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

Great to hear and good luck for the job finding efforts.

After a visit to school, good news and bad news.... He is signed up to sixth form so all good there. Bad news 1 is that due to some sort of administrative error, his whole.class have failed one of their courses. Despite getting distinctions in every module... School are not entirely sure what has happened or why and are trying to sort it all out...

He also didn't get the grade needed for one of his a-level choices so needs to decide whether to do something else or resit to improve his grade. There are mitigating circumstances and school have agreed he can start the a-level pending resit but he is not sure what to do. His other options are quite niche. So would be good for him to do this subject as it widens his options post 18 but will definitely be hard work for the next few months...

It is hard but we need to sit back and allow them to figure out the next steps... Between the jamboree and today, it has been a tough few weeks and I think some time to reflect is needed 😔

@craggyrat, sending love.
@singingstones . Good job.I’m so impressed.
Been buying a few bits and pieces for the fresh start. She’s fallen in love with 60s fashion, so we are trying to twiggify her wardrobe, which is quite fun. Thinking about hair now. Maybe a Jean shrimptonish long fringe ? So far we’ve bought a black roll neck and some ballerinas. Looking for some slim cropped trousers and a pinafore dress. Im trying to persuade her that a fine cotton cardigan can be worn backwards and will bring that silhouette. Anyway it’s reminding me that she has brought me lots of joy.

Thank you @singingstones thats a hell of a task!

@craggyrat wishing you all the best for your op tomorrow.

@handmademitlove thats shocking about the module! I hope it gets sorted. On the other subject, can the teachers offer him any guidance on options other than resit or alternatives A levels that might suit him?

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn the subject is maths. We are all mathematicians and it was easily his strongest subject for years. He is looking at engineering going forward so it is quite essential! His other option is a lot narrower if he changes his mind about what he wants to do...
But we are also very aware that maths is a difficult subject at A-level and he will really need to pull up his grade to get through it.

@singingstones thanks so much - it is really lovely to have this reminder of what a clever bunch of young people w e have, with such a wide range of interest.

@handmademitlove - that's just awful, especially on such a core subject. I hope there is serious support from the school for resits.

Thinking of you Craggyrat.

Thank you, @singingstones, and fingers crossed for @craggyrat.

Am tired and a little drunk now. DS and I cooked a steak dinner together in our holiday cottage. DW and DD planning on joining us either tomorrow or Saturday. He had a fab day's training (here he is, GBR3393, rounding a team-mate, in silhouette) before three days of racing. I have been persuaded to volunteer to help officiate for the first time tomorrow, fingers crossed.

Thank you for the list @singingstones great work keeping that up.

good luck for tomorrow @craggyrat will be thinking of you.

@handmademitlove Does he have to increase the grade by much? Is the mark close enough for a remark?

Great shot there @PhotoDad good luck to him in his races.

@singingstones
Thanks signing you absolute fucking star, for your list, and for asking about my back. Bless your cotton socks. ❤️

I'm actually in a bad way. In pain daily but discharged from local hospital. Now October at least wait to be seen by another hospital. My fall, where I broke my back in 2 places L5 and L1 was February 23 , so only the 8 months then ?

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn remark won't cut it. He needs to gain around 1.5 grades. He is able to do it from an academic ability point of view but would be hard work... Only he can work out if it is worth it!

@handmademitlove I don't understand how the whole year can fail? Must have been some huge administrative error?! I hope it all gets sorted soon.

Thank you to all for gcse wishes. DS is really pleased with his results which he deserves because of the effort he put in. If he'd have been in DDs year I think he would have been in a very different situation as he would have been one of those who left everything thinking that from Easter he could cram. But having seen how some of DDs friends didn't get what they could have done because of lockdown, he's worked hard all year.

Thanks for the new list @singingstones .
@craggyrat thinking of you today and hoping that a plan can be formed speedily once this but is done.

Sorry to hear that @Oblomov23
I hope the October appt brings you some proper treatment and relief.

