Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Further education

You'll find discussions about A Levels and universities on our Further Education forum.

Original poster

New Year 12 starters parent support thread (snappy title eh?)

999 replies

OhYouBadBadKitten · 31/08/2016 19:19

here we are.

OP posts:
MsMermaid · 05/10/2016 20:18

I'm quite happy for her to go in late if she has frees, it makes sense for her to do homework in her own warm comfy bedroom rather than sitting in the library all morning, especially when she's feeling under the weather like she is atm. I just think they should have to sign in when they arrive, or they should be enforcing the rules about being in school for study periods with proper registers taken.

FantasyAndHope · 05/10/2016 20:24

ms
DD would love to go In later if she could but her school doesn't allow it. I think it's good that at DDs school they have to register as if there was a fire school know where they are

Shineyshoes10 · 05/10/2016 20:26

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

MsMermaid · 05/10/2016 20:34

Yes, I agree that a register should be done precisely for fire safety. It doesn't matter most days because she has lessons first thing, so a register is done then. It's just Wednesday when she's free all morning so there is no register of her till after lunch. I think I will politely email the school tomorrow and enquire how they know sixth formers are in school if they don't have lessons.

In other news, dd has been applying for loads of jobs but couldn't find her national insurance number. I kept saying it must have been sent to you, last year when you were turning 16. Turns out, she's right, they didn't send her one. We rang the helpline, who were very helpful and would have been able to send a lost one out within a week. Here will take 45 days because her account had never been activated. I don't know quite how that happened. So she won't be able to actually get a job and be paid till that arrives. And we can't apply for her provisional driving licence either because she doesn't have a passport so needs to use her birth certificate accompanied by her national insurance number! She's not a happy bunny with the delay or me telling her she should probably have rung the helpline weeks ago when I first mentioned it

littledrummergirl · 05/10/2016 22:10

Grin msmermaid.
Thanks shines, hopefully the right physio will fix it but we should know more when he sees the next round of consultants! It's been a year getting to this point but at least we have an idea of the problem now.
Ds1 has written a letter to our vets asking for work experience so fingers crossed he hears back. I asked if he needed any help and he declined saying it was done. Shock
I think he's finding some independence.

He is expected to be in school for registration and stay all day unless he has a good reason to leave.

HesMyLobster · 05/10/2016 22:35

Mermaid dd didn't recieve her NI number either! Like your dd, she didn't actually realise until she'd applied for, and got a job but then couldn't actually work there until her number arrived! They told us it would be up to 3 weeks but still had t arrived after 4. When she called again they said they'd have to start the process again so would be another 4. At that point I took the phone and 'insisted' that they speed it up. Her letter arrived within 3 days! So I would recommend a strongly worded phone call if you haven't already!

Dd has to be in for morning registration but after that can leave when she likes as long as she signs out.
So far she has chosen to stay in school (mostly I think because she enjoys the privilege of using the brand new super swanky 6th form centre/study area - and the snacks available in there . . !)

Fantasy dd's head of 6th form also insists on calling them 'non-contact time'. Dd says she's never heard anyone else, including teachers, refer to them as anything other than "frees"! Grin

Assessments happening in most subjects this week for dd as well.

She found out today she's been entered into the Maths Olympiad for Girls - think it's next Tuesday. Anybody else's dd doing it? Is it like the maths challenge?

MsMermaid · 05/10/2016 22:46

Lobster she only made the initial phone call today, after she had an interview at McDonald's and they asked for it. I think we'll give it a little while before i go in with the strongly worded phone call.

The maths Olympiad sounds good. Dds school barely enter anybody for even the maths challenge, let alone anything else.

mummytime · 05/10/2016 23:28

DDs college only says they have to be there for their lessons. So she goes in late 2 days a week. She also leaves "early" 3 days, but they actually work later than school, so early means finishing at 3 rather than 4. Most of the time DD is staying for the full day (something she wasn't coping with last year), so has a lot of study periods in college, which is when most of her work is getting done.

BUT this year they have taken a lot of extra students so it is quite crowded.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/10/2016 08:13

UKMOG - maths olympiad for girls is great :) It's nothing like a maths challenge though other than being run by the same organisation. I strongly recommend that she glances over a past paper so that it isn't a complete horror to her when she sits it.

link
the first two papers are rather harder than the subsequent ones, so they are not a great example. Last years paper was the most accessible so far.

Happy to talk by pm if you want to know more.

OP posts:
TheSecondOfHerName · 06/10/2016 08:47

DS1 is really struggling. Sad

He goes straight to bed when he comes home from school as he's so exhausted.

He is already v.behind with his work and did really badly on a Maths test yesterday.

He feels completely overwhelmed and unable to catch up.

