Parents of S6 kids - tell me...!

thaegumathteth · 2024-04-16T16:51:01+00:00

Ds did really well in S5 and therefore has his grades for Uni, He has an unconditional offer accepted on his dream course at his dream Uni. All great. In retrospect I wish sometimes he'd applied to go straight from s5 but he's one of the very youngest so would've only been 16.5 at the start of the semester. Anyways - he's in s6, exams start soon and he is doing *nothing.* It's really bloody frustrating, he worked so hard last year but now he doesn't see the point as he's in Uni either way. He works at weekends but other than that he really is just pissing about, Is this normal ? I did A levels so this wasn't a factor for me or my peers.

NoWeaponsOnTheTable · 16/04/2024 18:03

I'd give him a break! Higher year is the pits.

Original poster

thaegumathteth · 16/04/2024 18:20

NoWeaponsOnTheTable · 16/04/2024 18:03

I'd give him a break! Higher year is the pits.

Is it though? Why?

OP posts:

Blanketpolicy · 16/04/2024 18:26

He is suffering from Highers burn out and unconditionalitsis and there is no effective cure.

ds(20) was the same. A great work ethic in S4/S5 got him well deserved A grades for every NAT5, A grades for every Higher.

Then S6 and he did nothing. He surprisingly got A's for his two S6 Highers (PE and crash Geography), but totally bombed his Maths and Physics AH's with a C and D grade. It was also partly due to his low performing school which didn't give them much teaching time for the AHs because the numbers in the classes were very low (only 2 in his Physics the other person failed, around 10 in maths and half the class failed) and lack of staff - but he was capable of more if he had been motivated to try.

Many of his friends with unconditional offers were the same with similar results.

First year at uni he partied still never got back into the swing of it, scrapped through most classes and one resit. He has been a bit better this year so I have my fingers crossed for his end of 2nd year exams which start this week!

S6 is not a waste of time though. It gives them time to mature, to do driving lessons, develop more adult social skills, start a PT job etc and even though he didn't do well in his AH, a lot of the content was repeated in first year of uni so it meant he wasn't seeing the maths for the first time in uni.

Original poster

thaegumathteth · 16/04/2024 18:29

Blanketpolicy · 16/04/2024 18:26

He is suffering from Highers burn out and unconditionalitsis and there is no effective cure.

ds(20) was the same. A great work ethic in S4/S5 got him well deserved A grades for every NAT5, A grades for every Higher.

Then S6 and he did nothing. He surprisingly got A's for his two S6 Highers (PE and crash Geography), but totally bombed his Maths and Physics AH's with a C and D grade. It was also partly due to his low performing school which didn't give them much teaching time for the AHs because the numbers in the classes were very low (only 2 in his Physics the other person failed, around 10 in maths and half the class failed) and lack of staff - but he was capable of more if he had been motivated to try.

Many of his friends with unconditional offers were the same with similar results.

First year at uni he partied still never got back into the swing of it, scrapped through most classes and one resit. He has been a bit better this year so I have my fingers crossed for his end of 2nd year exams which start this week!

S6 is not a waste of time though. It gives them time to mature, to do driving lessons, develop more adult social skills, start a PT job etc and even though he didn't do well in his AH, a lot of the content was repeated in first year of uni so it meant he wasn't seeing the maths for the first time in uni.

Edited

Thank you. I appreciate just knowing it's not just ds tbh!

OP posts:

GoBonobo · 16/04/2024 18:32

Yes, SD was like this - started off S6 studying 2 AH’s and another H after a good clutch of Highers in S5, got an offer of a grad apprenticeship halfway through, dropped one and passed the other two by the skin of her teeth.
Hard to blame them. Maybe if they got a bit of credit at uni for having done AHs (I remember 1st year chemistry was identical to CSYS…Ifyou had an a level you could skip straight to 2nd year but nothing for CSYS) they might be more motivated, but that doesn’t seem to be the case

dementedpixie · 16/04/2024 18:39

My ds is doing 3 AH and crashing higher accounts. He's had to do his AH computing practically by himself as noone else was taking it. He's had to go to another school (about a 20 minute walk from his school) for his AH maths. His AH chemistry teacher was off for a few weeks so for a short time he was getting a taxi to a different school about 20 minutes drive away so they managed to complete the course.

I suppose its been a bit more exciting than just going to the same school every day! He seems to have taken it all in his stride and does work when necessary.

NoWeaponsOnTheTable · 16/04/2024 18:43

My DD is about to sit hers and she has worked so hard all year.
Add to that the social pressures of being 16/17, extracurricular activities, part-time jobs. I think Highers year is really tough on them both mentally and physically.
I did exactly the same many moons ago. Basically took S6 as a gap year and if DD gets her grades I'll encourage her to do the same.
She intends to use it to explore different courses and job options she hasn't had the time to up until now but I can completely understand your DS wanting a bit of a break.

WibblyWobblyWeeble · 16/04/2024 18:45

I read that as 56 kids and was horrified!.

MistressIggi · 16/04/2024 18:47

It's very common OP but my view is that if you start something you should finish it. The S5 students in Higher classes certainly don't benefit from S6s pissing about in class, so I hope at the least he doesn't do that.

Original poster

thaegumathteth · 16/04/2024 19:32

MistressIggi · 16/04/2024 18:47

It's very common OP but my view is that if you start something you should finish it. The S5 students in Higher classes certainly don't benefit from S6s pissing about in class, so I hope at the least he doesn't do that.

No tbf he doesn't as he's quite quiet so I suppose that's a small blessing! It just seems such a bloody waste of a year! He could've been working. And tbh his attitude of 🤷🏻‍♀️ is pissing me right off.

56 kids - the very idea! I have two teenagers and that is more than enough thank you!

OP posts: