Year 12 - 2024/25 - Support, Discussion and Looking After Each Other (Thread 2)

[BlackBean2023]

You’re a chatty lot… continue

Thanks for the new thread @BlackBean2023 !

Shiny new summer thread! Thanks @BlackBean2023

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn well oddly DS has text to say that this morning's exam was the best of the week. I shall have to remember that lack of sleep and toothache aids exam ability - although we'll have to wait for the results to confirm that 😂

I agree with JustHereWithMyPopcorn @bluefineliner regarding booking your daughter's test as soon as possible. There is a 6 month wait for tests at present.

If anyone is interested UCL have just opened their Open Day bookings for 27th and 28th June.

Checking in for the new thread!

Hopping onboard!

That's great news @Waspie, fingers crossed he's done well!

Thanks for the new thread @BlackBean2023

One last maths AS paper for DS tomorrow then he needs to start thinking about his driving theory test as it’s his birthday soon as he was keen to get it booked soon after!

He’s very ready for half term, shame the weather forecast is pretty miserable.

@BlackBean2023

Thanks for the new thread @BlackBean2023. Hope the remaining exams go well tomorrow, roll on half term! DS will have a week in school after half term then two weeks of exams. Then straight into open days! Y12 is a bit manic isn’t it?

Ooh new thread! Wonder how many we will get through before the end of sixth form.

It is 6 months wait for a practical driving test by us too. DDs instructor is away for a month in October to asked her to wait until he gets back to do her test, which would be Nov/Dec. We are ok with this as she has only had 4 lessons so far and I am in no rush for her to pass quickly. She needs to sort it out with him next week. Obvious downside is horrible weather and dark nights but that is my fault for having an April baby 😂.

DD is very tired and I am so glad it is the last day of term. She needs a few 'reset days' as she would put it. She has been coping with her little heart being broken for the past few weeks as well as school and driving so it has been tough both for her and me! Think we are on the other side of it now and I could do with a reset day but unfortunately have to work 😉.

I feel like the next 6 months are going to be bumpy too so will have to be prepared. Anyone would think I haven't already been through this with my oldest DD but DD2 is a different child entirely.

DD hasn’t done as well in her mocks as she’d have like - BBBC. We need to discuss whether she drops a subject now - she doesn’t want to. Her school will predict a grade up for her UCAS but it does mean that it will all come down to improved performance on the day… and she hates exams!

We’re going to the open day at Exeter on Friday - on the train which I am most excited about!

Sorry for the blank comment above phone battery started to die and I couldn't see what was on the screen.

@BlackBean2023 thank you for the new thread.
@bluefineliner might be worth checking on Monday just to see what dates are available in your area.
@waspie fingers crossed he did as well.
DS has his last AS Core maths paper today then he can focus on his mocks revision he only has three days of them after have term.

Thank you @JustHereWithMyPopcorn and @Tebheag.

Hope Core and AS maths exams go well today @Muchtoomuchtodo and @Tebheag

If your daughter doesn't need four A levels @BlackBean2023 it might serve her better to target exceptional grades in three rather than very good grades in four. Perhaps it's worth talking to the team in Exeter when you are there? I hope you enjoy the day

DS and DH are going on the Saturday, also by train. DH's parents met there back when St Lukes was the teacher training college. It's a bit of a nostalgia trip for DH as FIL died in February. Although all of the sessions DS is booked on are at the Streatham campus, and I think it's quite a long walk between the two, so I don't know if they will have time to visit both.

DS is working through half term but only 6 hours each day so hopefully that will still give him time to relax and destress.

All the best for those DC revising over half term.

Popping in because DC1 only had their first A level today - physics - it’s been such a long wait whilst all their friends got started.

Now a break for half term before the rest of the exams take place!

