Medicine 2021 - Part 4

[MaddieElla]

Fingers crossed for those final offers coming in!

Hope no one minds me starting the new thread...

@ljmutti if locked past papers then they can use the set grade boundaries. If the new stuff from the exam boards then there are no grade boundaries so teachers will need to set them. We all agree this is nuts. But it's all we have I'm afraid.

[quote mumsneedwine]@ljmutti if locked past papers then they can use the set grade boundaries. If the new stuff from the exam boards then there are no grade boundaries so teachers will need to set them. We all agree this is nuts. But it's all we have I'm afraid. [/quote]
What about mixture of question? Guess it’s upto the teachers. It’s putting so much pressure on teachers. DD s teachers have provided lot of pastoral support. All
The kids are freaking out. It’s been a mad year. It’s such. Dynamic situation and not being Able to meet up with peer group has not helped with mental wellbeing. How are you coping as a teacher? Really grateful to all the Teachers out there.

@ljmutti honestly, I'm knackered. Not had a day off this Easter as been marking last lot of assessments and preparing the next lot. I'm doing year 11 this time - we have split it up as department to try and spread the load. I've had my year 13s on Teams most days, veering between panic and despondency. So much so I'm running a clinic next week where we are going to eat cake & cry on each other.
On top of this I have my first year DD home and she is just so fed up so has needed lots of cuddles. It's been a year !!!

Come on here for a change of scenery. And to know I'm not alone 😊😊.

Oh what I would do to have a cry. I hope you take care of yourself . It’s hard being a parent and a teacher. Sending you lots of hugs and kisses and good vibes. Thanks for listening to hapless souls kids and mums alike. Hope we come out of this situation stronger and wiser. It’s like being through a war.

@ljmutti a good cry is my therapy. I'm making banana bread and carrot cake and we are going to have an hours 'revision' session next week where everyone can just speak about stuff. Think they'll revise better once the 'stuff' is out of the way. I will cry (menopause and teaching are not great together 😂). Kids are now used to me blubbing- year 7 just say 'oh she's off again'. SLT asked me not to do it, at which point I burst out crying. They are men and have not mentioned it again.
Our kids are all amazing to want to go into a profession that is hard work for little reward. My DD keeps a diary of placements and having read it I think she should publish it some day, Diary of a Hapless Medical Student'. I pity the poor man she did her first catheter on 😳

[quote mumsneedwine]@ljmutti a good cry is my therapy. I'm making banana bread and carrot cake and we are going to have an hours 'revision' session next week where everyone can just speak about stuff. Think they'll revise better once the 'stuff' is out of the way. I will cry (menopause and teaching are not great together 😂). Kids are now used to me blubbing- year 7 just say 'oh she's off again'. SLT asked me not to do it, at which point I burst out crying. They are men and have not mentioned it again.
Our kids are all amazing to want to go into a profession that is hard work for little reward. My DD keeps a diary of placements and having read it I think she should publish it some day, Diary of a Hapless Medical Student'. I pity the poor man she did her first catheter on 😳[/quote]
you are making banana bread AND carrot cake? you are amazing. Yes I agree once the toxic thoughts in the head are vocalised the better it is for mental health. Sometimes the fear of the wolf is scarier than the wolf.
I find having a natter is better than zipping it up. Its strange how i feel so connected to all of you lovely people.
Good luck to your DD for working so hard. Yes please tell her to publish a diary with all her narratives. I will be the first to buy for my DD. All parents on this thread should be proud that their DC chose this difficult path. Saying no would be accepting defeat, nothing else is a failure. Lets leave it all to the better planner up there somewhere and do what we can do to the best of our ability.
DD is studying for her topic tests next week. will have a quick peek in her room. Hope the COVID situation remains under control here.

Haven't posted for a while ... just been stressing over mocks (or whatever they're calling them!) and lack of news from Manc but very pleased to report that an offer has finally arrived. So 2 offers and 2 reserve lists = very pleased DD. Just need to get those A's now ......

@IsThisNameTaken 🥂🥂🥂🥰 fantastic news.

@opoponax @IsThisNameTaken congrats on the Manchester offers great news!

@mumsneedwine enjoy the cake and the chat session with your students. So sorry you are going through this horribly stressful time - again.

