Current Year 10 2020/2021 support thread

Sorry to hear about the close contact isolation It

Not greatest week here either, 2 detentions for DD, 3 days off sick, given up 2 clubs and offer of a third, DS refusing to talk to EHCP assessment so not sure if will reject it, argh. Hope others having better week.

Hi all,

We haven't heard anything about sixth form options from our school yet but I expect once the year 11s have left (at half term) we will hear more. No sign of the up to date grades they promised by the end of April, hey ho.

DS has just been sent home as yesterday he sat next to somebody who has now tested positive for covid. Told he has to isolate for 10 days. Not clear if it was just a LFT (in which case it may be a false positive) or a confirmed case. Expect I'll get an email from the school with more details later. Grrr back to remote school for him which doesn't work well.

Hope everybody else is having a better week than us!

@Rollergirl11 I'm so sorry to hear about your daughter . One of DD's friends was in exactly the same position in September last year, she'd hidden it from everyone over summer by wearing baggy joggers and sweats. It was a long hard slog for them but she is much healthier now, back playing football and seems in a good place. Second QueenMabby with recommending BEAT, DD's friends mum said they pretty much saved them all.

DD is back at school now after being ill. DS also at school but apparently not in one lesson and just growled at senco, his communication is so dire after last lockdown, almost no speaking at school or home though is starting to improve very slowly.

Getting sixth form options now from school, seems so early, but good to try them out. Hope the days actually run and don't get cancelled. DH has his second vaccine tonight, mine is not until mid July.

I generally lurk here (my ds is in yr10) but wanted to come on to send 💐 to Rollergirl. Lockdown has affected the mental health of so many of our young people. My best friend’s daughter was just coming out of her eating disorder when the first lockdown hit and it sent her spiralling too. It’s so hard. Hopefully you’ll get good support from the eating disorder team but try BEAT who also have lots of advice and support available.

Rollergirl sorry to hear your update and hoping dd gets good support. There is an eating disorders board on Mumsnet if you haven't already discovered it.

Oh @Rollergirl11 thinking of you and DD. I know there isn’t much we can do from here, but feel free to use this space if you need to.

So sorry to hear that Rollergirl sending lots of love to you and your DD. It has been such a difficult time for them, gcses and a levels are stressful enough without lockdown and constant changing methods. I hope she is getting good support there and if you need anything or just want to chat offline feel free to pm me.

Oh gosh @Rollergirl11 that sounds very stressful and difficult. At least she is in the right place to get some help now. I know it's not very mumsnetty but sending you a virtual hug

Hi all, unfortunately I have rather a distressing update. DD (and me with her) was admitted to hospital on Sunday. It seems she has developed an eating disorder in lockdown. We have been worried about significant weight loss for a few months but the true extent of the issue came out over the weekend. I took her to A&E and they admitted her straight away. It is a massive shock and we are all still coming to terms with it all. Not quite sure what the road ahead looks like at the moment. 😱😨

No need to tell either of mine not to work too much though lucky DD does almost exactly right amount without me saying anything.

DS had school closed yesterday due to flooding so had minimal online learning which I told him and he ran off then shut himself in bathroom, then third time came and did it. I also read the whole science lesson out then at the end realised he must have gone quietly. At least its open today but he is also not speaking to the Ed psych so don't know if we will get ehcp now as he won't talk to anyone. Though if they do talk to him they will get nonsense from him, said they need his views but his views will be his life plan is staying on the sofa eating biscuits and Pringles only leaving to feed his animals.

DD has been off with a migraine, third day now. And has another hair dye experiment not gone that well. Had my first vaccine and swam in lido, felt quite rough after it but improving now. Dh has his second on Friday. Hope everyone is fine.

DD had exams the first two weeks back after Easter - she has been working very hard and I think productively. I know you’re not meant to compare but she and DS in year 12 approach things very differently - he needs more guidance aka nagging to get things done whereas DD needs guidance not to do too much...

I have no faith in the government organising anything for next years exams in a timely and efficient manner. Just have to keep on going and hope it will be all right.

@TheOnlyMrsW very glad to hear mine is not the only one refusing to do anything other than what has been set, hope the school manage to sort out the timetable clash! School have promised us up to date working at grades by the end of April (presumably from all the assessments they did once they were back in person) but no sign yet, probably an email on Friday afternoon and no chance of any questions or queries about it being answered until Tuesday.

Has anybody got anything nice planned for the bank holiday weekend? I feel like I should plan something but haven't managed to yet and the weather is not looking fantastic. Hope your jab and lido trip go well @Silkiecats DH and I both had our first jab last week and felt a bit rough the next day but it didn't last long.

