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!

@Naem lots of friendship group rifts going on here too. DD did all her falling out with her established group at the end of Year 11 and is pretty settled where she is now but lots of other groups going through turbulent times.

Sorry to hear about the hamster and hope not too traumatic tomorrow.

@legosunqueen I had to call for DD’s NI number too as it didn’t come automatically. When I eventually got through they wanted to speak to DD on the phone. Did they speak to DS? If no perhaps could be why the hold up?

DS had to speak to the NI people too - they asked him all his previous addresses as they had the wrong one on file, but we have lived here since he was 5 so he had no clue!

The automatic process seems to have been disrupted by the pandemic.

@TeenDivided we do receive child benefit.

@Rollergirl11 when I called, they asked if DS was there but he was at school. She took his details & said they would either send the NI number or would contact us if they needed more details. Cue the form arriving the following week. The form just asked for name, dob, address & the child benefit reference number...finding the latter was a palaver, the form said you can find it in your personal tax account but it wasn't there, or on your bank statement but I don't get those anymore & it's not on the mobile banking app...had to call again just to get that. Tried to call again today but the phone number is temporarily unavailable. Losing the will to live at this point...welcome to the lack of joined-up government!

Was the 6th form open evening at DDs school tonight - she was helping out with Spanish. When I up a bit after 8 she was tired having constantly talked for 2 hours non stop she said. But I think she enjoyed it 😄

Well the hamster has had a reprieve, I am pleased to say. We took her to the vet today - really expecting to be put under a lot of pressure to put her down, and we really weren't sure - but the vet said to us, if you aren't sure, then don't do it, but if she deteriorates any more, bring her back in. The thing is, DD went down to her early this morning and she was up herself and about. Yes she struggles to use her back legs, but she has been really enjoying the extra treats DD has been giving her, she is a good weight and after a not so good period earlier in the week, she still looks quite bright eyed and interested in things (she was always a very curious hamster). And we said to the vet - she is not off her food, she doesn't seem unhappy, she has tried going on her wheel (even though her back legs really won't let her), and she is burrowing away. We are continuing with the painkiller morning and evening, and I imagine it won't be that long - but I wasn't sure it was right for her, and DD wasn't sure it was right for her, and the vet was really good about saying if you aren't sure it is right, don't do it, so we didn't.

@Naem that's really good to hear.

Ds has been taking the first set of tests for his subjects. They get a report at the end of Nov which sets out the level of grade they should aim for. He's doing (surprisingly) well in FM and Physics. No test yet in Chemistry and ok in Biology. He's finding Biology tough though due to the sheer volume of material. He's already looking forward to dropping it after the AS exam.

He's signed up for a trip in a subject he's not even doing as his friends are going!

I think we've just finished the first tests here - next week there are two days of consultations where the students work from home but have teams calls with their teachers to discuss progress. It's optional for parents and DS has decided he'll get more from it (he'll have to say more) if we aren't there. And I agree. Of course getting DS to tell us what was discussed Willbe impossible but I think there's an end of term statement which might help and if not I'll email his tutor leader.

Tests here too. I've tried to "inspire" DS by putting the 2019 grade boundaries for his subjects up on his wall so he knows what he needs to be aiming for. I'm hoping it helps! He didn't strop at me about it so that's a positive!

My DS has also been having assessments and had his last one today. Found biology difficult. He will get his results back next week and then we have parents evening to discuss the week after.

DD1 has been having tests too and her grades seem to be based on the 2019 A level grade boundaries. She's currently working at a high B/A grade for both Chemistry and Biology but there's lots of work. Luckily she's taken French for her 3rd A-level which seems to involve slightly less work for her, plus she's finds French quite easy.

DD2 is studying English Lit, Tudor history and French, all of which she finds easy and seems to have much less work than DD1.

This is a good idea. Ds found it helpful to look back at the mark boundaries for GCSE and after some of the exams, worked out what he got in comparison. His scores were pessimistic compared to what he actually achieved. He likes this sort of thing - it's a good benchmark.

DD also having tests and is finding her marks are down on what she is used to for GCSE so finding it a little dispiriting. She's taking essay subjects and she says she is still getting used to how you structure and formulate the answers as it's apparently totally different (from a maths/science background myself, so don't understand all this essay stuff!). She says her teachers are happy with where she is, which I guess is the main thing.

Interesting. I've told DS to focus on his % marks and not think about grades. So see what he gets, how that changes with the course, how it compares to others. He hasn't thought about post college yet so isn't thinking about grade boundaries (I presume these change year on year) as he can't control that but he can control his marks/% (assuming these are unadjusted)

DS has assessments next week for all his subjects but I think they just do them in regular lesson time. He doesn't seem to be doing any preparation or revision. He also has the BMO1 next Wed which is three and a half hours so hopefully they can accommodate that during the college day. His further maths teacher gave him a past paper and examiners report so he's not really had any support from them to prepare for that. Hey ho we will see how he does!

We have parents evening early December I think. Can't believe how quickly the year is flying by!

DS has had assessments but no results yet. There is a virtual parents evening in December. Meanwhile the national insurance number finally arrived yesterday so he can start working at weekends and dial down the partying phew! Have a great weekend everyone - it's very mild here which is a nice surprise after a cold & monotone grey week!

First assessments for DS next week for all subjects but being done in lesson time. It will be interesting to see how he is doing at A level.
We’re off to a uni open day on Saturday so DS can listen to some different subject talks as he really doesn’t have any clear direction of what he wants to do yet. I’m not sure whether he will go down the uni route or apprenticeship but good to get the discussions started. He is a complete opposite to DD who knew what she wanted for years!

DD had an interim report last week - she thinks being given “working at” grades is a bit wrong as she feels they haven’t done enough to be able to give those grades yet. They haven’t had any major assessments yet although they have various pieces of work.

Think parents evening isn’t until March. Not sure whether it will be online or in person yet.

@MirandaWest - our L6 parents' evening is in March. I'm expecting it to be online again.

I’m expecting it will be online (although we did get a survey to fill in so I can continue to hope for an in person one….)

Our parents evenings are online, students travel to the college from quite a wide geographical area so they have found online works better for them. I think we have two this year, one in early December and one in April. Advantage of being a specialist sixth form college I guess.

I’m gutted because just found out that parents evening is at school. Honestly just assumed it would be online again.
Much prefer it that way. No queuing or waiting behind parents with no self awareness that talk for ages.
DS has done okay in his assessments. B in biology and Maths, A in Computer Science and A star in economics.
He has the kangaroo maths challenge tomorrow afternoon. Anybody else’s DC doing it?

Well done to your DS @zighead on his assessment results and for getting through to the senior kangaroo, I think qualifying means he came in the top 10%. DS has done the kangaroo the last two years, unlike intermediate kangaroo rounds the senior one is not multiple choice but has 20 problems which need a three digit integer answer. Hope he enjoys it. My DS is doing the BMO1 tomorrow morning which is three and a half hours! He does like maths exams though!

Thanks @IThinkIMadeItWorse and good luck to your DS for what sounds like a marathon maths assessment.
We went to a university open day at the weekend which I think has helped DS decide that he either wants to do an economics or a computer science degree. I guess he has another ten months to decide.

@MirandaWest I know what you mean. DD had a HTR a couple of weeks ago. She got her best grade in geography which she is finding most challenging (partly because she really doesn't like the teachers!). I'd have thought they'd need to be at least a term in before the teachers can really get the measure of their students?

Although online chats with teachers are more convenient, we had a connectivity and sound issue when we did DD's first one. It meant we ended up with about 6 minutes of the 'slot' and no opportunity for extra time.