Half way through Year 13 and the last school year.

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

eep.

Your poor ds LittleDrummer. But if he has the RVC that's fab.

Good for your ds Derek! Well done to him. :)

It's a fair old wait Fantasy, but hopefully they can at least get your dd sorted before university.

MrsAD I guess that's the worry with unconditional offers.

mrsdragon I needed 2 Es - I so took my eye off everything! They are rather an embarrassing addition to my CV and I'm so cross that I didn't work harder

Well done to your ds Derek, that's fab!

My own A levels are an embarrassment too, so I'm aware that not having a goal can lead to poor results. But dd has been aware of that for years as well as I've talked about my results being worse than they should have been, so she's determined that won't be her. Plus there's quite a generous financial incentive for getting really high grades (grades above the published offer get her some money)

Now that is some incentive!

I never did alevels didn’t have the opportunities due to a situation at home. I went straight into work, dd doesn’t want an unconditional for the reason she wouldn’t work and then would have poor alevels

She has been on the phone her voice a little broken she really did try hard to not cry! Think it is starting to weigh her down now.
Let’s say ex bestfriend heard a rumour and disturbed dds lesson and has spent the whole day being rather nasty
But all the girls her ex best friend hate has said she’s starting to fall and she looks like a nasty person to others.
Dd has said it’s just frustrating at 18 there behaviour and apparently she has nick named dd something evil in her phone and removed her from her WhatsApp bio 🙄
I told dd not to worry and plough all efforts into her alevels and soon she’ll be able to say girl who? I don’t know her I’m sorry
But it is starting to weigh her down and annoy her

I had an EE offer, My name is on the scholarship board in college (I went to the same college that DS is at now) as I got AAAA. If there had been stars back then I'd have had those too. I had no social life, never went out and had my nose in a textbook every waking minute. I was determined not to raise the next generation as a perfectionist.

Yes knitting there is a very fine balance between having high but reasonable expectations and putting too much pressure on. I'd like dd to be somewhere between "enjoying the social side but not bothering at all with academics" and "whole life devoted to academic work with no hobbies or social life". She does seem to be hovering somewhere in the middle, with extracurricular stuff a couple of evenings and a Saturday job, but still doing a fair amount of school work according to her teachers, not that I see much evidence of work being done at home

knitting wow, I am very impressed. I was sadly not a perfectionist, but I am in the middle ground. I received my grades back in 1980's so I tell myself they were one grade higher than I actually got (ie a B was an A, a D was a C) but I still received incredibly disappointing grades, BDF (my B was in Latin, my F was the subject I retook and did at uni) However, I retook two and ended up with BBD, which in hindsight was perfectly respectable. However, because I was at an incredibly high performing school I always felt these grades were a failure, now I know differently and realise that two BBs and a D is fine and I could have done anything I wanted with those grades in later life, applied for many many other degrees than I ended up doing.

So I suppose what I take from my own experience of A levels is that if you don't work in Year 13 on determined detailed facts and evidence information gathering as well as analysis, and learn exam technique you are not going to succeed (I found Latin easier because it was so structured compared to my humanities A levels) I remember not even reading King Lear or Heart of Darkness or To the Lighthouse properly, just carried away by woffling, making class notes in a completely unstructured way themes which were not based on any detailed knowledge of the texts. Which is why I got an F! Retake was a B, new texts, new way of working. I learnt a lot in that retake year about analysis and detailed close study of evidence, which I had nil understanding of in my original school. Too young? Too lazy? Preoccupied with adolescence? very slow in exams?

So I know that ds has my genes, and he is likely to make exactly the same mistakes, Which is why I harangue him daily to read the texts properly and have a tutor to help him with technique.

But I am aware that retaking is not the end of the world, and the more important aspect is not writing yourself off, because of one set of exams or closing down lots of pathways in the mistaken belief that you are not good at one thing. Everyone can learn to concentrate and to work on something that really interests them later on, whether you find A level study unproductive or not. And this year will help your development even if it feels like a wasted year on some levels.

I don't think my parents put much pressure on me, they were sort of resigned to this idea I was this dreamy hopeless impractical person. Which of course is not the case I am deeply impractical but I think I could have learnt anything to a high level (pharmacy, physiotherapy, pyschology, education, art, economics, geography, ecology, architecture) Marketing, publishing and retail was what I ended up in, completely wrong! So I feel again with ds it would be easy to role cast him as suitable for certain careers, when in a way there is no knowing what he will be good at in his twenties, even if his personality stays constant

Signing in as you'd slipped off my TIO as I've been away for a few days.

DS is unaware of my appalling attempt at a levels. He'll find out, but probably not until after DD has done hers. I still managed to get to uni via clearing and turned it round there. He does know he did better in GCSEs than I did at O levels, but again no details as DD still to do hers
Driving theory test passed today - phew! Although almost didn't make it in time, hadn't allowed enough extra rush hour traffic for bus times.

