Year 12 - first half term DONE.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

new thread so we don't get lost. Well done to all our dc whether doing btech (or breach as autocorrect prefers to call it) or a levels. 1/6 of the way through this year. (blimey)

Hi. Dd is predicted CCC at A level so not sure this is the thread for me! Lots of high achievers here. There are definitely unis or ex polys if you want to call them that which make offers to CCC students. All she really wants to do is ride her horse but we are thinking a business degree would be good as she's a fab public speaker and a people person. Lots of common sense but not academic, really struggling with History and Biology A levels. I've booked an online tutor to help her with essay writing.

That's broadly in line with dds predictions Freddorika but she's taking more applied subjects. We are aiming on covering the whole ability range but not sure if we manage it all the time.
I think there are others who are taking History and/or Biology at A level who may be able to provide some support.

Ds1 is at one of the uni,s on that new uni list. Got in with considerably less than the A,s and B,s. He really enjoying life. The uni has a good graduate employment rate and work experience built into the course. The uni isn't known for research and that combined with the lower offers mean it doesn't,t rank Highly but it does score well for student satisfaction and graduate employment.
Btw Ds 2 year 12 is also struggling with A levels. Also got u in mock. Still waiting for other results. . However it really took him the whole of last term to realise he needed to put in lots more effort than for gcse

Feel very regretful that I didn't push dir her to do a Btec which I think she would have excelled at. Also photography as a 4th, so she could have dropped one. Still, we are we are.

I've just had a letter from learning support saying she has slow processing speed with extra time in exams and some helpful tips. Also an online tutor booked for next week. Never give up!

We are WHERE we are that should say!

No dyslexia though which is good news

Freddorika, welcome to the thread :) there are a lot of parents who have been on these threads with kids with who have more sensible target grades, they have just been a bit quiet as of late. It's for everyone going though the trials and tribulations of year 12.

DD had to submit her choices for next year - ie which subject she would drop as they need to do the timetabling. The careers woman has however let her put all four down so she doesn't have to make the choice yet. They are putting her in for an AS in Biology so if she decides to drop that she will have something to show for this year. If she decides to drop English then she can pull out of the AS - although I think she might as well take is as it will give her an idea of how she is doing.

fred you are absolutely welcome here. DD got 7 GCSEs, with only one A, so we're not all mums to straight A* students here! It's great news that your DD is getting additional time in exams and some support - I'm sure it will really make a difference.

Hi Freddorika I replied to your other thread.

Positives: parents' evening was much much better than I could have hoped for. 5 out of his 6 teachers have noticed DS1's improved effort and level of engagement.

Concerns: one of his subjects is non-linear, so he is doing an actual AS this summer which will be half the marks for the A-level. Unfortunately this is one of the subjects he didn't start until November. They have a mock exam in three weeks, and the amount of material he needs to cover seems vast. Currently getting a D in this, although he has brought it up from a low D to a high D, so I think a C is achievable.

Hi all, last day for us tomorrow as it's half term next week.
Thank goodness!
It has felt like a loooong 6 weeks.

Dd was hoping to have a really good go at her dissertation for EPQ over her week off, but she has been given a huge amount of holiday homework in all subjects so she might not manage as much as she wanted to.

Deadline for EPQ is end of March and I can see it causing some stress over the next few weeks.
Dd has enjoyed researching and planning it but will be very glad when it's over and done with I think.

half term means half way through this first year. Goodness.

Can I join in? It didn't occur to me to look for this in further education.

I had no idea we were supposed to be booking open days now. DD has no idea which universities she wants to look at or what courses she wants to do.

Hi astonished,
I'm not sure any of us really know what we're "supposed" to be doing!

I certainly don't, and school haven't given much guidance so far. Luckily dd is a planner so she's been looking into it all herself.
She has booked 'subject days' so far, rather than full on open days, because she's still trying to figure out which course she wants to do.

Once that's decided, she'll start looking at where she wants to go.

Most universities , from what I've seen so far, have open days around June and then again around October.

She's hoping to have it all pretty much decided by summer so she can get her personal statement sorted and get her application in nice and early.
So she'll be going to as many as she can in June I think.

Half way through the year? Yay, possibly - I'll have to give that a bit more thought. I'm glad that the exams aren't as close as I thought they were, they felt a lot nearer. I'll be happier after I've seen the report that comes home over half term if it demonstrates that he is doing some work, I've seen him do homework twice since September.

He's happy, likes college, likes 3/4 of his subjects and tolerates the last one and has a decent group of friends so it's all working out well for us.

Didn't know the EPQ deadline was so soon!

welcome astonished

DD doesn't know what she wants to do either. I'm not sure uni is going to be for her - unless it's a vocational course like an HND. Don't forget that it is always possible to have a year out after college before doing to uni - I have a feeling this would be DD's route if she goes to uni at all.

Hello all. I've been a lurker again for a while....

DS wants to drop Chemistry next year and has also been looking at university courses. He is (so far) sticking with Maths, Biology and Geography.

After having no idea for such a long time (this is a boy who can't decide what he wants for tea so this is an achievement in itself) he thinks that a Geography/Earth Sciences degree could be for him. We have looked at and printed out the info for various uni's and have registered for open days.

DS says school have mentioned the EPQ in passing but not sure if it will be directed at those pupils who are part of the 'Oxbridge' group....he can be a bit useless with information so will see if i can drag any more out of him as he indicated that he'd quite like to do it.

Roll on half term...although he will be revising for his Maths mock and the plethora of tests after the break.

welcome starfleet (love the username)

great news that he has an idea what he wants to do

Welcome to new ostets.

I thought I had some idea of what to do as DS1 is currently at uni, but DD is so different, both in subjects and the way she goes about things, it's like starting afresh!

Ostets = posters. Sorry.

welcome to new posters

DD is now on half term my half term isn't till next week. Week of revising and essays are now getting up to an A grade which dd is massively pleased about.

dd started her week of half term too. Masses of homework. It's not looking very restful.

Nice to see you again Starfleet. I dropped off the thread for a while as well.

it's lovely to see some of the 'old timers' back again :)