YEAR 8 YEAR 8 YEAR 8 !!

Yes, we watched Tom Lehrer singing it.
She knows the first verse now. It is surprisingly hard to learn.

DD1 has lots of homework for the weekend. She is busy trying to learn Tom Lehrer's Elements song which their science teacher introduced them to, not that he intended them to learn it by heart, but she has taken it as a challenge!
Your schools results are great MD - it's amazing what a good head teacher can do.

Hi magentadreamer; she's being very disciplined not finishing the latest RM book. I was reading ds1's copy, and stayed up about 2 hours later than I should have last night to finish it! I think it's considerably more violent than some of the previous ones, so I'm going to have to be careful who we recommend it to, as some people still want to censor readers at this age.

Those sound great results MD. The school usually publish the latest GCSE results in their prospectus and they may be available online if they have a good website.

sounds great, magenta, and shows what a good head can do

DD went back to school 10 days ago. She's had homework most nights much to her displeasure as she wants to finish the latest Robert Muchmore book!

Thankfully they have now started streaming from Yr8 so some of the more rowdy elements have been weeded out. Within the two streams the school also set for Maths, Science and English. Dd has signed up for a number of clubs - Drama,Karate, Sewing and Art. She was a bit miffed as the Craft club she loved isn't on anymore I think the TA who ran it has left.

According to DD the GCSE results this year were the best ever with 75% gaining 5 GCSE at A-C. I'm hoping that they'll let us know what the % was when Maths and English is included as the school does offer a fair few BTEC's "worth" 2/3/4 GSCE's. The school has a catchment area which in parts is extremely deprived, many children enter the school well below expectations so even if a good few of the results contain a BTEC or two it's still a fantastic result and down to the appointment of a new head two years ago and some superb teachers. 5 years ago only 40% got 5 GCSE's and only 25% when Maths and English was included.

Your poor DD, Cory. Hope she is feeling better soon.

Oh well, dd is now off with the next bug and has been for a few days. Here we go again...

But the school knows about her problems and I am not expecting any difficulties.

I don't know what they do re attendence at DD's school - although she must have had four or five days off last year with various bugs. I do know that absence was one of the things highlighted as a problem in the last Ofsted, but what they have done about it I do not know.
(Nor what they have done about improving their GCSE 5A*-C rates, which was another target, and which have actually fallen since that Ofsted, but that's another story).

LGP - I think I will see what happens over the next couple of weeks and then if it keeps on happening, I will ring the school. The obvious answer would be to put on an extra bus but I suppose it all boils down to council budgets?

Cory, for your dd.

That's strange about the buses, but kind of your DS to make room for the Year 7s .
I gave DD1's English homework to DD2 (9) and DD3 (7). They both did it in two minutes flat.
Hope your DD had a better day today Cory. That was incredibly insensitive of her tutor.

DS got a fair bit of homework tsonight which to be fair to him has got on with it (after raiding the biscuits) as soon as he gets in from school.

There seems to be a little bit of a problem at home time with the buses. Too many children and not enough buses , not sure why there isn't the same problem going to school. Last night some children were asked to get off (to make way for the yr7s) and get one of the other buses that had to make a detour through our village and then the same tonight although DS offered to get on the other bus along with a few others tonight rather than being told he had to by the driver.

I don't think they set for English at my dd's school either LGP (and it has a reputation for being quite academic...) - so far it's just Maths but we have a parents meeting in a few weeks so should know some more after that...

Re the periods thing, my dd's body shape has definitely changed over the past year or so and she has lots of bumps (whiteheads?) on her forehead so I won't be surprised if she starts soon too...

Cory, the school sets for maths and science (and MFL). As far as I can judge from DD's experience and those of the many other children I know at the school, these subjects are well taught and the standard is high. The head has told me in person when I questioned why it does not set for English that the head of the English department, who does not believe in setting, has the final say and cannot be overruled.

That doesn't sound so good. Dd's school does set for English, and for lots of other subjects.

Yes, Cory, I agree about that. But she did learn all this stuff in Year Four and she is so frustrated with going over it again and again. It's not just her, all the literate children I know at her school are really frustrated with their English classes, and parents have been raising the matter with the school for years now, but they are adamant that setting for English is not an option.
And their GCSE results are frightful.

Doesn't sound very inspiring, LadyGlencora. Having said that, as a university teacher I am enjoying this new generation of students who turn up at uni able to tell a subject from a very: quite rare when I first started teaching in this country 14 years ago.

DD has had English homework. She had to identify the subject and verb in five very simple sentences.
Mind you, it is the first English homework she has had since March.
She is more than a bit fed up with English.

No homework so far.

Dd a bit upset after their form tutor had given them the big Attendance Talk about how absences are going to ruin their life chances and then made them put their hands up if they had had an attendance of less than the statutory whatever percent last year.

Dd has a chronic medical condition that involves lots of pain and illness. And which is no doubt going to affect her life chances. She didn't enjoy this bit

(also wonder how it affected her friend who was absent a lot last year during her mum's last illness )

I know they have to give the talk, but couldn't someone have given them a hint to send certain students out of the room on invented errands first?

How are we all getting on? ds1 seems to be getting quite a bit of homework already, but is knuckling down and mostly organising/motivating himself to get it done.

He's doing/intending to do more after-school activities this term, which I view as a "good thing", so it's even more important that he keeps on top of the homework.

He's in "high aptitude" groups for most subjects, and the homework tasks seem to be more demanding and also more interesting.

I just hope he doesn't get too exhausted. He looks very tired already this evening, and it's only Tuesday, and it's 7 weeks til the holidays.

Hello

DS1 went back today - seems to have taken it in his stride. I was a bit worried as I have started my new job and this is the first time he has let himself into an empty house. I rang him from work at 4.20 and he was just stuffing his face with a few biscuits. He was fine and only on his own for an hour. From next week and after than (Mon and Tue) DH will be home at 5.00pm.

He has got one piece of homework.

Dd had her first period two years ago, so we've got over that one.