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Further education

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Original poster

Y13 Summer term: Finishing Lessons, Starting Exams and leaving Sixth Form

999 replies

catslife · 22/04/2018 15:07

So our dcs are now on the last term of sixth form, finishing off lessons and starting their exams.
How did that happen - doesn't seem that long ago since they started Y12.
This is the thread where we support each other as our dcs revise and start their exams, finish off coursework, leave sixth form and make plans for what to do with the rest of their lives. This may involve going to uni or other alternatives.
Every Y13 parent is welcome to join in whether new to these threads or if you have been with us for a while - the more the merrier.

OP posts:
UrsulaPandress · 23/04/2018 19:09

My DD dropped her EPQ as she found she didn't have time and her choices did not offer reduced grades. She has three essay based subjects plus two courseworks to do and just felt overwhelmed.

HesMyLobster · 23/04/2018 19:20

DD's school did the EPQ in yr 12. Felt like a lot at the time, especially as she was still doing 4 subjects, but very glad this year to have it over and done with (and an A* in the bank! Wink) she didn't receive any reduced offers but I think it probably strengthened her application and was a factor in at least one offer.

Icouldbeknitting · 23/04/2018 19:42

I am here, just had nothing to say. DS was under instruction to dodge the EPQ as it would not have affected his offer (the standard offer for his thing is EE) and I could predict it being left until the last minute and being a panic. I am told that revision is happening but I can't say that I'm seeing it.

LoniceraJaponica · 23/04/2018 20:00

I'm here. Thank you for the tag.

DD is finishing her geography NEA (non examined assessment). As it is a new syllabus I get the impression that this has been a bit of a car crash. No-one knows what they are doing, especially the teachers. The student have had very few guidelines and are as stressed as anything. This counts for 20% of the A level.

The number of snow days we have had has impacted on when they finish their courses, which will now be well into May.

So it is stress city here.

puppypower1 · 23/04/2018 20:57

Lonerica is that the new OCR spec?. If so, I feel your pain. Well more accurately, DS feels your pain. Very few resources, questions etc to use as revision materials. I hope the grade boundaries will be lower as a result

SluttyButty · 23/04/2018 21:12

Lonicera dd has submitted her geography, we saw her teacher but the feedback pre submission wasn't very specific. In the mocks she concentrated on biology and screwed up geography and got a D. The onl subject she's flying in is English Lit. The stress is really mounting.

LoniceraJaponica · 23/04/2018 21:15

No, AQA.

marmiteloversunite · 23/04/2018 21:24

Lonerica. It is really difficult having only one set of past papers for Music A level too. DD had that for her mock and there really is very little to practice. Her teacher got a exam board brochure with about four pages in it to help them study exam questions!

Nettleskeins · 23/04/2018 21:31

Dd wants to do an EPQ next year on authenticTudor Dress, with an artefact (tudor dress!) If she moves school that is...will note carefully Flatmouses* experiences and reinforce RESEARCH.

Ds is in a good mood again, teacher praised some recent work of his on Streetcar - he still has to discuss his offer with his other teacher though, and still hasn't pressed the button.

ursula hope your dd's friend is alright, horse riding accidents fill me with dread (dd can just about ride but I'm always frightened that a frisky horse will unseat her)

Parties all sound good, and hurray for your ds being so responsible starfleet. I distinctly remember all the friends who could drive ending up completely teetota at most partiesl, how terrible that she thought she could manage even one drink (and of course one drink leads to another) I'm completely paranoid about any alcohol in cars, I know so many people who think they can "judge" but the first time you cannot is the most dangerous time. And then if you mix alcohol with any other drugs even prescription or lots of sugar..

MrSlant · 23/04/2018 21:35

Thanks for the heads-up @catslife

Meltdown here, A level photography (15 hour) exam going on currently for DS1, DS2 has set himself the target of 5 A* minimum for GCSE (Wales so not numbers yet) so is both focused and terrifying when riled and DS3 is in his last term of primary school and coming home with a SATS booklet every day (even though we allegedly don't do them). Throw in summer sports starting to ramp up and winter sports having a last blast with tournaments I just want to lock myself in a dark room for a week or so. I'm hoping work tomorrow will be a rest.

Can't believe we are coming to the end of 'big school' after all these years!

NoHaudinMaWheest · 23/04/2018 21:52

Thanks for the tag.
Dd had mocks last week. She has only had one result the hardest physics paper which was not good but not as bad as she feared.
She is still dithering about pressing the button. She has decided on her first choice which is actually the lower offer but can't decide whether to put the other as an insurance. There are a few unlikely scenarios in which she could be rejected by first choice but accepted by second but she can't decide if she really would want to go to second choice.
In other family news ds is considering suspending his studies. He was actually doing well academically but is very stressed (he has ASD and OCD) and has now fallen behind. Just when things seem to settle something else stressy emerges. Sad

Bekabeech · 23/04/2018 21:55

I'm so relieved DDs College made them do coursework over the summer and hand it in in the autumn. Even though it set off DDs stress this time. At least it is long handed in.
My little one has one GCSE this year too - it will be interesting to see how she copes.

