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)

Dd is very knackered. Alevels are so much More tiring than GCSEs dd has noticed how she can no longer stay up till late.
However she finds alevels slightly less stressful then GCSEs as there aren't as many subjects to do and therefore she can be focused on 3 similar subjects unlike before where she swapped from history revision to chemistry. Her subjects (English history and religious studies) are all quite similar and often cross over in various topics so revising etc is easier now

DD is doing chemistry, biology and geography as well as psychology. She gets more psychology homework than the rest put together.

How on earth do people stay focused doing 4 A levels? DD gets so bored doing the homework that she looks for distractions all the time.

iam
Dd is easily distracted her friends tend to have a lot of psychology work too. Dd is glad she didn't take it

I have a love stuck teenager all happy over V day

DD and her boyfriend agreed not to buy each other anything for V day. Her boyfriend has no money anyway and probably feels happy to be let off the hook.

Glad her romance is working out Fantasy

iam
She's seeing him Saturday he does an apprenticeship so no alevels but is constantly skint as he has to pay his parents money. I think they bought cards and that's that
exit
It's changed her in many way (positive) and given her confidence

That's lovely.

I'm really glad she is happy Fantasy :)

dd announced yesterday that half term was too long, that she wanted to be back at college already. She's only been off since Friday.

Our half term is next week. It's fallen well in that we are on the edge of authorities A B and C. A (where we live) is off this week, B and C (where college is) is off next week. This means that the local shopping centre and the cinema should be quiet next week.

There should be not much homework here, close questioning has revealed that DS gets about two pieces a week. That's not two pieces per subject but two pieces in total. There's no wonder he's getting it all finished in college time. I know what question to ask at the next parent's evening.

We are on half-term already. Mocks in 2 weeks and DS1 has done a little (1-2 hours) History revision each day. He is getting together with some friends this afternoon for a History study group.

I am trying to resist the temptation to remind him that he will also be examined on two other subjects...

Dd and I are just back from our couple of days in Oxford.
She's now completely confident about travelling there by train and finding her way around by herself, ready for the subject day she's going to next month.
She also has fallen completely in love with the city (me too! )

She found out today though that she was unsuccessful on her Pathways application. We were expecting it - she just doesn't tick enough criteria boxes.
Dd is disappointed though, it looked like a brilliant experience.
She's now even less hopeful of getting a place on the Uniq course.

We're also back from a lovely few days in Falmouth. We all fell in love with the Penryn campus, DS's face lit up at the idea of the 4 year course with 1 year study abroad, and is now aiming at the AAA he needs!
We've planned his trip to tobermory on the research ship. The rest of the family will stay in Glasgow for the week. put him on the train to Oban and hopefully he'll manage the ferry & bus!

Shame about pathways Lobster but apart from that how fantastic! It sounds like she was inspired. Oxford is lovely.

And splendid plan Derek. How exciting for him!!!

Ds1 is on half term this week. He's been knocked for six by a bug, slept for two days and night's straight. The good news is that his mri came back clear.

He has work experience next week in a vet's with more lined up on farms and in a local rescue so is on course to have the work experience needed for his university applications. He just has to keep his grades up now.

We had so much worry about his health and the struggle to get work experience that it is a lovely feeling now it seems to be coming together.

Glad it's settled down for everyone else.

"There should be not much homework here, close questioning has revealed that DS gets about two pieces a week"

How come he gets so little homework? DD has come home today with 11 pieces of homework to complete over half term - better than October half term when she had 16 pieces of homework. She is studying 4 A level subjects at the moment but will go down to 3 in year 13. She gets far more than 2 homeworks a week - more like 2 per day. Are you sure your son is being honest about how much homework he gets?

Sorry I've been away for a while, so much work! This time of year is crazy with reports and parents evenings, etc.

Shineyshoes do you still want to ask a question? I am indeed a maths teacher, but you may well have found your answer already.

Dd has had mocks this week. Apparently they've all been fine apart from the one "impossible" question in the further maths exam (it's not impossible at all, we've solved it now) and the chemistry exam which was "all on stuff we haven't covered yet".

She has now pulled out of the world challenge trip (I'm not entirely certain that she's spoken to the teacher in charge to tell them that).

We haven't started thinking about open days yet, that's on the list for things to do over half term (along with everything else in the world)

LDR - you must be really relieved about the mri. Brilliant about his work placements :)

dd had a decent amount of homework, but also has had time to play and rest. I'm glad because it's going to get intense from here on in, with mocks after Easter then as levels in 4 subjects in May/June. Starting to feel the fear a little.

DD had her AS mocks in December. Will she have more after Easter as well?

Littledrummergirl Good news about the MRI. DD has had health issues as well and had a CT scan just before Christmas which, thankfully, returned clear results. We never stop worrying about our children do we.

One of DD's problems is that she wants to go down a medical route, but she can't shadow anyone in the medical profession until she is 18 - in July 2018 after her A levels.

how can you have mocks in december? They've only just started learning the content.

dds college do a series of way marker tests graded for each subject at set times in the year. Then proper mocks after Easter. It sounds like they have intensive revision set up too.

Iam, can she work or volunteer in a care home to get her experience up? It sounds like she has her hands full with college work though.

She is so overwhelmed with work that she gets very little downtime. She helps out with Brownies once a week, but doesn't have the energy to get a part time job. Unfortunately all the healthcare options will only take young people over 18. Although I have asked at our local pharmacy and they have said that DD can spend some time there because they know us, but they normally only take students over 18.

We don't have any care homes near us BTW.

She has a friend at the local 6th form college, and I get the impression that school has covered far more content in the same A level that they are both studying (biology) than the college has. Apparently mocks were always in January, but they decided to have them in December this time.

It sounds really tough for her.

Shineyshoes Everywhere we have asked has said 18 or over, but I will look into the play helper at the children's hospital. Unfortunately it is a 1.5 hour trek to get there on public transport.

Iam I work in a special school and we have people like your daughter on work experience, and definitely u18.

That's good to know. We have a special school not far from us. I will make enquiries.