Grow Your Grades 2016: Gribby2's Study Diary

23.3.16
Hi. I'm sorry I haven't posted anything in awhile.
I had a Geography test on Friday, and I got the results back today. I, along with three other people, got 24/25, which was the highest anyone got. I was pleased, but it was an annoying mark to lose, as I knew some possible answers, but thought they were wrong, so wrote one thing different.

R.E was fun, as we did very little and listened to S Club 7.

Also, I got my report back today. Some of my predicted grades were wrong, but I don't suppose it really matters. Apparently, if I continue working at the same level, I'll achieve (the equivalent of) six As and six A*s, but I'm not that convinced I'll do very well in my exams.

Yesterday, I had a GCSE Art trip. We went to the Laing and the Baltic. The Laing was interesting and I loved the Leonardo Davinci exhibition. We only stayed in each gallery for thirty minutes, so I didn't get to see everything, but in the main I enjoyed it, though I did not like some of the more modern pieces.

Thre was very little art in the Baltic. It was much better when I went in Year 3, Going in the lift was fun though. I'm usually scared of lifts (I'm more scared of escalators though), but even in Year 3, I loved these ones, as you can see through them and they go really quickly. Somebody was pressing the buttons when we were in the lift, so it kept going up and down and we ended up briefly in the bar (my sister inadvertently went there too when she was on the same trip several years ago).

We had tea, which was alright, but it took a really long time to come and the service was poor, meaning we got home later than we were supposed to.

We played I Spy on the way back (and the way there). The best things I came up with were sun roof and darkness.

How are you? I'm glad the holidays start soon.

Hey! Sorry it's been so long since I've replied!
What was the course you did online with Oxford University?
Ignore your predicted grades, they aren't a certainty of what you're going to get. Six As and A*s are really good though. And why can't you get them? You're just as capable as anyone else.
Ispy is harder than it's given credit for!
The Easter holidays are long overdue! Two weeks of freedom!!!

Hello. Don't worry about it. I haven't been on here as much as Inwould have liked either.

It was a slightly strange course I did in Year 7. About thirteen of us in the year did it. We just had to write responses to essay-style questions. To start off with, I probably spent about twenty minutes answering the questions, but by the end of the course I'd become rather bored by it, so just wrote down anything that came to mind. I really have no idea how I managed to get a distinction given how little effort I put in and how awful my answers probably were.

I'm quite pleased with my predicted grades (8-10 A*s and 2-4 As according to what it says on my books/what I've been told), it's just a bit confusing they aren't consistant. To be honest, I think for some of them it's because you can't use /s on reports. I don't really mind either way, I'd just prefer the predicted grades on my report to be the same as the ones on my books, as it would give me a better idea of what level I'm working at.

Thanks. I understand the context of the courses, but I'm worried about exam technique or that I'll be too nervous to concentrate. I get stressed enough by class tests without the added pressure of it actually counting.

I'm so happy it's the holidays. School is really tiring and I get so much homework, but I only have Art and Creative Writing, as well as some other bits and pieces that shouldn't take too long. Also, it'll be fun to have time to do things with friends and family. I hope you have a good holidays.

The course sounds cool and congrats for a distinction! I think everyone's secretly worried about the exams themselves and forgetting everything when we get in there. Or at least everyone I've spoken to is. I think we just have to not worry about it, or that's what I'm trying to do...

Art homework and shouldn't take long? Those are two words that never go together in my school... I hope you have a good holidays too!

Thanks. It was alright, but I didn't find it that interesting.

Yes, I suppose everyone does worry about exams. Even if things seem easy in lessons, it must be so much harder to write about them in exams.

The Art homework will probably take a long time. I meant that the other homework shouldn't take too much time. Art homework takes up the majority of my life . We're mainly designing our final pieces for culture at the moment, which isn't too bad, but I still need to finish everything in my book.

Thank you. I don't know what I'm doing this holidays (probably not a lot), but I'll try and get most of my homework done today, so I only have Art and Creative Writing to do later on and actually have time to do something that isn't homework.

Good luck with your art! My friends forever seem to be adding extra things to their books.
I hope your holiday is productive! (whatever that even means... )

Hey! I love my sister's keeper although in RE it wouldn't be so much fun... The number of times I've cried at both the book and film are too many to count...

Don't worry about your English teacher's marking. It just means that you'll get more marks than you're used to in the actual exam!

Ignore your group about year 4s. My little brother is in year 4 and he's never challenged. I'm sure if you become a student leader, you'll be really good at it.

It was quite good the part we saw and I'm mildly annoyed we stopped watching it part way through (I think we are finishing it when we've finished this year's work), but it is a tad depressing.

Thanks. I hope you're right. She barely leaves any feedback and then complains when we don't improve next time. I just got an assessment back, and she'd written 'R' on it with no explanation of what it meant. I had to wait with my hand up for twenty minutes before she noticed and explained it. Would it really be much more effort to just write the word?

Thank you.

Don't worry! My English teacher is the same. Nothing but 'see me' at the end of every piece I do. I know it's hard to understand but they have a lot of students and it must be repetitive telling them the same things.

I love the book of my sister's keeper, especially since the characters remind me of my sister and I (my sister is called Anna )... :P If you have the time I would definitely recommend trying to finish the film or read the book. I love the story so much, even though it is sad...

Sorry it's taken me awhile to reply.

Thank you. That's reassuring to know. It must just be an English teacher thing. I appreciate she has quite a few students, but I think she has only one Year 10 class, ands takes her about three weeks to mark any tests we do. She make us write PE paragraphs every lesson.

Thanks for the recommendation. It was quite good what we watched. I think we're meant to finish it at the end of the year. If I see a copy of the book, I might buy it.

How are you?

How are you?

I have to admit that I don't have my own copy. If I bought every book I read, I would be bankrupt... I wouldn't worry about your English teacher. Next year you'll be her priority.

I'm good. Trying not to think about exams too much and focus on revision... Completely not procrastinating...

I'm alright, thanks.




Yes, it can be better just to borrow them from people/take them from the library. Most of the books I read cost 1p of eBay/Amazon.

Good luck with your exams.