c
All Three Sciences - B
Religious Studies - B
French - 6c
Geography - B
ICT - 5a/6c
History -6c

Great targets :yep: You might want to put these in your OP, just so that people know what you're wanting to achieve, and it makes it easier for them to see what subjects you're doing too so they might be able to help :h:
MrMacky's Road to GCSE Success!


Hello! My name is MrMackyTv (username not irl name lol), I am 14 years old and I live in the UK. I started a blog before this one but it I thought it wasn't going to well so I have started a new one! I am going to put more effort into this one than the last one I did. I want to achieve the best I can which means getting A* and A's, so I am always working hard with my school work. I really like Maths as it makes you think a lot, however it is the main cause of my headaches. I also like Geography, I am very interested in the weather and I would like to do something in that field when I am older. I am not a big fan of the three sciences, last year I didn't do so well in tests which landed me into the bottom set. So this year I am working my butt off to get into a higher science set for next year (I am in set 5. Which is really embarrassing lol).

My targets (GCSE Subject Choices):

MATHS - C
ENGLISH - 6C
CHEMISTRY - B
BIOLOGY - B
PHYSICS - B
RELIGIOUS STUDIES - B
ICT - 5A
HISTORY - 6C
GEOGRAPHY - B/6B (GCSE Equivalent)
FRENCH - 6C

I am happy if most of my targets are at least a B or a 6c. However, if your target grades are low (which means you can achieve them very easily) then there is less pressure on you from teachers (well at my school). Religous Studies and ICT are fairly easy and I don't really revise for the tests (I should!).

The main reason I am doing this is to track my progress and give me a kick up the butt (sorry for putting it that way but it is true). So please feel free to ask any questions or even talk, I will be here to answer them. The blogs are going to be daily, well I will try but I can't promise you. So I hope you enjoy!
:smile:


20th February 2015

Today I haven't done much, and I have started to notice that in the school holidays I feel very lazy and can't be bothered to do work. So for this whole week I have been procrastinating and always behind schedule. I didn't do any form of studying yesterday, but I did on Wednesday. On Wednesday I finished writing up (AQA) Biology Chapter 1 Notes, now I need to do AQA Chemistry and Physics notes. Chemistry is Chapter 5 and Physics is Chapter 1. I find that Physics is the easiest out of all three sciences as it is linked with Maths. In Chemistry we are doing cracking hydrocarbons which I do not find very easy. So anyone who is a chemistry pro please do contact me. Yesterday I made my Progress Tracker for this year which I can put all my grades in and track everything.
This is my biology notes which I haven't yet annotated so it looks a bit plain. I spent about 2 hours on this, I will include diagrams in my summary for Chapter 1 and I should be done with that and move on to Chapter 2 biology which only has 7 sub-chapters - unlike Chapter 1 which has 10 sub-chapters.

My plan for tomorrow:

Revise for Chemistry, Physics and Biology tests which are all coming up on the first week back at school.

Revise for Geography test on Rivers.

Complete any homework set over the holidays.

Practise lines in Romeo and Juliet for the character Benvolio ready for the speaking and listening test after half-term break.



If you want to see my progress tracker there is an attachment file to it and it has all the grades for my GCSE Subject Choices, so feel free to have a look and use this as maybe a template for your own Progress Tracker.
(edited 9 years ago)
Great update :five:
Original post by Gingerbread101
Great update :five:

Thanks! :biggrin:
21st February 2015

It has been a bit of a long day, I woke up late again, so I was behind schedule. I finished making notes for AQA GCSE Chemistry CH 5 and Physics CH 1. The half-term break has been quite stressful for me. I have had to prepare for 5 exams on the first week back to school. Today I missed out on writing my Biology CH 2 Notes so I will need to do it now. I hate it when teachers always decide to have all our exams for different subjects in on week. It is like someone throwing stones at me from all directions, it is stressful. Boy, I miss year 8 & 7 because I got to chill out so much but now teachers are at it in our ears all the time, telling us to get A* as if it is nothing. So far I haven't got an A* in any of my subjects, the highest I have achieved is an A. I really need to step it up, stop procastinating and just get on with it. I don't know how the hell I am managing all of this.

Plan for Tomorrow:

- Re-read Biology Notes, make sure I have got all the important information. Maybe do a past paper.
- Complete Physics Notes and annotate it.
- Re-read and annotate Chemistry Notes.
- Practise Romeo and Juliet lines for English the next day.
- Pack my backpack with all the things I need such as my Biology notes, which I will look through again in the Learning Hub and do summary questions.

