Thread 50 - Covid GCSE Cohort - New Year of Adulting

[OrangeSpicedBun]

2024 here we are... our young people are still getting used to adulting and we're still doing that adulting thing ...it's tough !

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/4922401-thread-49-covid-gcse-cohort-the-nights-are-drawing-in?page=10

I have different gripes against Notts, less re the Uni itself, ds had been happy, more how poor the course is, but PwC need to take some responsibility for that themselves.

DS has reappeared at home. Assignments and exam all done. As far as I can understand the one exam consisted of one long question (from a choice) and they were given 24 hours in which to complete it. Not like in olden times!

He's here for sport, to catch up with local friends and free meals. Going back for a two week mini module later in the month and end of year frolics. Summer job yet to be found...

Hope he finds a job @EwwSprouts - he’ll have a lot of free time otherwise 🤣

Ds has his first A Level on Tuesday - Business paper 1. Having missed probably 50% of lessons and not bothered with mocks (I think he walked out of a couple 😩 because he hadn’t revised), he’s now hoping for As and working hard 🤔. But all his work has been at home for Business, he sent an exam answer to his teacher but he’s not marked it, so he’s a bit at sea in terms of what the examiners are looking for in the longer questions. I wish he wouldn’t do things the hard way!

Who else has A Levels this week?

The very best of luck @crazycrofters ds 🤞🏼
Ds's start on the 2nd of June to the 21st.

DD’s A levels are 23 May to 19 June (she’s only doing two). She seems to be working away quite steadily, she has got into a routine of working in the library in free periods or going into town after college and working in a cafe till I finish work then can give her a lift home. She has an online tutor for biology which she says is helping (indeed she found and organised it all herself which I am proud of). 🤞for your DS @crazycrofter , he strikes me as one that may well pull it off.

DS is back at uni, he’s been home for the last week and went back today. One more week to go then that’s it for the summer. All his assignment marks for the last few weeks are trickling in, he just has one to submit this week now. I had the week off work and it was nice having him around, and we were very lucky with the weather. He fitted in a hockey match and parkrun while he was here, we have started doing the parkrun together but he is more than twice as fast as me. Did anyone see the aurora? It was incredible here.

@crazycrofter And no money!!

Good luck to all the A level students.

I would have slept through the aurora but DS woke me up when he started seeing the photos of others on his phone. We got a great view through our phones even though not a properly dark sky, as just in our garden.

I started seeing comments about it pop up at about 10.15 on Friday, DH was out but both DCs were keen so we drove out to a north facing rural layby that I sometimes stop and take daytime photos from, which was a great spot. By the time we got home you could see them from the garden anyway despite streetlights etc.

Good luck to all the A level folk.

DS has done his two long written assessments and exams in a couple of weeks. He's been cricketing for the college in between revision and his college basketball team won some cup so he was v excited. He loves playing basketball even though he's only 5'7 but he's quite nippy on the court!

We got back from holiday at 2am and am back at work tomorrow. Roll on retirement. ..!!

Good luck to all A level people!

I somehow managed to miss all advanced news of the aurora so knew nothing about it until Saturday morning - gutted. I've always wanted to see the lights. We honeymooned in Iceland but that was July so daylight 24/7 😁

Eldest just has one exam left and then after 4 years he is finished! He really needs to start job hunting - I fear he has probably left it rather late in the day.

DD still has 3 assignments to hand in - says she probably needs to get extensions on a couple - not sure what she has been doing, as very unlike her to get behind. Actually spoke to her yesterday and she seems happy enough about it all, so have to trust that she knows what she is doing.

Ditto Seeline, except we were in Iceland in July for DH’s 40th. Can’t believe one day I didn’t catch any news for the heads up.

It was mainly due to the drama of BA losing DD’s 27kg baggage on Fri. DH was on another flight to T2 with the remainder of her stuff (full clear out) and therefore not able to support at T5 whilst she was being gaslit by staff saying if no luggage tag given, it never happened; no proof. In spite of the case being 4kg over and taped as heavy by check in. After a full melt down they finally raised a lost baggage ref case. No sign of it yet.

So we fly to India today with another lesson learned (air tags), NEVER move from check in without the label (she is an inexperienced 20 yr old after all), and emergency shopping, it had her every piece of clothing bar scraps at home.

The treatment of YP by service providers these days is appalling, I do feel sorry for them.

All the best to the exam takers!

Poor dd @ealingwestmum , that must be gutting. I hope it turns up.

Great photo @EffortlessDistraction ! I didn’t appreciate you got the best view through a camera so gave up too soon!

Good luck to your offspring @EffortlessDistraction and @cantonet !

Ds had his Criminology coursework mark today and he’s got a B, which is 50% of his overall grade, so we’re really pleased. He struggles with timing and finishing exams, despite exam time, so that might be his downfall.

*extra time, not exam time 🤣

Didn't see the northern lights here (suburbs of large city) but DW and DS were camping out at their windsurfing club and got a good view!

