Thread 32 - Corona Cohort 'May' the Mumsnet force be with them for their venture to exams

[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 31

CONGRATULATIONS ZEBRACAT !

@22Newnames @Volterra DS did execel Further Maths and the whole group thought it was easy. They are now worried that the other 2 papers will be really difficult or the grade boundaries will be really high. He has physics tomorrow but instead of concentrating on that he is swapping answers from today with friends to see what mark they have got. I give up....also no firm and insurance done so really don't know what he is doing.

Thanks @Volterra and @22Newnames
We have to keep telling them it’s one paper, don’t dwell on it and move one but also ‘learn from it’- If that makes sense?
Today was the last of 3 papers for DD which were the ones she’d already framed as her most difficult.
She’s already articulated that she couldn’t have done anymore than she has for those three papers.
That to me, is all she can ask of herself.

Which texts did he do, Crazy?
DS said lit was “pretty chill”, which is a variation on “ fine”, at least!
He was doing An Inspector Calls and poetry today, with Macbeth after half term.
He doesn’t have an issue with timings, but does have writing fatigue issues from having hyper mobile fingers.

Interesting to hear of your recent diagnosis, singing. How easy did you find the assessment process?
DH is absolutely certain he has ADD, but was waved off by a psychiatrist, who told him all 50 something men have the same traits he’d described. 😡

@Nard75 that must be frustrating he hasn't decided yet but I guess he maybe wants to see how things go for a few and then maybe put Warwick back in the frame ? OCR paper consensus is that it was really not good.

@ProggyMat . They can only try their best. They are already disadvantaged by not having had the experience of sitting GCSE's. It feels so strange they have started as we've been waiting 4 years!

Ds1 just got home and has gone straight to bed feeling rotten. He found Business today very hard. He loved the Rolex first bit, which all his friends hated. He found the 2nd bit on international and inter-companies really hard, that everyone else found easy.
He is 1/3 of the way through now. He has 12 days off, then 3 the next week, then 3 the week after. Then he's done.

@Volterra my thinking is that the papers which were more difficult today won't be as tough next time. This will then probably even out across all papers. That is exactly what DH said re: firm and insurance that he wants to make sure he backs the winning horse. I just wish he would get a move on otherwise he will be taking a gap year.

@Oblomov22, really sorry to hear he has had a rough day. A third of the way through is sounding good.

@Nard75 think you’re right and there will be a lot of variation over the papers. Is it June 9th for the deadline? That is nearly here from a parental point of view, I think for DC it is still ages in their minds..

Assessment process was actually pretty stress free Also - I self referred through the NHS to start with but went private when I discovered the NHS waiting list is 30 months. All done over zoom, three separate assessments of 1-2 hrs by different people a week apart. Then they had their case meeting and wrote a very detailed report, and then one more zoom to discuss it. I have a peer support person too, who has been through the process herself. I wish I could recommend the org but they only diagnose autism and not ADD.

(DH and I are sure he has ADD too, he says he's going to do something about it but I'm not holding my breath. Frustrating because it makes him very stressed which does not help his cardiac issue and could potentially be helped with some treatment.)

@Shimy part of DS’s DSA assessment was a question about whether you want to share the report with the uni, you are under no obligation to do so. However it is the unis who have to provide extra time and other exam access arrangements, that isn’t part of the DSA, which is more geared towards supporting the student’s independent study.

I’m so sorry to read about all these students with their needs not being met, the system is crushingly difficult and I agree it is like a part time job in itself, it has been for me, at times it is easier but the hard parts turn up with depressing regularity. I’d never cope if I worked full time I don’t think.

First A level exam tomorrow for DS, History. He hasn’t phoned home for a couple of days so assume he’s OK, will text him later if he doesn’t ring.

GCSE Eng Lit for DD today, Of Mice and Men and poetry. She ran out of time despite having extra time, but not by much and seems fairly chirpy. Day off for her tomorrow.

@GoldenRuby my DS is at a specialist independent school too and it has been lifechanging. It was obvious by the age of 2 that he was developmentally different to his peers and he did get a reasonable amount of support in primary school but it was no way going to work in mainstream secondary so we went the EHCP route. We were AMAZINGLY lucky with one of his primary school teachers who propelled us through the diagnostic process which really started the ball rolling for the EHCP. She will be one of the first people I contact when he gets his results. Sadly she had left by the time DD got to her year and DD was let down badly by the school, but she is not anywhere near as severely impaired.

@Alsoplayspiccolo Macbeth and An Inspector Calls today - must be a different board. Jekyll and Hyde after half term.

Sorry to hear about the hard exams, but as long as everyone found them hard, the grade boundaries should just be lower than usual. But they are tough on morale.

