Page 34 | Nat 5/Highers etc - Anyone getting ready with their S4 - S6 dc?

weegiemum · 2016-04-05T14:39:46+00:00

My dd1 is in s4 and about to sit 8 Nat5s. I don't know who is more wound up about it - her or me! (and I'm a teacher!!). Wondered if there's anyone else out there to hold hands with? DD is sitting English, Maths, Ghaidlig (Gaelic native speaker), French, History, Art & Design, Physics and Design & Manufacture. First is English on 5th May.

dotdotdotmustdash · 01/06/2016 22:24

My poor Dd sat AH German this morning, in a room on her own with an invigilator. I was going OK until the cluster mini-Olympics started outside the window and the huge (1 metre wide) Chinese drums group began practicing. She sat trying to concentrate for 20 minutes before she asked the Invigilator to do something about it as she couldn't hear herself think! It appears the Invigilator wasn't going to mention it.

Cue lots of people rushing around and she was moved to another part of the building, but had lost about 40 mins of her exam time, although they allowed her an extra 10 mins on the end. I may feel the need to email the school and be a wee bit snippy about their organisation skills.

Still got Nat 5 Mandarin to finish on Friday morning then it's goodbye school forever after 15 years of being a school Mum. Can't wait!

rogueantimatter · 02/06/2016 08:12

at those exam conditions. I'd think that would be grounds for an appeal.

Good luck with the Mandarin.

prettybird · 02/06/2016 10:06

Good luck for Mandarin and Design & Manufacture (I think those two are the ones on today).

Groovee · 02/06/2016 20:34

Dd had her S5 induction and has a massive amount of free time thanks to the deputy head and his incompetence. The head of house has picked it up for just now. We're hoping a currently closed school will be open after the summer allowing her the chance to do biology there and pick drama back up.

She's also upset that the have booked her into first aid courses! She currently holds 3 first aid certificates gained in the last few months!

prettybird · 02/06/2016 21:03

Why all the free time?

Ds starts "S5" on Monday. He doesn't know his timetable until he goes to registration on Monday morning. But he's already chosen his subjects and as they're a pretty standard combination (English, Maths, Chemistry, Physics, Geography), there shouldn't be an issue. He just wants to be sure he's still in the top Maths class as he loves his teacher.

YoScience · 02/06/2016 22:03

Just catching up! Glad all the exams seem to have gone well for everyone! Relief that's it all over. Now we just have to wait til the 9th August!!

DD was back at school yesterday following her S5 timetable. She is doing 5 highers English, Geography, History, Music and Italian. There was a brief mix up as she had initially been put on maths instead of music, much panic on dd's part before it was sorted!

YoScience · 02/06/2016 22:03

Just catching up! Glad all the exams seem to have gone well for everyone! Relief that's it all over. Now we just have to wait til the 9th August!!

DD was back at school yesterday following her S5 timetable. She is doing 5 highers English, Geography, History, Music and Italian. There was a brief mix up as she had initially been put on maths instead of music, much panic on dd's part before it was sorted!

YoScience · 02/06/2016 22:04

Just catching up! Glad all the exams seem to have gone well for everyone! Relief that's it all over. Now we just have to wait til the 9th August!!

DD was back at school yesterday following her S5 timetable. She is doing 5 highers English, Geography, History, Music and Italian. There was a brief mix up as she had initially been put on maths instead of music, much panic on dd's part before it was sorted!

YoScience · 02/06/2016 22:04

Oops sorry, dodgy connection!

OneMagnumisneverenough · 02/06/2016 22:22

Yes, glad to hear the last stragglers of exams have been going okay,

Your poor DD dotdot though I am guessing she will enjoy tomorrow and i'm sure it will be bittersweet for you too.

