BTEC/T level/other vocational 25/26

[BTECnewbie]

Hello all. My DS will hopefully be starting a level 3 extended diploma in September (assuming he gets the grades). I know very little about BTECs having come through the A level route myself. So I’d love to have a support thread for parents of kids taking vocational qualifications this year.

By the way, do you mean Computer Science GCSE? That pathway definitely needs maths.
I would say IT was a bit different.

He is doing computer science gcse already but is only in year 10. He is predicted a 6 or 7 in maths at gcse but would struggle with maths A Level I think. They like to pair CS A level with maths or physics.

DMU and similar ex polys ask for 5 gcses grade C and above incl maths, plus A levels, BTEC or level 3. So CS degree is possible without maths A Level but obvs won't be Oxford or Cambridge.

DS is doing core maths alongside his IT BTEC. This keeps more opportunities open but a lot of unis would be ruled out. He's not planning on going to uni but he might change his mind.

Evening all, going to try to catch up! Wrist super painful so tap tapping along with my left hand ( getting bit tiresome now!)..

DS has got his Timetable, not bothered to really mention it, but I just dragged it out of him as told him we need to organise car ( as down to only one after the car accident wrote DH/DS19’s one off)… he is in Monday, Tuesday, Thursday ( like his induction week), with a random hour on Friday …. ?! I assumed this might be English resit class, or maybe ALS, but DH was told it is 1-1 with his tutors, he thinks?? Which, I think, if correct, is brilliant for him!! With his autism, he really can be very literal/easily misunderstands things and go along in the wrong direction, so this would be excellent as a catch up/heads up kind of thing!! Do other DC have this? In that, is this a usual for BTEC courses? Well, guess it’s a veritable wait and see.

How is everyone else feeling about tomorrow?! 😸

@Sisublondie A random 1 hr sounds a pain, I wonder if it could be moved...

Hope everyone is recovered from car crash @Sisublondie and that your wrist gets better - sounds like a hell of a week you have had.

We did have a timetable - and now they have swapped DD to the other group, so now we have a new timetable (that I think is better, but DD doesn't deal very well with change and so meltdown on Friday when it came through.

They emailed it, so it's a good thing I have her email on my outlook as otherwise she would be turning up 2 hours early tomorrow as she never reads emails.

I've cracked Moodle... tried to do a session today with her... no chance. Apparently they have tutorials every week and she will 'do it then'. No tutorial on the timetable or mentioned on Moodle (they have three 1:1s across the year) so god only knows. However college are very aware of her executive function issues and that she will struggle with written instructions (far too much effort to read them) so I hope their SEND is as good as they say it is.

I am just sooooo glad start of term is finally here... it's been lovely, but my good post-GCSE to now feels long!

Thank you!!! Well, he’s there! Had his first night in his new bed last night…..didn’t even close the curtains, so he can wake up to the view! 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿 💕!! …

…. ( my pride at completing my TDL of Essentials and crap to buy ( even down to some wholly unecessary IKEA succulents for his bathroom - that I’m shocked weren’t laughed at!) was diminished somewhat when he unpacked……yeh…. I forgot to buy bloody PILLOWS!!! 😳🤔🙀😈😹……!! Ah well…….😸

@Sisublondie
😃
Well, you can't remember everything

…..😹😹😹🙄……..least he got the succulents!! 🤩🥳!!

@OhCrumbsWhereNow

Thank you, yes, everyone is physically ok now ( just unexpected hunt for replacement car and all that ). Wrist is just a waiting game in a cast, at the mo ( but so happy no operation was needed so all good 🤩!).

I have seen you mention Moodle before…. ummmmm, I don’t know what it is!! Will it be something universal DS will have, that he just hasn’t mentioned?! 🤷‍♀️

Great that you have had a session and cracked it!! Whoo-Hoo!! You must be relieved!! Next step thwarted, doing it with her, but you deserve a prize 🏆 for getting this far!!

It is very good her college is aware of her executive function issues, and, totally, 🤞🤞🤞 their SEND are fantastic!! Oh, and amazing that you can access her email! That would be my dream, to see DS’s! I get yapped at gor “ doubting” his abilities if I ask once, let alone twice!

How is your DD with the new timetable, now that she has had chance to digest it? 🤞🙏🤞, I hope so….

Yes, I agree.. HOW long ago does it seem, from the end of the GCSEs?!! New term, new start is without doubt here this week!!! 🙀😸

Yes, very good point! Esp as it’s over half an hour away! I’ll try and fathom out what it is first….. 🤷‍♀️😸…

🙏!

Moodle is a Virtual Learning Platform (VPL) and not one I like.

Bit like a big Google drive and teachers can upload all the docs for lessons and assignments.

Its more a case of having to spend time working out what it there and where rather than being complicated.

When DD wails that she can’t do x because nobody gave her the information I can now ignore the hysteria and just send the right link 🤣

She happily hands me all logins and passwords for everything. One day I hope she will either take it all over or be able to employ me as the world’s most overpaid PA 🤞

Benefits of new timetable seem to have passed muster! SEND - have zero expectations born of too many years of empty promises but here’s hoping!

