GCSE'S 2019 Done, Results Received, Moving on to 6th Form and College

[ArthurtheCatsHumanSlave]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3671029-gcse-2019-support-thread-6

New Thread for all our DC's moving on to 6th Form and College to do ALevels and BTEC's, and anything else exciting and new.

Still going well for DD at the new 6th form college. Buses are rubbish but she's cooing. She's still feeling nervous in the mornings but she's fine when she gets there and finishing people very friendly. She's going to a party with friends from the school she left this weekend. New territory for us. She's only been to an after prom party. Any tips welcomed. At least I know the friends and parents of where she is going. I'm dreading the diary party that's an invitation from college friends as we won't know any of them.

We decided against a remark of her English language gxse after her paper - alongside many - was recalled and the English department reviewed them and said everyone of DDs answers had been marked harshly but within tolerance. Apparently different people mark each question. DD was quite philosophical about it and mused that luck might have gone the other way in her English lit paper to give her a 9.

berlin ds1 is the same. It'll soon fill up with work :)

They have messed him around a bit as they are trying new "enrichment" classes and I'm not sure anyine quite knows what's going on :)

Thanks for the birthday wishes, caterpillar cakes went down well :) Dd desperately wants a dog which I’m considering as Ds is off to Uni at the end of the month but I know I will end up being the only one having to walk it
Great tips everyone for rail cards, thinking to attend a couple of open days, although school held a talk this week asking us not to as they want the students to enjoy this year without pressure!
Dd bogged down every night with loads of Maths homework compared to her other subjects but she’s really trying hard.

From my experience of parties - it is helpful if you are the Chauffeur, as at least you know where they are and pick them up. Having the "X" text thing, where you agree if they send a certain text you will pick them up with no questions is a good idea. And providing a place for teens to "socialise and crash" means at least you will meet the contempories and know they are safe under your roof most of the time.
Otherwise do your best to be relaxed, and do talk and listen to them about spiked drinks, drugs, what to do when a friend is "out of it" etc. You do have to hope that if you keep talking they will tell you if they need help.

Wow, at the number of DC's doing 4 ALevels plus EPQ - that's a lot of work, plus all the other extra's they are supposed to do, extra reading, enrichments, volunteering, sport etc etc.

Yep - our 16/17 railcard came next day. Was really impressed.

Bimkom DD1 did BioMed at Magdalen. She applied to Univ but got a random allocated place at Magdalen. These two colleges are chalk and cheese, and she didn't like Magdalen on open day, but she absolutely loved it (as did we). Most of her mates are Medics, BioChem or Chem. So you could start there . It is also a very true fact, that regardless of where you apply or end up, everyone seems to love their college.

I will see if I can get an anecdotal list out of her.

Belated birthday wishes for your dd are

Ds1 hasn't had any homework yet!

He's doing 3 A levels and no epq though.

Thx @Hoooo can’t quite believe she’s 17 already!
I’m sure your DSs schedule will be filled soon enough
Dd taking 4 Alevels but no epq or time for anything else Has been asked to edit the weekly mfl newsletter in her 2 languages which is quite excited about.

I suspect ds will be encouraged to do an EPQ or some other enrichment activity. Apparently they have a "fair" next Friday where they can see what's on offer. As he's doing ancient history his dad wants him to do Latin :)

DS has homework for politics - to watch the evening news! Well there's quite a lot of news today...

Hi everyone, Dd has settled into her A levels surprisingly well, a new college and only two people from her school have gone there (and they aren’t doing the same subjects as her although they have met for lunch a few times) I’m just hoping she is making friends in her lessons.
We have now had four letters from her school about re marking her papers, three of them are one point off the next grade and school are paying for the re-Mark (guessing this is a good sign that they really think she will get the extra marks?) and we need to pay for the other. My only problem is that it is Biology and school haven’t replied to tell us which paper we should request to be re-marked. Hoping we will hear tomorrow.

DD2 is getting a lot of homework but is well on top of it and enjoying her subjects. The thought she's put into her EPQ over the summer is starting to pay off already, she knows what her question is going to be and has a list of resources to research ready to go.