We have OCR A Physics tomorrow (with @22newnames) and AQA PE (with @heifer DD)

@Oblomov22 hope your DS feels better soon.

@Shimy DD has OCD (along with inattentive ADHD) and is very private about it. I think it’s because most people don’t understand and think it has to do with being clean and tidy which she is definitely not. She has intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviours. She will share her ADHD diagnosis but has never mentioned OCD to anyone. She does get 25% extra time, a time prompt, separate invigilation, rest breaks, uses coloured pens for structure etc but even then she runs out of time in exams. She’s been on and off in tears this week and not very positive about her exams which are after half term.

Sorry to hear of health issues and other problems. Lots of reports of difficult exams on the Facebook page too.

Ds has his first exam tomorrow. History (the Stuarts) He says it's going to be the most difficult. Apparently he was put into a revision group with a few A* students today, he said they gave him some useful tips, but he also said he doesn't understand how they remember so much stuff. He asked me what happens if he fails. It'll be good to get the first out the way.

Ds3 (yr 8) has an awards ceremony at school tomorrow. So I have had to change my work hours so I can go watch the awards. So I have to be at work at 7am. So I won't see ds2 before he goes off for his exam. I did ask if he wants waking before I go. He said no. He isn't driving in because they are going to the pub afterwards. So his friends dad is picking him up.

@ealingwestmum ds's last exam is 28th June. He's expected in every day until then, apart from the days he wouldn't have gone in pre exams which is 3 days over a 2 week period. He has one exam this week. 2 the week after half term. 2 the week after that, then a week and a half until the final exam. It would be great to at least have the week of with no exams in.

Good luck to all those with exams tomorrow.

Just seen your story about your DS being advised to chuck some chairs around Golden! 🤯
How amazingly well he has done, hats off to him. Living proof of what good support can do.

G’ah. Ugh stress levels in our house today! Dd had a nightmare in English lit (GCSE) with timings and period pains - one of her strongest subjects and one she wants to do at A levels. Ds is very on edge despite a nice revision session with mates and a walk with another friend - some not great behaviours around his ASD that we’ve not see for a while. And I’m knackered and overwhelmed with work. Sorry for the rant, feeling rubbish this evening! How long to go?!?

Sorry to hear about the tough exams and other difficulties. DD has history tomorrow - first written exam (her previous two were MFL speaking exams). She's calm at the moment but feels underprepared despite hours and hours of revision. Just hoping for friendly questions!

Good luck to all with exams tomorrow and Friday.

Exam contingency day is 5 weeks today, results day 12 weeks tomorrow, isthisjust!

I am very nervous for DS's first exam tomorrow now. Seems much more pressure for A levels as he needs AAB so every paper has to go reasonably well, whereas DD needs 5 x A* at GCSE but has many more chances if something goes badly wrong in one subject and would still get a place with 5 x A-C.

(That's A level results in 12 weeks, an extra week for GCSE)

I can't believe how stressed I am about DDs exams! Do you think it was because we didn't go through the gcse stress?

Crazy, AQA here - I think each school was able to choose 2 of the original paper 1 components, hence the variety among our DC. DS would have also done A Christmas Carol in a normal year (in place of others’ choice of J&H).

@Alsoplayspiccolo DS also has hypermobility in his hands and took paracetamol and nurofen pre exam and more nurofen mid exam this week (at Drs suggestion) & was really pleased with the improvement in his hands and wondered why we hadn't thought of it sooner. Apols if your DC has already tried painkillers - seems obvious with hindsight but I always said it is normal to hurt and you just have to get on with it! (Unsympathetic mother).

@Volterra Exactly!
DD is of the mindset that all she can do is her best and what will be will
be will be, and she’s at peace with that.
Given she’s a ‘fucking perfectionist- her words not mine- that’s all as her parent i could ask for.

Seems there is quite a mixed bag of responses to far to exams - which I guess is to be expected. As parents we just want them to have found it ok, and not to affect the next exam but sadly that isn't always the case. Fingers crossed for those that didn't feel they had done as well as expected, but in fact they did absolutely fine and even better than fine.

DD still seems quite chilled, although doesn't feel as prepared for the PE exam tomorrow. Your'e right @Monkey2001 DD is also taking AQA PE. Her PE teacher phoned me earlier tonight to check DD was ok and was there anything DD needed to go over before the exam etc and if so get DD to come and see her in the morning - She really does bend over backwards for her which DD really appreciates but jokes it's because she wants the A*/A that DD needs as doesn't often (if ever) have students acheiving that. There may be a small % if that but mostely it's because she really does care.

Good luck for History, Physics and PE tomorrow.