We've spent the evening packing up DSs stuff, they tent he collected yesterday was all hanging out the bag so he took it out and repacked it earlier and then we realised he's been given a big 3 man tent for him and his tent mate and it takes up his whole back pack. He contacted the leader who matter of factly said, oh that's the ones we always use.....yes, it will be the ones you always use when there a group of 3! When there is 3, one takes the groundsheet and poles and pegs, the 2nd takes the fly and liner and the 3rd takes the cooking stove and bits and bobs, no 3rd man so DS has the whole bloody tent! Then I kept saying to check that the other boy had the gas etc. and he kept saying that of course he'd have the gas since he had the stove, why wouldn't he have gas? Anyway I insisted he message and ask the boy, turns out he hasn't any gas so we've had to dig that out too, just as well we had some in the garage. Jeez, I'm shattered, just as well it isn't me going.

I left him and DH today to sort everything out while I was at work, I picked up DS2 from school to save him going out for him, got home, took DS1 to the optician and went to buy the bits that he needed that hadn't turned up from Amazon, got home at half 5, oven on, no dinner on :(....and virtually feck all organised! Gahhhhhhh!

Groovee · 03/06/2016 07:51

Originally Dd was interested in doing an HNC in drama as part of a uni/school thing but she changed her mind but the deputy head has missed that she applied to biology at the school next door and drama in the biology column. But the school next door aren't running it and he made her take higher dance as the rest of the column was design and manufacturing, accounts, PE and something else which she had no interest in. Now it's resulted in her having nothing in that column.

But her head of house picked up the fact that she hasn't taken a choice. Bit annoyed that the DH made her take a higher that doesn't count towards uni and has failed to record it!

Original poster

weegiemum · 03/06/2016 08:45

D&M went well yesterday, she left early as she was finished in 45 mins! We had a lovely lunch out and shopping trip. Today she's off to the cinema with The Boyfriend - and I have to get my head down into my masters research project!! (Its been languishing during the exams).

Higher start on Monday - dd1 is taking English, Ghaidlig, History, Art and crashing Graphics. She's really looking forward to it, actually.

Roll on 9th August! Dd has already planned her celebratory breakfast menu!

OP posts:

OneMagnumisneverenough · 03/06/2016 18:33

Well the plump female has sang and it's all over for 2016 until results day.

Well done everybody and hope everyone gets what they wish for come the 9th. :)

Highers start on Monday here too. Maths, Physics, Engineering, Computing and hopefully a crash Graph Comm. That's if he makes it home from DofE on Sunday...

OneMagnumisneverenough · 03/06/2016 18:35

If th e9th is a celebration in our house it will be a toss up who gets to choose the menu as it's DS2s birthday as well as results day for DS1. It'll have to depend on which one I love the most! :o

Larkie40 · 08/06/2016 16:30

Glad the exams are over, now the waiting for results and the battle over options begins.
Dd wants to do higher physics, music and art but can't because the three subjects are only available in two columns, school think she should just defer one to 6th year and crash higher chemistry.....
They don't seem to be budging, wondering if anyone has any thoughts, I think she should be able to study what she is good at and what they have previously encouraged her to do !

WankersHacksandThieves · 08/06/2016 16:38

It's a tough one Larkie as I presume it's because of timetable issues rather than anything else. DSs go to quite a small school so it does limit combinations but he has managed to get what he wanted (based on what they offer - not all subjects are available full stop) and started classes this week. They may be happy to allow her to do those but there is simply not a class and a teacher available at the time she wants to do them.

Is it possible for her to do any of them at another local school or at college? Could she do Art in one of the Nat 5 timetabled classes and do a lot of self study for the higher bits?

Groovee · 08/06/2016 16:40

We've had a timetable clash too and the deputy head has been useless! We cannot start to sort it out until Friday as she's on a school trip!

Lidlfix · 08/06/2016 17:45

My science colleagues don't recommend crashing in S5 as the courses are sequential learning based. Total nightmare to try to have even a bi-level Nat 5 /Higher course (some subjects dovetail nicely) is nigh on impossible. They only recommend crashing in S6 if success at Higher, in 2 other sciences, already proven.

