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

Work experience now @EasterDecorations ? That doesn't seem like great timing.

Oh dear, ds is planning on BTEC Sport alongside two A Levels, and organisation and planning aren’t his strong points!

Glad you got a result in the end @heifer! It’s definitely worth fighting for things. Ds has been on Elvanse for two days and hasn’t noticed it working yet. Maybe he’s on too low a dose. We’ll see how it goes..

@NCTDN it was supposed to be all of last term but for various reasons it got delayed (partly the need to wait for him to turn 18, then he needed a DBS check, then he missed a couple due to a mock and me having covid - company H&S rules as its close contact work). So it has rolled over. He normally only has one class per fortnight on Fridays so it fits his timetable pretty well but this week that class is one of the sport exam prep ones and last week it was an extra sport exam prep prep 3 hour class so I had to pick him up after lunch and take him back to school. He is going to see the teacher in charge tomorrow. Thing is, once this sport exam is out of the way on the 9th May he's only got one small BTEC coursework and A level history left and so less work than most others. And he enjoys it and is getting a lot out of it.

@crazycrofter don't let me put you off BTECs, they have definitely been the right thing for DS, but the pressure has appeared at intervals throughout the two years rather than just for mocks and exams in an A level. You can get very detailed specs from the Pearson website and a list of the modules they are doing from school to help keep track.

Great news @Heifer !

Attempting to post but having trouble since the MN switch.

I have everything crossed for those still waiting for unis to respond.

Interesring to hear the JCQ info. DD was told transitioning from year 11 to year 12 that it wasn’t automatic the extra time etc but she scored under 85 in 2 of the 3 tests but had to continually provide evidence that she still needed it in classwork and exams. It’s definitely been a battle to keep what she’s entitled to.

DD is feeling the strain of upcoming exams but still battling with finishing her last NEA and just doesn’t want to finish it. Gentle encouragement and my patience is wearing thin. Balanced with DS and GCSE revision too I’m looking forward to this being over. I think I’m trying to do as much for them as possible so they can focus on studies but I’m making myself stressed, tired and cross whilst trying to work full time and run around after them!

finally have a sixth form ball date of 1 July so DD can wear the prom dress from 2 years ago!

If only dd hadn’t sold her 2020 prom dress @PaddingtonPaddington ! Every day new dresses are delivered to our house and every day rejected dresses are deposited back at the Hermes shop! So far, none have been right! And the search is distracting her from revision 😫

Well done @Heifer for fighting for your dd.
@Crazycrofter give it time for the Elvanse to work.
It took anything from 6-14 weeks for my teens to reach the right dose.
@EasterDecorations your ds sounds as though hes got a lot going on all at once. It sounds like your ds is doing the same exam as mine. Mine is repeating his from January to ensure ( hopefully !) a distinction. At the moment he's just scraping a distinction overall with his coursework. I'd prefer a slightly less precarious result.
I have very mixed feelings with regards to the btecs. Ds hasn't really enjoyed them . He's much preferred his Psychology A level, although he's found it hard.
He wanted to do Bio A level but was advised by his school he would get a better mark in a business btec. He got a distinction in the exams in the business very easily without revising, but failed to put any effort into the assessed pieces until this year. Yes the major advantage now is that he only has 3 psychology exams & then its all over for him this year.
@piggy that must have been quite a shock..... for you & the poor pigeon.
Like the blue tit that flew full pelt into our window & bounced on the floor. Dh made a little nest for it but it never woke up 😪

Cantonet - this is DS’s first sitting of the exam, I’m not sure why it has been done like this as I thought they were supposed to get two goes at it but it’s a bit late to ask now. DS is hoping for a merit overall, which is still possible but a distinction is not. As it’s the least important of the three subjects for him that’s fine, it’s the one I have had to support him with the most that’s for sure.

Heifer - well done on pushing back to the school, it still doesn’t come easily to me and I’ve been doing it for the whole of DS’s school career. I too doubt we’d be where we are now without the power of Mumsnet behind us.

Thanks everyone for your comments re trying to get DD the extra time. It may get rejected by the exam board but at least we've tried. Plus I have a diagnosis to help DD at uni which will be great. Will be interested to see how that all works - now I have the final version of the report we can apply for DSA (although had already submitted for funding and all approved so have to make a change - hope that's easy).