My Upcoming Exams:

Biology, 23rd February 2015, AQA GCSE B1 CH 1-2.
Physics, 25th February 2015, AQA GCSE P1 CH 1.
Chemistry, 26th February 2015, AQA GCSE C1 CH 5.
English, Speaking and Listening Assessment on Romeo and Juliet (exams through the whole week).
Geography, 26th February 2015, Rivers and Floods exam. (A past paper)

I feel like crying, just look at how many exams there are. I think I am gonna die :ahee:. Wish me luck guys!
Oh and I really enjoy reading a book called Ostrich by Matt Greene. Very interesting! I am starting to read a lot more than I use to :smile:
Well, half-term break is officially over. Back to school tomorrow, got biology test and english test for speaking and listening. Today has been better, however I didn't get a lot of work done today. I have packed my backpack with my biology textbook, notes and exercise books for school. I want to see what I got in my Maths test and I do hope it is a good result! Also I am going to get my French writing test results tomorrow, which decides if I get to do GCSE French (no pressure). Today I only did one sub-chapter of physics, which is really bad but I still have time. I am starting to procastinate again, I am gonna put an end to that by printing off my study timetable tomorrow! The holidays have been really quick, well it was only a week so what do you expect! :P

Plans For Tomorrow:

- Get teachers to sign Year 9 Options form.
- Revise in the Learning Hub for Biology Test which is first period. :frown:
- Revise for Physcis and Chemistry.
- Try and find out what results I got for French and Maths.

That's it, well I hope you had more of a productive day than mine! :smile: Lets see how this goes for tomorrow, wish me luck for my Biology Test! :yy:
(edited 9 years ago)
Original post by MrMackyTv
Well, half-term break is officially over. Back to school tomorrow, got biology test and english test for speaking and listening. Today has been better, however I didn't get a lot of work done today. I have packed my backpack with my biology textbook, notes and exercise books for school. I want to see what I got in my Maths test and I do hope it is a good result! Also I am going to get my French writing test results tomorrow, which decides if I get to do GCSE French (no pressure). Today I only did one sub-chapter of physics, which is really bad but I still have time. I am starting to procastinate again, I am gonna put an end to that by printing off my study timetable tomorrow! The holidays have been really quick, well it was only a week so what do you expect! :P

Plans For Tomorrow:

- Get teachers to sign Year 9 Options form.
- Revise in the Learning Hub for Biology Test which is first period. :frown:
- Revise for Physcis and Chemistry.
- Try and find out what results I got for French and Maths.

That's it, well I hope you had more of a productive day than mine! :smile: Lets see how this goes for tomorrow, wish me luck for my Biology Test! :yy:


Good luck, you probably aced it!


Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Chittesh14
Good luck, you probably aced it!


Posted from TSR Mobile


Thanks, lets hope so! :smile: (fingers crossed)
23rd Feburuary 2015:

The biology test has been postponed to next week!!! So I now have extra time to revise :smile:. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get my Maths test results early, so it will have to wait till tomorrow (I don't mind). We revised in Biology for the test as an extra revision lesson. I got my results for French which were....6A!!!! So there is a very high chance of me doing French GCSE :biggrin:. So for the whole lesson we were working on improvements in our writing. Then we had English to be told we aren't going to be doing any tests for Romeo and Juliet until last period tomorrow (extra time to practise, yes!). History we have a new teacher because our previous teacher we had is pregnant, she won't be coming back till September. Our new History teacher is okay, something to get used to as always with new teachers. Then we ended the day with Music. Our topic is reggae and we have to make up our own chords and baseline to make our own reggae which is fun. Overall today was a good day and I hope the same for tomorrow. However, I have three periods of P.E tomorrow which is not going to be pleasant :frown:.

After school I didn't do much work at all, I went to relax a bit after such a busy half-term studying and catching up with things I was late on. Tomorrow I will be going full-steam ahead with my studying!

