Post GCSE’s 2022 - Year 12 2022/23 General support thread

[Rollergirl11]

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs 2022, regardless of their educational setting.
Our DC’s may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed)
Everyone is welcome!

EPQ; dc1 did one, and Even the process of deciding on a topic was recorded. He even wrote about going on the bus to the library.
And yes, he did get an A star...

Oh my word. DS has just come down to show me a course he has been looking at at uni. He is actually already starting to think about uni courses now. I am so not ready for this.

DD passed her driving theory test on Monday 😊 think it will take a bit longer to do the practical part although I have booked a test for her as the soonest you can book one here is a few months away.

She's been having a good combination of socialising, school work and relaxing this half term I think 😊

Anyone else got lots of half term homework? We seem to be drowning in it here; the Art alone is just silly amounts. We're not even thinking about university courses yet - hopefully we're not the only ones who have no idea?

I'm drowning in DD's stress at resitting English next week. She can't focus at all. And she's had covid / been ill and only just getting back on form. The idea is that If by some miracle she passes it will make doing Maths in the summer easier...

@TeenDivided Re sits are a lot to take on, especially so early in the academic year. Those students that I know are doing re sits are waiting until next summer to do them. With A level work as well it's a lot to take on. I hope the exams go well for you.

Well done to your DD. DS passed his theory too and the first test I could book was March. Driving instructor said to book it then we’ll look for a cancellation last minute when he’s ready.

DS has been busy with homework, work and parties. Back to school Monday.

It's OK not A levels. She is technically y13 but is on a Level 1 course (having done an easier Level 1 course last year), so I fit slightly better on this thread than elsewhere.
The idea of resitting now is to practice under full exam conditions with a chance of passing, and if she does pass it lightens her timetable and means she doesnt have both maths & English in the summer. (Last summer we pulled her from maths as she wouldn't have coped).

Well done to those who have passed their theory tests. How exciting! My DS is not 17 until next summer so a while to go yet.

We had a lovely holiday in Tenerife last week and DS is now revising for his first lot of assessments starting on Monday. Think he is quite nervous but he has definitely not done as much revision as he could have done. He also has work this afternoon and tomorrow.

Have a lovely weekend all.

Good luck to your DD @TeenDivided for her English exam next week.

Good luck to your DD @TeenDivided and well done to those who have passed the driving theory! My DS is really not interested in driving at all!

He is still plugging away at his half term homework, I suspect there was a fair amount of distraction and procrastination earlier in the week! We were busy yesterday so he had a complete day off then and we have done some relaxing together and playing board games etc. Quiet a chill half term but I think that is what he wanted.

Ds hasn't shown any interest in driving lessons yet either - I think he feels a bit anxious about it so I won't push it just yet but would like him to learn whilst he's younger.

Quite a bit of homework/revision for the first set of tests here which seem to be mainly GCSE recap stuff. Also has to review a science book - for some reason he's picked a book which is over a 1000 pages and heavy going! The review is due in tomorrow and he's only 60% of the way through and hasn't been taking notes. Hopefully he'll learn from that experience but needless to say he's in a grumpy mood today.

Mine only turned 16 during the summer holidays and so driving hasn't really been on the agenda yet. 2nd week of half term (lots of secondaries seem to be doing this in Autumn term now) but socialising seems to be hotter on the agenda than the huge pile of homework he says he has!

@mushroom3 An awful lot of socialising here too. Halloween parties for days and days!

Same here lots and lots of socialising done here over half term. DD was out every single night. She’s also met a boy at her work and is a bit giddy and hyperactive as a result. I don’t think she’s spent one minute on college work but to be fair I don’t think she had any. They had their assessments a few weeks ago so that’s all out of the way thankfully.

Well done all those they have passed theory driving test. DD not 17 until April but I have a feeling she won’t be that bothered learning to drive anyway. I think she prefers the idea of being driven around by mates rather than doing the driving herself!

Good to hear that some of the young people are progressing learning to drive. DD not shown any inclination as yet.

Know what you mean about Halloween parties. DD spent about an hour on the phone to her besties yesterday evening trying to coordinate yet another set of costumes that they could cobble together without spending any more money.

She's left her work until the last couple of days off (no change there) but seems to be knuckling down now. They have exams in about a month so I've already warned her she needs to revise (not much done for GCSEs at all). She commented that they've not really done much to be examined on as yet. I suspect the pace of study will ramp up this side of half-term.

We went out for Sunday lunch at a local pub this weekend and DS drove us all there. The carpark was full, so he parked on the street outside his old primary school. Apart from the fact that he parallel parked in a space that I would have thought twice about, I found it very surreal that my "baby" was parking outside the school to which we were walking hand in hand what seems like about 10 minutes ago! Not sure I'm entirely happy about this growing up business!!

