Thread 26 - Covid Cohort Hoping for a Stable, Successful 2022

[OrangeCinnamonCocktail]

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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 threads 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 will continue.

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.

@cariadambyth is it completely unconditional? Ds1 had an unconditional...but it did have a condition in that he had to firm that university to get unconditional. A few of his friends had similar. This was 2019 though.

Sorry to hear about the rejections.

DS very low key 18th this week. Just us going out for pizza plus grandparents coming round for cake. He still isn’t 100% from appendicitis infection in November and says he still gets the occasional twinge which he is refusing to speak to the GP about. Am dreading Cambridge result on 25th for the probably slightly odd reason that I don’t think it is the right place for him and if he was offered a place that his insurance would then be Warwick and am not sure how results would go for either of those places leaving him with clearing. I would far rather he firmed Warwick and had Lancaster as insurance. Stressful. Good news is that history and two English NEAs pretty much finalised and teachers seem really happy. He has practice French IRP presentation next week which he is learning off by heart this weekend (on French swimming @ealingwestmum!). Can’t wait for year 13 to be done now and some certainty in his life. Am struggling to sleep myself at the moment with the stress!

It’s good that all those years of swimming are coming into good use now Esther! Hope he has a lovely time this week with you all on his 18th.

Hang in there, somehow, these guys will find the right place and come good. We too have endured their stress of the past 2 years, it’s no wonder you’re exhausted

Re the rumbling appendix Esther, just be prepared to make the call for him as and when you think necessary. I eventually sent DH to the GP, who called A&E from there. A couple of hours later it was removed. It had been rumbling for 6 months. Stubborn mule wouldn’t have gone otherwise.

Well done on all the new offers and commiserations to those with rejections. We’re still waiting for Bath but I’m kind of hoping it’s a rejection so there’s one less to choose from! Although @Volterra you make it sound lovely and dd has said she’s thinking it should be her firm if she gets an offer.

@Alsoplayspiccolo thanks for sharing about your ds! It’s tricky, and I also don’t know how much leeway to give him because of his ADHD. He says he struggles to concentrate on too many subjects. We got a letter from the head of history yesterday saying how well he’d done in his mocks and encouraging him to take the A Level! I’m expecting a different letter from the head of Science very soon..

Thanks @ealingwestmum - he is so stoic often he is really poorly when I find out. He only let slip a couple of weeks ago he was ‘feeling’ it occasionally. I wish they had just whipped it out last year. I keep asking him if it hurts just to annoy him now in the hope he will get so fed up of me asking he will speak to the GP!

[quote icanbewhatiwant]@cariadambyth is it completely unconditional? Ds1 had an unconditional...but it did have a condition in that he had to firm that university to get unconditional. A few of his friends had similar. This was 2019 though. [/quote]
This is us with Portsmouth. If it could be insurance she’d do it but has to be firm. School have told them not make decisions now, wait til May. Much better idea of how grades are looking at that point. Also wait til you’ve been on offer days.

isit Great EPQ result-congrats.
Glad interview went well Monkey

Sorry to see DS is still feeling the grumbling esther. That’s hard at any time but esp so now.

crazy, that’s fab news about the history!
I remember reading an article that said that research shows that students who get straight As throughout school actually do less well in careers than those that get excellent grades in one or two subjects, because the world of work needs specialists, focusing on one area, and so those students that have focused interests are better adapted.
DS does really well in the subjects he enjoys, because he’s more engaged and interested. It IS frustrating but at the same time, I think it’s a clever use of (limited) time and energy - he doesn’t want to be a scientist so he doesn’t waste more effort than is needed on the sciences.

@cariadambyth RHU were very flexible with my DN for Politics/IR.

What strikes me from this dilemma is that RHU is a bit different from the other institution's you mentioned, for various reasons, it's proximity to London makes it so I think.

Entry on the day all comes down to how competitive the courses are...it is tricky to predict but some places are more flexible than we think.

@Wheresthebeach ds1 didn't accept the unconditional. He wanted to go to UEA our nearest instead. (Where he is now in final year) It sounds much better to have unconditional with no conditions at all though.

Thank you all for your thoughts and insights. My concern is that Bath Spa was very much her fifth option, until this offer. I’m not sure if the offer is actually on the condition that she makes it her firm choice, thanks for flagging that up, I’ll check with her.
@OrangeCinnamonCocktail, could you expand on RH’s differences please? Their flexibility sounds reassuring, was that through clearing or when she had her results?

@cariadambyth

Thank you all for your thoughts and insights. My concern is that Bath Spa was very much her fifth option, until this offer. I’m not sure if the offer is actually on the condition that she makes it her firm choice, thanks for flagging that up, I’ll check with her. *@OrangeCinnamonCocktail*, could you expand on RH’s differences please? Their flexibility sounds reassuring, was that through clearing or when she had her results?

It is my darling nephew...his experience seems to be that the weekend exodus is true, seems to have felt quite isolated at times and also in a flat with v wealthy students which seems to be causing some issues (not sure if that is an individual experience though).