I did my Maths O Level 3 times before I passed it. It defeated me and I nearly cried when I got my result! Others were fine - had a mental block with Maths.

Not much to report here - DS has been off for the past few days with a particularly nasty sinus infection - it was pretty bad as he never has time off school and there were no arguments when I told him to go back to bed the last couple of mornings. The antibiotics seem to be kicking in - he said he is feeling a little better. They are almost adults but they do revert back to their younger selves when they are poorly....

Well done you guys. I left school after GCSEs, I got mainly Bs and Cs and didn't think I was clever enough for A levels. I tried college and a level English a few years later part time and really struggled as my tutor had fixed ideas on how we should write- he wanted us to use modern language/current slang which I didn't use in speech particularly and really disliked having to write.
I was getting good grades but didn't finish the course. I keep saying that when I know what I want to do when I grow up then I'll go back to education, I still don't know what that is though.

Hi!
My laid back ness is being tested, but we're getting there. DD managed about 2 days last week due to snow. Then this week has labyrinthitis so will have manage 2 1/2 with the rest lying down because even sitting up made her dizzy.

But we just have to hope it becomes easier from here.
Fortunately no Uni offers to worry about, although her boyfriend has an interview next week and still hasn't heard from 2 Unis.
I'm proud of my Maths grade, and could have done better overall at a better school (I was the only person to pass one subject and did pretty badly in that).

New to this thread, hi.

DD has just had her second unconditional offer toady, so is really happy.
I'm happy too, but can't help feeling wistful.
I thought back to when I was 18, got an unconditional offer to study Medicine at St Andrews University and my parents talked me out of it.
I had zero self esteem, grew up in a hell council estate. My parents told me I would never fit in at University because of my social class, I wouldn't make friends, I would hate it.
So I turned down the offer and got a job instead.
Id' like to give my 18 year old self a hug.

Welcome speakout

and big hugs to 18-year-old you

Thank you chocolate.

Welcome to speakout

DS1 is struggling a bit at the moment. He needs to be on medication but it causes insomnia and an upset stomach. He's also several weeks behind on two large pieces of coursework.

The good news is that the university who gave him the unconditional offer phoned him today. He was worried that he wouldn't be able to put an unconditional offer as his insurance, but they said he can.

Welcome speakout :)
It's so bittersweet isn't it, seeing them growing up and getting ready to fly the nest, while thinking back on missed opportunities. I hope that the alternative path you took was one that was ok, though it must be impossible not to think on what life could have been like.

I'm another a level mess up, due to some difficult stuff. Fortunately my original university still accepted me and I got back on track. I always feel like I was a disappointment though. Funny really.

Lots of poorlies around at the moment. dd had a short lived nasty virus. She seems utterly wiped out and there's still almost three weeks of this term with her epq and other coursework due in.

That's amazing TheSecond. How perfect to have an unconditional as a back up.

Before DS1 turned 18, we used to ask him to be home by 1am (or safely at someone else's house by 1am and texting us to say where).

Now that he's 18, he sometimes wants to go out clubbing in the nearby town with his friends, which doesn't even get going until after midnight.

I worry about him because this town has high levels of violent crime between 11pm and 4am. There are fights every weekend. DS1 knows a lad who was fatally stabbed last year; non-fatal stabbings are frequent (last one was two nights ago).

It's currently pouring with rain, so I'm hoping that will deter him from his plans to go out tonight, especially as he is working tomorrow and then has a party to go to tomorrow night.

That's a real worry TheSecond. I hate this bit where they get in late. It really stresses me out. dd isn't into clubbing but she does use public transport late into the night and it gets rather drunken and a bit unpleasant. I dread these nights a bit.

I used to think the toddler years were hard.
I don't worry so much about my DS anymore, he went to NZ to work for 6 months when he was 19 ( refusing a place at Uni) been very down at times since he got back home, been a real worry for 6 months, but now started a computer training course, so he ( and I) happier.

Speakout another big hug to 18 year old you.
Second hope son gets home safe and stays safe the next few days.

Ds1 went to Cardiff today for an audition and interview, apparently it did not go to plan!!! He said he couldn't sing past the first section, his voice completely seized up. He was gutted, as the piece sounds beautiful usually (although I say it myself) We'll see what happens. I'm proud of him for getting there by himself and doing the whole interview applicants' day by himself, as I'm in another EU country.

Learning curve. Glasgow next.

Well done to your ds flat
secon
Dds acne medication makes her feel ill sometimes with frequent visits to the loo

We have a dilemma currently hoping someone can help
Dd has an offer for 80 ucas points at uni of east London
She has her heart set on goldsmiths I think although still considering Westminster been a firm
Is it worth going on an applicant day? Just because they’ve offered low ucas grade it just seems a waste of £70 on train tickets