Year 12 - 2024/25 - Support, Discussion and Looking After Each Other

DS has about 9 in FM, but he said some are yr13's doing AS level.

16 ish in Sociology, not sure for Maths.

Thursday and Friday are annoying timetable days as he has a massive gap in the middle 2hrs and 3.5hrs. There isn't really anything to do locally, so is a lot of time to fill, but hopefully will work well going forward as he is generally more disciplined at school with homework.

Good day 1, new teachers, form class better than he was expecting. Too much ice breakers/stupid games today. Back to normal lessons tomorrow.
We have parents' expectations evening on Tuesday, so we will know what to expect then.

DS went back today, he only had two lessons after y12 assembly and form time - surprised by the size of his classes, he thought maybe 20ish people in Physics and Economics. And there are four Further Maths classes apparently! I wonder if they might end up combining them if people drop out over time.

Good first day. Only 4 of them doing further maths! At least they'll get lots of attention. He also got told his Mandarin GCSE went up a grade at review.

The next stress factor: maths set tests. I am more worried than DS.

DS got into Sixth Form, we had the place confirmed late on results day.

He will be doing Geography, Combined English A Level Btech Sport level 3 and and AS Level Maths (compulsory)

No bridging work. Goes back tomorrow.

He's really excited and looking forward to concentrating on his favourite subjects. I l know people are very critical of Btechs and think the children who do these won't be able to cope with A Levels but given how high the school have set their requirements, he will be fine.

Hope everyone's child has a good first half term!!

Induction day for DS today as well, complete with baseline testing. He is looking very smart and grown up in his new suit!

DS is in for his induction this morning, he has chosen to do critical thinking in addition to his A level choices.

DD had 6th form induction morning yesterday. She felt it was a mix between "telling us off before we've done anything wrong" and information overload about all the new responsibilities they have.

First full timetable day today and she's already got a twilight lesson after school.

She's not really thought about an EPQ topic up til now, but is going to go for something creative to balance her 3 essay based A level subjects.

I've started with the £25 one, I can upgrade further down the line if needs be.

@wonderstuff he’s doing maths, further maths and physics (and economics), so yes, the costly one maybe feels inevitable. Should be good value on a cost per use basis though! Not sure I can get away with declaring it’s a present for his birthday next week either! I was surprised it wasn’t mentioned in the sixth form joining instructions.

If he’s doing maths a-level I suspect it’ll be the £100 one I’m afraid. A friend said she’d give me her ds calculator as he dropped out of maths last year, she delivered it last week and I think she’s confused the gcse one with the a-level one, it’s not what is listed in the course description. Never mind, can’t face awkwardness of telling her it’s wrong! College apparently are putting in a bulk order so I may save a few pennies buying from them?

Nice to hear some positive starts! Dd tells me she’s worried about talking to new people. I’m sure she’ll be fine but anticipation at this point is getting a bit much.

DS is back tomorrow too, a return to his school but it will be quite a change - half the year have come from the school y11, half are externals. The rest of the week is team building stuff to help them mix. Just been digging around for a slim ring binder that he can take in - no pre sixth-form stationery haul happening here! I’ve held off buying a new calculator to see what his maths teacher wants, hoping it’s the £25 one rather than the £100 one!

DS had his first day today. Was home early and doesn't have his full timetable yet but was chatting away about the new students that have joined from other schools (he stayed at his school but sixth form is a bigger intake). He enjoyed getting to go out of school at lunchtime.

Hope all goes well for those starting tomorrow.

Induction morning tomorrow for my son - he is staying on at his school for sixth form. Still not totally decided on his a level choices, so it will be interesting to see what he actually plumps for! Probably maths and further maths will feature.

DS started properly yesterday, so far, so good I think. I'm doing drop off tomorrow so that's going to be a learning curve as I'm not quite sure the best way to go. Dropping him off / collecting him from college was never the plan but we will see how it goes.

As it was all a very last minute scramble I'm not sure of any SEND plans for him.

Day 2 of timetable today and early reports are that DD is loving Economics A Level. I am pleased because I did too! And continued it at uni. Socially things seem to be going well so far which is great, albeit very early days.

My friends son is starting there tomorrow. We’re about 30 minutes north Winchester.

Dd is rejoining the agricultural college down the road.

yes.

Good luck to those starting back tomorrow!

DS starts on Thursday for an induction day before school proper on Friday.

@wonderstuff PS?

That's really good news @Pharos . 2 on a course though - blows my mind how different post-16 study is going to be for different kids depending on where they are. Can't imagine any of DDs classes will be much under 25, I wouldn't be surprised if some were around 30.

We don't get a timetable until Thursday! To be fair it's the biggest 6th form in the country, it must be a mammoth task (over 2,000 joining this year I think). DD hasn't decided on her enrichment options, she's not at all sporty but is considering joining the college gym, I've told her she needs to do something active really, I don't know, I went to 6th form college and mostly skivved off my enrichment option, preferring the local cafe, I've not told dd this though. Most of her friends have been trying out for sports teams, but dd really struggles with co-ordination and just doesn't have the skills for team sports to be any fun. She doesn't play an instrument, isn't really arty. I'm sure she'll find something.

@anoukis No PE in 6th form according to DH. I was surprised as well. Although DS will still have an afternoon of games / team sports.

I wonder if DS would benefit from seeing his scripts in English and History. His grades (8) were below expectations and maybe he would learn from his mistakes.

Another start tomorrow, at 8:30am. School 6th form (which was my first choice but DD's second choice - she wanted a selective grammar but it was way too competitive for external applicant places).

Biology, Chemistry, Maths, and Further Maths. FM could be dropped down the road if need be.

I don't know why I expected to see some PE/sports on the timetable.. there is none. Luckily she does running/athletics at a club and plays tennis once in a while. Her timetable is mostly OK except Thursdays with a late 4pm finish.

No uniform requirement sadly. DD went shopping for "school stuff" with her own money (gifted from relatives) and she's bought a ton of clothes.

PS. Oh, and we asked the school for DDs English and Maths scripts. She was 2 marks off a 9 in Maths and grades were a bit lower than DD expected in both English exams. Not holding my breath for grade change on any of these... but at the moment we are waiting for teacher reviews.