@EasterDecorations I hope the work experience goes well. DD missed out entirely on WE as her school does it in Yr12 and due to covid just didn't happen.

I can't remember who is off to Ireland this weekend - but whoever it is have fun. 2 of DDs friends have just been accepted to Queens Uni in Belfast for Dentistry so I'm guessing they will be going shortly too look around too.

My free time this morning will be spent trying to find accommodation somewhere near to Birmingham for the Commonwealth games...

Me 🙂Thanks Heifer. And good luck with looking for accom in/near B’ham. I know you are probably doing this, but look also in south areas like Solihull, Sutton Coldfield, as well as north mids, Wolverhampton etc as there may be more stock in the burb areas with train links.

@heifer where will you need to get to for the games? Are you watching hockey as I think that’s being held at the university, in which case look at places in Redditch/Bromsgrove/Barnt Green/Alvechurch as well as near the Birmingham stations on the cross city line, like Longbridge, Northfield etc. I think you’d want to take the train in

Thanks @ealingwestmum & @crazycrofter tbh I'm looking at Coventry now as the prices in Birmingham are crazy. Have just booked somewhere quickly that I can cancel if I find anythign better. We need 2 nights for 3 of us and I just don't want to pay more than £300 (have found for £280)

Perfect Heifer. And whatever the Warwick Uni snobs say about where students should live, Coventry has cleaned itself up hugely, on top of its recent city of culture status (Cant remember the official title!) It just needs to be seen beyond the late 60s/early 70’s bad planning, concrete and absurd ring roads!

I've never been to Coventry so not sure what to expect tbh. Can't see us doing much siteseeing anyway as will be in Birmingham most of the time. Have tickets to watch athletics on last Sunday then hockey on Sunday & Monday. Will go to the hotel sometime Saturday early evening I would think.I will keep looking to see if I can find anywhere better but it will do if not :-)

@Heifer have you looked at AirBnB at this sort of thing www.airbnb.co.uk/rooms/582658525043549054?adults=3&check_in=2022-08-06&check_out=2022-08-08&federated_search_id=659e6778-733d-4a8b-aeb9-c04b26b0898c&source_impression_id=p3_1651153207_vf2BCIwiEQ0cOMVa

@Monkey2001 thanks for that - I had looked at Airbnb but ignored places with no reviews. I'm not sure if I'm being silly or not but no reviews makes me nervous that it's fake etc, especially when it's around an event. Also I like to read reviews to get a proper feel :-)

We think Dd has got equivalent solid equivalent grade Bs for EPQ (teacher said B but depends on grade boundary) and NEA English Lit (20/25) these were here two 'weakest links' so she is feeling pretty pleased with herself. Was really quite worried that she'd get below that, and I'm sure she would have let it affect the rest of her English Lit Exams. She is doing practice papers like mad and is really motivated to push through.

She is really really confident for Music performance on Tues too.

It really feels like something positive! Just Dd and I here so we celebrated by having takeaway waffles/pancakes for dinner, mine was Kinder Bueno themed😃

What with all the 'equivalent' sorry all you know what I mean ...

Great news @OrangeCinnamonCroissant - well done to your dd!

Excellent news, Orange.
I didn't know marks for NEAs would be good to students -I just assumed they'd be thrown into the final grade after moderation.
What percentage of the final grade does the NEA make up?
DD is doing English lit. but hasn't submitted here yet (as far as I know). It would give her a boost (hopefully) to know the grade in advance of the exams.

given, not good.

DS also got NEA marks back today for PE. Practical was a C (we knew it would not be great as he has only played rugby for 5 years, and over a year of that was lost due to Covid), but almost full marks for the written part, so an A* overall. It is 30% of the final mark. He was worried about whether he could get an A in PE (need AAA for most medicine courses), so it is great to have that part on track. He got A+ in all his mocks, so feeling hopeful.

Meant to say well done @OrangeCinnamonCroissant

Dd is doing AQA so hers is 20% we know the raw mark, there is also a 'band' but been told it is equivalent to B level. She has really struggled with English Lit but it seems to be getting better now. Getting the hang of it and not feeling like she is crazy iyswim.

That is the worry when you are not quite at the A* level. You can be delighted with a boost to an A but devastated with a drop to a C.

Great news @Monkey2001 I like these surprise NEA results seem to come at right time!

How on earth many years do you need to at Rugby in order to get a good practical grade? 🏈