GCSE '18s (20) - half term beckons!

Terf that sound great - I'm very excited that we are off to Warwick on 20th - it's ds second choice (on paper) at the moment. A friend as a boy in his last year there and he has absolutely blossomed.

limitIsUp will you be appearing on the Chase anytime soon?

Really sorry to hear about all the unpleasantness some are experiencing, I work with all men and I have to say I don't miss having any other females around at all!

Terf sounds like you will be off to Uni with your DS thanks for the feedback, liking somewhere in the rain is pretty impressive.

So sorry to hear about all the bullying You'd have hoped that by 16-17 they would have grown out of that! I expect the girls in question will be sad and bitter women by our age who will regret their wasted youths. But it's so hard to explain to our teenagers about "the long game"...I feel for you all (I was that bullied girl too and thank goodness for no social media in the 80s)

Actually I still get a bit of that from a couple of women I'm friends with now. Just occasionally they do that diminishing thing that makes me feel small and stupid. Like I will mention something that's going well/going badly for me and instead of support, they make it all about them and how much better/worse they have it. Last night I came home feeling really low and had to ask DS1 for advice (he had none but he made me laugh and we chatted for ages to cheer me up!) Bloody females can be so horrible

Warwick Uni is AMAZING! Yes it's in the Coventry rain...but the dedicated free P&R is well organised, student ambassadors welcoming and knowledgeable, campus is gorgeous, facilities great (single sex toilets too!!) DS is at an Economics talk so I asked for a bar and was directed to a fab place with cheapish beer and good music on the PA. I feel 18 again 😀😀 This is a definite UCAS contender from my point of view.

Well done to your dd Sticker, very mature response.

For anyone interested, some of the Cambridge Subject Masterclasses (one day with a couple of lectures in the subject plus admissions advice) are now available to book online.

Good to hear that she is steadily making friends with people at college. Former BF was a bit disappointing - lets hope she realises what she did and reflects upon it

We were chatting yesterday and she is making friends with people at college, but I think she is understandably a little wary. It probably doesn't help that they are all so far dispersed geographically.

In the meantime, the girls who made her life miserable a few months ago have largely gone to another college, but they all met up at a big student event on Thursday and DD was blanked again. She had been getting closer to her former BF at college again, but she was utterly spineless when DD was being ignored. DD retained the moral high ground by giving her a birthday present yesterday, but took great delight in telling me she had got it cheap with a big student discount! She does realise that it isn't worth wasting time on nasty people, but it doesn't stop it hurting when they are having a social life and you're not invited.

Gosh, it's really sad to hear of how horrible teens can be to their peers - so sorry that many of the dc are going through difficulties.
Social media is a nightmare - in my youth, it was easier to avoid unpleasantness by just removing oneself from it, but today, teens have to face it every minute. I think going offline is great and can bring a new normality.

DS is 17 ithis month but doesn't want any driving lessons yet (phew)

Oh dear what it sounds horrible. Great decision to come off social media.

We're going through a similar thing here. Dd had to block and distance herself from all her former friends back in May after they all started harassing her on social media the night before her first exam. She just stopped seeing them completely and has moved to a new sixth form, got her first girlfriend and is so much happier than she was.

Last night her former best friend had a party and invited everyone from their old school except dd and her girlfriend.

Definitely some homophobia going on in the wider circle. Even more complicated is that ex-best friend is bi and I suspect dd had a crush on her for a long time. Friend enjoyed the attention and is probably missing it now.

I thought dd had moved on and put it all behind her but last night raked it all up again. Who'd be a teenager!

Sorry to hear that What, at least she is happy in her new school. Sorry to hear that your dd encountered a bit of hassle earlier this week too Stick - was it former school 'friends' or people from college? My dd has made barely any friends at Sixth form college - her choice it seems (I've interrogated asked her why not). She has a friend from her old school that she hangs out with and a boy in her tutor group whom she knows through a friend of a friend, and she declares herself happy with this. In reality I think she wants to avoid any nonsense and she loftily says that she finds many of her peers 'immature'

Thanks, it's not been online, that was just earlier this week.