@handmademitlove I am a bit confused - is it maths where they have agreed he can start the A level but would also have to resit GCSE? Surely his GCSE grade becomes a bit redundant if he starts the A level - how he copes with Y12 maths will tell them whether he should continue with it. If he's doing well at Y12 maths, what would be the point of resitting GCSE? And similarly if he finds Y12 maths too hard - why try for a high GCSE grade if maths A level is out of the picture? (Unless he has failed GCSE maths and would need to improve it to access any uni course.)

Thinking of you @craggyrat

Thinking of you @craggyrat , I hope all goes well.
well done to all GCSErs. Amazing story about the Ukrainian girl too.
@singingstones thank you for the updated list, you are a wonder!
@PhotoDad fab action shot there of DS.
All quiet at Delphi Towers. DS has one more week of his 12 week internship to go, and has a meeting with a director booked in at which, rumour has it, he is likely to be offered a grad job for next summer… fingers crossed. Would be very nice to have that in his back pocket as he goes into his fourth year.

@handmademitlove I agree with @singingstones Unless he did not pass Maths resitting the GCSE seems pointless and will take time away from his A Level subjects. If they are happy for him to take Maths on a trial basis that sounds optimistic.

I do find that kids can be very good at maths & then plateau. I would have said that ds2 was the most able mathematician of my 3. However he struggled with further maths & dropped it after Y12. He then got his lowest A Level grade in Maths (and missed his firm choice). His older siblings did better than him but then he did experience the Covid years at school.

@craggyrat best of luck for your operation 🤞
@oblomov sorry to hear your back is so painful several months on.Did you have to have one of those awful back braces?
Lovely pictures @PhotoDad.
Congratulations on all the GCSE results!

I spent last night crying over a bottle of wine & feel so ill this morning 😳
The dog had to go into animal hospital yesterday as he was very ill. So they're stabilising him on a drip so we can have him home for a day & spoil him 😢 I couldn't do anything yesterday as my dd1 ( his owner) isn't due back until later on today. But it's been me trying to keep him alive all week...

@NCTDN it is a small class within the year group but yes, all failed. I think something wasn't submitted that the exam board says should have been, but the teacher says she has done nothing differently to their years so 🤷

That's shocking! I hope it gets sorted as it's not the children's fault!!

@Decorhate @singingstones yes it is maths. I think the resit was a way for the head of department to justify it as initially it was an absolute no. If he resits and gets the grade he was predicted to get, they can say it was clearly some problem with the exam first time round. If they just let him on anyway it sets a precedent for others to ask to be allowed to do it even though they don't have the grade.... I see their point but I agree that it will make things harder but do understand why they are saying this. Still not sure it is the right thing to do - any slip ups and they will kick him off the course with an 'I told you he couldn't do it' which is a lot of pressure on him. The leadership are not all in agreement that he should be allowed to do it on the first place....

Oh @Cantonet my heart goes out to you and DD and Ddog

Thinking of craggy, oblomov and cantonet in their varying physical and animal trials

Thanks @singingstones for the list - am in awe of your organisational skills!

DS has had a week with his girlfriend here and we haven't seen him/them much. She leaves today and I'm hoping to pin him down on minor matters such as paying next rent for his student house, when he's going to move in there, looking for a job in year 2, doing any pre-reading... hopefully he will have some attention for something other than the gf once she's not actually here (though I fear he will just be glued to his phone instead!). Young love...

@handmademitlove I think it will be tough to do both Y12 maths (which from DS and DD's experience is quite a step up) and a GCSE resit next term - will he have teaching for the GCSE?

A straight yes or no seems much more humane - but what did he get? If he was working at 8/9, needed a 7 and got a freak high 6 I think they should just let him do it. His teacher shouldn't need a GCSE result to know whether he will cope with A level. I get the precedence problem but can they not justify it by citing his previous good work / mock grade etc? On the other hand if he was working at 6, needed 7 and got a 5 then maths A level may not be a good idea.

What would they do if he's doing great at Y12 maths, but because of the work and focus that A level requires, he doesn't get the grade he needs in the GCSE resit, would they kick him off the A level course? It just seems a bit nonsensical to me. Better to just let him try without the distraction of the resit and review his progress at half term or something I reckon. Would they let him start 4 A levels so that he drops maths at half term? Or a different one if the maths is going well?