Gcses 2019 support thread 5

Woke up today extremely nervous. What if she tried her best and it isn't good enough?

She wants me to walk in with her then she'll open them in the car. All I've asked of her is that she tell me if she's into 6th form...that's all I want!

We were out for dinner with the grandparents and then off on holiday on Friday. I booked it as either a celebration or a need to get away from it all. Gulp.

Email to child here, so no going in or not debate.

DS1 has taken to occasionally ambushing mr to ask "what I would consider to be an acceptable set of results" or "where is the that is disappointing threshold". All makes me sound like a dragon parent, but then he says he is asking because once the results come I will say they are good whatever happens, so he needs to ask now, so it seems I can't win :-)

The letter from school isn't clear whether or not parents are even allowed on the grounds. It just says "students to collect their GCSE examination results from the hall."

But then later says that to ensure they have an informed transition from year 11 onto their "chosen pathway" a number of colleagues will be available to offer support and advice to students. Parents and carers may wish to attend the school to support their son/daughter and would be more than welcome. It then ends with we look forward to seeing you on results day, but the letter is addressed to the parent and the student.

I could understand parents not being allowed into the hall and I agree but it would be nice to be able to walk onto school grounds and wait for my son rather than the nightmare that is parking even remotely near his school (think 100 year old school on terraced house street.)

DS2 has decided he wants DH to drive him in (accompanied by DS1, who's been through it all before) but not me. They'll wait in the car while he gets results and then advise or accompany him into school if he wants/needs to change A level choices. I'll be waiting for that phone call/text from DH then

Going with Dd at 9am and will wait in the car as need to drive her to Reading. She is quite chilled about results now, more worried about the weather:)

I seem to be going in with DD and her friend and her friend's mum. We're planning on breakfast beforehand too.

We are taking ds1 but we can't go in with him at 9.30am.
We've booked lunch as not sure he will be up to breakfast.

Mine is. I need to take him as a few miles away but he wants to collect results, text me them then go and enroll for the 6th form. I don’t mind, I don’t want to ‘hover’ but still excited for him

Anyone else's child made arrangements for results day?

Ds1 worked incredibly hard for his GCSEs and took a lot of shit from his mates over how much revision he was doing compared to them all still gaming. Ds is doing 4 A levels (further maths) so clearly wants/needs high grades.

Now all his mate's bluster and bravado seems to have disappeared and everyone is saying they are collecting their results on their own. No plans to meet up but they may all bump into each other anyway.

Ds is going for school opening time (the waiting is the killer for him) we are hoping they open the gates 10 minutes before as otherwise they will all be queuing up and down the narrow pavement. The letter from school says the hall will open at 10am. We will be waiting in the car, me, Dh who has taken the day off and Ds2 who is 13.

We are going out for breakfast before that, not sure if Ds1 will be able to eat but he still wants to go. We are planning a day at home after results to either celebrate or commiserate.

Anyone else's child going in alone?

I’ve just double checked the cost and one is £732 and the other (post 16) £937 to go to their closest catchment school.

Yeah
Ds1s is £570

Wow! I thought dd’s pass price was bad enough, counting myself lucky now!

Frith2013 I feel your pain re busses - I’m in the same situation- none catchment school 300 meters closer so I pay £800+ per child going up to around £1000 for the one going into year 12 for them to sit on the bus which stops outside our house.

If I sent them to the non catchment school which is 300 meters closer I would get free transport. There isn’t a school bus which runs there from our village so the council would pay for a taxi - it’s madness!!

No public transport within 3.5 miles of us so we have no choice but pay.

😮🤬

£800 x 5 so £4000 to get to the high school that we live in the catchment area of. Because another high school over the border was 500metres closer!

Meant to say - no reduction for the school bus pass.

@Hoooo - not recently. I did re: DS1’s bus pass to school which cost me £800p.a for 5 years. I was on benefits for 3 of those years.

They’ll actually be at the same college next year (first time at the same place for 8 years!) so, if DS1 didn’t have an EHCP, it would cost me £1400p.a.

frith
Have you contacted your MP?
🤞 for ds x

Ds1 has gone back to bed! 😮😮

Dd having dreams about getting E grades or whatever it is now, also no appetite and breaking out in zits.

And... he was out of school from December 2018 onwards. He is refusing to go in to get his results but I’ve got to go in and not open the envelope, just bring it back to him!

I’m hoping I can gauge what they are simply by watching the rise and fall of his specialist teacher’s eyebrows.

Getting anxious here!

DS2 hasn’t been in mainstream school since year 4. He took 7 GCSEs and 2 BTECs but feels he didn’t pass any. I wish he’d just taken 4/5 GCSESs, but that wasn’t an option.

The transition to college and transport is as silly and convoluted as everything with SEND tends to be. He can get a bus pass from the council (it’s taken 2 letters, phone calls and 6 weeks and still not received) BUT it’s a disabled person bus pass so only works after 9.30am! It’s a 25 mile round trip to college. You have to apply for a college bursary to make up the difference. Without this, it would be £700 p.a. To keep his existing taxi would only cost me a contribution of £500!

He needs 4 level 3s for the course he wants to do. It would be great if he didn’t need to retake maths and English but I can’t see it.

I'd not seen anything about the 16-17 Railcard till I heard it on Alexa via the BBC news the other day, and I'm a regular rail user and I've just had a family Railcard expire, I don't think they've publicised it well.

I bookmarked the 16/18 railcard months ago...... they have taken a really long time to sort it out, as it was announced in January. Anyway, definitely getting that for DD. She already has Unidays, you can get it from 16. Having a digital photo of DC's is really useful for all these cards. Used DD1's for applying for her provisional license as a surprise for her birthday, worked a treat.

Ah, that makes more sense, so you don't really need the railcard. No cheap train travel through college where we are, I think probably so few students travel by train as most come from closer by it's not worth the college bothering.