GCSE Summer 2020 - Thread 11 Carry on Corona Cohort - Starting New Terms and Settings

With regards to workload, do your DC have part time jobs or intend to work during college?

@Oblomov20 completely agree, I think it’s only now they are actually going back that we’ll start realising how draining it will be for them and how much strain it’s all been on us as parents too over the past few months. DS is going to be knackered by next weekend if not before!

We have had a cathartic but also quite emotional (for me, I don’t think he could care less!) afternoon doing a mass clearout of his bedroom before college on Monday. Organising books and files that correlate to A level subjects, getting rid of paperwork he no longer needs (all Spanish work was hurled into the recycling bin with particular pleasure ) and putting a selection of ks3 and 4 work into archive boxes for the loft (for now - we have chucked loads but I can’t quite bring myself to throw absolutely everything away).

It does still hit me from time to time what an absolute rollercoaster this has all been but such an anticlimax in many ways. Still feels a bit unreal that they never actually got to sit any of those exams.

On the plus side, I also got an entire hoover full of dust out of his room and it looks lovely and tidy...for now...

So it seems my DD is a 6th former that I can relate to - they went to the pub yesterday afternoon!

Feel I need to explain a little. She didn't have school so meet some of her friends including 2 that have left to go to a different 6th form - at Weatherspoon (Spoons) for a burger and coke at 4.00pm so didn't bunk off lessons to go the the pubs like some 6th formers I knew back in the day... and didn't drink either... Which is why she will do so much better than I did :-)

She has just played her 1st club hockey match since Feb - and I loved watching it. I know we have all missed our favourite sport - it was such a big part of my life for so long (only stopped playing myself in 2018). Was just so nice to say hi to people I knew in person.

She is allowed to leave school anytime he hasn't got a lesson (which is a lot), but is expected to do a lot of work in her own time.

Her timetable is pretty good, a couple of double lessons but not too many, 5 out of the 10 days (2 weeks timetable) she has last lesson off so means she can go home just before lunch (4 lessons in the AM and 1 in PM). 1 day only has 1 lesson in just before lunch the rest at least 3 or 4 and none with all 5 lessons.

She has been VERY lucky and has been put in a form with 7 of her friends (all her friendship group) and has at least 1 of her friends in every class so seems to have enjoyed her first day back with next day off..

Good luck to any starting next week - and for those who have started a new school and found it hard work - keep chatting to people and keep smiling :-)

Let's not forget the toll and toil this has taken on us as well.
I'm realising how much this has all taken out of me. I'm just glad that the first week (2 days) are over, and both mine seem happy.

@OrangeCinnamon1 I sympathise with the moodiness! Dd was the same before Friday. Hope she gets on ok!

Both of mine are absolutely knackered.
Ds2 started Year 7, and had his 'goodbye to year 6 outside disco' last night.
Both boys are cream crackered. I guess I underestimated what the build up to joining, and only 2 days of school, would do to them both.

Thanks Orange

Andwhenyougetthere not sure what community work school are doing this year - they also usually do some primary school helping as well as old people's homes, but they also do work for an ecology centre and for the local wildlife trust clearing undergrowth, trimming bushes/trees etc so maybe that would be possible?

DD is exhausted after 3 early starts and walking miles around a new building and meeting 200 new people. She has still been set several lots of homework this weekend which didn't go down well 😁

Piccolo That sounds like a very promising start. We all want them to do well in their studies but friendships are so important at this age.

Current school sixth form (separate building). Everyone starts off with 4 A Levels for the first year. 13/14 hrs per week of subject lessons. 1 afternoon of sport and 1 afternoon of extra curricular/more sports. 20 hrs per week of private study per week expected on top - study space provided. So, school day structure maintained which is probably a good thing in a pandemic - if it doesn’t all go online in the coming weeks. In contrast, our local sixth form college don’t want kids to hang around between lessons but haven’t provided study spaces, let alone direction on where they can eat their packed lunch. They have a large catchment area and the majority can’t just pop home inbetween timetabled lessons so chaotic all round.

DS's timetable is very interesting. He has at least 2 teachers for every subject (4 for geography!!) and the subjects are quite mixed up during the day (he's taking 3 A Levels and an AS). He has subject study sessions and also general study sessions. Not sure if the subject study lessons are supervised - if not, I can't see why the timetable would specify that the lesson had to be "Physics study" as opposed to the student just studying what they wanted.

