Thread 35 - Covid Cohort from GCSE 2020 'What They Did on Their Summer Holidays'

[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. It's all relative!
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 continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed) We have decided for anyone interested they will find a thread within the Further Ed board.
Possibly a move to Parent of Adult Children Board in future? Post Results?

Previous Thread

@cariadambyth i think as you get further away from the exam and closer to the results, you start preparing yourself for the worst case scenario. DS was ok with his exams but is now thinking he’s done badly, I think it is normal to feel like that.
hopefully they’ve all done better than they think and get to go on their course.

@cariadambyth dd had just come back from a week in Spain with friends. I was bothered about her going but actually once she was there I was more relaxed than I expected. Good training for me for when she goes to uni!

Thanks @Monkey2001 I don't think she'd get enough use out of the car to warrant taking it, plus she'd have to pay the emissions charge i think?

My DS back from a week of partying! Now playing cricket all day.
Wondering when he'll start thinking about getting a job to pay for future gap year plans.
He also says he thinks he's done worse than he originally thought.

Of course many will be focussing on the questions they got wrong instead of the ones they got right, it is natural.

@NCTDN the Bristol CAZ is fairly small, most halls are not in it.

DD has had a job at a pub for over a year but of late not getting many shifts. These zero hours contracts are so exploitative. When she started she worked all day Saturday and a night in the week but it’s dwindled and since exams over she’s asked for more but hasn’t worked for 3 weeks! They’ve taken on so many staff that they’re not getting regular work. She’s waiting to hear from Next as days would suit better.She has champagne taste and beer money so needs to find something.

😂 I will try and blame my typo on jet lag 😂

Yesterday evening DS appeared and asked if we had Scrabble as gf wanted to play it. Not sure who won 😁

DS who doesn’t usually get too nervous about things is definitely nervous about results day. I am also wondering when he's planning on getting a job for next year as although he and his band do make some money it all gets put back into the band and we’ve said he needs to pay for all his entertainment and fuel for the car he uses (so given fuel prices he'll need a well paying job!)

It’s reassuring to know that others are feeling a bit wobbly as results day gets closer, I think you’re all right when you say it’s only natural.
She’s so excited to be off on holiday tomorrow, she’s going with three other lovely girls so I hope they have a wonderful time.

Hope she has a good holiday @cariadambyth . Our two are both on camp this week, so we've got a lovely quiet week ahead!

I feel like the voice of doom and gloom in our family, always talking about plan B/C etc! Both kids think I have no faith in them and I just assume they're going to do badly..

That's a shame that the work has dried up @Benjispruce4 just when she'd want to be doing more. Dd seems to be spending as fast as she's earning at the moment.... I think she's due to get about £260 for her three days at Wireless, but she set her alarm for 8 this morning to buy some new expensive trainers which were 'over £100' (she wouldn't say exactly!).

Thanks @crazycrofter , enjoy the peace this week!

I tried to talk to DD about results day this week, specifically about what arrangement she and her friends might have to go in together, but DD started to have a meltdown - she says just thinking about it causes her huge anxiety and please could I not mention it.
Her school will be open from 8am, which is brilliant, but they haven’t mentioned anything about staff being around to advise about clearing etc.
DD says she thinks she’ll check track first, but won’t want to go into school if she hasn’t met her firm or insurance….I had to remind her that that would be why she NEEDS to go into school.

@Alsoplayspiccolo DD1 went in (2019) and SLT were in to help. She got a man email from her uni first thing so at least she knew she had her place. But, she was disappointed with a grade and school arranged an appeal which was upgraded. Important to her even though it didn’t affect her place.

Thanks so much for new list @singingstones

sorry to read aboutndriving test @Piggywaspushed , wishing luck for next time.

Good point @Benjispruce4 i hadn’t thought about remarks/appeals even if she gets her place.

@crazycrofter I was surprised but her teacher urged her. It transpired that their history coursework had been externally moderated. A couple in their sample were marked down so they brought the whole year group down without marking them all. They found extra marks on hers on appeal which bumped her up from a B to A* !