Larkie40 · 08/06/2016 18:09

Have a meeting on Friday to discuss!
The idea of doing the art in a Nat 5 timetabled class seems a reasonable suggestion. I'm not keen on the crashing higher chemistry at all
The art doesn't have huge number of taught classes it's mostly practical so it seems as if it should be a fairly flexible subject

WankersHacksandThieves · 08/06/2016 18:17

Here's the curriculum for Higher Art

www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/47892.html

It might be worth a read through before the meeting. It's best to go with some options and suggestions and see if they can make it work within any understandable constraints. You'd think that they would do whatever they can to support but at the same time they can't magic up an extra teacher out of thin air.

Larkie40 · 08/06/2016 19:36

I'd just like to be reassured that they have thought through all options before accepting their decision.
Can only try 😄

WankersHacksandThieves · 08/06/2016 19:47

Absolutely! You need to try to do what's best for your child.

unlucky83 · 08/06/2016 20:30

DD has started her new timetable this week - and is miserable.
None of her friends are in the same classes (even ones doing the same subjects) and she is in classes with children that used to bully her -she is actually stuck sitting next to one of the worst ones.
I've told her to hang on as it might all change after summer...but I might have a discreet word with her guidance teacher...
(I am still trying to persuade her to go to college instead - this might be an incentive)
I was going to anyway as the fact that she has ADHD was overlooked due to guidance teacher changes and then long term sick leave at the beginning of last year.
But apparently one of her (new) teachers today was giving them a pep talk about how it was all serious study this year. There should no class disruption as most of the troublemakers had left - like the children with ADHD -which she thought were just naughty children with no boundaries . I feel like complaining - or at least mentioning it to someone - but then maybe it will be enough that she will be embarrassed when she finds out she has a child with ADHD in her class - who is mainly quiet in class - just day dreams, is disorganised etc but has never been disruptive...
DD1 seems ok about it -told me quite dispassionately -but I'll ask her more about it and see if she did find it upsetting and if she wants me to tell anyone.

WankersHacksandThieves · 08/06/2016 20:52

That's such a shame unlucky It's Magnum here btw.

I think you are right in that there may be a lot of movement after the holidays however, I think you need to get in and let them know about the bullying girls before then so they can take that into account when they restructure the class so that it just looks like things have changed due to that rather than because you've complained in case that causes DD any problems

As for the ADHD comment - that's shocking but I agree you need to discuss that with DD before you decide what to do.

What would be her options if she went for college? Could she still get a place for after the summer? What's the chances of these girls being in college too?

unlucky83 · 08/06/2016 22:44

Hi Magnum
No idea what she would do at college - I'll have to get her to look in more detail. And after talking to a friend I was dithering more - a bit worried about the practicalities and whether it would be a good idea.
We are semi rural and she has a choice of two colleges she could go to - both over 10 miles away. One there is a bus every hour in the 'rush hour' (every 2 hrs or less the rest of the time ) then a 10 min or so walk - but in quite a nice smallish place - we looked at courses there and she wasn't interested.
The other is much larger, much more choice and would be two buses away.
Also it is in a large town with some pretty 'tough' areas...there is a chance at college she might meet some 'bad' influences. And she can be quite easily influenced - or rather impulsive (just glad her friends at the moment are really nice sensible types who look out for her). And she is young - will only just be 15 and a half next Aug. And both she would have to go on her own - she doesn't know anyone else going.
I probably wouldn't be able to give her a lift to college - even part way - cos I still have to get my youngest to primary...

I thought one of the ex bullies was leaving but she is still there (she is old enough to leave) -I thought if they were they wouldn't be in school now? So don't think they are going to college? Even if they did - the bigger one at least she would be unlucky to see them - unless they were on the same course...
I will have a word with guidance - just suss out whether I should mention the teachers comment or not - I asked DD and she said but the teacher is nice ...then she didn't really say anything so I am guessing she doesn't want me to say anything but I'll let her think about it a bit more.
And I thought the toddler stage was tough!!!!