My two are a bit fed up with masks all the time and testing twice a week but it doesn't feel like that is going to change any time soon. As the weather gets warmer the masks are going to get more annoying I think. I'm more concerned about any adaptations they may do to the curriculum for exams next summer but there doesn't seem to be any sense of urgency from the government, you would think they would be keen to do more forward planning after the mess that was last year and for this year's yr11!

Thanks Rollergirl Hope you have a lovely time in Devon too and hope you get your foreign holiday.

Fairly quiet here. DD has changed tutors and going well so far. No more exams until after half term. DS is refusing to see the Ed Psych which works for us as well as gives us more time to sort the house. Would have preferred a day out. Next 'day out' is my covid vaccine followed by the lido at 10C though at least as I have to go an hour away to get a vaccine its the heated one though no parking so that could be interesting and no changing. So will need to go in a wetsuit for vaccine will just have to put long jumper over it and have a sleeve off as can never remove those once on. DH has his second jab the following weekend, we had to be careful not to be on same day.

Not sure how long ed psych will accept DS answer of no, she's asked 4 times but the senco said he's the most determined child he's ever met in 30 years so zero chance of DS backing down. Just hoping rabbit doesn't eat the new sofa covers I had to get as rabbit had eaten a large chunk of the leather sofa. DS had 2 vaccines today and is very drowsy but at least they are done. DD went out with her old friends for a day at the weekend.

Nothing really to report here. Just plodding along but don’t want to lose the thread again.

I think I posted here ages ago - am going to have to read back and take a look

Afternoon all - trying to post regularly even though there's very little going on at the moment!!!! This week's big news so far is that the exam timetable has been released for the week after half-term and school seem to have forgotten that there is a - admittedly very small - group who are dual linguists so all of their French and German exams are on at the same time!!! There doesn't seem to be a plan yet to work out how to deal with it - I do feel for school as there are only 10 in the entire year, and they're doing all four elements on different days so must be a nightmare to try and arrange.
DD is still refusing to engage much with the idea of revising outside of what they're doing in lessons and as homework anyway . I think know because she keeps whinging about it that she's fed up of hearing about the exams from the teachers but we did warn her it would happen as it does every year when it gets to this point in the summer term!!!!
Hope everyone's DCs are all ok and settling back after holidays!!!!

@IThinkIMadeItWorse funny you should mention tutors. DD literally told me a few days ago that she knows loads of people that have tutors. But these are all students that are in top sets for everything so I was quite surprised. One of the girls DD talked about who has a Maths tutor, her Mum is actually DD’s current Maths teacher and DD is top set so I can’t really fathom why they have paid for a tutor! For a split second I started to question myself and if I should be getting one for DD but then I checked myself, DD absolutely doesn’t need one and is doing fantastic as she is. DS is another matter and I think he would deffo benefit from a tutor closer to his GCSE’s. Although he wouldn’t be happy about it that’s for sure.

@Silkiescats I’ve booked a week in Devon for August so far. We did the same last year and really lucked out with the weather. I booked this at the end of Jan as at that point it very much looked like there would be no international travel this summer and I thought UK accommodation would get booked up quickly. But I would like to go abroad if we are able to travel. The cost of multiple tests will definitely be a factor though and I am not willing to spend £1K plus on testing so will only consider if tests come down in price. Your holiday sounds like heaven btw!

Good luck with your Ed Psych visit. Sounds like a veritable minefield! 🥴 But hopefully it will highlight your DS’s definite need for EHCP.

The house seems very quiet today. I have a day of cleaning to be getting on with. Oh the joy!

Welcome back Rollergirl Glad you had a great Easter and glad your DD got a good birthday. Enjoy those pub lunches.

Hope you get your foreign summer holiday. I've booked UK again as I'm not sure DS would cope with the testing plus it adds another £1,000 to the cost though the UK was so booked out this year and prices are up. Also had to not book first two weeks in case of covid close contact from school so not expecting great weather, last year we had lovely weather in Devon but we got the two good weeks a year. We've booked a week in the castle on the coast again with an indoor pool and activities on site and will take boat trips over round coast and to Lundy again, want to swim with seals again. Then we take a helicopter flight to Isles of Scilly and stay on Tresco coming back on a small plane. Both are very excited about the helicopter.