DD will be disappointed if she doesn’t achieve her ‘predicted’ grades whilst I’m keeping up with my mantra ‘you only need the grades asked for’ !
School opens at 8am and her grades will be available on the school portal at that time too.
She’s currently of the opinion that she’d prefer to open her results at school- as long as UCAS has updated! 😂
Remarks/ appeals will depend upon what ‘the scores on the doors’ are on the day.
Meanwhile, she’s doing 2 paid jobs, visiting boyfriend and going to 18th birthday parties- So lots to keep her mind off it!

@singingstones Thank you for our updated list! ❤️

Hello everyone, can I join? I've stumbled across your thread and started reading your messages lately as I have a son the same age. He is still 17, and not 18 till the end of August. He needs ABB for his firm (Lancaster) and the same for his insurance (Heriot Watt) and he isn't sure if he has done enough, it was always going to be a stretch . We don't know what plan c is as he doesn't want to do clearing. He is currently interrailing with friends and away for another week. I'm so proud of him for going as he hasn't really left his bedroom much since lockdown, and they look like they're having a great time doing really interesting stuff. When he gets back he HAS to get a summer job and crack on with the driving as his test is booked for the second week in October and his instructor says he is not a natural! It feels like not much has happened and then everything is happening all at once. He is our eldest so it is all new and nervy for us!

Found you all again and had a bit of a catch up. Hope you're all coping in this unprecedented heat - eek!

Welcome Sallyingdon this is a lovely place to be. DD is also my eldest (and only) so all new here too. I have a nephew at Lancaster who's enjoying himself there - just finished his first year.

Sorry to hear about DS's driving test Piggy. So much pressure on passing before Uni with all their peers doing the same but there's no rush. I passed at 20 and didn't get my first car til 23 as no help from parents and was in low paid work whilst at College so took some time. DD has her theory in Oct and hasn't even opened (or bought a book) or downloaded the app as yet. No lesson ssince Feb as wanted to concentrate on exams so she will need to do some catch up. Roll on the end of term for you, you must be exhausted!

Proggy DD feels the same and wants predicted grades if possible but deep down she knows she just needs the grades for her Uni choices. I do get it though.

DD also on 0 hours Benji so can empathise. She's working today and all suncreamed up as outside as she burnt a bit last week thinking they'd be inside as hot (athletics coach). She's doing a safe guarding course at the moment and moaning about still having to do "work" but I have told her these courses are all helpful and add to your CV etc and free through work. Hope the Next job comes through.

Crazycrofter ooooh enjoy your child free time off - do you have any plans? Your two always seem to be off doing fun outdoorsy stuff :-)

Thanks for the new thread Orange and the list Singing - it's all becoming a reality now and just over a month away until results day.

@singingstones can you add my DD on- medicine- waiting list Liverpool and Sheffield, likely going to be a gap year and reapply for 2023 entry.

It's been a good supportive thread for the last few years- now for the stress of results and what to do depending on those results. My DD is still secretly hoping for a place this year but is actually ok about a Gap year- hopefully it will build her confidence up.

Welcome @Sallyingon this is a great thread. Everyone is helpful and non judging unlike some other threads on mumsnet. Ds number 2 for me this year hoping for a place at university.

Hello and welcome Sallyingon

Its really good to hear your DS’s inter-rail travels are going well; especially after such a long, solitary period of lock down time.

Crazy, enjoy a little you time. I haven’t posted much as I am in the throes of selling my mum’s house (for her), and buying her a place near us. No easy thing for someone who’s lived in her 3 bed home for 54 years (and all the clutter that comes with that), to downsize to a one-bed, not much more than a box to be near us. Realisation of post pandemic effects hitting home, and wanting to ‘start living’ again. She’s been a widow for 49 years but this is the most vulnerable I’ve ever seen her. Pressure is on, but can’t tick all the boxes. And don’t get me started on cost; but we’ve taken a second residential mortgage to cover it, for as long as she’s able to maintain independence.