Ds got homework today but he had 2 hours free so did most of it and will finish it tomorrow.

He's finding the early starts hard!

Glad all dc seem to be coping OK. It is such a change, particularly for the ones who have changed to college or another school.
Dd's college strongly recommended doing 3 A-levels, which I'm really pleased about. Dd has a habit of signing up for everything, hence 11.5 GCSEs! So I was worried when she was considering 4... Fortunately she's reasonably happy with her 3 so far, although struggling a bit with the free periods on her timetable. Tomorrow she has 2.5hrs free in the middle of the day - not quite long enough to be worth coming home but a long time to try to fill when she's already done all her homework! I've told her she'll be glad of the time when the homework piles up...
Not sure when clubs and enrichment kick in - they need to be fitted in too of course.

Hoooo yes the early starts are a killer!

DD is quite happy as she has mainly 1/2 days at college, no late finishes, and no huge "holes" in the timetable. She is in the midst of changing subjects though.

Had a long chat with ds last night as he seemed a bit low. He is finding the shift from school to college a little harder than he thought now the adrenaline and excitement has worn off. He is missing some friends and - to his surprise - even missing his old school! Also struggling a bit with long gaps in the timetable.

I've reassured him that it's very early days yet and he will settle in in time. It's all a big adjustment. He's enjoying his subjects though and has just been invited into the 'Aspire' programme so he will get extra enrichment tutorials and can do the EPQ.

I think as much as anything it's the shock of the early mornings taking their toll - he went to bed at 9pm last night!

Yep.
Ditto.
Ds fell asleepon the bus to college yesterday!
He's got a later start tomortow though.
I might even take him in if I can fit it in...

So far so good for dd with her 2 boats plus bus to get to 6 form. She is on top of all her homework and managed a night out with her old school friends last night.
She has met the U6 on Monday , when they rejoined the school. They said when they were L6 they found the senior students not particularly friendly so have been determined not to be like that.

There is a barbecue one day after school next week , arranged by the school as an ice breaker which dd is keen to go to. There is also a parents info evening next week.

Dd is struggling with her new schools poor administration. New external students seem to have not been added to all mailing lists and systems. She is therefore missing important emails and finding out things when they are casually mentioned by other students. There is one lad who has basically now taken it on himself to forward on all emails to her.. bless him.
She got home yesterday and sent out a load of emails to school staff in the hope it gets sorted.
I keep saying that it’s early days and I’m sure things will get sorted but Dd hates feeling like she’s done something wrong.
The different online hand in system for homework is also not performing as it should and saying she hasn’t handed in work online when she has. She’s now taking screen shots to prove she’s handed in work on time!
The school have taken on a lot more 6th formers than previous years.. looks like they are struggling to cope. Dd says she struggles to find a place to study in study periods as all desks are full and that lunchtimes are a nightmare.

@Theovertoad that is really tough with admin not being great and feeling like you’re always playing catch up. Hope it gets sorted quickly.

Dd is now settled after a rocky start, happy with a level choices, but being the new girl in an established year group is tough going but she’s managing.

School are putting 4 subjects in for remarking. So fingers crosses on those, all one mark away from next grade up.

Good luck to all those getting remarks!
Dd has had a good day today. I think the admin issues have been sorted. Someone from admin responded to her emails and contacted her today to say they were on it and another teacher said well done for getting it sorted.
So she’s a bit happier this evening

Maybe this will be useful but due to updated regulations regarding information sharing it’s possible that schools/ colleges are not able to email info due to the new GDPR?regulations, I am on the PTA and we are not allowed to email out anymore unless the parent has requested to be inclusive

• included, meaning parents need to actively give consent before any emails can be sent out, but stupidly we are not allowed to inform parents they will not be kept informed unless they question or ask to be included many parents will be unaware of the regulations

Well what a great evening we’ve had! After the music remark coming back standing I was taking it that the biology would be the same - but they’ve found two more marks and dd has a 9! She was so, so happy as sciences are her ‘thing’ and now that has given her a boost for the next two years

And @Theovertoad so glad things are getting sorted now for your dd, must have been really worrying in case she’d missed something important