Official Year 11 Chat 2023-24

honestly same, maths just clicks! theres a couple of topics i'm struggling on at the moment but thankfully not very many.
the computing is so good! and business will be fine, its over 50% at least, and yeah teachers will tell you your grades are lower than they are so that it encouraages you to work or something? i don't know, i think it's pretty stupid haha
graphic communications is an art subject, we do it next door to the fine art classes. its also called graphical art, and it can be designing magazine covers, album covers, film posters, or anything really. it's often used in advertising, but it's a really fun gcse!
im just about to start typing all the english things up, so that should be on here in a minute

yeah we've finished the chem course too, we finished it today actually! and i swear we never learnt half the stuff in biology... what happened to phototropism and photosynthesis?? WHY DOES THE DARK GROW?? i do not understand hahaha

okay, english language tips:
Question 1: try and prove that the ones you don't think are right are wrong, if that makes sense? like say you think that ABCD are right, try to prove EFGH are wrong
Question 2: i could be wrong, but i think they always want a summary of the differences between the two sources. so i like to do 2-3 (preferably 3) paragraphs on the differences. also, make sure its differences in what the question is asking, for example differences in the weather or personalities or whatever, and that you're not analysing language! i do that accidentally all the time
Question 3: i think most of the UK uses some sort of PEE/PEEZAE/PEEZATE/PEEL paragraphs? i use these, but i like to have my first sentence be my point, second the quote, which functions as the evidence, and then i start the third with: "The use of this ____________ shows the reader / gives the reader the effect that ___________. and then i go from there with however many more sentences i think it needs. don't forget to link back to the question at the end of the paragraph, by saying something like: "Therefore, the author presents __________ as _________ because ___________" also, remember that question 3 is usually: "how does the author use [BLANK] to present [BLANK]", and i find question structure a good thing to revise. you also really want to be analysing the language in q.3, like metaphors, similes, juxtaposition. anything you can find and waffle about
Question 4: this is going to be on how the authors convey their thoughts and feelings, it always is. you need to find author's perspectives, and compare and contrast them. you can also compare and contrast the authors' methods. using at least one "both authors" and at least one "however" (aka at least one similarity and one difference) is best. i try to aim for about 4 paragraphs here
Question 5/Section B: this is worth half the marks of your paper, do not undervalue it. i find persuasive writing fairly easy, which i'm grateful for. but you know its always going to be one of these three things: 1. a newspaper/magazine article 2. a letter or 3. a speech. i think i spoke about paragraph structures before, but i'll say it again just in case:
also, throughout question 5, add in lots of semicolons, brackets (as little asides to the examiner - it helps them hear your personal voice!), dashes, persuasive techniques (like rule of three, personal pronouns, rhetorical questions/repetition). shove it properly chock full of them. and add a little bit of humour here and there. it really helps the examiner to feel more comfortable with you, and then makes them more open to your persuasion
finally for question 5, read a magazine article once a week from a website like the guardian. there are obviously other websites if you prefer, but thats the one our teacher told us to use. it helps expand your vocabulary and get a feel for what you're aiming for. and don't forget to add some flair!
i know that was really long, but that is my full list of tips for gcse english language! (or at least the paper i just took)
don't forget to plan out your timings before the exam - a lot of people reccommend a 50/50 time split between section a and b, but i find my section a needs more time.
keep looking over old exam papers and familiarise yourself with what each question will ask - it always has a set formula - and revise the correct way to answer them. you're doing brilliantly already, i have no doubt you'll be getting nines soon!

im in the process of it kind of but i have a few from mocks 🥲 oh also what poetry anthology do you do? i do love and relationships

yeah i know right - but i think sometimes you really just have to use context in the question Practicing loads of these questions will be really helpful !

Thanks a lot !! Thats great advice and I really appreciate it.
I also found that for the summarise question (language paper 2 btw) it's really important to look at the bigger picture of the text relative to what the question is asking - I got 8/8 using this !

Do we need to memorise every single poem
?

Alrighty I do a Christmas Carol, macbeth and inspector calls along with power and conflict as my poems x
I think the choices my school did isn't bad but personally I found romeo and juilet easier then macbeth to annotatate 😂 but both are good
I can help ppl who do jekyll and Hyde or romeo and juilet as I have learnt these as gcse texts but they aren't the ones my school is doing

predictions for romeo n juliet?

Do we need to memorise every single poem
?

Hi everyone
I'm going to year 11 on Wednesday and I'm not looking forward to it.
The subjects I am doing :
English lit and lang - wjec eduqas
Maths - edexcel
Geography- aqa
Spanish - aqa
Biology - aqa
Chemistry - aqa
Physics- aqa
Religious studies - ( I'm not sure about the exam board but I think it's edexcel or wjec )
My grades are currently at 6 - 9. I am hoping for 7s and above but I will be happy with 6s.
For alevls I hope to do biology chemistry and possibly psychology.
For english lit I am doing A Christmas Carol, Othello and Inspector Calls and poetry. If any one has any tips for how to revise for english lit can you please give them to me.
I hope everyone has a good year and get the grades you want.

me too, but the composition brief I got is trash. It's a pop song on environment or relationships. What brief do u have?

is this for music?

does anyone know how you’d analyse the poem ‘remains’ from power and conflict based on the theme of nature??

remains doesnt really tackle the theme of nature, its more the power dynamic of the soldier and the internal conflict after, with the soldiers ptsd.