We were also thinking of going out without kids to see the seals on a boat trip but got an email from ed psych saying she'ld like to do a home visit for DS for his EHCP assesment for help at school as he won't communicate at school. He says he won't talk to her anywhere but feel obliged to say yes. We had been leaving the stuff from our house move thinking noone will be round until mid May, we can have a break. Plus rabbit has been eating our leather sofas. Then we have the logistics of rabbit lives in living room and DS is always with rabbit. I am allergic (asthma) to rabbit so cannot be in same room. But cat has dementia and lives in dining room and attacks visitors. Rabbit also needs to be seperated from cat otherwise he will charge at her and try and jump on her, they have a baby gate. But DS will run when he sees ed pscyh and may leave gate open leading to a rabbit / cat incident and then DS will run round entire house and lock himself in the furthest bathroom, ed psych will presumably follow so we have to sort all the house. Argh. It's a pointless exercise as he will just lock himself in bathroom and either be mute or scream, we tried already with autism assessment on video call. Hoping ed pscyh will take the hint and not come round but suspect she will anyway. All needs doing just had wanted a break first.

Its We aren't using tutors, also doesn't seem much homework, but grades are fine so will leave it for DD. My DS won't work with tutors. My friend uses one for French, I can see point in that as schools grades are weaker. At the grammar quite a lot of the girls had tutors but it was very full on for them and felt sorry for them as it was all study.

StColumbo My DS is y9 and terrible with the history questions, he gets me to write it but he finds putting the same in the argument for and the argument against hilarious and only 1 line for each. But he's certain he'll get grade 9 in GCSE.

@IThinkIMadeItWorse DS2 started his history today which is basically revision for a timed essay tomorrow. I looked at the paper and under evidence he has written ‘because they killed lots of people.’ Errr, pretty sure that isn’t evidence. I talked it through with him but he basically said he will just manage it tomorrow. He has done really well in history but bloody hell, not if he reproduces that tomorrow. He is year 8 so has time to ‘realise’. Doubly annoying for me as I am a historian.

DS1 though I am sure he should have been revising says it is all under control and though I never see him do work his report makes it clear he is so I’m trying to relax.

All the best to those going back to school tomorrow, mine have been back a week and it's going ok.

Friend of mine says that her yr10 daughter reports that ALL her friends have tutors so I'm now left wondering if we should try and find a tutor for DS. He is really not keen on that idea! He does do the work the school are setting - but they don't seem to set much homework and in his weaker subjects he's doing only the bare minimum and rejects the idea of extra work. I'm sure the school have told them to revise previous topics etc but if it's not actually set on google classroom he doesn't want to do it. For him instructions have to be precise so general instructions to "revise" is not helpful.

Pub lunch sounds nice, hope you enjoy @Rollergirl11 - might try and persuade DH to go out as the weather improves if I can drag him away from his work - working from home means that work is always there so he ends up doing too many hours, a common problem I am sure.

@Rollergirl11 welcome back. We are also back tomorrow though DS has an orthodontist appointment in the morning. I’ll still have DS3 here as he has an INSET day and my parents are moving this week which somehow seems to have become my responsibility.

Hey everyone 👋. I think I must have dropped off the thread for a bit! Hope everyone is well and enjoying the slow easing of restrictions. We have just come to the end of our school holidays, DD and DS back tomorrow.

I actually feel like we’ve done quite a lot. It was DD’s birthday on Good Friday and the weather was good so managed to get out for a walk/picnic with family that we haven’t seen since last summer so that was really nice. I’ve managed to get over and see my parents for lunch in their garden too so am feeling much better having seen them. DD and her friends went to Westfield shopping on Wednesday to celebrate her birthday and then they all came back to ours in the evening for a little gathering in our garden. Even DS has been more sociable this holidays meeting up with various different friends in parks. Usually he’s chained to his Xbox.

DH had his jab on Friday which I am chuffed about. This means that both of us will have had both jabs by beginning of July which is a relief. I am starting to tentatively hope that we might get a holiday abroad this summer but won’t look to book anything till much closer to the time.

The kids are both fine about going back to school tomorrow. I always think that this term is the best with warmer weather and longer days.

Hope everyone is all good. DH and I have a few pub lunches booked this week, thought we’d save it till the kids were back and savour it a bit more. 😂🥳

Hope you have a lovely rest of holidays Columbo and good luck with the fasting. 4 days of school down, quite uneventful so far but that's not a bad thing. DDs hair seems to be turning a more natural colour though it could be my poor eyesight and her rushing past, may have been a mirage.

Got both my covid vaccines in now and DH's second booked in though all an hour away.

Totally fell off. We are still on holiday and DS1 and DS2 have decided to fast for Ramadan for the first time - wondering how they will manage at school but lots of other kids do so I am sure that they will be fine.

We got end of term reports but to be honest since we only just had parents’ evening there were no surprises.