Corona Cohort Y12 into Y13, braving the storm of the third wave

Commiserations to everyone being forced to self isolate - what a drag, so close to the end of term.
We have been incredibly lucky, with no cases in either DC’s year groups at all this term.

Not surprised you’re tamping, Piggy - that history grade makes no sense! You may remember DD had a similar teacher for GCSE history; his last working at grade for her, post mocks, was a 5…when she got well into an 8 in the mock, and he actually ended up giving her an 8 for her CAG.
We’re having a similar but different issue with her geography exam results. The teacher has pulled out a grade boundary that suggests they virtually all got Ds (DD has been graded B, with excellent attitude to learning all year) but the published grade boundaries for at least 2918 and 2019 would suggest they would get Bs.
We won’t be any the wiser until reports arrive, which will be after term finishes next week. 😩

DD got A B in her other subjects, which she’s happy with.

@Piggywaspushed I feel your pain re grades given. DD was given working at grade C in Biology at Christmas and April but has never acheived a C in any test (usually Bs with a couple of As).

She has just had her end of year Mocks results back:
A Psycology (2 marks off A*
A* PE
B Biology (2 marks off A).

So we are happy, relieved really as hoping the school will predict her an A in Biology and not the B they mentioned previously as they said she was working at a C! They are well know for being extra cautious.

Even the PE teacher has told me that she doesn't think she will be able to predict an A* as she doesn't know anyone who has ever acheived it and it's risky. I'm not sure what is risky about it. I know that hockey is notoriously hard to score highly on but she is acing her theory.

Sorry to hear about the those ill or isolating, Numbers are going up up up here on the Wirral I believe, more and more off school at the moment. We break up next Friday and fingers and toes crossed we make it until the end without testing positive or having to isolate.

Very sad to hear that DD is now starting on next years work. They have finished their exams, had another whole day on UCAS info, EPQ day but now nothing but normal lessons. I'm not sure what I expected them to be doing as I know it's hard due to covid but I did think they would have some fun.

@Monkey2001 I think that all sounds wise!

I feel like we’re waiting for the Covid hammer to fall - the brother of one of DSs close friends has Covid. The brother is in DDs year and various people have had to isolate (not her).

If DSs friend gets it then DS will have to isolate and then he’ll potentially get it and we’ll be isolating. And DD will not be impressed as she has a music exam
on 12th July…

Let’s hope no one else does get it!

Sorry to hear of those having to self isolate and miss even more teaching and activities.

@Piggywaspushed that’s so annoying about grades

DD finished exams today thankfully. 2 week wait till ‘results day’.
Actual recording for Drama and Theatre Studies next week which is worth 30% of A level.

On a good news note DD had a sixth form music concert playing in the orchestra and singing in the choir this week. Was lovely to watch and DD just said how much she missed performing. Also 2 of the year 13s were off to Chichester to do music so DD is now back to considering uni applications as well as conservatoires.

Still no driving licence.

Thanks @Monkey2001
I guess we are expecting a lot more competition from students who would have gone this year but might decide to take a gap year in the hope that everything will be back to “normal” by then

Due to having tonsillitis, Dd only managed one mock. Three teachers moderated her essays and she got a good mark especially considering she was ill. So many yr12 are off isolating though so it is going to be difficult to assess as they have been told to do the mocks under exams conditions but at home. That may create some interesting anomalies methinks. I think they’ll end up doing more exams in September before the 4th/5th wave strikes.

I'm dreading DS's predicted grades coming out next week - he's been really struggling to get decent results in his exams but really wants to go to Uni's that expect AAB . I think he's going to be really disappointed.

It is fairly clear that these are attainments grades so a snapshot. What is annoying ( and I know my school plans to do this too) is that they have predicted grades too but don't automatically share those.

Anyway, my hissy fit has waned a bit having got him to log on to his Unifrog where they have secreted UCAS grades which are much higher.

Still irrationally annoyed the the history dept have given him an attainment grade lower than he has ever got mind!

That is quite annoying @Piggywaspushed are these the grades that will go on the ucas application?

I didn’t go to uni so I am trying to read up on the application process and am excited to take DS on open days etc.
Something I was wondering about was if a course says it requires AAA (for example) but the predicted grades are lower, does that mean you definitely wouldn’t get into the course? Or do you still apply and hope they take you?
Obviously not if much lower but maybe if you had AAB or something. We have no idea what DS predicted grades will be yet

@Piggywaspushed - oh how I feel your pain... DS didn’t do as well as that, but he has got predicted grades today. Two are fine, but French predicted B. Mock was overall B admittedly, but two thirds of it was A it was just dragged down by a B in one part. Every other test this year has been A* and the predicted grades are meant to be based on whole year with no weighting given to mock acc to accompanying letter. He spoke to teacher straight after mock result who said they would be predicting A. He has emailed asking why and the reply was has he been engaging in extra work as they know he will get a much better grade last year. Well yes he has - as teacher knows because they have marked it all and it has been excellent. So all this has achieved is for DS to be almost tearful with talk of why bother as I won’t get the predictions for where I want to aim etc etc. Oh and school letter that accompany says to discuss these grades with Senior Tutor - otherwise known in our house as the invisible man...

