Year 12 #1 - GCSEs are sooo last year!

[bpisok]

New thread to see us through to Christmas?

@KickBishopBrennanUpTheArse it sounds like a good opportunity for your dd to move to the high achievers tutor group. Her score is very close to a 7 and she deserves to benefit from the extra coaching etc. My dd is doing four A levels too atm but is thinking of dropping one. A lot of unis make offers on best three anyway so they are at a disadvantage taking four ( easier to get three good grades than four)

KickBishop I think it's so close there's nothing in it and she should switch to the higher group - she could probably switch out of it again if it's too much extra work.
Abitofastate glad to hear DS is feeling OK at the moment as it must have been tough for him. Fingers crossed that further support comes quickly and that you're feeling ok, too.
We haven't got predictions for subjects apart from psychology, which is A. I think we get a data sheet before too long but there are some more assessments coming up.

Kick I'd be pushing for the accelerator group too. DS would be the same if he were just below the grade boundary, but it's set fairly arbitrarily and the difference could just be another couple of marks on one of the 20+ papers. The question is whether they would profit from being in the group and the teacher obviously thinks they will!
Will you encourage or let your DC make the choice themselves?

Kick DS has similar at his school but there is no extra work its more information and maybe having people come in and speak to them, plus they will arrange a visit to Oxbridge and its only once a term. So I would go along she can always drop out if its not for her.

I would def say go for it!

....no need to feel like a fraud either. It's just the dreaded English that brought her average down.

If it was my DD I would say give it a whirl and make a decision after a few months.

Kick another hearty yes here. There is no harm in being with other like minded people, even if she decides not to take it any further. DD'S results were dragged down by a D for further maths, which resulted in lower targets, but she's still giving anything extra which widens her skills a go.

Kick agree with everyone else, she should go for it. Much more likely to be info/opportunities rather than significantly more work.

Abitofastate hopefully your DS will get the support he needs soon and hats off to him for seeking help. for you and hope you’re doing ok.

DS had a letter from school today saying that he has been awarded a sixth form scholarship in light of his gcse results. It has no monetary value (the school has a really extensive means-tested bursary programme so most of the available funds go to that) but they will refer to it in his UCAS reference. His face was a picture when he opened the letter! I may have had a tear in my eye...

That’s fantastic Cherryburn. It’s always extra special when they’re pleased too.

Abitoftaste that sounds like a good meetings. Whilst the diagnosis ofcourse is hard but getting the situation taken seriously and getting further support is a positive step. Some CAHMS discharge far too early. Hope you are ok.

Kick sounds like an ideal opportunity for DD and she shouldn't feel like a fraud at all. As others have said if the workload too much she can always drop it later. As others have also said likely to be just info.

Cherry great news for DS.

DD back from taster day. She managed to go with a friend who was also going to the same event. Said was very good but was also quite fast paced and intense.
Don't suppose for the others who went today did any of you get to the parents talk? Do you know what they covered?

I had an interesting discussion with DS's form tutor about ALIS predictions. Apparently they are based on a mass of observations over a few years about what students actually got in the GCSEs and what they then went on to get for their A levels. If you have a million data points you can do some quite useful, detailed analysis.

However, I was thinking, how can you factor in grade 9s in reformed GCSEs when this is the first year and linear A levels??

Back from the taking DS to the Cambridge Physics masterclass. He enjoyed it and is moving towards Physics as a degree choice.

Didn’t spot a boy matching your DS’s description First! (My DS is a bit smaller than yours and at events like this I’m taken aback how tall ‘average’ Y12’s are!) I hope your DS made it there and back ok - and didn’t get too wet in the thunderstorm just as the event ended.

I didn’t get a spot at the Parents’ talk eaglefly but DS seems to have been quite a bit of info on what they’re looking for - basically subject passion rather than unrelated extra curricular.

Odd day for us in Cambridge though - first time no DS1 to meet up with. He left in June - to juggle job start and PhD submission!

DS2 had a good day at the Physics masterclass. He said he could do most of the questions.

