Thread 46 - GCSE Covid Cohort , Searching for Summer Solstice

[OrangeCinnamonLatte]

This is a support thread for our young adults post GCSEs 2020, regardless of their educational setting, and their results ( or life updates for those who went into work or have had results earlier). It is respectfully requested that all are supportive and helpful to each other. If you want to start a debate, e.g state vs private, uni vs employment please don't within this thread.

Some of us have been here since first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. Everyone is welcome. It is hoped this will continue. We were previously on the secondary board and then further education, now we shall be here in 'Parents of Adult Children' gulp

Our DS/DD may continue down various pathways ( employment, apprenticeships, higher ed). Be warned there might be lots of 'Uni Freshers' chat this time of year. My experience is that everyone is welcomed wherever, whatever their child is doing we have some in work, gap years , apprenticeships etc too. Lots of contributors with different experiences and always sympathy and advice to be had.

Previous Thread

Gosh Shimy that ADHD assessment sounds really efficient. I don't think it's anywhere near as good now.
It's interesting reading about the ADHD experiences at uni .
Ds's has been a disaster.
He came back at Easter looking dreadful. White & skinny. I don't think he'd been eating properly or attending many lectures.I was worried about him & he'd fallen behind. It transpired that he wasn't taking his ADHD meds with any great regularity & yes his help sessions had been cancelled. We've now applied for a temporary withdrawal from uni to repeat Semester starting next Feb. As he passed the semester 1 exams. Its such a complicated process & you're passed from Pillar to post. It's difficult for me to sort this out let alone Ds.

@Oblomov23 So pleased your DS is having a lot of fun. Sounds as if he has made some good friends if he is happy to trust them.

@Cantonet Sorry to hear your DS has had a bumpy start. It's hard to understand the support sessions being cancelled when they clearly haven't fulfilled the remit.

So sorry @Cantonet that sounds a lot to be dealing with but glad he's got a plan in place. They really shouldn't be able to take the support away when it is so clearly needed. It is a lot to organise when one of your impairments is with exactly that sort of thing.

Oh dear @Cantonet, that must be so worrying. Your poor DS! I think you've made a good decision to get him back home. I hope you get the temporary withdrawal you've asked without any further stress.

DS's assessment was pretty robust I must say although at the time we couldn't really appreciate it because we were going out of our minds with worry and didn't have a clue what ADHD was. Unlike now. Did your DS say why he wasn' taking his meds? did he just forget or he didn't like the side effects? I know ds struggled with the side effects. Luckily, he came off the medication altogether in Yr 11 and although still struggles with organisation & timing he has been getting along as well as anyone other 'disorganised with no ADHD' person ifyswim. So just incase your DS is struggling with it,pls let him know many do come off the medication eventually.

Sorry to hear that Cantonet. I think a major flaw is recognising that the people who need these sessions are the ones least likely to organise and attend them.

@Cantonet I'm sorry your DS is struggling, its good that he has you on board to help navigate a most convoluted system.

@Cantonet poor lad, hope a bit of home gets him better soon.

@OrangeCinnamonLatte fingers crossed that Reading impresses your DD and the BF doesn't put any spanners in the works.

DS's A level papers start on Monday, the subjects seem very spread out, some will have finished by then!

Sorry to hear that, @Cantonet, fingers crossed for him (and you).

@Monkey2001 that's really late starting A level exams. What subjects is that? DD is seven down and two to go (@Shimy that's exams not kids🤣) Today's politics was much better than yesterdays geography and this was the one she was dreading. She's gone to the pub instead of revising for Friday.

Sorry to hear that Cantonet, hopefully you can get him sorted abc ready for February.

@mummyinbeds he is just doing Chemistry as a Y14, did Maths, Physics and PE last year. Your DD must be relieved that the end is in sight!

@Monkey2001 yes, of course. It's strange how Chemistry and biology start so late this year. Good luck🤞
DD is so relieved, she's thrown up after her trip to the pub 🤦 I'm not sure how much revision will happen tomorrow.

@Cantonet would the Uni approve a retake of Semester 1 if possible? It might be helpful in terms of confidence /friendship making ect. Just a thought. Good that action being taken x

So mine has managed to fail a module. He failed the group task (narrowly) but all fine because he could make it up on the essay. Except he also failed the essay, partly due to getting strep A/tonsillitis the week before hand in. He’s got his end of year recital next week so is trying to focus on that but is very stressed about failing a module. Apparently the exam board have to authorise a resit of both elements - I hope that’s just standard wording and that he will be allowed to resit without it either holding him back or getting him kicked out. If the group project was ok he’d be fine - one of his mates did worse in the essay but had landed in a group of high flyers who totally carried him. So not the end to the year we wanted but hopefully a little bump in the road and not a major problem.

He should look into mitigating /extenuating circs for Strep A/Tonsilitis. Hopefully he can then get a sit as if first time or similar ? Happy to help interpret regs if needed !

@OrangeCinnamonLatte he’s too late for extenuating circs I think as he didn’t make it known at the time. He’s had feedback- is it likely that they’ll make him do a totally different essay or rework the one he failed so he can implement the feedback? He’s got to resit the group task somehow too. I know the module will be capped at 40% but so far we don’t even know when it’s due or what he’ll need to do.

Dd just firmed Reading! Fingers crossed/thread magic for her en-suite room and she's away to a new adventure!

Ahh it might need to formally go through an exam board or similar. There should be a resit/re-examination window advertised though. Fingers 🤞. Does he just need 40% for the year , presume that's not counted in final classification?

🤞 Orange!

I hope there’s an acceptable solution that works for your DS Sirius.

It’s got to go through exam board but the date isn’t advertised. He just needs 40 in each module, he’s passed the rest subject to the recital next week. Doesn’t count towards his degree so I hope they make the resit achievable. He was so upset.

@OrangeCinnamonLatte phew!!!!

@Siriusmuggle if that is going to happen, best that it happens in first year, where all he needs is a pass. Unlucky on the group task, I don't really see how you can fail on the basis of group work though. Seems unfair.

It used to be good practice that resit requirements were advertised in the module description so get him to have a good look on his intranet/ in his handbooks etc.

@OrangeCinnamonLatte Fantastic news! Wishingher all the best.

@Siriusmuggle So sorry to hear about the failed module but I agree with the other poster that this is the best year for it to happen. It's first yr that doesn't count towards the degree so not catastrophic! I'd also advise he contacts the module leader to go through what he got wrong and how he can do better next time. The resit will give him a chance to rethink how he tackles the new question.

@Shimy apparently he doesn’t know who the module leader is! He’s had some useful feedback but specific to the question he used so not sure how helpful it will be if they set a different one. He knew he only needed 40% so I think he was aiming to do enough but then it didn’t quite go to plan. Only my kid could fail an essay on a question they set themselves.