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

Not the fingernail, the whole finger, knuckles & all.

How do you chew your fingernail noisily?! Mmmm.. mmmm.... hhhhhrrrrm...... crunch, crunch??! I've never had the displeasure of listening to that!

DD hasn't caught the cold yet, so reduce it to over 2999 students potentially getting it! She is just getting annoyed with someone who chews their fingers noisily in class. A snuffle would be a positive joy by comparison.

Great news on the review Loose. Glad to hear he got the grade he deserved (and you won’t pay!)

Brainmelt thanks! And I’m impressed by your DS and his EPQ - think mine is too chaotic for that! He does sound extremely busy, but it’s great to see them doing what they love.

New thread... Hello and txs mmzz
loose great news re RE!! And also so happy he's enjoying Music A Level. DS is so far very happy with all his choices. English is making him read so much more. EPQ seems to be focusing on research and critical thinking, with lots of homework! Already playing in several concerts too. All in all, he's busier than ever and individual music practice is suffering a lot. Wouldn't care if it wasn't what he wants to do afterwards...

Damn - still haven't logged off on my phone since name changing

I am inclined to agree. I am not convinced dd will have learnt a great deal, and I think she would have been better off staying at home. Its not good to spread the germs but in a cohort of over 3000 students (y12 and 13) I guess colds are inevitable. Plus she could potentially catch two or three colds over winter and would miss quite a bit if off each time. It's hard to call.

LimitIsUp seeing your comment about how other students feel about catching your DD's cold gave me a flashback to the annual awards night at DS2's school in July.

There was a special section - 10 mins of my life in the suffocating heat! - dedicated to students who had 100% attendance records. I think there were about 4 students who hadn't had a day off since they joined the school (and one of them had just done his GCSEs).

I was probably a bit irritable because I was hot, uncomfortable, bored etc but I remember thinking that there is no way they haven't ever had anything infectious during term-time, its just they came in anyway, probably struggled to learn anything that day but spread their bugs to 30 others.

Actually, I was grumpy looking back, because I definitely remember thinking: "OK, i've got the message, now can you just move and speed up a bit before I faint?"

Yep, they will be falling like flies. Its a recognised thing isn't it - for instance I heard on BBC breakfast this week that the first year of university is a peak time in which to contract meningitis (well, that's cheered everyone up)

Would love to do something Bluebelle but it’s been a busy couple of weeks so I ll probably leave him to catch up on work, sleep and gaming. Nice to have him in the house though.

Bad luck Limits I guess new school with new people and busy stressful new starts will make them all susceptible - mini freshers flu !!

Good news on the RS upgrade Loose !

I take it your dgd has a romantic interest in her biology class Sost?

Also impressed to hear of the resourcefulness of the student who set up a group for those interested in applying for medicine - I hope it pays off.

Dd has dragged herself into Sixth form college today with the cold from hell - very snotty and bunged up, sore throat and generally wiped out. I bet the other students are beyond thrilled to be sitting next to her . I tried to persuade her to stay home but she doesn't want to screw up her attendance record (they can see where they are at with attendance when they log onto their student account)

Oh how lovely, have you got anything planned or will it just be watching him work

Yay long leave weekend and an extra day with DS :)

Oratory I have been passing on all the great MN advice on medicine applications so he should have plenty to contribute

Bluebelle that's a great idea particularly so many young people get advice from teachers and other adults that is out of date or what it was like when they went through it and not necessarily useful now. Hopefully what they glean from each other will be more current.

Presumably they know that for medicine it is important to pick uni choices based on those whose admissions process plays to your strengths not those you like the look of. Someone published a list on here not so long ago.

Rather than getting a speaker from a GP practice maybe they could get a tutor from another school which has a lot of success or a uni admissions tutor (or just print and circulate the mumsnet threads on Medicine application :):))

Stickerrocks I think most can get voluntary work but its the interview process and actually getting an offer that is the real problem, also the school doesn't get great grades but that at least is something they can do something about, DS is teaching himself and sees the lessons as revision and to ensure he's fully understood.

Bluebelle Can they contact a local GP surgery/ dental practice/ physio etc to see if they would be willing to talk to them about what the jobs are like?

Bluebelle that's such a good idea!

Really impressed with a DC at DS's school she is in the year above and has set up a medical society at school so that everyone who wants to apply for medicine, dentistry or vetmed can pool all their knowledge and support one another they meet once a week. As DS wants to do medicine he has been invited. Apparently last year one got into medicine, better than none, hopefully this may increase their chances.

MOOC = "Massive Open Online Course"

DD1's school is using the Future Learn platform. And I'm quite tempted to do a course or two myself. There's some interesting-looking stuff.

From what I've seen so far, it seems to consist of reading articles online and joining in a discussion about them. The one DD1 is doing is spread over four weeks and there are others doing it in parallel with her, so they can have a discussion in close to real time. She's picked a course that is probably a bit easy (in that it's aimed at age 13+), with the intention of finding out how it all works and then maybe going for something more challenging.

I don't know much about the mass online courses but a friend did recommend FutureLearn a while back. Don't think DS has time at the moment but I can see that the short courses could be useful.
Whistl I definitely feel I'm on a steep learning curve at the moment!
Sostenueto interesting what you said about psychology before - DS says it uses similar skills to gcse geography but more so - in the sense of having lots of information and case studies/terms to learn - but he says it's more enjoyable! As your dgd loves geography she might disagree on the last bit!

I do think that the parents on the Baby Names thread should do what you suggest whistl and look back with clarity on their misguided decision to call their child Enzyme or Topsy. As long as your DS finds a partner who enjoys discussing spreadsheets so you can pivot-table together, your advice will go down just fine!

MOOCs are free online courses run by universities & the OU in interesting stuff.

MOOC - what's that?
Does anyone else feel that they are groping their way along and could really do with speaking to their 2025 selves (i.e. one year post-graduation) to find out what advice paid off and what advice they wish their DC had received and taken about when it was needed?

I've been groping my way along since DS was born in 2002. I definitely know through trial and error what to do now with a newborn/ toddler/preschooler/primary school child but can you imagine how the advice would be received over on the relevant parts of this site? Or on my future DILs? Yup.. no one would want it!

Its biology day today, I can tell by the amount of makeup dgd is wearing