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

I don’t have the aversion to them as many of you do here. I had one when I was 18, when they were not as fashionable or acceptable, but had it done in a place that would not have been seen unless naked. Why? Not sure now, but it was for me, I knew, work wise, that I could be prejudiced by employers, and so I had some consciousness of positioning.

I genuinely don’t think about it, especially after all these years, it’s just part of me. My own mother was not happy about it, but I had moved out and she felt that was a lesser evil vs nose piercing (even though she has one, but argued (badly I hasten to add), hers was cultural as opposed to fashion motivated.

I don’t think they’ll go away, in generations to come, just that tolerance will improve.

Pain is dependent on where you have it done Monkey :)

@AnneOfCleavage I'm fairly certain that if you start this year, your loan will remain under the terms in force when you take it out. All the info for the new loans refers to those 'starting courses' in 2023, rather than those receiving loans in 2023. I can't find specific mention though.

I do consider having a tattoo (am 46) and have got a temporary one to try it out but as I haven’t done even that yet I suspect I won’t 😂

One of DSs friends recently got his first tattoo. Don’t think DS is planning on having any done but who can tell? Most of his friends have an amount of piercings but he hasn’t got any - think he might at some point but he does tend to think about things for a while.

Monkey and Seeline that is what I always thought so was a bit confused to hear otherwise. They probably just assumed that was the case. Makes no difference to DD as she starts next year anyway. Thank you :-)

Ugh bad luck Also, what a pain, I hope your DH feels better soon.

DS's plan B is "I'll just retake" but he doesn't want to redo Y13 at school or go to a college, he thinks he'll just do it by himself. I can't see how he would get better grades next year without any teaching but there you go. He has several friends who might be going to the same uni (he's always been a bit wobbly about new situations and change in general so is really hoping for this security blanket) but a couple only have it as their insurance and his two besties are staying at home next year for various reasons. So even if he does get the grades he might still feel a bit about it if nobody else is going with him. Best case scenario is he gets into Nottingham and so does one of his friends. Second best (actually best in my opinion) is he gets into Aston and his other friend gets into Birmingham. Third best is he gets into either, goes on his own and is fine. Aargh the waiting is horrific! And then we have either a whirlwind of stuff to do and then he leaves home, or he's devastated and has to find a new path and stays!

We have DD's results a week later but hopefully that will be less dramatic and her transition to college will go smoothly. How are you feeling about both of yours leaving - is DS getting excited about September? Have you got lots of stuff to do for that?

I don't think I'm averse to tattoos but some I just don't see the point. I did consider getting a little daisy somewhere after Mum died..I can understand those types of tattoos, Dd 's had me baffled as it is exactly the kind of thing you get on the semi permanent tattoo packs that last three months or so. I could have drawnheranice one lol.

In other news Dd has Covid. She has been socialising a lot since she turned 18 and of course we were on hols. A good excuse to have a chat about alcohol lowering immunity /freshers flu during start of term.

Thanks, singing. I slept in DS’s room last night, in the hope that DH wouldn’t disturb me or pass it on, but his cough is so horrendous that it kept waking me up - that, and the wind we had here overnight.

It sounds like your DS has plenty of options, at least, if he’s happy to go with them. I’m with you in wondering how repeating the year without support might pan out, unless he had tutors?
Hopefully, he’ll drop that option once he gets his actual results; I’m sure he will have done better than he thinks, and even if he hasn’t, having actual grades in hand may make him feel differently about uni choices.

DS is quietly excited about the move to his new school. It does slightly concern me that he’s outwardly unemotional about the stuff/ people he’s leaving behind; he’s philosophical and says it’s all part of moving forward, which is right, I guess.
I don’t have any worries about his results, but he starts exactly a week after results, so there’s not a lot of time to sort stuff, with him away until the beginning of next week, and then we are on holiday until the week of A level results.
He needs things like bedding, towels, a new laptop, specific headphones for his music tech course, some sports uniform, shirts, ties, smart shoes etc (they wear suits in 6th form), plus we have to have his cello sorted out and buy a spare set of strings - a whole bunch of small but vital chores.

DD only submitted her DSA application last week, so there’s still the assessment to be done and all the follow-up stuff.
TBH, I am getting more and more frustrated by her - she isn’t involving herself in the whole uni process in any way. She says that she’ll go through clearing if she doesn’t get into Birmingham, but has specifically set her sights on Manchester because her BFF is going there - I wouldn’t mind but a/ Manchester isn’t offering her course as yet, b/ the alternative course requires higher grades than Brum, and c/ she didn’t put down Manchester as one of her 5 because they wanted a 500 word essay as part of the application, and she told me she was “ far too busy for that nonsense”. 😡

Sorry Also but I am chuckling at that about the essay and slightly unrealistic Manchester plan! Reminds me of DS getting all excited about Nottingham accommodation with his friends, after the deadline so he had already applied, they didn't fancy his choice so they came up with a wheeze where he would change to another halls and they'd all live together. But the new one was c.£9k per year, on the wrong campus for all of them and already all booked up 🤦‍♀️
Think they may be birds of a feather!

@Alsoplayspiccolo My DD applied to Birmingham. They wanted a 1500 word essay before giving her an offer - DD also said she didn't have time for that! Admittedly she'd already decided she hated Birmingham after the open day but even so....

In our house it's me that horrifies them with new piercings. I got my navel pierced 6 weeks ago and both husband and 18 year old son are appalled. Son has one lobe piercing and he had a helix piercing which he accidentally removed. No tattoos for any of us.