Annoyingly (for DS), despite the sixth form students being moved to start an hour later than lower years (staggered starts due to Covid) he has 3 lessons a fortnight that are in the earlier lesson slot. DS (who takes pleasure in picking holes in things) is already asking how he is meant to be in a lesson from 8.30-9.30 if he's not allowed in school until 8.50. Not helped that his tutor couldn't explain this either as he wasn't even aware that some students were getting "odd" timetabled lessons!

He only had 1 lesson - maths on his induction day. The class were told in no uncertain terms that they only had so many lessons to cover each subject and then they would move on, so they couldn't afford to coast (I've been telling DS this all summer). They then had a lesson that was supposedly GCSE revision, but DS couldn't remember any of it (not desperately surprisingly, but not sure he's worked out yet, how much independent study he'll have to do to keep up).

DD has had 2 full days in her new school and all seems to be going really well so far. 🙏
She’s been adopted by a big friendship group, one of whom goes to the same youth theatre group with DD. I get the feeling that the whole year group is friendly with each other, actually, and the tutor groups are a mixture of year 12 and 13, so it’s a tight 6th form.
She’s had lessons in every subject but not met all her subject teachers yet, as most have 2 teachers.

DS goes back to the same school this week. Long letter received about one-way halls and mask wearing. Can go out at lunchtime & sports practices are on. No idea about forms and no timetable online yet.

Thanks for the new thread! DS had a subject wobble on his first day, but went to see the head of sixth form and all settled back to where he was. He had his first day of teaching on Friday, but has also come home with a 'community' form: something that I don't think has been mentioned by his school until now! He has to do 2 lessons worth of community work, fill out his goals for this, get it signed off etc. To be fair, I think the can accommodate a lot of them working in the school, but I do work for a local homelessness charity so he's hoping to come in with me for an afternoon. I'm slightly un-impressed that these forms all need to be signed off and completed by next Friday - it's fine for us as we can pull strings but I would have thought most community placements will take longer to arrange at the mo. Usually quite a few of them work in the old people's homes, but I'm not expecting them to be taking people on this year! I imagine ds was told more than he remembers, but it all seems pretty vague and unclear!

How are other schools managing community engagement this year?

So after all the drama of results day and not being allowed to do the subjects at A-Level and making peace with doing BTEC. DD seems to think that she’s been put into A-Level business. No idea what is going on there.

Just checking in.

Morning all and thanks to @OrangeCinnamon1 for the new thread.
DD has started at her school sixth form which she describes as 'no big deal, just school with less subjects and no uniform'. She is making an effort to make new students feel welcome knowing that it must be really hard entering an environment where lots of them already know each other. Good luck to all starting this week

Morning everyone. Thank you for the new thread @OrangeCinnamon1

Sending positive vibes to any students (and parents!) feeling a bit wobbly and overwhelmed ...it is such a change for many of them. Hope everyone starts to feel more settled soon.

DS begins properly on Monday. Think he’s ok but starting to feel a bit nervous. We did a trial run of his route yesterday, he has a 25-30 minute walk each end of a train ride. 16,000 steps and that’s not including any walking around college! I wonder how many mornings he’ll be requesting a lift to the station

DS has been able to re start karate training this week too which is a big plus and will do him a lot of good - he has really missed it during lockdown I think. Just keeping fingers crossed he is able to carry it on.

DD’s timetable is interesting - she has 1 hour of each subject every day. I can’t decide if it’s a good or bad idea academically. The college she almost went to does 2 2.25 hour sessions a week per subject so you don’t necessarily have lessons every day and you definitely don’t do each subject every day.

I think it will be good for settling in though as it means she’ll see her subject classes really regularly and can get to know those people.

@Monkey2001@FoolsAssassin sorry you hear others are finding the social side hard at first. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to be away from home at first - your ds has done so well!

Welcome @BlueMarigold!

DD is allowed to leave school during study periods but a) there isn’t really anywhere to go and b) none of them are at the beginning or the end of the day.

They have a common room with a kitchen and a separate sixth form study room, so I think the culture is to stay in school and eat toast/study.

Oh Monkey, you do really feel for them don’t you ☹️ It does get better but I think this year it is extra hard as a fair few have been holed up in bedrooms for ages and it seems more daunting.

BlueMarigold DS is free to leave school during his frees as far as I am aware.