Y11 2025/26… come and join

Has anyone found any online revision classes - eg for the Easter holidays?

There is absolutely the option to stay in. Dd is luckily very hard working so will work well at home but will happily access clinics at school if she wants them. I’m hoping school fees plus tutors and revision courses will mean she pulls it out the bag irrespective of study leave!

Ask the school about the exam timetable. My DS has had his individual exam timetable since going back in September.

I'm very relieved they don't do study leave at DSs school as standard, you can request it and if they think it's suitable for that particular student they grant it but most kids are in until the end of exams. My older DS at a different school was the same and I honestly think it's the only reason he got the grades he got.

I know the dates are available online but I really hope school give each child an exam individual timetable to save trawling through exam boards!

Last day of school for study leave is 1st May for us. That’s worryingly soon.

@TheGodWorm … obviously a formula that works !

Are our kids at the same school?!! Also not a selective school, many SEN, strong sports emphasis.

@FlyingPandas - my DS2 isn’t in a selective Indy - so that might be the difference . It takes a lot of children with SEND and a lot of kids with reduced timetables due to Sports commitments .

Interesting to read the small indie v big state school comments. We did the opposite with eldest DC (ASD/ADHD) - took him out of a small indie during Y7 and put him into the local state comp, where he thrived. He found a small selective school and small class sizes far too intense and intimidating, and was so much happier with a bigger year group, wider ability spread and mix of behaviour. Just shows they are all different!

Current Y11 DS on the other hand has thrived at his indie for secondary - though admittedly it's far bigger than DS1's was, around 200 per year group I think. He finished his last couple of mocks yesterday, so now we wait for results. He seems pretty calm about it but this will dissolve quite quickly if he hasn't managed the grades he is hoping for.

Much the same here. My son went to small indy at end of year 8. He went to a taster day at a local comp with great reputation yesterday. I thought he'd love it. But the first thing he said was he didn't like the big class sizes. But at least it's helped him rule out Business a level. He'll stick to Maths, Chem and Physics, I think. The kids were messing about in Business and he noticed that wasn't happening in the other subjects.
He then asked if he could stay on at the indy he's at. Oof. He can, but... the fees!

Really interesting to see the chat about moves from small privates to larger state provision . DS2 is also in a small private , moved in a panic out of state comp at the end of year 8 .

We looked at his brother’s school and the local college - neither feels right to him or us . I can’t risk putting him back into the large comp I pulled him out of , so he’s staying where he is . Not diagnosed with anything , and wouldn’t engage with any diagnosis anyway . Hoping he will get the 6s he needs to stay put - we are stuffed if not . We are stuffed anyway though due to the school fees which are scary compared to what they were when he started

Can I join in? I think I need some moral support to get through to June! DS1 now at university I didn’t get involved in his GCSEs beyond a bit of testing him on flash cards but DS2 is a different kettle of fish! He is late diagnosed ADD and now medicated and allowed extra time. He did really badly in Y10 but is now working pretty hard and improved in the November mocks. He’s doing additional online lessons for all his core subjects which does seem to be making a difference. I’m aggrieved with his school as they have abdicated all responsibility for marked homework in favour of various apps which are often not even set to the right material. It has played to DS’s strength of putting the minimum possible effort in to get by. The school GCSE results were crap last year do they have suddenly (after we had arranged the extra lessons) piled pressure on with after school sessions etc which he can’t attend because he’s reliant on the school bus to get home at the end of the day. He needs a lot of scaffolding - printing his workbooks, body doubling to keep him concentrating on the lessons, nagging about homework - but it is paying off. 5/6s in the recent mocks. He wants to stay on and do A levels but I’m really concerned he won’t manage the step up. I think he’ll get the 5 x 5s with grade 6/7 in the subjects he wants to get in. We have looked at local college etc but he’s not keen. I do not have it in me to do this level of support through A levels… I am worn down by the prospect of getting through this year.

Blimey! Dd is at a through Indy school 2-18. The nearest state sixth form college has 2000 pupils; that’s vastly more than in her entire school! Hence she’s staying firmly put for school sixth form. GCSE classes are average 16 pupils and Alevel class sizes are average of 10.

True but still a big jump in terms of ratios with teachers. All the colleagues near us are classes of 24 apart from more niche subjects. And seas of students. Was just thinking it’ll be a massively different experience.

So 30 to 4500??

DD school told us the date and venue a couple of months ago. Kids have to get points to attend some of them you get just for doing a complete week at school or attending study sessions.

Wow @wonderstuff that is small and I suppose means they don't have to book so far in advance. There is 300 in DSs year and I therefore assume they must have booked it already but getting a date is like blood out of a stone. I may have to give up trying to get DS to take responsibility and call the school myself.

Does anyone have any laptop recommendations for college? DS has got through secondary school without needing one but says he definitely will for College. He is planning to do a Health T level so no need for fancy editing or programming capabilities but I've looked at Currys and have no idea where to start there is so much choice!

Lol, we have prom discussions daily too. We have a wedding invitation but it may clash with prom, which DS really wants to attend. They haven’t been told the date yet, and when I suggest emailing the school, he doesn’t want me to. I’ll wait another week or so, and then I’ll email the school so we can RSVP to the wedding.
@wonderstuff That is an incredibly low number of students per year for a secondary school. We have 300 in a year.

We got really lucky on Vinted. A stunning dress that fits really well. £50. Looks like shoes will be a bigger issue.

Dd made me quite happy by saying Vinted is the place to buy Prom dresses - hoping we can do it all without leaving the house!

We got DDs dress just before Christmas! They have to order it in her size and said it won’t be here much before the end of May and we will still need to fit alterations in too!

My DS surprisingly wants to go to Prom which is not his thing at all but he doesn't want to go enough to bother finding out when it is and seems annoyed that I could do with knowing in order to organise things.

DS doesn't want to go to prom and hopes that it's cancelled 🙄 I've signed him up anyway as a good life experience and told him he'll be wearing a suit.