Tell me about A levels in colleges please - DD with Mental health difficulties

[RainyDayCoffee]

Name change for this post but long timer on MN.
Looking for some advice for DD.
DD passed GCSEs with a mix of 6s, 2 7s and 2 5s.
She has also had severe mental health issues past 2 years with late diagnosis of ADHD and autism. She is out of crisis but the worry is still there.
Her current school has reasonably supported her through her mental health and we have safety plans etc in place. It is also a 10 minute walk from home.
However, DD has never been happy there with friendships and always felt left out despite being in large groups. Current school is also a super selective grammar and DD is not that academic now so she feels like a failure and wants to move to college.

The nearest college doing A levels is an hour away by bus and she has an offer there to do Psychology, Sociology and Business Studies.
She went there to enrol yesterday and everything seems easy and she is almost set on starting there in September. The college well being also rang us yesterday to discuss what sort of support DD will want from September which I thought was good of them.
However, this is the first year the college is doing A levels and I am worried about the teaching, level of feedback etc.
We also know no one who goes here as it is not our closest college.
I guess I am worried about many things - DD having to get up super early to commute, making new friends, college being much bigger and busier as well as the fact that college may be more independent than school and I don't know if she will cope with it all
Can any one shed some light on their positive experiences with teens who thrived at college and what sort of teaching/support they provide.
Thank you!
xx

The nearest college doing A levels is an hour away by bus

We also know no one who goes here as it is not our closest college.

Do you mean there are nearer colleges but they don’t do A levels?

I think this is a tricky one as some children do struggle with the grammar infrastructure-the pressure can be too much-and the sixth forms in grammars tend to be run on the same schedule, with slightly more leeway (though, there’s often not much difference). This doesn’t suit everyone.

The kids I know over the years who have opted to leave and go to the college have have mixed results. They have all been happier (very important) and could go in late/leave early, called the staff by their first names, wore own clothes, much more freedom etc but the kids at the colleges (there are two main options here) have got much worse results than they had been predicted. The parents all felt that it was too much freedom all at once and they just weren’t getting the work done and nobody was checking this. They didn’t seem to hold parents evenings or keep parents informed about issues in the same way that a grammar school sixth-form did so were just unaware until it was too late. Too much independence, maybe?

This is all rather anecdotal though. If your daughter definitely wants to go to college and this is the closest one, then it’s ultimately down to her-she’s the one doing the work and travel. I’d just make sure you are aware how things are going, the fact the college has rung you already bodes quite well. Do they run parents evenings for students and parents to both attend?

Our area only has colleges, so DD has a choice between the college in our town with a poor rep, or the one in the city with a better rep, it will take her about 1.5hours to get there…

I have been wondering about the pastoral differences too, DD had social issues & anxiety at school, really I would like to speak to someone about her but I don’t know whether that’s appropriate or not. I seem to recollect she didn’t tick the box for wanting wellbeing support but presumably she can change that…?

DD is doing her a levels at the local college. She is much happier and more engaged with her work than she was at school, and has just got all As in her A-levels, having had grades ranging from 5 to 9 in her GCSES.

Hi - this is throwing it back to 2011 but I went to college and loved it and loooads of people travelled in from villages and towns that were an hour away or more. Hopefully it will be a fresh start for your DD and she will be able to make new friends and thrive.

My area (Hampshire) is nearly all colleges and 1hr bus ride is common. Not knowing anyone could be a positive for her - fresh start without expectations or labels. She will soon make friends.

First year doing A levels wouldn’t worry me. They have been teaching other courses BTEC etc so will be experienced teachers and probably have recruited for new subjects. I’m teaching a new course this year and putting in a lot of effort into knowing the spec/ exam style and talking to colleagues at other schools.

If she is happy then give it a go. If it looks like it is going wrong then reassess.

(My daughter has a mental health crises during her A levels and we were similarly concerned about her going away to uni. We kept a close eye but the fresh start and more choices made a big difference)

Thanks everyone for the lovely messages of reassurance!

@howshouldibehave
The nearest college a 5 minute walk away doesn't do A levels/B-Techs/T-Levels unfortunately.
You make valid points about the independence and not much feedback for parents.
She has 2 induction days next week so will make a list to get her to ask some of these if she will remember or feel comfortable doing so.
We aren't expecting academic success in either college/grammar school to be honest after the very difficult 2 years we have had with her mental health.
We just want her to be happy and improver her self-esteem a little bit.

We think the informal setting and less pressure would suit DD better. This is something she is choosing to do so we are hoping she puts in the effort to get up, take the bus, attend classes and get decent if not stellar grades.
We never know until we try it out I suppose. The other thought I have was if A levels prove too much, it is much easier for her to switch to B-Tech at this college rather than look outside at the last minute.