RHU were on his list initially but he firmed and conditioned elsewhere and gained a place through clearing. They did advertise flexibility in entry requirements if a grade was dropped I seem to remember.

Might be worth checking whether Bath Spa was in clearing last year too - I think DS will end up firming and insuring places he wants to go to but there were clearing options. Slightly risky I know.

@Alsoplayspiccolo that totally rings true about people with focused interests doing better!

@cariadambyth I would guess that Bath Spa would have places available in clearing, although I’m not sure how you would check that. I think I’d stick with Southampton and RHU in your situation, but it’s probably best to wait til May as her grade expectations will be clearer by then.

Dd told me that she and all her friends thought you could choose between your two choices once you got your results! I hope the school make things clearer to them ASAP!

She was thinking Bath first if they offer because it will be her highest offer, so I’ve been stressing that it actually needs to be her real first choice!

Sorry @OrangeCinnamonCocktail, I don’t know why I assumed niece not nephew. Thanks for explaining, hmmm, we are very much in the ‘comfortable’ rather than the ‘very wealthy’. I’d also heard how quiet weekends there can be.
@crazycrofter, I think you’re absolutely right. I’m going to recommend dd puts all thoughts of university in the back burner until May and focuses on A levels for now.
We all seem a bit flat here so are about to walk to the pub for lunch.
Thanks all for being such a sensible, compassionate sounding board. 💐

Congrats on the latest offers, EPQ results & positive interviews! @cariadambyth that’s a great position to be in with your choices, but understand it’s nerve wracking re grades. @estherfrewen, sorry to hear about rumbling appendicitis. My older DD is very prone to kidney infection & puts off calling the gp hoping it will magically go away, until she’s in agony & has to be admitted for iv antibiotics 😡
DS is also a swimmer & is finally getting back in the pool. Think it really helps to take their mind off everything for a bit. We’ve also got low key 18th this week….. Mocks not til Feb, which is going to be another stressful time!

@Fonty - hope he has a happy 18th. DS quit competitive swimming after 11 years end of 2020 as his club were very slow to return to pool and when they did he got COVID so missed quite a lot. Works as a swim teaching assistant once a week now and is planning on returning to pool at Uni. Your DD sounds like my DS with health - I just don’t understand the whole putting something off. He tried to swim counties aged 14 with a wrist fracture….

Completely off topic, so apologies, but a question for those of you with elderly relatives.
My mum (87) lives on her own. Over the last couple of years, she’s started having falls in the house, the worst of which occurred in the early hours of Monday morning, which resulted in her having to wait 2 hours for an ambulance and many hours in a&e before having stitches in her face.
My brother (who I posted about previously, re dysfunctional families) lives around the corner from her, but she didn’t/wouldn’t call him for help and he hasn’t suggested she should have done.

So, I’ve suggested to her that she needs an emergency alert bracelet or similar, not least because she may not be able to get to the phone next time.

Has anyone got any experience of such a thing? I’ve looked online but there are so many companies offering so many different packages, it would be great to hear from anyone whose parent has used one.

@Alsoplayspiccolo We used Mindme.care for my DM. Personal alarms for the elderly. They have various options. Excellent to deal with.

@estherfrewen “tried to swim counties with a wrist fracture…..” 😱

@Alsoplayspiccolo my dm has a band on her wrist. She's had one for 5 years or possibly longer. She's only 75 now but she's always falling over. She can press a button when she falls and gets spoken to through a monitor. She's had an ambulance out numerous times, they usually just get her up and go again. Only once have they had to take her in. Personally I think she could get up by herself but seems reluctant to try. We also had a necklace for MIL. That one would also speak out via a monitor, also the people could could call us as we lived nearby. Not sure if my mum has an option to call a neighbour, she doesn't have a neighbour she knows. They are a good idea though.

Sorry for the hullabaloo a couple of days ago. Ds's contextual offer to Durham is correct. I was worried he's ticked the wrong box or something but he didn't.

He is in a state school. A good one. Our postcode also apparently puts us in a category, which is ridiculous because all the houses here in this close and also the 2 streets next to us are all ex council built 3 bed houses.

Ironically because of our household income he'll get the lowest grant possible, but apparently for Uni applications, by postcode acorn says we are 'financially stretched'.

@Oblomov22 - Wonderful news! Well done your DS. I wonder if that means the standard offers will be out soon.

I can't remember who suggested we ask Swansea if they'd convert Grades offer to Points - but we did, and they have! So thank you so much. They also reduced the offer after reading her Ed Physc. So good news all round.

Does anyone know if Southampton would convert? Thinking of asking but not sure RG uni's would consider such a thing!

I’m glad you got it all sorted Oblomov. Take the win, even though I know it doesn’t feel like you should. It’s the system cutting the data, and with the best will in the world, it’s not as nuanced as one may like, but does go some way to ensuring contextualisation support for those in need of it even if postcode use can be flawed. I’m hoping I am making sense without it being patronising!