Thread 25 - Covid Cohort - Christmas Trees, No Omicron Please!

[OrangeCinnamonCocktail]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting. It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, please don't within this thread. Please also be sensitive when responding to posts about grades.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this goodwill continues.

Our DS/DD may go down various paths (such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided, for anyone interested, they will most likely find us within the Further Ed board.

Orange Cinnamon (Head Monitor )
Previous Thread Found Here

My DD is back in on Weds straight into GCSE mocks, she's been having long lie-ins but working pretty well all her waking hours (so till about midnight) apart from the odd outing to visit relatives, go to the panto, go shopping. She looks tired. Her birthday falls in the middle of the exams too, poor thing.

DS has done a fair amount of work too, mainly BTEC coursework, some for his A level history. He has put in Royal Holloway as his final uni choice now.

@Delphigirl maybe weighting the pros and cons, so status of institution/course counts for more (x3) than eg availabilty of nightlife (x1) or sporting facilities (x2).

@cariadambyth sorry to hear about your worries re DS's health, but better to know if there is anything that needs treatment.

On the subject of heart health, have any of you used the charity Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY) to have your teen+ DC's hearts checked out? They offer a free ECG and opinion of a cardiologist plus referral if needed for youngsters at sessions around the country, there is no cost but donations are welcome. The sessions book up fast, you need to sign up for booking emails and respond fast (within 1/2 hour) to get booked in but worth doing. A lot of the sessions in the SE at the moment are at the HQ in Leatherhead, I took DS there recently.

How much revision do others DC do in the run up to mocks/exams?
DS has mocks next week, they are only doing 1 paper per subject as far as I can gather so he only has 3 exams. He is doing around 2 hrs revision per day (had some days off during the holidays) but I’ve no idea if that’s enough or not? It doesn’t seem like much

We were lucky school sent letter a week before end of term outlining procedures for this week and next. Online live learning this week with return on Monday. Pleased they’ve been clear.

Happy New Year, everyone!
Gosh, lots of revision going on in lots of homes. You should be very proud of DCs' commitment.
We've just got back from a big, complicated holiday with extended family. DS decided he had to miss swimming with dolphins (highlight of the holiday for most of us) because it was on the day of his EPQ deadline, and he'd decided to do no work during the 6 days between the end of term and the start of the holiday so still had all the 2nd draft tweaks to do. At least it's now finished one way or another. Hooray!
Revision hasn't had a look-in yet, and mocks start either this week or next. He needs to submit his UCAS form too at some point. But I'm getting to be quite good at not worrying about it. My New Year's mantra: his life, his problem.

@Fiddlersgreen DS appears to be doing quite a few hours a day but I suspect half of that time is actually on his phone. 🤔

@DoggerelBank I wish I wasn’t such a —control freak— worrier and could just trust DS to crack on but I don’t know how to be that person sadly.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn I don't trust my DS to crack on either. All prior evidence is to the contrary. But he responds very badly to gentle nudges, let alone full-scale nagging, so my previous worrying achieved nothing except making me stressed. That was the 2021 me. The 2022 me is calm and hands-off, and trusts (rightly or wrongly) that his school has seen it all before and will deal with him. If all else fails, there are gap years, and retakes, and careers that don't involve degrees, and he's a bright, polite boy who will find his way one way or another.

@Fiddlersgreen my dd also has mocks next week but like your son only has one paper for each subject.

@ExtremelyDetermined - Re CRY, when DS was in prep school one of the boys at the school (younger than DS) died suddenly one night of cardiac problems which no now knew about. As you can imagine it was very shocking and his family became big supporters of CRY - lots of fundraising, talks at school to parents etc. Lots of parents started taking their kids for check ups (I was never organised enough - as you say, the appointments get snapped up). Very sadly the mum of the boy who died herself died a few years later of the same heart condition - her DH and DD continue with their support for the charity so I still get emails etc.

Hi all

I've just popped the new thread up for when we are ready
it is here

I took DS for a CRY check a couple of years ago. Very reassuring as his heart development was closely monitored in pregnancy.

@Decorhate @mummabear74 @Nard75 @whoamitojudge @DoggerelBank @icanbewhatiwant @Fruitygal @BlueMarigold @Piggywaspushed @Isthisjustnormal @Alsoplayspiccolo @HibiscusIsland @Zebracat @Piggyinblankets @ealingwestmum @Wheresthebeach @SandyBayley @sazzy5 @PaddingtonPaddington @Volterra @crazycrofter @Hattifatteners @sofakingcool @Horace123 @20newnames @ProggyMat @ChristopherTracy @AnneOfCleavage @cariadambyth @KingscoteStaff @mummyinbeds @Fiddlersgreen @JustHereWithMyPopcorn @Seeline @Delphigirl @Monkey2001 @EwwSprouts @singingstones @Heifer @ZittiEBuoni @ExtremelyDetermined @estherfrewen @Shimy @Oblomov22

Happy New Year see two posts above for new thread!

@DoggerelBank you are very right, I think I should take up meditation to get me through the next six months!

Oooo, UCAS application has been submitted!!!

👍👍 DoggerelBank!