@OhBeAFineGuyKissMe
you sound like a lovely teacher with the care you are putting in to get ready for your new course.

I am hoping she gets lucky making friends. It is the one thing she has struggled all through primary and secondary.

No experience of colleges, but just to reassure you that those subjects are ones that can be caught up on if she does get a bit behind - I’m not sure if this is true of some subjects eg maths. My ds did Sociology and Business and had a LOT to catch up on! My dd did Psychology and seemed able to shelve it in favour of History for most of sixth form as she felt you couldn’t write History essays in an exam with no revision, but she could have a stab at the Psych questions!

I hope she settles in well and is happy!

Good luck to your daughter!

Having the option to switch to BTEC sounds good but also there's no law that she has to stick to 3 subjects if that turns out to be hard. Dropping down to 2 subjects, or even one, will still leave some routes to uni if that is what she wants. It just might need to take a bit longer or be a lower ranked uni.

I know that sounds like the end of the world to many 16 year olds, but it really isn't.

@crazycrofter
I hope she is ok with the subjects. I do worry they are all essay subjects and her autism report commented a lot on her inability to articulate in detail.

@Phloopey
at this stage, her happiness is more important but then you are right. They beat themselves more and it does sound like the end of the world to them.
She does want to go to uni. In my mind, she will be better off doing a foundation year first.
She starts Monday and I hope she comes back feeling positive. She will be knackered after the journey and the early morning wake-up!

Just to update.
DD came back really happy after day 1 today. I hope that means she is happy to go tomorrow too!!

One thing that she said was there are no y12 mocks. They have regular tests per subject and predicted grades are given based off of that.
That slightly worries me.
Is that typical of colleges?
DD is good at revising for small content but with adhd, the bigger consolidation is always her issue.
She does well in unit tests but always badly in mocks and exams.
Not sure if we have a choice at this point to be honest.
Xx

@RainyDayCoffee Glad to hear your daughter is happy with her start. Don't want to hijack your thread, but it resonated with me as my son has some similarities in his situation, although he is NT.

DS has just enrolled at a brand new sixth form centre at an existing uni where they do BTECs and undergraduate degrees, but have never offered A levels before. He will have a long commute by train to a different city, won't know anyone, so understandably we are all a bit nervous.

His secondary school pulled the 2 A levels he really wanted to do at the last minute (both subjects he did at GCSE and got 7s in) and left us too late for many of the application deadlines for other schools. The new college can't give him exactly the A level subjects he wants either, but they are letting him do maths and physics which his previous school wouldn't allow because he got a 6 in maths GCSE and they won't accept less than a 7. I know we will need to pay for private tuition if he's to keep up, which is another thing....

We've told him that if it isn't working out by Christmas he can apply for other 6th forms next year, and thankfully he's mature enough to understand that this wouldn't be the end of the world. It is hard though! Nearly all his friends are going back to the same school, and informing the school he won't be returning felt like a wrench.

Anyway, sorry to ramble on, it's just consoling and reassuring to hear from other people in similar positions.

@OnlyHereForTheChristmasBoard
Glad to have your solidarity on this thread.
Hope you DS settles well and enjoys the college.
DD did day 2 of induction today and has a day off tomorrow and then the timetable starts on Thursday.
She is upbeat so far and I am the one who keeps comparing college to school and finding it all a bit blasé .
But then it is not about me and it is everything about what she wants and what is good for her.

@RainyDayCoffee how's your daughter getting on? I hope college is working out for her.

@Phloopey
Thank you for checking in on us.
She is really happy she made the switch. She is enjoying her subjects, says the facilities are good and likes her teachers. The A levels are housed in a separate block with their own facilities including study rooms, canteen and labs so she is finding it less busy which is great for her autism.
She has had 3 tests already and is set regular home work. I do not know if attainment wise it would have been better at the grammar but I strongly believe a happier person learns better and she wasn't happy there towards the end.

The bus journey isn't great but she is coping as it is a door to door journey of an hour. Noise cancelling head phones and music make it bearable.
I don't think her social life is buzzing but with her adhd and autism it is expected. Making close friends is very hard for her.
I think the lack of proper lunch breaks makes it harder to socialise.
All in all, this is working so far and if she passes with decent (not the MN A* grades) grades, I will be over the moon.

Xx

My DS dropped out of his selective Grammar sixth form which is in walking distance to our house, drifted for a year, enrolled back into college which is a bus and train ride away for A-levels, passed with A & B’s, has now just started Uni. College suited him far better than his rigid school sixth form, he needed a change and has thrived.

@RainyDayCoffee - I was wondering how your DD was getting on too, so glad to hear she's settling well

thanks for updating OP. Good on your daughter - sounds like she is doing so well.

I’m so glad she is getting on well.