@LaLaFlottes it's nothing compared to what the kids are going through. They deserve a medal getting through this year. Think they will be a resilient generation who will make us so proud. 😊

Thank you @LaLaFlottes. Also congratulations on the Manchester offers to your DDs @IsThisNameTaken and @Card1gan. They took their time, didn't they!

Thank you as always @mumsneedwine for the Bristol info. It must be so tough for teachers to go through all this horror of grades again, especially after such a draining year and not to mention last year's grade fiasco.

I think we are getting pretty close to a decision here. DS is clear on one he is definitely rejecting and also on his insurance choice. He's still undecided on which of two to firm but, having done some more research (and soul searching), he's definitely getting closer. I think I know where it's going but I'm keeping quiet and letting it run its course. I'm not complaining though. It's a good problem to have.

Congratulations on the Manchester offer. What a long wait. You must be so proud. When was the interview? Are you going to wait on the waiting list or withdraw? Enjoy your rest of the evening.

Congratulations on offers opoponax thisnameistaken and Card1gan and best wishes for decisions

@Card1gan sorry I missed that you also had a Manchester offer - congratulations

Congratulations to all with those massively delayed Manchester offers 🙌🏻

@ljmutti DD's Manchester interview was beginning of December so it's been a loooong wait!

I am unsure why Heads of 6th formare asking for grades needed as they can see on the UCAS adviser portal where students have firmed and insured and what grades they need. Also schools have been asked to report any parents/students who assert undue pressure on them regarding grade requirements and in severe cases this can lead to disqualification from the subject or all subjects depending on what is being done.

Re clearing discussed upthread: we know that there are a lott of students waitlisted (presumably who may get offers once other decline offers) so still don't expect any medicine clearing places.

Our school asked to be informed of any offers so they're definitely aware of grades needed.

Not that I would ever approach a teacher about granting them. We would like a bit of clarity and information. That's all.

The UCAS nominated person for each student can see the offers. But it shouldn't matter as this is not a factor in exam grades. Unfortunately clarity is going to be hard to come by this year as we are not allowed to talk about grades (because we can then be held to whatever we say at appeal). Students just need to keep working and proving they are worth the grades they need.

Just heard DDs class mate committed suicide. So so so so heartbroken. Everything seems meaningless. Poor poor child. A young life and a whole family ruined.

I agree; I didn't mean clarity from teachers. Clarity has to come from the top and we've only been waiting for that for the entirety of this pandemic. 😫 We have these supposed assessments in a matter of weeks and DD certainly doesn't know the specifics of them. That isn't the schools' fault of course.

@ljmutti that is truly horrific. I am so sorry for everyone close to that poor classmate. X

I hope the school will provide support for DD and her classmates @ljmutti

It is such a shame that child felt that was their only answer and you should keep an eye on your DD as the shock/grief can kick in later.

@MaddieElla @SeasonFinale
We are all sitting at the kitchen table. Being alone is not helpful at this time. DD was herself not in a good place a few weeks ago and we had to seek professional help as she manifested stress in immense pain. Should I talk about her friend or should I not bring it up? Any good website where she can read about dealing with suicide and bereavement. I think if she wants to embark on a medical career being do sensitive is not going to be good. She is extremely empathetic and recently seen her become tearful
easily. I am worried about her coping skills. Please advice and give me your thoughts. She is also eager about offering help to her juniors at school as I think she found this support from her senior year groups lacking. I wonder what is the pastoral support at Leicester and Sheffield?

@ljmutti I am so sorry to hear this. What an absolute tragedy. I feel for your DD. I think talking is always better that not talking, but I would let her take the lead and make the conversations more around how she is feeling. Maybe the mind website or the cruse website could help?

With regards to studying medicine from what I know Sheffield does have a lot of support - on their website there are quite a lot of links to student support services and I believe they can refer themselves if they need to. Also there is a student parent system where they are taken under the wing of older students and I am sure this will help. I think being together as a group of medical students, all having to get used to the sad and stressful side of medicine together, will really help as they will support each other. The Medical schools will be so used to supporting them too.

I am pretty sure Leicester does the same with the student parent system, and everything I have seen from Leicester along the way, makes me think they would be very supportive too. They always come across very well and on a campus tour a while ago we met a medical student who told us how wonderful the medical school was on all fronts.

It’s lovely that she wants to look after and support the juniors, but do make sure she looks after herself too.