Thread 31 Covid Cohort - Hopping through Easter and Revision

[OrangeCinnamonCroissant]

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.

previous Thread 30

I've made this one a little bit earlier as things are so busy, at home and on thread, so please feel free to use up previous thread first

Is this a new site with a greater range of emojis?

Just booked a holiday for next Jan ...cheaper than expected! Dd is not coming with us 😎

Gah...just lost a long post when I typed flowers and it automatically came up with the nice icon and then the screen when black with an Oops message from Mumsnet.

So...Yikes Cantonet 8 hours! DD doing no more than 4 hours a day. Says anything more just isn't going in. I hope it's enough, it is a worry.

Someone (pop you hand up so I can say thank you - but not with flowers as the system will explode), told me that rest breaks were centre awarded. If it weren't for that, we never would have questioned the Senco refusing DD rest breaks. After sending a polite, ahem, email plus reports from her optomitrist, they've agreed 'rest and movement breaks' for her exams. Apparently (and I need to confirm this as it sounds slightly bonkers) she can have as many 5 minutes breaks as she wants (I would have thought it would be limited so I need to check as I don't trust the Senco).

If it weren't for this group, I'd never have questioned what she said. Am so grateful and DD is relieved to have the extra accommodation.

DS finally went through the course specs of his offers with DH last night (bearing in mind that his Bath offer is for a different course then he applied for) and has pretty much decided to firm Bath and insure Nottingham. He is waiting until after the Bath offer holder day on 7 May to finalise that decision though.

I am hoping that the knowledge of putting down choices will make them more real and that he will then be motivated to put in the work required. All are achievable but he isn't quite there yet. I think @Monkey2001 is very right, our lot just don't get it, they haven't experienced it before and I think it's a bit scary that A levels are their first experience of 'proper' exams.

Bath accommodation doesn't open until May and isn't first come first served so that is good. Does anyone know if you can apply for accommodation at Nottingham if you put it as insurance rather than firm?

Great news @Wheresthebeach . Dd also has rest breaks which help in history as she gets a bit of thinking time before each question. Not even 4 hours a day being done here! I think she’ll be ok though, there’s still a few weeks to go.

@crazycrofter How much time does your DD have? I'm trying to get details from the SENCO but SENCO has responded with 'I've told DD' Hmmm. DD thinks she can have endless rest breaks which I don't think is the case. I wish I trusted the SENCO to get this right - everything I read on line talks about 5, 10 or 15 minutes per hour....

Ah...just looked at the guidance myself again. No maximum time.

All this talk of 'only four hours a day' is freaking me out. DS is probably only achieving that a week 😧He also does have some experience of sitting GCSE's as he sat four in the November 2020 sitting, slotted in between A Level classes - long story but I hate the school data guy and assistant head who said he would be wasting his time trying to improve his TAGs. He did improve in all four. He did some (minimal) revision for those exams but obviously didn't learn any lessons. He also got marked as unauthorised absence when he was in the exams - school were so supportive 🤨

You're not alone @mummyinbeds there's certainly not 4 hours a day happening here yet! 😮 Oooh look at the new emojis!

Sorry for causing panic...I think I'll calm down about the 4 hours a day now....

We might make 4 hours for the week here. I think she thinks the offers are her actual grades. I’m not going to get on her case, but nor am I going to have her sleeping till the Afternoon.. keep telling myself that it is her choice…

Ds says he's revising. But I'm not watching him. So I can only hope. It's up to him really. If he fails that's his problem. Is that a bad attitude to have? I just know he won't listen to my nagging. So no point. I'm having problems with mumsnet. I deleted the app. Reinstalled it. So I can get on. But it goes back to the start of the thread when I go onto "watching" 😡

The new update is horrible. It looks ridiculous on a PC.

@Zebracat yes I'm pretty sure DS thinks his predicted grades are actual grades and the offer means he's in! 🤔

Does anyone else keep getting the 'oops something went wrong' thing?

@Shimy my DD1 is in Rootes, so 40 weeks and could leave her stuff there both Christmas and Easter. I think the 35 week ones need to clear out for Easter but not Christmas.

Totally agree - I like to flip the convo so latest posts are at the top but they have also left the 1st post there too now which takes up most of the screen!

I don't like change ;-)

DD is actually revising more than 4 hrs at day now. But in chunks. She is on the 2nd week of holidays and is getting quite a lot done (since Friday). She took a while to get into it I think but now is well rested, sorted her stuff out and feels ok to start revising properly. I think the realisation that it's only 5 weeks away hit home. She actually walked the dogs yesterday on her own to take a break from revision which is unheard of tbh. She does sleep until midday and then starts revision around 2.00/3.00pm, and then on and off until about 3.00am! She thinks she gets more done later in the evening (early morning) but understands that won't work once she is back at school and has to get up at 7.30am...

Re exams, she has 10 exams, of which 6 are at 9.00am and 4 @ 1.00pm. She has to be in school by 8.30am everyday anyway so 9.00am start is fine for her.

PS I'm on the pc at the moment and I can't see any emojis? I can't even see how to put things in bold/strikeout anymore?

Lots of people complaining about phone app too but it looks the same as always on my phone??

Oh found them - today has been mostly 😀😂☕💄🥚

Nowhere near 4 hours per day here. Many episodes of South Park today. Apparently saving past papers because you're supposed to do them last ...

I just looked on my mobile - it does look different, no threads listed under watching so had to go and find this thread - then it wouldn't send my reply...

@EwwSprouts yes DD has said the same re past papers - no point doing them yet as she hasn't revised everything.

Gosh, it honestly looks exactly as ever on my phone. Weird...

Yay: Ds has just had his final offer in from Bath: AAA with his existing EPQ grade. He’s happy with that!

Maybe that's why I am having a problem. It is still making me scroll the whole thread to the bottom.