New Batch of Year 13 parents this way!

Whoops you'd slipped off my TIO again.

We are in full blown birthday celebrations so not much work seems to be getting done. Dd is off to Manchester Open Day, on her own today.

For resits, the school is asking for £29 per paper towards costs.

DS1 is hoping to resit one unit of his AS (the one in which he got an E) and has filled in the required form.

He is on a full timetable for the first time since the middle of Y10; he is very tired but only 3 weeks till half term. Some homework and essays are being completed, which is positive.

Progress on UCAS application: 0%

DS is applying for a niche thing so I don't want to name it out in public (and I'd rather no-one else did please so I'm not turned up with a search engine). I don't really want the faff of a name change, if anyone wants to know what I've just paid for (YES!) I will tell them privately.

It's done. Person A referred him to Person B who told him that as he wasn't applying to Oxbridge he didn't have an immediate deadline so go away. Many other letters of the alphabet were brought into play after that because from there it escalated quickly.

I will write out the timeline for the next few hurdles just in case I fall under a bus because today has shown that whether I like it or not I am the closest thing to an expert he has. Emailing it is a good idea Lobster because then they can find it. Well DH would find it, DS reads his email once in a blue moon. (That is going to be changing...)

Knitting I'm intrigued- what course is your ds applying for?

That's a good idea about writing down the general plan just in case - I think I'll email it to DH, he's more likely to read it then!

DS is supposed to be hitting "send" on his vocational application today. I can't wait to be asked for money because that means that it's done. DH was brought up to speed on what to do if I die in the night (make sure he gets that application in or I will come back and haunt you) but I suppose I ought to leave a list of what needs to happen next just in case I fall under a bus.

DS is the only one in college going down this route and it would have been surprising if anyone there had any experience in what is a niche application. I don't have any experience either but I've had a long time to see it coming, have been to two talks by admission officers and can work a search engine. He'll be up against applicants who have been well supported in school, given practice interviews and input into the PS equivalent. It is not a level playing field.

Dd has been talking to her friends in other forms and apparently those who have kept their form tutors have fully written references which were done at the end of the summer term. Dd's form don't, because their form tutors from last year left it for this year's tutor, who has met them 4 weeks ago. Although dd's reference is now going to be written by the teacher who takes their form once a week, as she has taught dd for maths since y7, knows her inside out, and is an excellent choice for writing a glowing reference. I'm so much happier now that's been decided.

We have been insanely busy with supra-curricular activities the last couple of weeks which will look brilliant on his PS one day. I asked how the UCAS form was going and got "really well, I've nearly finished" I was so chuffed and asked if it would be ok if I read his PS. Apparently 'nearly finished' means everything apart from that bit. His friends have told him they are amazed how laid back he is about the whole process. Our one and only campus visit next week

I was a bit choked up earlier that I'd nearly made an entire adult (congratulations all those recent birthdays, you've done it, got a teeny baby all the way to the grown up stage) but I realise I was being a bit premature now.

Colleges give info? I get a letter each reporting point and had one parent's evening last year. I had assumed that this was part of the whole preparation for uni experience, cutting the parental ties and all that. It has to be me that rings in if he is sick but that seems to be the limit of my parental duties. I have to rely on close study of the school calendar to find out anything.

Thanks kitten it happens to be an AQA exam so that's very useful (not Maths though).
I have no idea if the college will pay for the resit or not. I know dds former school expected parents to pay, but can't find this info on the college website. I used to think the school website was bad for finding information but the college one is even worse...

Careers appointment for dd was postponed and has been rescheduled for this week. Will hopefully help with her decision making post-18.
Anyone know how much it costs to resit an old-style AS module as this has been suggested to boost her grades?

ohyou
No they haven’t but her crease of her eyelid isn’t going down like her other side her eye is a real mess apology for the late reply
chocolate
I hear you although I suspect my dd gets a tiny bit of her ungratefulness from me but I’m not as bad as her

Oh no voilets! I was hoping that after a year living away from home she come back all appreciative and grateful and desperate to help . . . Bubble burst!

DD submitted her UCAS form last week but school haven't added all the references etc yet. She asked her form tutor about it today and apparently could tell from the vague and slightly shifty answer that she hasn't even started her reference yet!

Parents evening tomorrow though, so perhaps they're waiting until after that.

Rationally we both know it's completely fine and there's really no rush, but I I know how she feels when she says she just wants it "done and gone" so she can draw a line under it and focus on other things for a while.

One of which being the school production. Which she decided long ago that she wasn't going to be involved with this year. Which she didn't go to the preliminary meetings or auditions for. But has somehow managed to come home today as co-director and choreographer of

dear chocolate and lobster, I hear you but it takes ages to get better!
DS at uni ( was home until yesterday for summer) ranted because I asked him to hoover more than the front room after being at work all day and he had been playing games on a computer! The cheek of it.

He's a lovely young man but so not getting - have to pull weight as an adult and as we're paying for a lot of uni!

dear chocolate and lobster, I hear you but it takes ages to get better!
DS at uni ( was home until yesterday for summer) ranted because I asked him to hoover more than the front room after being at work all day and he had been playing games on a computer! The cheek of it.

He's a lovely young man but so not getting - have to pull weight as an adult and as we're paying for a lot of uni!

There are Harry Potter and Jack the Ripper themed walks in London not too expensive. The HP one shows you the locations where they filmed.

For all Bletchley visitors, the National Computer Museum is next door and that is well worth a visit for those interested in computers.

I just need to get through to Friday. DS has to apply for his vocational course this week, it's a weird one so he's not getting much support from college. He showed me his application yesterday (under duress) and his PS equivalent is ok. It could do with reshaping and deletion of a zillion commas but it is very definitely his. The rest of the form Is Not Complete. There are so many fields that are still blank, little things such as name and address of referee, they seem to be quite irrelevant. Strange that they are mandatory though.

Arrrggghhh

Thanks kitten, I'll look into booking that for us.