Nettleskeins · 23/04/2018 22:11

mrslant it's funny; I'm finding that the presence of ds is slightly easing the pressure for the GScers in the house, it's almost as if knowing he hasn't done particularly well in his Gsces has stopped them worrying quite so much (although ds2 did say, what if I get the same as HIM? Wink honestly nothing like a brother's loyalty) They are clearly working much harder than him and they know it must bear some fruit.

However, there is an excitement in the air, as if everyone has entered their horse for a big race! And I am loving the thought that it is all going to be OVER, SOOOON. Just three weeks before the 15th which is when it all kicks off. Ds1 has only 4 actual exam papers, so not really that bad in terms of going in and taking exams but a lot invested in each 2 hour paper.

Nettleskeins · 23/04/2018 22:14

NoHaudin sorry to hear that your son is stressed, but its good that he has allowed himself a pause, hope it helps. I can remember getting suddenly very stressed in my second year, having a mini collapse, then it was alright again. Check his Vitamin D!!! I was filing my papers today and looked at old blood test results and felt so cross about my vit d deficiencies - I bet I had them as a teen too..which would account for that annual Feb/April slump.

Nettleskeins · 23/04/2018 22:19

Mrslant Grinat locking yourself in darkroom, v g pun..the photography is affecting you! I also love the "focused and terrifying when riled" my ds2 exactly. Woe betide the mum who moves even one piece of paper from the teetering piles on his desk, yesterday he accused me of tidying up Macbeth which had all my notes for the last two years in it

LoniceraJaponica · 23/04/2018 22:21

Bekabeech I don't think doing the coursework over the summer would have helped. It is so new, with so few guidelines that the students are doing most of it in class. They have had to collate data, and the students who took too long have held the rest of the class up.

I have spent this evening checking DD's work for spelling and grammar (ex copywriter here) and suggesting that she re-words some sentences.

TheSecondOfHerName · 23/04/2018 22:28

NoHaudin sorry to hear that your DS is struggling at the moment.

raspberryrippleicecream · 23/04/2018 22:37

DD did do a lot of work on her History coursework over the summer, having agreed the title with the teacher. They did a class trip to a uni in July to use the library and make a start. Then in September the teacher told her she had to change it, by about 3,000 years so none of the original research was any good!

Lonicera DD does vast amounts of past papers, it must be awful not having any.

TheSecondOfHerName · 23/04/2018 22:38

I'm still adding something each week to DS1's 'hope chest' / bottom drawer.
Last week's contribution:
An expanding document file with different sections.

MrSlant · 23/04/2018 22:53

Nettleskins even funnier when actually I'm a radiographer so will be retreating to my own dark room at regular points tomorrow (all digital now of course but we still have the red lights which I find soothing after all these years Grin). DS2 will NOT be compared to his older brother ( on pain of pain), I think the phrase for him is 'fiercely academic' where DS1, well lets just say he isn't. And perfectly content to be that way too.

Love the idea of excitement in the air like a horse has been entered into a big race. Everything feels poised just ready to hurtle off for the big moment.

LoniceraJaponica · 23/04/2018 23:00

raspberryrippleicecream it is very difficult because the biology syllabus is new as well, so there aren't many past papers for her to look at.

raspberryrippleicecream · 23/04/2018 23:16

DD would be in melt down Lonicera. I think she's been lucky Maths is still old style.

UrsulaPandress · 23/04/2018 23:33

No last papers here either. And they were a mainstay for dd at gcse.

Icouldbeknitting · 24/04/2018 06:30

My contribution to planning for September is that I've started to design a blanket for his bed. The small hiccup so far is that the bed could be one of three sizes depending on what accommodation he ends up with. I think I'm going to plan for the largest size which would be what fits his first choice. I'm weaving it in strips because my loom is smaller than a bed so if I hold off sewing it together then I can use one strip less and have it fit the smallest bed.

I've been down this path before and I know that fretting over something that has no relevance stops me from worrying over the big things.

Bekabeech · 24/04/2018 06:41

With Geography DD did the fieldwork over the summer, lots of trips to a certain town with questionnaires. Her teachers have taught for years so gave advice based on the last time there was coursework. They had also prepared them for number crunching. DD didn't feel very supported, but with our support (boyfriend of the time, both siblings, both parents, and a couple of friends) did complete it and seems to have done okay. But she did nearly quite college over it, and we all know that coursework is something she needs to avoid as much as possible - it definitely damaged her mental health. She handed in about a month after everyone else at her college even so.
If it had still been around ... well I hate to think what state she would be in. At least she has had time to recover. And she much prefers exams.