Good luck to everyone for tomorrow!

Moodle is far better than some VPL I have had to use.

@Sisublondie it's not just documents the teacher can upload, you can use it to make drag and drop pictures / documents.

So when I was teaching about eukaryotic cells I can ask students to draw a poster explaining it, I then have to mark each poster.

With Moodle I can upload a picture of the cell and a list of organelles and turn it into a 'drag and drop' for the students to label.

And I can also have Moodle mark it. So it saves me time and the students get their marks as soon as I release them.

I find the college IT system really confusing.
DD 'lost' work because she couldn't tell if it was on our laptop at home or on the college virtual platform.
We ended up emailing things to herself as backup.
Once I had to retype a load from a print out as it disappeared entirely.

I'm disappointed Moodle is not someone's dog. I was skimming the thread quickly and hoping there would be a pic.

😹😹😹……. Hilarious! - your post was the first I literally saw right now, JUST as I called Noodle ( my Toy 🐩 Poodle!) to lift him up for a cheeky cuddle 😈😹
💕💕💕!! 🐩 🐩 🐩 💕💕💕!!

@OhCrumbsWhereNow

Ahhhhh, gotcha! So, a VPL that will prob fly above my head ( and not a puppy as @LarkspurLanehoped for!! 🐩 💕😹!!)….

So, I’m guessing my DS may have this as part of his course? I will ask him on his return, today. I do understand and empathise with the wailing if not having been given info, that he has! 🙄.. ( mind you, today’s drama was the notebook I had taken out of his bag on Friday, as it had been bent around a scrunched up wet coat since Thursday, and put on his desk to dry, had grown legs and disappeared over the weekend…., so not holding out much hope!)! Ditto as to passwords… he only reluctantly gives me his ever changing email adddresses. So, well done to you on DD front for this, too ( snd also on your valuable PA work!).

@sashh Oh, ok, see that does sound very interesting, to hear the teachers perspective… thank you for that ( and not heard eukaryotic cells for a couple of decades plus- I’m impressed!) It definitely appears to be of benefit to teaching staff… and students, time wise, with the marking!

It looks like I need to investigate this Moodle The Non 🐩!

Thank you for your input! 🙏 and @OhCrumbsWhereNow, happy timetable has sunk in, and hope SEND come up to scratch 🤞🤞🤞..

Good Luck to everyone today!!!!

Yes. I fear I am utterly in your camp!! I blame the fact I am barely allowed access to school ( or college) IT! I am a dedicated paper and pen

@TeenToTwenties.. sorry! Ironic time to lose post! Anyone else attest to the fact MN is bloody slow today?

Anyway! Yes, I’m not the most tech person. The thought of work being “ lost” in the ether makes me so tense. I think emailing to back up perfect idea! I’m pretty sure that is what I did during my Masters, too, can’t harm a bit of extra assurance! As for the retyping you had to do…. Nightmare…. But! HOW happy were you that you had the print out???!! 😈😹🙏!!

The retyping was a pain but I am quite fast, and the print out was a life saver.

We also used print outs for me to check whether I thought she had met all the requirements of the question, so I could circle things she had missed etc. It saved submitting then reworking too much to get things more right first time.

Morning
Dd is working on a project she promised a friend...its not the "easy" project she envisioned!
First proper day at college on Wednesday, but only 2.5 hours.
She's excited, I think.
So I'll only have 2 x early morning starts each week 😃
Older dds bf has gone back home so she's moping around 🙄
I'm feeling oddly tired and fed up today.
I don't think dds college use moodle (older dds uni use it so I am familar with it)
I have a parent portal to view exams, attendance, marks etc

Hi all,
Can I join this thread? My eldest has just started a BTEC in Public Services last week and not being from England I’m finding it all a bit overwhelming with the lack of information from college compared to secondary school.
They seem to have about 11 hours strict lesson, which seems awfully low to me, is this normal?
On top of that there was an optional sports academy that he joined which seems to overlap with one of the lessons, surely that can’t be right.

I wish I’d had this support group. Dc has just completed a level 3. My tips:

do not expect the same level of interaction as with schools - our college had no parents evenings for example

instructions for projects can be quite high level - and there are no guides such as CPG revision guides which help to better understand A level requirements

I found it quite stressful as a result, in terms of knowing whether dc was on track or not.

BUT has achieved the equivalent of 3 Bs at A level and accepted onto a completely unrelated degree course at university. Good luck everyone

I think it varies as to how much contact you get - DD's college are very parent friendly... we get our own portal, parents evenings, reports etc and they were very quick at induction to get the 'you can talk to my parent about anything and everything' box ticked off on the system.

11 hours teaching time/contact hours sounds about right - but check what else is listed.

DD has 13 hours teaching in college over 3 days.
But there is a 90 minute self-study lesson every week, plus 56 hours of self directed study and 64 hours of "enrichment" in year 1.