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

I may be very late to the table as this may have been posted before, but it's the first time I've seen it - DD school posted the link.

www.opendays.com/calendar/

I think it mainly has to do with tracking and targets, especially with bloomin Ofsted and VA etc for state schools. So, it's known that UCAS grades might be optimistic ; the school prediction is more likely to be a bit less so, and perhaps reflect what a student would achieve if nothing changed. A UCAS prediction would generally assume that students work hard - and in soem case this would mean a complete transformation, of course! DS1 got nowhere near his UCAS predictions and closer to the target /in house predictions he had been set.

Hello NCTDN, welcome!

In DD’s case her AS subject is being covered over 2 years, so it’s a first cut ‘university application grade’ issued by school (or UCAS predictions); final grade given early Oct. Exam will be sat alongside A levels next summer. I hope.

There is also only one grade, the one that will be used for UCAS. I got very confused by those schools issuing 2, though Piggy, I think you said most do issue 2, my small brain still can’t work out why the need for 2!

Well done to your DD orange sounds a lovely job!

NCTDN My DDs results were just end of year mocks, not AS exams, but used by school FOR UCAS predictions. I think most others on here are the same.

Thanks everyone. @Piggywaspushed yes liberal arts. I don't really know where to start TBH... (just leaving her to it).
How come some know their AS results ahead already?

Welcome @NCTDN!

Gah ! Sorry to hear about the SI hope everyone stays as well as they can.

Dd got the seasonal job she wanted , helping out at events at a local historic attraction. She will do some weddings too which will be lovely.

End of term next week ...hopefully for some of you too. I feel we can then all relax a bit regarding the dreaded virus once that out the way.

DS had just come back from a swim when the email came in...

DD is climbing the walls already with SI. She didnit between Christmas and NY too but there was no school and lockdown. So far this weekend she's missed swimming, archery x 2, cinema. The swimming is particularly frustrating as she's just gone back after a month off due to injury.

Sorry about all the kids being sent into isolation. It’s such a pain but for the greater good, at least one hopes.

Welcome@NCTDN.

Yes, it was probably me. My family call me 'Mrs UCAS'...

I don't post on here often (for some reason it never stays in my active posts section..), but it's been invaluable for support.

Hello NCTDN!

@Heifer Glad it was useful, we rated it too. First one DS has done so I was being nosey alongside. Can't take the credit for finding out about it, think it maybe was Piggy who flagged it originally?

So sorry some are facing SI to the end of term, particularly if end up negative tests all the way through.

Of course... welcome! I think we have met before on a few threads! Was it a liberal arts one?

Can I join you? I've been looking for a thread like this...

It's all such a pain in the proverbial, isn't it?

In fact the letter goes on to say how important it is for everyone to stil keep taking the twice weekly covid tests at home.

@Heifer , my youngest DS's secondary school are part of a scheme where if you are a contact you then still attend school, but LF test daily. Could that be the case at yours?

That's not correct! Naughty schools... they want them to PCR test, to catch the spread, I think but absolutely can't come back until isolation is up. One of the girls I teach tested positive after 8 days of SI...

@EwwSprouts - thanks for the heads up re York Virtual day today.
Loved it, listened to talk on colleges, accommodation and Biology.
It's such a shame DD wasn't able to watch (not recorded). I want to go there myself!
I've made lot of notes to go through with DD but I know I will need to pick my moment and not bombard her on her return. I learnt a lot and even asked a couple of questions (typed) and got great responses to.

Fingers crossed DD gets her mock results soon, although she mentioned that the teachers will only be given scores out and not grades so not sure if it will mean anything to us or not.

Really sorry to hear about students having to SI so late in the term. I really hope we can get to end of year (9th July) without having to.

Aaaargh! I spoke too soon a while back. Just had SI email for DS. He has dodged that bullet so many times.

I think there are about 200 first years at Trinity so that's about 10% from one school!

Many years ago I had a job working for a big corporate in N London. I went on an in-house training course for public speaking or similar, and one of the, other attendees had a work experience student with him. We all had to give a talk on a subject of our choice, more or less on the hoof. The facilitator asked the student, who must have been about 15 if he would like to speak. Most 15 years olds would have died on the spot, but this boy went to Harrow School. He stood up and gave a polished, interesting and self-deprecating speech about life at the school, when asked what happened if students weren't making the grades he commented that (with an eyeroll) their parents would just pay for a new science lab and it would all be sorted. He, no doubt, will have gone far, very likely via Oxbridge, he was charming and at ease throughout. It's by no means automatic, but very, very much easier for some than others.

Or is the issue that so many of them get into Trinity College Cambridge specifically? Trinity is known As academically competitive. Will there be a new divide between colleges at C and O, that some are more 'diverse' and others distinctly linked to public school A, B, C?