very very lost

ok so this is gonna be a long one, buckle up!
so i'm in year 10 and it's a long story but i got kicked out of school this march. i spent a month or so basically having given up on having a future getting high everyday, until i really deeped the fact i don't wanna end up homeless and jobless and decided i want to take animal care in college.
i really struggle with being in school since the pandemic , my bpd and other mh issues means i probably won't be able to be in school full time again and definitely not mainstream.
i've had a lot of visits and meetings with different inclusion officers, social workers, etc etc. however, rn i feel really lost. i need to pass 5 gcses to get into the course i want, i'm being told i should only sit english, maths and science, it was phrased as just advice but it just feels like advice i was forced to accept. this is just not what i want, the course isn't essential to the job i want to do but it'll really help and it's really important to me. i also don't feel like i'm being supported at all in studying, i've been basically teaching myself all the content for english, science, and history since april. it all just seems so overwhelming.
there's a lot of things i need advice for that i'm just not getting from the people meant to be supporting me.
my main questions are,
is it possible to sit the other two gcses i need to get into college even though i've been told i can only do my corr subjects?
what resources, websites, etc are out there that can help me stay on track and be sure i'm prepared for exams next year?

Reply 1

kzkzee

3

Original post by mgrace.x

ok so this is gonna be a long one, buckle up!
so i'm in year 10 and it's a long story but i got kicked out of school this march. i spent a month or so basically having given up on having a future getting high everyday, until i really deeped the fact i don't wanna end up homeless and jobless and decided i want to take animal care in college.
i really struggle with being in school since the pandemic , my bpd and other mh issues means i probably won't be able to be in school full time again and definitely not mainstream.
i've had a lot of visits and meetings with different inclusion officers, social workers, etc etc. however, rn i feel really lost. i need to pass 5 gcses to get into the course i want, i'm being told i should only sit english, maths and science, it was phrased as just advice but it just feels like advice i was forced to accept. this is just not what i want, the course isn't essential to the job i want to do but it'll really help and it's really important to me. i also don't feel like i'm being supported at all in studying, i've been basically teaching myself all the content for english, science, and history since april. it all just seems so overwhelming.
there's a lot of things i need advice for that i'm just not getting from the people meant to be supporting me.
my main questions are,
is it possible to sit the other two gcses i need to get into college even though i've been told i can only do my corr subjects?
what resources, websites, etc are out there that can help me stay on track and be sure i'm prepared for exams next year?

i’m not too sure about whether you’ll be able to take the other two gcses as that would ultimately be up to the school, but i do have some things that could help you as i just finished my gcses!
maths: you can search on youtube for explanations on topics you don’t understand, then head to physics and maths tutor for some practice questions
science: seneca learning is great for understanding, free science lessons and cognito videos are quite good for quick recaps, and do a bunch of practice papers / questions!
english: a little goes a long way, review your quotes and techniques every so often, maybe plan a few essays and responses (write some too) and get a teacher to mark
history: flashcards definitely helped me memorise a few key stats, make sure you have good exam technique and timings, revise this little and often because there’s just so much content

Reply 2

*LifeHappens*

12

Original post by mgrace.x

ok so this is gonna be a long one, buckle up!
so i'm in year 10 and it's a long story but i got kicked out of school this march. i spent a month or so basically having given up on having a future getting high everyday, until i really deeped the fact i don't wanna end up homeless and jobless and decided i want to take animal care in college.
i really struggle with being in school since the pandemic , my bpd and other mh issues means i probably won't be able to be in school full time again and definitely not mainstream.
i've had a lot of visits and meetings with different inclusion officers, social workers, etc etc. however, rn i feel really lost. i need to pass 5 gcses to get into the course i want, i'm being told i should only sit english, maths and science, it was phrased as just advice but it just feels like advice i was forced to accept. this is just not what i want, the course isn't essential to the job i want to do but it'll really help and it's really important to me. i also don't feel like i'm being supported at all in studying, i've been basically teaching myself all the content for english, science, and history since april. it all just seems so overwhelming.
there's a lot of things i need advice for that i'm just not getting from the people meant to be supporting me.
my main questions are,
is it possible to sit the other two gcses i need to get into college even though i've been told i can only do my corr subjects?
what resources, websites, etc are out there that can help me stay on track and be sure i'm prepared for exams next year?

Hi! I'm sorry you're going through a lot of things all at once! Here are some tips that may help you:
- Science: There are many topics in science, so it can get overwhelming with the amount of info you need to know. I suggest making a summary A4 sheet of info for each topic (use the specification - e.g:: aqa biology specification - and it's like a checklist and tells you exactly what you need to know), just so you can have something to refer back to if you get confused; making a summary of notes also re-inforces the info into your head so you're more likely to remember stuff. I also highly recommend knowing your practicals and equations, as these can gain you a good amount of marks in exams if well learnt. Freesciencelessons and cognito are my go-to channels if I get confused and I use practice questions from PMT and mme revise.
- English: York notes and cgp revision guides are the main textbooks I recommend, but if you can't buy them, there are always free sample pdfs online. I recommend focusing on context (what happened at the time the text was set e.g: victorian era), structure (the layout of the text), language (language techniques + how text was written), themes (main ideas in the text) and key quotes (quotes that you can zoom into, identify language techniques from and analyse). Don't forget to actually practice writing essays like from past papers from your exam board and using examiners reports to see where most people went wrong in those questions (so you can avoid making those mistakes).
- History: Definitely work on essay writing and use mark schemes + examiner reports from past papers to mark your work or get someone else like a teacher to mark it for you. Also know your context (key events, dates, people involved, effects + causes), so that if at all you get stuck on a question, your back-up plan can be to pull out some facts, so it's important to know these. If you do buy a revision guide, always look to make sure the notes are well summarised and not just waffling for the sake of it (as many revision guides have unnecessary facts + info that you don't need for the exam)

A general tip I have is to use resources coming from the exam boards you do for each subject - specifications, past papers, mark schemes and examiner reports; PMT and mme revise have great practice papers for free along with mark schemes so have a look at that too.

I hope that helps and good luck!