Thread 47- Covid GCSE Cohort - Summer's running away from us!

[OrangeCinnamonLatte]

...it will be Christmas before we know it.

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). 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 https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/parents_of_adult_children/4792342-thread-46-gcse-covid-cohort-searching-for-summer-solstice

@Zebracat that all makes sense! It does seem a strange decision but I hope your fears prove unfounded…

Your DS sounds like he has a very busy life, crazycrofter!
I totally empathise with your worries about his academic efforts, but at least he’s DOING stuff; hopefully, he’ll grow in maturity over the next few years and find the thing he really wants to do, and a way to do it.
He sounds like a boy who knows his own mind and who has the motivation for things that interest him.

DS hasn’t done much about post year 13 stuff. He’s been to a few conservatoire open days, talked about going into music production rather than performing but hasn’t looked at uni courses.
Im not sure if his school is relaxed or disorganised, but they don’t seem to be offering any uni prep yet and no mention of personal statements etc. He won’t get predicted grades until next term, although we do know how his year 12 mocks went.

Well I have taken advantage of an empty house to organise DS’s stuff for uni. Got everything - I mean everything - packed in two laundry-type zip up bags and a box, plus duvet and pillows, now he just needs to pack his clothes and shoes and pick up his laptop! OK OK I know it’s 4 weeks early but it’s now know - everyone returns over the next few days and then life gets really busy, so why not.
It is so much easier the third time around…

Erm, we're still putting away DS's stuff from him coming home at the end of May, we've just put a couple of bags under our bed, they have been on the landing getting shifted from one side to the other when we vacuum. He'll be going back on the 17th. We need to get a bit more stuff as he's moving from catered to self-catered halls, so he needs pans etc (he had plates, cups etc last year).

Well done @Delphigirl I took DD uni shopping yesterday - she definitely isn't planning on traveling light. I'm also having to get stuff for DS that he didn't need in catered halls. I have no idea where this uni mountain is going to live for the next month (assuming kid 1 passes his resit and kid 2 passes her A levels)

Well I was in sainsburys today and they haven’t set up their usual back to uni stuff yet, so you might want to wait a week or so. I had most things already because we emptied my mums house earlier this year, and rescued a lot of stuff with uni in mind, so it was more a case of digging it all out, washing and sorting it. V pleased to have it done!!

Pretty neat, hmmm? Plus an airer.

Very impressive. I have two airers sat in my hallway. Two sets of pans, two baking trays, two new duvets etc etc. Only DD felt the need for baking scales and a loaf tin. She got very excited in the cleaning aisle of Home Bargains, just needs to learn how to clean 🤣

Oh, and DD has her alcohol collection packed and ready to go. That would fill one of @Delphigirl's bags.

@Delphigirl I think your post should have a ‘trigger warning’… 😱🤣
I’ve now been ‘transported’ back to the copious amounts of Home Bargains floral bags - not gonna think about the suitcase, boxes etcetera, etcetera, that accompanied them when taking DD to her catered college!
That said, the HB floral bags lugged by an old gimmer - clad in Primark and sweating profusely - did mean lots of other parents asked if they’d parked i n the correct place for the college.
The ‘bants’ up and down the stairs to her room also meant that DD made lots of friends in the process. 🤣

Those floral bags from H&M were lifesavers!

Ha ha that’s so funny!
we will go to the supermarket at the other end and buy food, cleaning products and, yes, booze …!

@mummyinbeds doing 2 at once is a feat, respect..!

Amazing packing! Very jealous. DD will be taking less stuff for Year 2 than for Year 1, now she knows what she actually needs. At least, that's the plan.

Dd has her first exam tomorrow and dh is taking her so they can collect the keys to her house afterwards. She’ll need all the cooking gear as she was in catered last year, plus she’ll need bedding for a double bed, so we’ll need to do a uni shop too soon. We got the Home Bargains versions of those flowery bags and they didn’t last long!

Best of luck to her Crazy; and all the others sitting exams next week.

A fine and tidy piece of packing Delphi :)

Good luck for the DD exam @crazycrofter. Enjoy the shopping. I took DS to Dunelm for double bedding. He picked up a double duvet cover and single fitted sheet doh!

@Delphigirl You could make a fortune doing videos of how to pack off a student!

I was wondering about Benjispruce and her DD.

Unless she has name changed she hasn't posted on MN this year . Her DD was meant to be heading off somewhere this October after dropping out of NTU?

Hope they are OK.

@NCTDN They certainly were! I’m still using them to ferry stuff to- and fro- work before boxing the stuff up to be UPSd down to Uni.
Good luck to all the Notts folk with resits and any others 🍀
At @Piggywaspushed I think we need @singingstones to weave her magic with an updated list as there’s a few posters missing.

Good luck @crazycrofter @JustHereWithMyPopcorn and anyone else joining me on the resit anxiety bench this morning.
DS is in the shower with 30 minutes to go till start time. He's already doing better than the first sit 🤞

Good luck to the re-sitters!

Good luck today to your DCs @crazycrofter and @mummyinbeds and any others sitting today (or this week).

DS has started already, I've had a peek at the questions and backed away quietly to my office.

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn I was exhausted just reading those questions. DS appears to be busy planning but hasn't written anything yet. This could be a long day/night/second day. I hate 24 hour (plus a 5 hour extension) exams!

I'm tempted to wake DD so I can start stressing about Thursday instead and make some clearing plan B's, C's and D's. Or I could get on with some work 😬

@mummyinbeds I just made him a big breakfast and left him to it, I'm going to keep him fuelled up through the day so his brain will hopefully keep functioning!! He got back from the festival at 4pm yesterday, sunburnt and with a sore throat. To say I was unimpressed is very much the understatement.