Plans for Tomorrow:

- STILL need to get Year 9 Options formed signed by teachers!!!
- Get Maths results. (Fingers crossed :smile:)
- Revise for Physics.
- Print off a new timetable because Biology test has been postponed.
24th February 2015:

Today has been an epic day!!!! I got 81% in my Maths test which is a grade B, I think I was a few off an A... oh well I am still happy :smile:. My average so far is 79% which I want to raise to the 80s. My english test... I GOT AN 8C!!!! Which is like a GCSE Equivalent of A* or A, but I was suprised. I jumped TWO whole levels :biggrin:. I was recommended to go drama club on Fridays which I am considering and it will look good on my CV and for uni etc. However, I haven't really completed my plans set today. I still need a new study timetable until then I am walking blind right now. I haven't got my Options form signed yet, which I hope I remember to do because it is due for the 6th March. I have my Physics test tomorrow so I need to revise that, my only weak point is Specific Heat Capacity which would also be nice if someone could help me on that. Otherwise, I am set ready for another day.

:smile:Plan for Tomorrow:smile::

- GET THE OPTIONS FORM SIGNED!!! :unimpressed:
- Go over any hard topics for Physics P1 1.1-1.9 (AQA GCSE).
- Print off my new study planner.
- Practise some French (which I haven't done in a while).
- Go on Bitesize and use their websites to help with Physics (or any other sites, please do leave some sites in reply to this, that would be very helpful for me). :yy:
Original post by MrMackyTv
24th February 2015:

Today has been an epic day!!!! I got 81% in my Maths test which is a grade B, I think I was a few off an A... oh well I am still happy :smile:. My average so far is 79% which I want to raise to the 80s. My english test... I GOT AN 8C!!!! Which is like a GCSE Equivalent of A* or A, but I was suprised. I jumped TWO whole levels :biggrin:. I was recommended to go drama club on Fridays which I am considering and it will look good on my CV and for uni etc. However, I haven't really completed my plans set today. I still need a new study timetable until then I am walking blind right now. I haven't got my Options form signed yet, which I hope I remember to do because it is due for the 6th March. I have my Physics test tomorrow so I need to revise that, my only weak point is Specific Heat Capacity which would also be nice if someone could help me on that. Otherwise, I am set ready for another day.

:smile:Plan for Tomorrow:smile::

- GET THE OPTIONS FORM SIGNED!!! :unimpressed:
- Go over any hard topics for Physics P1 1.1-1.9 (AQA GCSE).
- Print off my new study planner.
- Practise some French (which I haven't done in a while).
- Go on Bitesize and use their websites to help with Physics (or any other sites, please do leave some sites in reply to this, that would be very helpful for me). :yy:


I'll help you on SHC tomorrow. Good luck with the Physics & French revision! I'm on the iPad, I'll link some soon or tomorrow. Great work! Was the maths test a gcse past paper or a random end of term test?

Read my post :P.
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3157627

Posted from TSR Mobile
Original post by Chittesh14
I'll help you on SHC tomorrow. Good luck with the Physics & French revision! I'm on the iPad, I'll link some soon or tomorrow. Great work! Was the maths test a gcse past paper or a random end of term test?

Read my post :P.
http://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/showthread.php?t=3157627


It was a GCSE styled paper, they put up lots of questions into one test. We have tests at the end of every half-term but the higher sets at my school do it every term because they have a fast-paced course so they can fit in Add Maths.
I hope you do well in your GCSES!Work hard yo!!
25th-26th February 2015:

I am really sorry for not updating yesterday as I was super busy. On Wednesday we had our Physics test which was okay but I know I definitley messed up on the first question. It was like a heater and a piece of metal painted with different colours with a water droplet on each of them with the heater 1m away. A is shiny white, B is shiny black, C is matt white and D is matt black. You had to do it in order of which one would dry up quicker. I wrote A, B, C, D which is wrong because A and B mostly reflects light and doesn't absorb it but C and D absorbs it so it should dry up the quickest (D). So I am really angry at myself for making such a silly mistake but I will do practise papers and etc.

Today the Chemistry test has been postponed for two weeks! Which means more time to study for it :smile:. I also got my results in for my RS test and I got an A! Which is really good now I am aiming for A*. In French we were working on our prepositions as this is was the problem in the test when we were writing. I got all my three option subjects signed by teachers from French, History and Geography. All together I will be taking 11 GCSE's (which is scary :frown:)!

Plan for Tomorrow:

- Give in Options Form to form tutor and make him sign it.
- Start revising for Biology (CH 2 & 3) and Chemistry(CH5 & 6).
- Continue revising for Geography test which is next week. (Was also postponed)
- Print off some past papers for the Biology and Chemistry and go through them over the weekend.
- GET ON WITH THE DAMN WORK. :biggrin:
(edited 9 years ago)

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