Going into Y11 support thread

Oddboots, my dd has done a little, but mostly Art course work. I'm not bothered, she needed a good break.

DD did a little bit of homework in the first few days of the holidays. Then nothing for 5 weeks, then watched Henry V on DVD a few days before going back.

tbh She hadn't had a proper break since last Christmas. Loads of HW Feb half term, preparing for RE exam at Easter, revising for end year exams in June. She needed a good break to recharge. I'm estimating she has 9 CAs still to do, excluding Drama so I think things are going to be pretty full on this term.

We have been getting good general guidance, but I need some specific guidance for DD re whether she can really manage A levels. trouble is school only goes to GCSE so her teachers don't teach A level, but 6th form colleges don't know DD. Going round in circles currently!

I'm ok with dd for this year, she works hard and this should be reflected in her results. I'm worries about the transition to 6th form and the choices ( or lack of ) that we have. We are looking at the local college, or a scholarship into an independent girls school.

We have a meeting at school next week, I'm hoping for some guidance for post 16 choices.

Indeed, woodlands; I don't think DS has any idea of the level of competition out there. Since our government/s have progressively sought to divide our society into the predator and prey, it's even more imperative that a DC who is capable of being at what I'd prefer to think of as 'the upper hand' in life, needs, right now, to get on with it.

There just aren't the jobs out there any more for the less qualified. There's certainly more or less no chance of home ownership, overseas holidays... i.e. choice.

Transie 'Engineering' is not a bad starting point. The apprenticeships give opportunities for continuing study which means the technical draughtsman can progress to professional engineering.
The issue with this type of apprenticeship nowadays is that they are very, very sort after and the required qualifications (sorry I am out of date with what they are!) are only a benchmark and those employed have far higher grades than asked for.
I see this all the time in secondary school - I'm going to be an electrician Miss so I need a C in Maths & English. Those that get the electrician jobs with the prestigious companies here (Berkshire) have As and Bs at GCSE and often A level students who decide university isn't for them apply too.

I'm joining in too.

My DD1 wants to do well and tries hard when nudged.

I'm worried about

• what to do next, she'd like to do A levels but I'm not sure her results will be up to it, and there is no good plan 'B' at the moment
• how much 'extra' work should I be getting her to do this term

here's this year's GCSE 'advice' thread!

I found some of the stuff on here useful- I got DS, just 15, to read it, too.

I admit to great fear about this year. DS just does not seem to grasp the importance of 'giving it your all'. He's not unintelligent- my 'feel' is he's capable of say 2 x A*, 2 x A, 4 x B and 2 x C; the better marks in maths/sciencey stuff. However, he managed a D for the Y10 Business and Communication GCSE .... And his end-of-Y10 report was a very mixed bag, some pretty good (Maths and Geography); some dire (Computer Science and, frankly, Triple Science!)- lots of talk of him having to get stuck in, ask if he doesn't understand etc etc, along with several '2's for effort i.e. not straight '1's which is entirely attainable (DS2, 13, gets that and is no goody two shoes). The disappointment on DS1's part lasted about 24 hours before the narrowed eyes, folded arms and curled upper lip took over again.

I 'get' teenage attitood, I really do, but I'm begging him to try and reign it in and realise the only victim of it is himself! I am already beginning to 'suggest' 6th form college might not be for him; that tech might be all he can get into with the sorts of results he's heading for more suitable for him, which is definitely not what was on his radar. He's not practical or outdoorsy at all. I understand that there are still options, like an 'advanced' apprenticeship down the line but he won't get onto one of those initially if he screws up his GCSEs the way he's heading.

He so assumes the £350k house and the two foreign holiday a year are 'the norm', yet says 'No one of my age can ever hope to own their own house' to which I counter that it's those on the 'have' side of the equation who'll find a way (all these ££ houses will have to be sold to someone, won't they?) but by 'have' I mean 'have choice' which he 'buys' via passing exams.

Anyway, he's currently on work experience at a local civil engineering company ('engineering' is what he thought he might go into) which has been useful; I have advised him to look at what the engineers do, politely enquire about pay structures, and for him to see that the engineers are in a better position than the technical draughtsmen, for instance. I am not going to make any apology about 'ranking' people- my own family is a curious mix of happy, well- enough off tradesmen; engineers, IT consultants and van drivers (badly off). I just want DS to see that if he aspires to a professional level of career, he has to get good grades in his GCSEs. And now, whilst at school, is by far the best and easiest way of getting them. I so wish he were a year more mature at this 'still time to salvage it' stage!

I agree, just when you think you've got a handle on it all, they go and move the goalposts. Again.