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

[catslife]

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.

My DD also sleeps through alarms, and seems to have no concept of time. Hurry just isn't on her radar. I often wonder how she will cope at university.

DDs first exam is next Monday and she finishes on the 19th. All crammed into two weeks.

Can we talk finance? Those of you whose DC are getting the minimum maintenance loan, how much are you going to give them?

We’ve said we’ll pay halls, phone and gym and she can have the loan for everything else. She knows we hope she’ll put some aside for next year, and she is very frugal, so it should work out ok I think. We’ll be as flexible as we can/need to be.

Hello, I’m delurking again as we are in for the final stretch. DS seems to be okay - obvs with the to be expected mood swings though. I think he just wants the exams to start now. In terms of finance we are doing exactly as TeresasGreen I think this should be enough. If not, DS will have to get a job!

Hmmm. Good idea. Looking at the Halls DD has put down now hoping she gets allocated the cheapest one!

the third it is good that he has agreed to apply for DSA.
'Fine' is my ds's standard response to any questions about how he is, even when really falling apart.

Ds can also sleep through anything. We got him an alarm clock which has a loud ring, a flashing light and a vibrating pad that goes under his pillow. He rarely remembers to set it though.
I have to confess that I ring him repeatedly most mornings to ensure he gets up.

Dd has halls where they choose the actual flat and room, so dd got the cheapest she could, however that still isn't covered by the maintenance loan so we're covering the rest of accomodation. Then we will pay (as we did for dd1) an alowance each week to cover groceries and necessities, dd has a part time job over the phone that she's looking to keep up over her uni career so any extras will come from that for her.

NoHaudinMaWheest could you please post a link for that alarm clock, seems perfect for dd!

I realised earlier this year that DS1 and DD will be at vastly different priced unis. So I said we would top up the maintenance loan to cover halls/accommodation, travel pass, phone and a food allowance. Ds1's current 6.5k loan more than covers this. DD is hoping for London so will be vastly different!

Social life is on them.

DS1 has also been very lucky in the amount of bursaries and scholarships he got, some academic attainment and some income based, which he has actually saved up at the monent!

I'm not sure 'frugal' is in DD's vocabulary.

We are going to pay dds accommodation and she will be responsible for everything else. Her first choice university bans part time term work and apparently discourages Christmas/Easter work too. So I hope she finds a summer job!

😂 Ursula it can actually be quite frustrating. She and DH could not be more different in that respect and I am firmly in between!

DS1 has a summer job in McDonald's . He did go back at Christmas for a couple of weeks, but not at Easter. He'll be back there again this summer, alongside DD who has got a summer job there to start after exams and her holiday.

He applied for the job in the Easter holidays last year, to start in the summer as his uni finishes later than some, which paid off for him.

lilac I got it from the Action on Hearing Loss shop. It is the wake and shake alarm but they have a few different types if you want to have a browse.

Dd has a job in McDonald's too. We've said she should use the loan for accommodation and we will give a weekly/monthly allowance for groceries. Social life is on her, but I'm assuming a lot of her social life will be pretty cheap as she'll be playing music or playing geeky games rather than going out drinking a lot.

DS worked at McDonald’s in Y11 after his GCSEs and in Y12. He stopped in Y13 at October half term when he decided he needed to focus on school. He had saved a lot but I think he has spent a fair bit too! A lot of 18th birthday parties and being of legal drinking age have seen to that - so social life spends will definitely be on him at uni. The good thing about MCDonalds is they are so flexible in terms of shifts and even switching jobs to a location in potential uni towns.

DS is cooking us dinner. He can throw together a decent meal but he’ll definitely need to improve his tidy chef strategies before the autumn!

LoniceraJaponica exam clashes seem to be very common this year. School where I work has someone sitting on a Saturday thisyear due to clashes/length of exams.

Anyone ever heard of someone getting extra time because they are a slow writer?

I haven't, unless it comes with something like dyspraxia or slow processing.

Yes. There is a Saturday sitting here as well. Looking at the AQA timetable it looks like maths and English language clash.

If someone has persistent and significant difficulties with handwriting then there should be a reasonable adjustment made to bring them onto the same footing as everyone else. It could be extra time, a scribe or using a word processor. It's not just that X writes slowly but that X writes slowly because of condition Y.

That's what I thought. There seems to be a disproportionate number of pupils with extra time at DDs school, but I've just googled and apparently independent schools have a higher percentage than state schools.

I read an article on that recently. There was debate over pushy/well informed parents (delete as applicable) in independent school were more likely to get diagnosis/spot issues/aware of extra help compared to the bog standard comp.
It is common to have to fight fir help so there’s something there definitely. Some poorer /less educated families don’t know/have the resources to fight and they miss out. Schools can only fight so much.

I know DS has adjustments in this sitting, he's in a small room rather than the main hall but I'm not sure if that's all. I was not involved and I am not being told/don't want to ask. Once student support had got involved (depression following bereavement) they checked everything, including his writing speed. He is a slow writer (he'd be faster if he didn't have unnecessary loops and squiggles) but as his typing speed is stellar that wouldn't have been a reasonable adjustment. It wouldn't have leveled the playing field but skewed it in his favour.

Student support wasn't something we considered when looking at sixth forms but they have been very good, I wish I'd involved them sooner rather than waiting until we were at crisis point.

ds has NHS diagnosis of dyspraxia since age of 13,, has received nil allowance for it up until now, by the end of year 12 I begged them to assess him for extra time (he had refused to go to the in-house test that the Spld teacher does for special arrangements for GSCEs) They found he was borderline for extra time, so they gave him 15 mins extra. He is in main hall though. He still gets distracted easily. He is in a state school. I'm sure he would have received at least one higher grade with extra time at GSCE, but that was his choice to refuse and to refuse any breaks to help him concentrate better. He grudgingly accepted the assessment because he realised it does indeed make the difference between succeeding or failing and he has *** dyspraxia!. His school has a very high bar for extra time. Ds2 is incredibly lucky to have his work scribed in all exams; he is at a different school and has an EHCP.

I think I once read a letter in a newspaper from a professional saying that she had never come across a child who got extra time [in independent school]who did not need it [ie significant difficulties doing their best in exams], and in fact, all it proved was that most people who DID need it in state schools, were not getting it, and that was the true scandal.