Dd did most of her piercings herself in the first lockdown - about four in each ear I think (she’d had the first one done properly at 12) and nose. She did get the belly button one done properly too. Actually the nose was done properly but she didn’t like which side she’d gone for so she did it herself the other side 😩 She says she’s having a tattoo soon. I’m not really a fan either.

We’re currently on holiday, the kids came here straight from camp and admittedly they’re very tired, but dd has been so grumpy! I said this would be her last family holiday and she assumed I was just ‘guilt tripping’ her, but I actually think she’s outgrown going away with us. It doesn’t help that she’s sharing a room with ds and hates not having her space. She’s off to a festival from tomorrow though so hopefully the rest of the week will be more peaceful.

Just back from our hols and catching up on the piercing and tattoo news ;-) Nothing to report in this household on that one!

My DS told me one of the boys on his rugby team had his whole back tattooed. He thought it was funny but I hope he doesn’t get such a large one to start with. He is into all the body beautiful stuff so think tattoos could come later. I don’t mind them but haven’t got one myself, my DM would tell me off 😀

@AnneOfCleavage you are right - "The rules change and costs increase for new starters from 2023. Those who start this year are the last on the current system, as there are big changes afoot for those starting in the following academic year. See Uni costs may double for new 2023 starters (however, to be very clear, if you start in 2022, you remain on the current system throughout your university life, you don't move to the new system)" Taken from Martin's latest notice

blog.moneysavingexpert.com/2022/7/five-things-everyone-should-know-about-student-finance/?fbclid=IwAR16U4n-tm4Epv9U_mRQ9hf1E60phOw9qhe8iaodByrAv_VoHzLy8LiuRUs

Thankfully DD didn't acquire any tattoos whilst on holiday - she has belly button and I think 3 on each ear pierced. I'm old school no tattoos and 1 piercing kind of girl but realise times have changed and DD is old enough to do whatever she feels like and makes her feel good (keep telling myself this)...

She is on a week long life guarding course at the moment (and moaning about it).. although to be fair hasn't moaned since coming home, just before she went.

Typically the results she thinks she has acheived seems to have lowered as we get further away from the exams and nearer to the results, although she still seems to think she may be ok to go to firm (most of the time anyway).

She still has some fun things to do this summer, Commonwealth games with me, camping hockey festival and Boardmasters with friends and a trip back to my home town for the weekend in Sept. Myself and DH aren't doing very much at all, as we are funding DD having the time of her life, and it's too expensive for DH to stop work at the moment. We have a rib boat that we had planned to leave near Anglesey for 10 weeks over the summer but the engine wouldn't start so it's currently at in the boat yard - we are now hoping for a good August, Sept & Oct so we can go and use it til end of half term in October.

Need to go back and catch up with the rest of the thread to see what I've missed but hope everyone is ok. Any Covids at the moment?

Catching up with the news of piercings and tattoos. I don't think DS would be brave enough. DD came back from a post GCSE trip to Brighton with a helix piercing - she phoned for permission, I said no, she did it anyway 🤷

DS and his friends are no closer to booking a holiday. One of them leaves for college in the States next week so it's looking unlikely. He has mentioned a short break in Paris or Barcelona but I don't think it will happen. I feel quite sad for him but at the same time it's a lesson in having to make things happen.

DD goes to Ghana at the end of next week. Her visa has finally arrived and just phone sim to work out now. And access to money for a 17 year old. And how to drop her off at Heathrow (and get her through check in) without taking out a second mortgage. I'm just hoping she comes back from this trip, tattoos and piercings are the least of my worries 😱 Final jab on Thursday and then she starts the anti malarials.

I think I could cope with small tattoos and normal piercings but I really hate flesh tunnel piercings - the large holes in ear lobes. Anything reversible it OKish!

DS’s band has a gig at local pub tonight. They’re supporting an Australian band who seem to have been touring the UK for a couple of months.

Only problem is that he’s got a slight sore throat, he’s the vocalist and his voice is not quite right especially in his upper notes. There’s also not loads of people going by the looks of the ticket sales….

I will be there 😂

How exciting @MirandaWest , hope his voice held out!

@mummyinbeds What is your DD off to Ghana for?

Hope the gig went well@MirandaWest

Really impressed with UEA! DD had an hour long teams call yesterday with a chap from student support. She had certain accommodations at school like using a keyboard, rest breaks and exams in a small room. We haven't got to the bottom of what her issues are but probably some processing disorder and/or ASD/ADD. The school psychologist felt ASD was likely, but this was just before exams, and along with the added complication of not yet being 18, getting assessments sorted was difficult. School felt they had enough evidence for adjustments. UEA had a form to fill infor additional support - with no dx we can't do DSA, and weren't sure if she would get anywhere. Well the call was really helpful - happy to continue with adjustments, support workers available, ideas for local assessors, and offers to help with any future DSA applications! DD feeling much happier.

Oh - and she's been offered an interview for one of the jobs she applied for!

DSs voice seemed to recover for the gig which was good…..although the gig itself had various issues which mainly seemed to be due to the headlining band not appreciating the size of the venue and faffing on with their sound check meaning neither of the supports got time to sound check properly. Then DSs band’s set started late and they got basically cut off before it should have ended!

He seemed quite pragmatic about it (their drummer less so but he’ll get over it 😃). Somehow three quarters of the band’s instruments have ended up at our house too 😂

Their next gig is on 20th August ie two days after results day…..am hoping it will be a celebration. This one is a mini festival at the same pub and will only be local small bands which will be much better

Sounds so much fun @MirandaWest ! I miss Dd gig days.