Well not a huge amount of socialising here - almost the opposite. DD is feeling that her group of friends is drifting apart - two left to go elsewhere for sixth form, but the rest (at least another six) stayed, and this group of friends was a lot of the reason DD did not want to go anywhere else. She says she is barely seeing them in school, a lot of them are in different classes, and the sixth form common room is too noisy. I have suggested she try inviting them over (with DS now at university, we even have a room for sleepovers if she wants) or suggested trying to do other activities with them - but it is not clear to me whether it is just lack of availability or they are changing and no longer have so much in common. And she is says she is really not enjoying school. The best subject is turning out to be the geography that she is taking online because the school wouldn't offer it (as there was not enough take-up).
The one thing that seems to be a real positive is that she has started gymnastics. Now that she is 16 our local centre has drop in gymnastics classes for adults, and 16 counts as an adult. She used to do gymnastics in primary school (never particularly good at it, but enjoyed it), stopped to try martial arts and various other things but then said she really wouldn't mind going back to gymnastics. The drop in classes are brilliant - when she hasn't been able to go on a Wednesday night she has gone on a Sunday night and she is loving it.
That and walking an acquaintance's husky (which she has been doing for a couple of years already) she says are the highlights of her week. But it is a shame she is really not enjoying school.
The other really sad thing is that we are probably having her hamster put down on Thursday. We took her to the vets last Tuesday, her back legs weren't right and seemed to get worse and worse so she was really dragging them around. The vet thinks it is some sort of issue with the spine. The vet gave her some medicine but said he didn't think it would really help (I suspect it is more of a painkiller in case she is in pain) but strongly recommended, given her age (she must be around three now, we reckon, we got her two and a quarter years ago, and she was a fully grown hamster with babies when the rescue place got her), and given that hamsters are meant to run, that we bring her back this week and put her down. While last Tuesday it really felt a bit sudden, and she still seemed bright eyed and a good weight, she has deteriorated rapidly over the week, and it is seeming more and more right (although again it is DDs pet). But still very sad for DD - this is her first pet and she has taken all the responsibility for her from day 1 (that was my requirement). About a month ago we took on two gerbils (a friend's daughter went off to university leaving her holding the gerbils, so DD has taken them on), and I did this given our hamster's age, so we have those, but still, a fair bit of grieving all round.

Sorry to hear about the hamster Naem, that's rough. We have been there with DD's cat. (Well, our family cat who decided that DD was her person.)

I am amazed that the school isn't running geography A level, I thought that was one of the more popular ones. I hope your DD starts to feel better about school, it's a tough old slog if you are not enjoying it.

DD has half term this week and is doing a lot of sleeping and meeting up with friends. She also had a Halloween party here on Friday night 👻🤮😬

Yes the whole thing with geography was pretty extraordinary - but there were only two, DD and one other, who wanted to do it (DD also wanted to do French, and there were only two wanting to take that - but she decided that of Geography and French, she preferred the Geography). After much negotiation with the school, I and the other mum got them to agree to let her and the other girl take it online - they are providing a classroom/space in the library for them during the online classes. Online classes are recorded, so when there is a clash (one lesson every second week and ten minutes every week - the ten minutes are because the timing of DD's school is not the same as the timing of the online school) she catches up with the recording. I was rather worried about it, but actually it seems to be working quite well, and DD seems to be enjoying the geography more than anything.

That's great that there are two of them doing it together, DD would really enjoy that I think. She seems to have a fairly low opinion of most of her teachers 🙄

@Naem so sorry about the hamster, losing a pet is really upsetting.

Another sociable DS here over half term, although he had assessments in the 2 weeks before so it was fair enough except when he rolled in at 2.30am on Saturday night/Sunday morning

He stayed on at 6th form so is mainly hanging out with the same mates he had last year. He isn't 17 until March but is desperate to learn to drive as soon as possible.

Frustratingly he hasn't been able to start his new part time job because we are still waiting for his National Insurance number to be notified. Unbelievable that they are not issued automatically at 16 now & although I called to request it for him they followed up by sending out a paper form to be mailed back. Archaic!

@legosunqueen The Government page www.gov.uk/apply-national-insurance-number says You'll normally be sent a National Insurance number in the 3 months before your 16th birthday if both the following are true: you live in the UK. a parent or guardian has filled in a Child Benefit claim form for you.

Sounds like they screwed up for you, unless you don't claim child benefit.

Usually the young people's NI numbers arrive as a letter around the time of their 16th birthday. Hope you manage to get it sorted for your DS @legosunqueen .

@Naem sorry to hear about your hamster. Nearly three is a great age for one isn't it? And also of your DD's challenges with friends. It can be a tricky time and doing different subjects to usual friends can mean making a different friendship group.

The NI number is a pain - DD's arrived ok but DS's took three phone calls and about a year to eventually come through.