This sort of thing just makes me feel so impotent!

Piggy - what are these grades though? Ours have just got exam grade and 'most likely' grade. UCAS prediction is to come later - and we then start the process that is supposed to use teacher's professional judgement but ultimately becomes a negotiation process......... It drives me mad, particularly when I co-teach a class with some-one who has quite stubborn views. My UCAS prediction tends to be generous - what I expect them to get on a really good day .

Mild annoyance in my household toady (first world problem alert) that DS's gradesheet shows ABB, even though exams were A A and A.

It drives me mad that (predominantly) state schools exercise this abundance of caution.

Just had the useless reply from his history teacher about 'that's what they have done so far' so they can't predict because of the topics they have assessed so far! If so, why bother at all,, since what he has done so far is A grade work! the unintentional implication is that he will get worse!

Oh grrr... sulk.... footstamp...

Miserly grade awards are yet another issue as to why bright state school pupils don't aim high. UCAS's own research showed that!

My university Dd had the app and was in the next bedroom to her flatmate who was really not well with covid. It never pinged. She was also in the same house with others with covid, the next door terrace all had covid as did several houses across the street. She even had to shut her window as she could hear all the coughing surrounding her and her window was in the middle of the positive cases! I don’t think anyone except her had the app. She actually did 14 days of isolation practically in her room as she had spent a few on her own before coming home to protect us from the virus/having to isolate. I think the everyone else must have caught in in those first days. How she didn’t get it was amazing but she said she was n95 masked in the kitchen and bathroom and spray dettoled the corridors before she walked through . Really took a toll on her mental health listening to the constant coughing from both sides and the bedroom underneath her, stuck in her room apart from dashes to the kitchen, bathroom and front door for food deliveries.

Then she finally gets home to her Year 12 sister having a cough (tonsillitis) and much of their year isolating! Still all negative.

Luckily Year 12 clinically vulnerable children can be vaccinated. How worrying must it be for 15 year olds and below, especially now it being approved for 12-15 year olds but the government seem basically to be saying the virus can run riot through schools as the vulnerable adults are vaccinated. What about the vulnerable children?! Get them vaccinated before September!

At least our year will all start to get vaccinated as they turn 18 too.

My DS hasn't downloaded the app. He is quite small so if he's with us people tend to assume he's under 16 and not ask. He hasn't been going places that need you to check in really though. I have turned the tracking off on mine, I'm really not going anywhere other than work (few, known colleagues), shops (brief contact only), sports centre (not near anyone for any length of time and don't want it pinging because it's been close to someone else's phone in a bag at the side of a dance studio). I put it on occasionally for sitting indoors in a pub or similar.

ChristopherT Great to see good results, whatever it took to get there must have included a change of mindset!

It is so sad @Fferny1. I am starting to feel as though life is never going to be the same again. A lot of the time I manage not to dwell on it other than the immediate restrictions, but sometimes it does get me down.

I don't know whether this affects many of you but many international students may not be able to return home this summer. HK has closed to UK flights from today. Sparking a mad dash to get home in time by dd's friends.Vietnam appears to be completely closed. Even to it's own residents returning home.Dds friend is one of them. There are absolutely no flights. Singapore is closed to non-residents. So DS's friends parents can visit the UK to see him, but he can't go home. I feel very sorry for all the young ones who haven't been home all year.

   This is in total contrast to the UK talking about fully opening up on the 19th of July, whilst the rest of the world is closing to us.

Icanbewhatiwant - my DD's school didn't have a case until last week, unfortunately DD is one of the ones who has had to SI, they haven't SI a whole bubble though, just those sitting closest in classes in the 48 hours prior (the person who tested positive is a staff member not a student).

@Monkey that happened to my DS too. He was boarding at the time but he was the only one identified by track & trace. No one else in the year was. He reckoned it was someone he sat next to in one of his subjects. He had to stay in his room for ten days ... going slowly mad. His meals were delivered to his door. In fact the first day they forgot him so he had no lunch. It was just a total nonsence as there would have been many more kids in contact with this boy in the school than DS but they hadn't downloaded the app. Making a mockery of the whole process. I told DS to delete it after that episode.