I feel it all stems back to DD coming out. First there were homophobic comments by a group of boys in school, then a racist comment by someone who she thought had been her friend. Plus being excluded from her friendship group by a queen bee turning everyone against her. It's all just worn her down. Each time I've complained to the school and it's settled down.

Moving schools has been the best decision we made. She's still offline and a lot happier.

Sorry to hear about your daughter What.

DS is 17 on Monday and has a driving lesson booked for the following week. He is the youngest so I already know turning 17 is far worse than when they turn 18 as most of them have already had a beer(been drunk!) etc before 18 whereas they haven't ever been put on the roads where other people are in charge of 2 tons of metal! It is the scariest time followed by when they pass and go out by themselves for the first time in the car!

DS is very happy to be down to 3 subjects and EPQ now having dropped his 4th.

Have fun at Warwick Terf we are going on 20th. Let us know i you miss anything and need us to follow up!

What she's being bullied online? And it has carried on from year11? That's harassment and the police would be interested.
I think we've all begun to realise that you can't hope to have the police catch your burglar or mugger or effectively deal with drug dealing, but give them the criminal's name and address and evidence of their crime plus a victim statement and then they will find that they can solve that crime!

(I'm not bitter... luckily I haven't been mugged or broken into, but there is drug dealing nearby (next to a swing park) and everyone knows about it, yet the police don't seem to have twigged. I worry because muggings are higher and DS1 has to pass there, alone and in the dark when going to and from school in the winter.

DD went back to school today. She is working hard to catch up on the lessons she missed, and is considering missing a planned trip to the cinema tomorrow to ensure she catches up. She will be dancing all morning until 2, so she will have a bit of a break. I'm impressed with the mature attitude.

On another note I'm just home from a murder mystery evening at a hotel. A professional company provided the actors, it was great fun. I gatecrashed, as it was DH's work who had booked to go, and no other partners went. I'm.glad to have finally put a few names to faces, he has been there over 2 years and it is the first time I have met most of his colleagues.

Limits one of my colleagues is doing the same as you. I've never watched it, but she is hopeful.

What DD faced some similar nastiness last night at a big local student night. It doesn't get any easier does it, even if they're not together all the time any longer.

Meanwhile, I was thoroughly enjoying a glass of red wine until I came face to face with a 5mm spider in the bottom of my glass. I am arachnophobic. I'm sure Boris drowned happy, but I'm forced to return to gin. Shame.

Terf yes to work being draining but new jobs are especially so. All that new stuff to learn. All those new relatioships. I think it takes 6 to 12 months to be comfortable.

Thanks for the thoughtful encouraging comments re handouts and writing. I guess by the time people get to university the system accepts that weak writing is not just going to be fixed by more practice and more effort and actually this is a bright person with weak writing

DS got given some sweets today for his work......I have to take his word for it as none made it home

DS2 was very keen to show me that he'd received a smiley face sticker from his Maths teacher (for getting 96% in a topic test). Good to know he's not yet beyond stickers as rewards...

Another one with a mark that stayed the same - DS was one mark short of a 9 for Edexcel Geography - so still has a very high 8! I think he was hopeful because his friend (different school, same board) was in the same position and got the mark on review. At least I can be reassured that the paper was marked correctly.

I would have liked to get DS’s AQA English Language paper reviewed - he was predicted a 9 (which he got for Lit) but got bang in the middle of grade 7. His teacher said his grade was ‘unexpectedly low’ but decision re a review had to be ours. With only 10 marks in the grade band it was too risky for a review. Which means I’m saying I’d only be happy with a review that led to a mark increase!

Cross-posted AH. A lot have gone up though.

That’s brilliant Bluebelle! Glad he went for it in the end.

I know I bang on about this, but as great as it is that so many of the reviews on here have resulted in a grade going up, it is worrying that so many were clearly wrong in the first place...Doesn’t fill me with confidence for A Levels when the results can really dictate next steps.

Just to add some balance Dds French Mark stayed the same. I think most of the re-marks at her school did.

DH sorry I meant AH

I would agree with you there cherry regarding social media.

Happy Birthday DH's DD

Terf well done on your DS's review, DS also had his 2 back today one went up and one stayed the same so definitely worth doing

Hope your FIL continues to improve Loose