He managed to find it, and only got slightly lost on the way back, but got very very wet walking back to the station, and then had to sit in his wet clothes & shoes waiting for the next train and on the train journey. When we met him at the station he was shivering.

DS2 is a big fan of freebies, and got a tote bag with two books, a notebook and a pen. There was a fair amount of product placement by IsaacPhysics, who seemed to have sponsored the event.

Cherryburn congratulations to him! It's lovely that he has received that recognition.

Cherryburn well done your DS, so nice that he was so chuffed as well.

Sounds like the physics masterclass was a hit!

Whistl - ALIS is a predictor of what A level grades they should achieve. It is taken at the start of year 12 and uses gcse results and scores on ALIS to predict the A level results. They are notoriously wrong/low for people who may be high achievers in one area eg maths and sciences but poor at arts or vice versa. So some lower gcse results will drag down grades. As a result of ALIS my DS is now going to be checked for a SEN as the gaps between certain ALIS results is greater than 30. I asked whether it would have already been picked up if he had one but was told that actually if they are bright all rounders it can be masked up to gcse level but will start to manifest as the difficulty (such as at A level) increases.

Thanks for the congrats for DS. He’s out at a party tonight, hopefully not celebrating too hard

On the parent talk at the masterclasses, I managed to get a slot at the one DS went to a couple of weeks ago. I’m pretty sure they’re all the same (ie not subject-specific) and they honestly don’t say anything that isn’t online. So they cover ‘why Cambridge’, the admissions process, accommodation, pastoral support, financial support etc but it’s all info that’s available on their website. I’ll have a look at the information booklet we were given to see if there’s anything in there that isn’t said elsewhere but I’m pretty certain there isn’t.

Glad your DS navigated the journey TheFirst. Hope he’s warmed up now.

DD has come home for the night. She’s been poorly for a couple of weeks (freshers flu, which clearly isn’t confined to freshers!) and has had a bath and gone to bed. I can see a visit to the walk-in centre tomorrow because I think she may have tonsillitis. She’s been too busy to go to the GP in Oxford apparently...

ShalomJackie so ALIS was those IQ type tests in September, too?
I'm incredibly impressed that your DS's ability managed to mask his possible SpLD up to GCSE level as DS only managed as far as year 6 before the class teacher started to remark that his writing was a mess.

Cherryburn I missed that part of your post! Well done to your DS. (And I am glad you were there to see him find out - I bet that it will be one one of your treasured memories and you will be able to recall that moment 20 years from now.

cherryburn well done to your DS! Hope dd recovers soon.

Thanks whistl. It’s lovely to see his achievement recognised and to watch it dawn on him that his results weren’t a fluke. He got his certificates this week and said that he could relax now he knew that there hadn’t been a mistake and he did really get those grades. I think he’s spent so long comparing himself (unfavourably) to DD that he couldn’t quite believe it.

I can quite see how a SEN could be missed until now Shalom. DS’s dyslexia was only picked up in Y9 when his Geography teacher (who happened to have a bit of experience with SpLDs) felt something wasn’t quite right. He’d managed to get past the screening the school does on everyone in Y7 but when he was thoroughly tested in Y9 he had some really very low scores in certain areas which all affect processing speed. So I think it’s very possible that they can mask a ‘hidden’ condition. Hopefully, if your DS does have a SEN he can now get the support he needs.

Thanks Loose. You posted while I was typing-that’s how slow I am!

In case anyone would like to see it, the WW1 colour film, "They Shall Not Grow Old" is on BBC2 tonight at 9:30pm.

www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b0brzkzx

Congrats and well deserved Cherry !

We're similarly happy here as DS has also just been made a sixth form scholar based on his GCSE results . The final certificates are home aswell. Now it truly feels like it's over.

We stood for a minute of silence today and all I could think was please, please that my child shall not live through any war in his lifetime.

kick I'm late to this but agree with what everyone said. Go for it.

Whistl and Shalom- did they give you the actual ALIS results or just the predicted grades that it pumped out?

Apparently it can take into account subject combinations too. So if you were doing subjects ABC you could get a different prediction for A and B if your were doing them combined with subject D.

Things like this appeal to my inner geeky tendencies 😀