@ealingwestmum That's so awful. Hope it gets resolved.

DD is staying in her house for another month or so and has an interview for a volunteering job next week. Not quite as good as a paying one, but it would be useful experience and a foot in the door in a new sector (museums/galleries, which is a common path for freelance artists' "day jobs.")

That's terrible @ealingwestmum - hope luggage turns up asap

Good luck to all those doing A'Levels. Good job! re: DS's Criminology coursework. We were lucky enough to have seen the Northern Lights from our front door. It was simply breathtaking and took loads of photos. Lots of people drove up to our street to get a good view. ds2 also saw it up in Leamington Spa. Probably a once in a lifetime experience.

@ealingwestmum I hope there is good news soon. @PhotoDad a volunteering job is much better than nothing, it could also turn into a paid role, so good luck to her.

Good luck to A'level exam sitters.

Wishing all the GCSE and A Level DC on here all the best for the next few weeks.
I'm back in school invigilating and have mainly a 1-1 student who has quite severe anxiety so needs a separate room and a calming kind invigilator (school's words not mine) so my boss chose me for the job.

DD has her uni Ball on Friday and starts her month long full week school placement this Thursday so she's hoping she's not too shattered for it.

She's just noticed she's been removed from the group chat on a work WhatsApp group (holiday work only) so what she was hoping to fall back on this summer is not going to happen now. Think they have prob found someone who can work all holidays which DD can't as her degree is pretty full on during the year and in short holidays she rests but was hoping this summer to work lots of shifts - hey ho - she'll have to look for something else.

Well done @crazycrofter ds and his criminology coursework. I have every belief he's going smash the exams. Good luck to the other year 11's and 13's out there.

I missed the Northern Lights too. DD called me from the beach in Aberystwyth in floods of tears because she's always wanted to experience them and was overwhelmed. By the time I got outside there was nothing to be seen. I did see them in Lapland years ago though but only briefly as it was minus 40 !!

DS is struggling to write his last essay. He's had eight weeks and it's due on Wednesday 🤦. He's got a french exam on Friday and then he's coming home for the law exam marathon. He's still got hours and hours of lectures to catch up on so zero revision time. It's a good job they're open book exams, just a shame they're 24 hours plus whatever extra time he's been given.

DD also has exams next week but has spent the last week on the beach. She got 75% for her seminar input though, so for the little 10% of the module it represents she's done great.

@mummyinbeds how amazing to see the on the beach at Aber!

Your ds sounds like my dd 😫She's home (again!) - apparently arrived at 3am this morning but I didn't hear her - because she's struggling with a lab report due in tomorrow. She can't work at uni apparently - but she said she couldn't work at home only a couple of weeks ago! Also loads behind with lectures and exams start next week... I really wish she'd agree to at least pause her studies at the end of the year and have a year working to reflect on whether she should continue, or switch direction to OT via an apprenticeship or degree (our preference!). She's really not enjoying Psychology, it's so Sciencey. Anyway, good luck to your ds too! Your dd sounds like she's doing really well!

Good luck and more strength to all those struggling with essays. DS is in the same camp, he finally managed to submit one recently just before the extended deadline and FORGOT to include his Bibliography!!! he emailed the tutor but was told there's nothing they can do about it. Aaaarrrgghh!!

@mummyinbeds Sorry to dampen things further but in my experience, open book exams are the worst kind, I'll take closed book any day over open but I wish him all the very best of luck with them and he'll come through with flying colours.

Hope he doesn't lose marks for the missing bibliography @shimy. How frustrating for him!

Ds came back a bit annoyed with himself for not finishing Business paper 1 and for choosing the wrong essay out of the choice of two, but it wasn't disastrous, he'd worked out the minimum and maximum marks he could have got and thought it was probably a B. He does tend to overestimate how he's done though, so we'll see!

Dd says that she can't work at uni as everyone keeps going outside to sunbathe and it's hard to stay in! The weather has changed now though, so I'm sure it would be fine - she's now here for the week as we're going to see Take That on Monday. I think she slightly got the vibe that I wasn't 100% overjoyed to see her! I am really, but she does throw things off balance in our household a bit, and ds needs things to be calm.... plus she wants fancy food and always moans about what I've got in!

I may have been stalking DS on the Snapchat map. He's in the library so hopefully that means an essay is in progress. He can't work in his room because he lays down on his bed and goes to sleep 🤦

@mummyinbeds i just poked my head round DD’s door and she’s lying in bed 😩 having a ‘five minute break’ as she’s stuck! I did suggest sitting at her desk might make her more productive, instead of trying to work on her bed.

@crazycrofter Fingers crossed for your DS with his business paper and hope your DD feels refreshed after her break. Sometimes it's the best thing to do when stuck. I'm always telling DS to just get up and take a break and new ideas will flow but does he listen?
@mummyinbeds DS doesn't like working in his room either and he has a perfectly nice table there where he can work in silence, he prefers the kitchen dining table..don't ask!