Any year 12 parents ?

[Pinkpeanut27]

How have they managed the lower 6 th lockdown experience?
I have 2 and both have found it stressful , one has just finished their holiday homework and has reverted to being 10 yrs old playing mine craft and gaming all day
The other is still finishing last terms work that they didn’t do during lockdown and making very little progress and has not even started holiday homework . But Is an expert on tiktok and the cat flick eyeliner look !

Neither are very communicative and have done nothing towards their uni applications, I have spoken to them and attempted webinars , I’ve signed them up for virtual open days , ordered prospectuses tried to make a list of places they might like to consider ( yrs I know that’s probably a step too far ) I’ve left them alone with their thoughts but nothing . I can’t get them to understand that this is time they are going to be least busy so they should be thinking and putting together personal statements . There school has also been sending these messages and they are ignoring them ! However they are both 100% sure they are going next year . I suggested leaving it a year , apprenticeships, getting a job Anything really do they didn’t feel pushed into a corner . They are both bright and perfectly capable but I don’t know what else to do .
All the mums I talk to say their kids are pretty clued up with ideas and plans and the kids all tell me their friends have done zero !

[grauduroi]

I have one! Generally managing his work ok but has struggled with the lack of interaction - he is very much a talking thinker who needs teacher interaction to bounce his ideas off of.

Has mocks when he goes back so is putting in work - but can be a slog some days as he sees everyday the same and that it will never end. I assure him that it will and much sooner than he thinks

I have done the same as you with uni stuff but he has no idea what he wants to do so it is a challenge to get him to engage - he has picked a course but i'm not convinced. Luckily he will take a year out to explore his options. Are you expecting any results tomorrow?

[Pinkpeanut27]

Hi no not expecting results luckily , still a year off .
One of mine has mocks when they get back , it’s the one still doing last terms work !!
It’s hard isn’t it when they don’t know , dh and I were totally sure what we wanted to do when we picked our A levels and were science based . Both of mine are more humanities/ English which seems a bit less clear cut .

[grauduroi]

At least they are motivated now. Mine is expecting maths tomorrow fingers crossed. My DS is science headed but doesn't want to be stuck in a lab - not quite sure where that will lead. Can i ask if yours are attached to their phones? Mine I think has been surgically sewn to his hand!

[yoikes]

Its been really hard for my ds1 (17).
His college have been pretty rubbish provision wise during lockdown tbh.
Especially in geography - so much so I've complained!
He went to 3 open days before lockdown and has done 3 more virtual ones.
He has 4 choices for universities for the same course - 2 need VERY good grades, 2 not quite so good :)
He is really stressed so we got him a Geography tutor (1st lesson today) as he needs the interaction and feedback.
He also goes straight back into predicted grade exams in September - surely they could have had a couple of weeks back first??
I think last years Y10 and Y12s have been thrown under a bus 🤬

[IrmaFayLear]

Well, I suppose the immediate attention is on the year 13s, and then to a lesser extent the yr 11s.

However, I am quite worried about this year’s yr 12, as it appears masses of the current yr13s are going to defer, especially as their grades will be better than they might have been. That means next year’s A Level sitters will not only be up against many - possibly many many - more students, but up against people with grades in hand.

I think that the next thing will be to work out how they can make it fair for the yr 12s, unless they are the year that will be sacrificed.

[netflixismysidehustle]

I have one

She's been told by school to do her Personal Statement and she's done a few iterations of it.

She's self motivated so has taught herself all y12 work and has started y13 work as directed by teachers.

She's not done any open days but knows what subject she wants to apply for

[boys3]

Ds3 here about to start Y13. I have stressed throughout to be prepared for a repeat of exam cancellations and teacher assessed grades next year. Whilst I think it is unlikely that will happen it has given him some additional focus and to be fair to him he has put a reasonable amount of work in.

Both his DBs had gap years, and one applied post A level anyway, so that is a route he may well take and reduces the pressure of choosing course / Unis when he's not really sure as to what and where. He went to a couple of organised visits (rather than formal open days) back in Feb, so that along with having visited his DBs when at Uni has at least given him some initial insights.

[whiteroseredrose]

DD is in Y12. Her school have been pretty good with keeping up with work. She has had a few online lessons is now writing her personal statement.

Actually very stressful!

[SausageCrush]

Dd here and lockdown hasn't suited her at all!
She's had a rough couple of years with her MH and was just climbing out of it when the virus struck.
I feel like we're on a live game of snakes and ladders
She's got AS Level results tomorrow, which will be her predicted grades for uni, so quite important.
Being optimistic I've booked us into her favourite restaurant tomorrow night to celebrate. No clue if that's the right thing to do or am just tempting fate...

[HarrietWimsey]

I have a DS going in to Y13 in September. School have been generally good since Easter and he has worked hard to keep up to speed as far as possible but has really missed the interaction with friends.
He has attended online university open days but it's been very difficult not seeing the universities in person. He should be working on his PS over the summer but keeping up the enthusiasm is hard.
I'm with IrmaFayLear and am very worried about next year. They have missed so much school already and I don't think next year is going to go smoothly at all. This year's results fiasco is not going to go away anytime soon and how that will impact on the current Y12s and how they will fare against deferred students with grades in hand, especially as they may be examined (and who knows how yet) on content they may well have not covered or had proper time to assimilate. Sorry I'm still so angry about this year so may not be that coherent.

[Pinkpeanut27]

I think the fallout is going to cover a good few years , those who have missed teaching for GCSE will suffer with A levels and those doing A levels with undoubtedly suffer . However I think it’s important for us as parents to be as positive as we can about what’s happening and look at all tne solutions . At the end of the day poor a levels grades is tricky to navigate but isn’t actually the end of the world and we need to let our kids know there are loads of options open to them . While privately screaming and fighting for them !
Their mental health is fragile and they need us to be calm .
I’m absolutely gutted for my 2 to have missed out so much and they are going to have a much tougher time than they should BUT it’s just different and it will be ok .

I ended up in my 3rd choice uni as did dh but we both had a fantastic career out if it and an amazing life !

[yoikes]

Anyone else's dc doing geography a level?
I'm rather baffled by ofqual not altering the fieldwork requirement?
What happens if (when) trips don't happen??

[boys3]

@yoikes - yes, and at the moment I've no idea. DS3's fieldtrip - overnight, poss 2 nights, was due just before lockdown and understandably got cancelled.

[yoikes]

Ds1s is due in October to Wales...

[yoikes]

...for a week..

[Pinkpeanut27]

Yes and her trip to Swanage was June and obvs cancelled !

[nachthexe]

She knows what she is applying for and completed her online stuff... was supposed to be doing a month long residential STEM camp on a uni campus for July which was obv cancelled and she was gutted. Is now starting to fret about masked classrooms. Urgh.

[Cindas]

Mine was struggling with keeping on top of things during lockdown to the point that he (we) made the decision to look at alternatives, and as a result he’s jacked in his A-levels and is off to college next month. He could have carried on with school, but it would have made for a pretty grim and stressful Year 13, and possibly beyond.

Once the decision was made, he was very happy with it, and feels it is probably the route he should have taken in the first place. I think that schools don’t tend to promote college courses to those capable of staying on for A-levels, so he (and I) were caught up in the “usual” path to uni and didn’t explore wider opportunities. The course he’s now going to take will give him UCAS points, so uni is still an option.

So all that has been lost has been the academic year - but it’s been lost for everyone in one way or another. And as he says, “come on Mum, did you ever really think I’d be ready to go away to uni in a year?” to which the answer is “very much not”. Funny how things can work out for the best.