Thanks for the new thread @BlackBean2023 :)
hoping here to read once in a while and then stressing about “ I am still behind/don’t know much about these” is getting my usual reaction. And left a message written and forgot to post after last read!
both AS Chem done now- went better than expected, but then school had tests very close to AS and she had less marks in Phy than expected. Worried about predicted grade, Phy is her best subject
Booked Imperial open day, couldn’t get on to the talk she wanted to go.
Not booking Oxbrridge for now, as she had opportunities to go do a residential and a course. Is that a smart idea? I don’t know what to suggest, sometimes they make all the decisions and know it all and then at times, they want us to help with everything.
April baby here too, not started yet anything to do with driving. :( but that can wait.
@Waspie is it work experience week next week for you too? (Y7 son had end of years this week, so I am torn between these two)
I remember reading about it in past thread.
When do people start prepping for Entrance exams, Chat GPT just helped me create a time frame, that includes May and she has end of years just after half term

Drop to 3, she gets no extra credit for 4 it would be best of 3 and she reduces her chances of As if too stretched.

she needs to research what she wants to do and study where. RG unis tend to want good grades ie AAA or AAB. Non-RG might consider ucas pts.

My DC did an EPQ- introduces research skills which is valuable in itself, adds UCAS pts (50% ALevel), and possibility of getting a reduced offer.

@BlackBean2023 my son has dropped down to three subjects and it's such a weight lifted. More time in the school day and more free periods to get stuff done.

He has had a disappointed though as his internship that was planned for the summer has fallen through. It's frustrating as he now doesn't have time to really find anything else along the same lines.

He has decided instead he is going to try and train and become the athlete he once was. (He used to be a great runner). I hope he sticks to it but self discipline is not his strongest trait.

Hi @Newlease I think they all feel as though they haven't done as well as they could have. I'm sure your daughter will have done well, and the school will probably adjust predictions based on capability for UCAS anyway. I hope she enjoys the Imperial Open day. Oxbridge residential sounds fun.

Yes, DS is doing work experience the week after half term.

I'm not sure about timings for admissions tests. I think DS still wants to do the LNAT (law) which will be in the summer, but the other subjects he's looking at don't seem to have entrance test, although I think some Oxford colleges do their own tests. But DS is looking at humanities/law not STEM.

I'm sorry your son's internship has fallen through @SunblockSue but getting back into athletics sounds very positive.

DS has told me this morning that he wants to get back into chess this summer. He dropped club competitions last spring to concentrate on GCSEs and this year has been so busy he hasn't had a chance to resume it.

@BlackBean2023 Another idea to aid the four-versus-three subjects decision might be to map out the exams schedule for next summer and see how it looks. The summer 2026 timetables are now in final form on the exam boards’ websites (and in my DD’s case significantly different from the provisional versions they put up a couple of months ago). It might help to see what the practical difference would be, in terms of exam burden, between taking all four and not.

@JessyCarr oh that's interesting about the exams, I'd better check if DS's have changed.

Are any DCs doing the PAT test?

DS is looking at sitting either the ESAT or TMUA depending on which subject option he narrows things down to. He’s put the registration date in his calendar, it was good to see him keeping track of that kind of thing himself! He’s not done any practise yet, I assume he’ll start that in July once his exams and open days are done with.

He’s taken himself off to the local library this morning to revise there - he’s signed up to get access out of hours, which I didn’t even know was a thing!

Hope everyone's mocks go ok - mine had his straight after Easter break, so this is the first time since Christmas that he's got a few days in a row where he really doesn't have to do any work!

Hi all, please can I join you?

university visits are about to start and seem to take up every weekend in June. We’re starting with Exeter on Friday (dh and I are sharing them as we have 2 younger dc). Exeter is about an hour from us.

My worry is her grades - all over the place in assessments. She seems confident she can get the grades needed but we’ve had little consistency. Mocks are in July so I worry our uni visits are not right for her predicted grades. She’s wanting to do biological sciences and her teacher says look at Russell group.

I have to say, this feels like the hardest part of parenting so far. Dd is out a lot with friends, sometimes revising - she works hard. I miss her being around, but also know that’s normal for 17.

Welcome @TeenLifeMum! I’ve just had a conversation with DS about how he might be able to assess his current performance compared to his hopeful expectations. He’s mostly been covering the content for the AS level syllabuses during y12 even though they don’t do AS levels here - so there should be a strong overlap between his y12 mock papers and AS past papers. He’s starting to work through those, mark them and then see where his scores are against the grade boundaries. Although they don’t have an A star classification, he should get a much better idea of whether he’s working at the right standard from this, and the gaps, as opposed to any wishful thinking!

I’d sort of forgotten about AS levels and the potential of the past papers, seems obvious now!