Thread 17 - Corona Cohort Summer Vacation to Yr 13, Finding Freedom?

[Orangecinnamon21]

PLACEHOLDER FOR NEW THREAD ...PREVIOUSLY TO BE FOUND IN SECONDARY EDUCATION

Shimy that’s a yes please from me!

@Shimy I saw that thread too. It's just reminded me I heard about Exeter offering £10k incentive and free accommodation to students willing to defer their medical degree by a year due to unprecedented demand. www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-57908436 I was wondering if A level grades this year are high again what the knock on effect will be for our cohort next year. DD not looking at medicine but just wondering in general.

Zanda Unconditional offers to everyone or all grades bumped up one level, take your pick!

I saw the thread about wanting to bump up all grades - doesn’t really make any sense to me

Tbh our new year 13s are going really be a mixed crowd, even without the chaos created within by vaccinated v unvaccinated due to the 17 and three quarters rule. Can all DC with summer birthdays get one more grade higher as they may be more susceptible to the virus?

@Mummabear74 One would hope that universities would have a set admission quota for each year per subject and that will include a maximum no of places for possible deferrals, so in the event of unusual circumstances such as 2020-2022, once the deferral max has been reached, unis should be telling people it's either they take up their place in their offer yr or reapply afresh. This doesn't seem to be what they are doing. All indicators at the moment are showing that it will be very competitive next year and I won't be surprised at all if universities anticipating the influx will put other admission criteria in place to manage the numbers.

@Zandathepanda Yes dear, letters will be going out by end of next week confirming this .

Thanks @ealingwestmum: not relevant for ds, but dd is logging that for future years!

Zanda. That only seems fair. I've only just learnt how we get ripped off with child benefit.

@Monkey2001
We are in the South East but heard about the vaccination for nearly 18’s via the BBC news app.
We tried booking it on the NHS website but it wouldn’t let us so we asked at our local vaccination centre who confirmed it for us

The people on that thread will be on the ALGI Facebook thread. They are quite... ermmm... vocal about injustices, perceived or real.

What does ALGI stand for?

@Shimy
it’s going to be a real minefield next year! @Zandathepanda DD is August born so I’m not sure she’ll be vaccinated in time for exams. I’m hoping they’ll roll it out further for the year 13s or we can try and find a site that'll vaccinate before that. @EwwSprouts I’d never considered the child benefit angle but recall our nursery friends back in the day saying how ‘lucky’ we were that we paid a years less nursery fees so maybe it swings and roundabouts.

Piggy, please stay invested in DD! Really appreciate your in-depth knowledge of unis that are good for English.
We haven’t looked at Winchester but will do so, thanks; we need to start looking at possibles, rather than focusing on definitely nots

singing, yes, DD did well in her GCSEs (9x7/8/9, 1x6) and from that, her ALIS predictions are AAA, with BBB from baseline testing.
School have only issued summer exam results grades so far; predictions will be issued next term and can be altered right up until the point UCAS applications have to be in, we’ve been told.
Like your DS, DD is working over the holidays - specifically exam technique - but her confidence has taken a knock and she’s said she feels she needs to lower her sights.
I honestly don’t know where she should pitch herself, because of her SEN and not knowing how she might perform in public exams.

DH got a call from NHS Wales today, asking if DD would like the Covid vaccine (she’s 18 at the end of October) - obviously, she jumped at the chance and is having it on Friday 👌👏🏻

@Shimy top class bonkers! It will already be a year of inflated grades, so why not inflate then a bit more?! Odd juxtaposition of inflated grades and deflated learning.

ALGI is a group which set up in response to the algorithm and were full of rage. However, once he algorithm vanished, they then found that some students still didn't get the grades for uni (they seem to be uniquely blind to the vagaries of UCAS grades even though they have been repeatedly told) and became renewed in their ire, much of it now aimed at teachers and schools. Lots of appeals, court cases (one of the leading lights is a lawyer) and anger. They are already stoking up anxiety prior to this year's results.

They were a reasonable bunch to begin with but have become quite extreme and most teachers, who were initially supportive and helpful, have been hounded out of , or left, the group.

I’ve never heard of that group but it sounds very toxic if that’s what they are doing,

It’s almost as if some parents whose dc were unlikely to ever get good grades for whatever reason, in times past who would’ve licked their wounds in private and encouraged their dc along other avenues (with ds1 I had plan B,C,D and E!) have now seen an opportunity amidst all the chaos to vent their frustration by completely sabotaging all the results for this period so their dc doesn’t look so bad. I keep reading ‘the results are all MEANINGLESS!) I doubt anyone whose dc got decent results would think they are meaningless. Also how are they meaningless? Are they no longer doing the job of enabling kids to go on to the next level?

It’s like they want people to believe this narrative and if they say it enough times people will start to believe it.

Monkey Very good point made. Odd juxtaposition indeed!

Interestingly we all know ‘normal’ exams always throw up weird results and that a surprisingly high percentage, especially in humanities, are wrong.
In older Dds year, in 2019, I heard of Ds going up to As after re-marks. Also pupils ill on the day or too nervous and misreading the question completely. There’s always an element of luck. Older Dd had a problem with her thumb so her writing hand was strapped up, an ingrowing toenail and problems with her wisdom teeth. She went hobbling into the exams rattling with antibiotics. She did well but it took a support system of private physio, hand consultant, a good chemist and dentist. I said at the time she could be an extra as ‘walking wounded’ on a film! This did not go down well .

How much A Level work have your DCs got over the holidays? Dd has got quite of bit of catching up to do but quite a lot of coursework too.

Zanda quite the same here. DS has coursework (hasn’t started) but he’s also do voluntary work, MOOC, EPQ, Core Maths (self study) and needs to work on 2nd draft PS. I feel really sorry for him, he’s not having a summer holiday at all just working all day. He said all his friends are posting pics of them at the beach or at a party. He’s having breaks in between but that’s not quite the same as going away somewhere and just letting your hair down.

Loads of work here too - history NEA first draft, 2 x English NEA first draft, French version of NEA, starting EPQ and normal history essay plus text reading for English plus French revision. Miserable summer really!

My son only has revision to do!

He is writing for a local paper and also article for Student Voice.

He has been out with friends.

Its been a bad year so he needs to enjoy x

There is a big difference so far with what DD has got to do and what she is doing!

She has a small bit of work, but EPQ (or equivelant) MOOCS, Personal statement (I don't think she has started that yet), Core Maths, Revision for 2 tests when they return for Psychology.

She hasn't done anything yet - and is also annoyed that her friends don't seem to want to go out much. She feels like she wanted a break from school stuff but has wasted the time doing nothing.

Well done to those that had great results (sorry I can't remember who DD it was).

Also we done on driving tests passed. DD has theory test beginning of August - I am expecting her to ask me to reschedule.....