GCSE '18s (19) - New Beginnings?

[whistl]

Following on from the GCSE 2018 threads as our DC enter year 12.
This the first thread in our new home in further education

I haven't dared suggest looking at unis yet. Dd would implode! I might talk to her after she's settled at college.

She's adamant she is only going to look at our big local uni anyway. Not to live at home but because she knows the city and anywhere else is too scary! I'm starting to suspect she struggles with transitions

I will have to persuade her to broaden her options. It's not the easiest to get into.

DS1 split his uni visits between me taking him on weekends, his father in the week and Oxford and Cambridge visits organised by the school. We did them all summer Y12 autumn Y13. He went to a couple on his own as well. Pretty intensive.
He looked at:
Oxford
Cambridge
Warwick
Nottingham
Southampton
Cardiff
Exeter
Birmingham

He ruled out Bristol and Bath as we have family there and he felt they would be too close by. (Silly reasoning, but oh well.)

We ruled out London as too expensive.

He also attended offer holder days at Exeter and Southampton to decide which to choose as insurance.

With DS3 we'll look much more closely at accommodation costs and whether you get uni accommodation at your insurance.

DS1 was much more concerned about the variety of options for the course and the general feel of the campus/city uni buildings. He didn't care much about accommodation position/cost/facilities. He couldn't imagine what living away from home would be like. If he was doing it again accommodation would be a higher priority. He liked modern campus buildings over traditional ones!

I'm not going to start looking with DS3 until I have a better idea of his predicted grades. No point rocking up at Warwick or Bath if he's predicted AAA, no point looking at many of the above if he's predicted ABB. We'll know better in the summer.

I just don't have the heart to think about university now. I'm still thinking of sixth form as the new thing.
Someone please tell me that whilst you can start researching universities now, you won't regret it later if you don't?? In other words, there's still plenty of time???

Yes, as I said earlier this morning please don’t panic - there is plenty of time !!!!

We do need to start researching apprenticeships soon though as it’s a whole new field for me !

I will breathe after the start of sixth form first though !

This summer is early enough!

By which I mean next summer!

Whistl
DS1 did not even start thinking about looking at university courses until the April of Y12, and that was only because I pointed out that some of the open days were happening in the June & July and that DH & I would need some advance notice if he was expecting us to give up our weekends. 😆

I'm relieved to hear it! I feel that I have let a lot of things slide since Christmas and I really need to put my energy into other things than DS1's education for a while.
But I'm warned about next summer now and I'll start drip feeding DH with the idea that a lot of the weekends will be spent visiting campuses.
Maybe I'll take DS2 too, so we don't have to do it all again in 20/21.

Awake early, slightly nervous about new job today! Am distracting myself with your children
DS very keen to crack on with uni thoughts so I being totally led by him. He's just booked a place for Warwick open day on the 6th Oct (he did ask me first if I was free to drive!) and it's only two hours away. He'll be visiting UCL this Saturday for their festival (my mum is an alumni and will be going too) and a look around and get a feel for the place. And he's hoping for a place on the student shadow scheme at LSE this winter, which is specific to Y12 pupils. I think some uni courses do need you to plan ahead so you can have time do the work exp they will expect of you (especially medicine), DS wants to do economics and get into a finance job straight away so it's good that he's finding out how best to facilitate that. He also doesn't start lessons til Tuesday so has had plenty of time on his hands 🤣🤣

Terf all the best for today. Exciting. So much new stuff to get your head round, you know the really important stuff like how the tea and coffee system works.
You'll soon be an old hand though.

Terf best of luck today! You'll be just great!
DS needs to move himself for first day of new school.

Good luck today Terf! You’ll be great.

Terf best of luck for today - remember to take tags off your new clothes and plasters for those new shoes, just in case they rub!

Eldest is leaving for University tomorrow. Will be in halls by Sunday and won't come home until December 14th. Hope she likes it.

@Terf2Terf - best of luck today. I'm sure it will go brilliantly.

DS1 has decided to go for his Gold D of E Award. He's done his Silver and I thought he might not bother with Gold. I'm pleased he's going to do it and a lot of the activities can be done at school. It looks like he can get most of it done this year so it won't clash with exam year. He really enjoys the outdoorsy stuff so it's great he has the opportunity.

Speaking of activity I did the Great North Run yesterday! My legs are a bit sore today and I'm having a day off work to recover.

Well done Sandy! My niece has done the GNR a few times and I’ve been to watch her cross the finish line. It’s a great day out (if you’re spectating!)

Good luck terf.

Well done Sandy and lots of today!

Dd has gone off for day one. She's been up since half six. I doubt it'll ever happen again.

Good luck terf and all others starting today. Well, DS gone again 😥 but I have to confess much as I’m missing him I won’t be missing the 6 30 alarms !!!

@BlueBelle123 sorry if I’ve missed it, but did you come to any decisions about remarks?

well done Sandy - that is amazing and you deserve to feel very proud! I only managed yoga and my legs ache so I'm all the more impressed!

Feeling very fed up at the moment and so is dh. However:

Those whose dc did AQA English - Mr Salles, Mr Bruff or both?

Ds needs help in English he's languishing in bottom set with kids who can barely st5ring a sentence together. His grammar and spelling etc is impeccable but his autism means he struggles with inference, and constructing a story/argument. The thought of having to write overwhelms him and he just gives up.

Good luck terf and well done sandy. You are all very inspiring.

No exercise here but starting a new role this week in the same company - so a new beginning.

DD still thinking about whether to do gold doe. She could easily do the volunteering/skills/physical requirements as she is doing stuff already. But it's all the other things. She has a lot on this year and we have to prioritise her health above all.

Good luck terf

Well done sandybayley - I did the New Forest 10kms yesterday (there's a half marathon and marathon but my friend and I thought that 6 miles was quite sufficient for us!)

Are you sad about that veiled or are you prepared for her absence?

@LimitIsUp - well done! I'd quite like to do the New Forest half although at this time yesterday as I pounded the streets of Newcastle I was swearing 'never again'.

@eaglefly - I think D of E can work if most of it is stuff they'd do anyway. DS1 has rugby or cricket and already does CCF at school (skills and expedition). That just leaves the volunteering - and I've just found a completed form he's done to volunteer at our local Oxfam. Obviously not handed in yet but it shows he has a lot lan.

I think it's a good thing to do but I do want to make sure he also has time for other things he will need for his UCAS form / Personal Statement. D of E probably won't impress a Chemistry or Engineering Admissions Tutor. But by a stroke of luck his Tutor leads on university applications so he'll be well advised.