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

[OrangeCinnamonCocktail]

previous thread

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.

So sorry @Piggywaspushed
Too young

Piggy this is very sad. I hope there is good support for your DS and his cohort to get them through this.

I'm sure there is. His school is very caring. He wasn't there today so doesn't know who it is which is playing on his mind a bit. We got a letter but obviously no name.

Oh no Piggy how desperately sad . So sorry to hear that.

Too awful. News like that certainly puts everything in perspective 😢 Hope your son is ok Piggy

That's just dreadful news piggywaspushed, how devastating.

How sad ☹️ Hope your DS is OK Piggy

That is just the saddest news, Piggy. Poor lad, and his poor, poor family.
We know 2 families who have lost teenagers to suicide - both girls - and to say their lives have been completely shattered doesn’t even begin to describe their devastation.

He's fine. It's so sad : this is the second time in less than six months.

That is so sad @Piggywaspushed. Elder DS’s girlfriend’s best friend did the same a couple of weeks ago. It is devastating that they find themselves in that situation.

Congratulations on the offers, particularly @ealingwestmum, how exciting!

Had a good chat with DS last week which was productive thankfully. He has a shortlist of 3 final universities to look into and pick one as his fifth choice by Tuesday (deadline is Weds 6pm I gather but not risking that!)

We also came up with a plan for him to do some extra school work which went surprisingly well. He has agreed to do the hours and the incentive he asked for was some paid for alcohol for the weekends. Not ideal but if it works and motivates him we’ll go with that!

@Piggywaspushed what awful news, such a terrible loss and must really have an impact on everyone around them. Just terrible.

Oh and have finally gone through his timetable in detail having worked out course codes etc and he finishes earlier than I thought 😊. His exams are fairly well spread out too. He finishes on 23rd instead of 27th. I plan to take him away for a few days after his exams as I did with elder DS (although that was GCSEs but obvs this DS missed that).

I know 29th June is the contingency day for all exam boards. Has this contingency day ever been used to anyone’s knowledge?

I am thinking of letting DS celebrate with friends immediately after the exams finish but take him away 26-29th so he’s back for prom on 30th.

As for family holidays, we hope to go away early September somewhere like Turkey, simple straightforward but relaxing. With DS going away with friends then results then Reading there is little other time we can go.

@ealingwestmum

DD received an offer from McGill (Montreal) overnight. She’s really upbeat this morning, and will definitely help appease any weekend stress ahead of Tues for the thing that’s not talked about in our house!

Oh well done to your DD! That is great - McGill offers are not easy to get! So pleased for her.

@Piggywaspushed I am so sorry to hear your sad news. It is such a tragedy. I can’t imagine how difficult it must be for their classmates to deal with this.

@Piggywaspushed Sorry about the dreadful news. May their soul rest in peace and hope their grieving friends have a supportive environment especially at this critical time. Poor poor parents .

[quote AnneOfCleavage]@Wheresthebeach I know they don't want them to get complacent at this stage but super hard mocks crushing their spirits after a hell of a year or two is not needed. Some students will just give up rather than use it to spur them on. It really depends how supportive parents are too. Sorry your DS is in same boat. I love your "move up one grade at a time" though so will pinch that - thank you.

Thank you @DoggerelBank too for your anecdote on turning grades around. So helpful to read other peoples experiences. [/quote]
@AnneOfCleavage I’m sorry your DD is down and I completely agree that these mocks should be seeking to build kids’ confidence not knocking it - particularly this cohort who haven’t experienced public exams before and who have had such a confidence sapping 2 years. I also agree with the wise pp who said that they do better if they believe they are doing better. Can you speak to her teachers and see what they can do to boost her? My DS has also had some hard exams - one biology one where of the WHOLE YEAR there was only one A and no a star. This a school that usually gets 80% a and a star in biology. Maddening. BUT they were given their grade (D for DS) AND the grade with the two shitty questions ignored (B for DS) - so he is feeling ok overall. Can they give her more nuanced feedback like that? Eg your exam shows you generally working at a B, but these two or three questions brought you down to an E, or whatever?

Amazing news @ealingwestmum

Six comments left on this thread so made a new one

@Shimy wins a prize!
new thread

@Piggywaspushed

@Piggywaspushed that is terrible news. Poor lad and his family.

@Monkey2001 thanks for mentioning food costs. Ds1 went to Iceland with the school, they were told not to buy food, I did really think of Norway being the same. The Airbnb accommodation is fairly cheap. It looks in the middle of nowhere though, I find that worrying. There is no point in me giving my thoughts though.

Very sorry to hear that @Piggywaspushed. Hope you DS is ok.

@Piggywaspushed terrible news - thinking of your ds and his friends

@Piggywaspushed - oh no...that's awful. So hard on everyone.

Thanks for the commiserations over hard mocks everyone. I'll catch up on the thread properly later as just getting something finished for work.

Sorry to hear that Piggy, I hope your DS is ok. It must be very upsetting to hear the news without knowing the name of the DC concerned.