Year 9 - 2022/2023 Support Thread

Mine are back to school today- sooo much grumpiness. Dd2 clearly did better than she thought in the maths challenge as got a bronze certificate so is quite pleased with herself. Dd1 has mocks- seems only to have revised history (her favourite). What she doesn’t know about the rise of the nazis isn’t worth knowing. Pity about the other nine subjects she’s taking.

@QueenMabby how nice to be child free. DH and I are going away for 2 nights in March. It'll be our first time ever away without dc's and first ever night without any dc's. Ds1 is almost 22 so feels like a long time. I've been away on my own to visit my dm and dh has been away on his own to visit his dd and grandson. Ds1 and ds2 have both been away on school trips. Ds3 won't go on any trips with school. I think I'd enjoy being child free if he did want to go as the older 2 are not at home at the moment. We have 2 dogs so it isn't easy to just go away.

Ds3 goes back to school tomorrow. He has PD day today. I've not seen him yet today. I know he's up as heard the shower on.

Half term begins for us today. Wonder what time he Will surface from his bedroom 🤔 Going to ask him for some help with housework today - I’m sure that will go down well 😂

Someone asked about vaccines on our school Facebook group, my oldest 2 had quite a few vaccines including menAWCY in year 11. So I assumed that was when they all had them. I don't want dc3 to have them all at once ( long story) so will need to look into getting them separately.

Half term flew!!
I now can’t recall what vaccines DD had just before half term but there were quite a few in the two shots. Good luck with parents eve. Are yours face to face now?

1/2 term over. Parents evening and Diptheria vaccination this week.

Half term next week here. I think DS did say something about doing a maths challenge some time in the last few weeks, I will ask him if he’s had results for it!

Maths challenge? DD did it - did none of the prep the school suggested and i've no idea how she did. She's a total gambler so while her friends mostly just did the questions where you couldn't lose marks, apparently she kept going - so i'm wondering if she'll end up with a negative score!

All her friends go to maths club - she refuses.. so I shouldn't imagine she ha the tools they did to tackle it. Seemed to quite enjoy herself doing it though.

Hi @QueenMabby DD did the IMC but didn't enjoy it and thinks she got them all wrong. She doesn't love maths like her older brother does! Last year she did well in the JMC and got a gold certificate and through to the kangaroo round which surprised her I think but it really doesn't matter.

We have had a pretty chill half term, not done much but we have met up with some family and some friends. Having a lazy day at home today. Hope those who have half term next week enjoy it.

He's ds3 🙈

Half term this week for us. Ds2 never wants to do much. He's had a friend round Tuesday, went to a friends yesterday, no doubt the rest of the week will be spent in his bedroom, he has a PD day Monday too.

We are off next week as well, ds is exhausted, and I work in a school so I’m desperate for a break now too!

Sounds like a great idea @Circleoffifths tech / snack swap and out of the way! How many GCSEs is she doing?
My Yr9 DD also out of the way whilst DD2 studying for A level mocks. We had the pleasure of CAGS for her GCSEs and DD1’s A levels. Not the debacle of TAGS but still horrid. They were constantly sitting tests. And I mean constantly. IIRC DD2 had over 100 ‘exams’ for her ten GCSEs. Obviously they were short papers but it was incessant. So she’s never sat a proper 2-3hr exam so mocks next week will be telling. Meanwhile my yr9 DD is having a lovely time ‘out of the way’ skiing with her dad and probably not looked at any books despite her having tests first day back.

@Circleoffifths Ds2 said he would have had better grades for some subjects had he actually sat exams. He'd been getting 8's and 9's in science mocks, but they gave him 6's. But he didn't go on to study science at A level so a 6 is perfectly fine. He did get higher grades in his A levels than predictions, so maybe he was correct about GCSEs. We will never know.

@icanbewhatiwant - 2020 must have been a bonkers year to be sitting (or not actually sitting) public exams. I remember saying to DD at the time that if that had happened when I did GCSEs I would have been buggered to have had to rely on TAGs as I did all my work at the last minute.

Yes, one set of mocks in November, another set after half-term and then 19 actual exams.

@Circleoffifths it's been a long time since ds1 did GCSEs he's 22 now. They have so many exams don't they...then all the mocks. Ds2 had his GCSEs cancelled as they would have been in 2020. He took his A levels last summer. So didn't didn't experience all the exams.

@icanbewhatiwant that sounds quite idyllic.

Hope everyone is well.

I have dispatched DS to his grandparents this week so that I can concentrate on helping DD a bit who is starting to panic about her GCSEs - another set of mocks next week. He is helping my parents sort out their various tech questions in exchange for unlimited access to their snacks cupboard 😬.

@NotDonna I grew up in Surrey where we all took the 11 plus and 2 or 3 girls and boys in each school got a place at Tiffin girls or Tiffin boys (early 1980's) no idea whether it's still the same now. My father went to tiffin boys after passing his 11 plus and I know he'd have liked the same for me. I don't think anyone tutored back then, but if they did then I'm glad I wasn't tutored to pass as I'd have been well out my depth. I'm not very clever.

Where we live now in Suffolk there is no 11 plus, most of the dc's go to the local primary school and then onto the same secondary. The school bus serves the villages and takes them all to the secondary school. There aren't public buses. It does take the pressure off looking for schools as if we do want to go to a different school we have to drive them, which for most people isn't practical. But the secondary is a great school so I haven't needed to worry about it.

It’s such an easy trap to fall in. People think it’s London only but unfortunately it’s not. It’s prevalent up north too. I’ve 3 (19, 18, 13) and know how easy it is to become an alpha mum. I’ve not been immune! It’s such flipping ridiculous nonsense and there’s a huge risk for parents and kids. We need to smell the roses.

@NotDonna great reply. I don't think I'd pay for a tutor unless I felt one of my dc's was really falling behind and I knew they shouldn't be behind, my dc's all do or have done the best they can and that's good enough for me.