At this rate he's not going to make it to half term.

He & I drafted an email together which I've sent to his HoY.

needastrongone · 06/10/2016 08:59

Good stuff re the maths olympiad. DS's school do the senior maths challenge. He's always done really well in the maths challenge, so I assume he will do it. He's just signed up to be a maths mentor for Y7's!

At present, all the learners are in full time, with negotiated home study after half term after discussion with the tutor.

Oh gosh Second, your poor DS. Is it the work itself that your DS is finding hard? Or the change? The whole thing? This must be difficult for you both. You've done the right thing with the email. Is there a dedicated pastoral care person for 6th form there? They do have this at DS's school, with an open door policy for the students. Could your DS access something like this? Flowers

needastrongone · 06/10/2016 09:00

Oh, they have to sign in and out, and all have a lanyard to scan I think.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/10/2016 09:25

TheSecond - I'm really sorry :( if the HOY could wave a magic wand, what would make it manageable for your ds?

OP posts:
NoHaudinMaWheest · 06/10/2016 09:32

the second that is tough. Can he scale back and do 6th form over 3 years? I know some people with additional needs have done that.

janinlondon · 06/10/2016 09:56

Long time lurker here but I have a DD in year 12 this year. I have a question please: Do all your year 12's have free periods (or indeed non contact study periods!) ? How many contact hours are they doing per subject and how many subjects? Trying to get my head around it all........failing.

Nermerner · 06/10/2016 10:02

Hi, Dd1 is in year 12. Her school insists on them being called Studies not frees. Dd is definitely using them to work as she is very diligent about doing 2 hours a day out of lessons and if she works in studies she has time to do sport out of school instead.

She does too much sport to have a job but has started picking up regular babysitting which is great.

Nermerner · 06/10/2016 10:04

She is doing 3 subjects. 12 study periods one week and 11 the other.

FantasyAndHope · 06/10/2016 10:15

second
Gosh thats hard for you. DD said she's exhausted and even when she has no homework set that day she always has work to do. DD's english teachers (she has 3) are piling the work on and she simply doesn't know if she's coming or going. She does most big pieces at the weekend. But she does use her free periods wisely and does as much work as possible in them. Is he using his frees wisely or messing about?
janin
DD has 11 frees and lessons here are 40mins
she has 29 lessons mostly doubles of the subjects. We have 9periods a day here finish at 4:30 and expected to do a club till 5:15
And then we have "prep" 6:30-8:00

TheSecondOfHerName · 06/10/2016 10:17

Thank you all. The HoY has emailed back to suggest that DS1 visits the sixth form pastoral care person and has also asked the head of sixth form for feedback from his subject teachers. I would like him to be able to come home at lunchtime on the three days a week that he has no lessons in the afternoon, as we know from Y10 and Y11 that a reduced timetable has helped him in the past.

Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/10/2016 10:19

Welcome Janin :) dd is on a bit of an odd intensive program, with a lot of enrichment.
For the actual taught subjects at the moment she gets 5 for each subject, with 4 subjects.She has four free periods a week, that will be dropping down to 2 at some point. The rest is full of the enrichment stuff.

Each period is 50 minutes long.

OP posts:
Original poster
OhYouBadBadKitten · 06/10/2016 10:21

TheSecond, that sounds like an eminently sensible request.

OP posts:
janinlondon · 06/10/2016 10:27

Are many children doing three subjects then? Even more confused now! Though thanks to those who replied. What with lesson times being different in every school, I should probably have asked how many hours of contact per A level subject I guess...4hsr 10 mins per subject OYBK? Is that about normal?

needastrongone · 06/10/2016 10:28

At least the HoY is being procative Second, and has answered quickly. Fingers crossed.

I can't remember how many study periods DS has, he has slightly more as he is doing Maths and FM, and they overlap. He seems to have a lot to me.

DS got a C in his first Physics test. However, this was because he didn't write the equations fully, just the answers. I'm surprised he didn't, rookie erro I guessr. His Physics teacher said he actually got all the answers right, so would have got an A had he answered fully. Better to learn at this early stage I guess!

mummytime · 06/10/2016 10:36

DD 4 1/2 hours per subject, she is only doing 3. She has a compulsory hour for her "Enrichment choice". She then gets 13 hrs 50 minutes of study periods (as they do a longer day), but about 2 1/2 of that is Tuesday afternoon when she comes home as the whole afternoon is free.

DD is having her first sick day this year, and is onto cold 3, which is a bit concerning after the glandular fever. Hopefully this will help her get over this one - and she can catch up easily.

FantasyAndHope · 06/10/2016 10:46

jan
DD is only doing 3 and there's more teaching time and less frees I've posted above contact lesson time.
DD has a lot of work at the minute mainly English