anyone else starting to get worried?

[cricketballs]

I know that I should know better; I teach GCSEs and every year have the same discussions with students/parents that no matter results there is always a route available for the future.

But now, it is a week and 1 day away from my own DS getting his GCSE results and I am really starting to get nervous! He needs B grades in order to go to his first choice college and C grades for his 2nd choice (which neither DS nor myself were really enthusiastic about attending).

I have the old 'sweet smile' on the outside but inside I have all sorts of events going through my head! For example, what if he has failed everything and decides to not go to college at all (even though I know it wont be that bad).

Surely my working experience should prevent this but it isn't

ooh, I'm going there on Thursday Solo We really must meet up some time x

Definitely!

I'm calm too. Was definitely more nervous for DD1 and her results last week than DD2's ones on Thursday. As TSC says, there's bugger all we can do now about them! I have another 4 years in a row of one result or another after this week, so feel I ought to stay calm or it may be the death of me

you are so right,but as she is so irritable it's hard not to react!

just wanted to wish your children luck - and offer or . We're past this stage thankfully.

Well, I'm nervous too. Really tense, but have tried not to share this with ds or dd - it will be her turn one day....OTOH, in the end there is indeed nowt to be done about it.

Dont fret! Whats done is done. Mental health and happiness and attitude and moral fibre are much more important in my book. A few good 'grades' on top are a bonus. For goodness sake woman, take ya own medicine!

i am so worried - dd hasnt even mentioned results day and is going to Reading festival so wont be here when the results come out, dh is expecting A*s all round nothing else is good enough for him - i can't bear to think about it. If she doesn't get good enough results she will have to leave her school, she is convinced she is staying there but didn't seem to do a stroke of work for these exams. We have to get a letter off her to get her results so hoping we can get that tomorrow before she disappears til Sun. Anyone else worried?

Well, I am pollyglot, and erm oddly ds is also on his way to Reading, but not till Friday - can there be some connection, I wonder, between our worries and theirs? Friendly :)

dd not going to reading, tho after the results i may wish she was!!

Yes, this was close to my hazy thought, MABS - if the GCSES are good, he deserves some fun, and if they are awful it will give each of us a bit of recovery time!

Oh Polly you sound so worried, and I think we all are. I know of SO many off to Reading tomorrow as well - my DD2 isn't (she's already been to a couple of festivals this summer). Why is your DH expecting A all round? Is your DD the sort of pupil who is predicted these grades? My DD2 is predicted a mix of A and A results, and she will probably get them in MOST subjects. But she also knows that there are a couple or three that she may not however, those are in subjects that she will not be carrying on with at A Level and, frankly, I don't have a problem with that at all.

Certainly at the school my children are at, and the schools that their friends are at, so long as they get grade B or above in their chosen AS/A level subjects and a minimum C in maths and English, they ARE allowed to stay at their school. This is the same whether they are at private, grammar, state, wherever.

What will be will be, if she has done her true best, that should be good enough

I had 9 of DD2's friends over for 2 weeks earlier in the holidays and one of the girls in particular KNOWS that she has fucked them up, and she is also taking absolute responsibility for this. She did no work, and has come to the (very mature) conclusion, that if she as done as badly as she is expecting to, she will re take the whole of year 11 again. Even if it's just the essential ones (maths and English) she will re sit them again (and again) to get the required B/C grade.

There's nothing more that we can do. We've supported them, cajoled them, yelled at them and soothed them over the past few years of exams and coursework. The best we can do is see that what they get is what they get and if there is a subject or two (that MATTER) that could be bettered with a resit, help them through that. If it's (in our case) something like RE or ICT - fuck it. DD1 is not going to be a Vicar or a Techy! She wants to study Geography, History, English and Economics, so as long as she's hit the mark with those and her maths, anything else is good enough for me.

Sorry for rambling!

I'm worried for my daughter. She works like a trojan but Grade C's are above her targets (which are Ds and Es), so she can still do her best and still not make what everyone in the country sees as the minimum acceptable. I am really proud she manages to find the aspiration to work hard when faced with this almost insummountable brick wall.

She is currently in year 10 but they have put all children in for English a year early and she has done History in a year too (thats the full two years of curriculum time, just done to get it out of the way). She also has science modules.

I have just seen the grade bounderies for all of these which are higher than usual - it seems everything is set to try her!

Good luck to everyone for tomorrow,

Oh, Kez, she sounds great. Good luck to her.

Oh, Kez, she sounds great. Good luck to her. (Scowly face at my privileged ds who isn't that diligent.) I hope she gets the grades she needs.

she does sounds great Kev. Another scowly face here Sieg towards my privileged dd also. She does have to get A grade to continue to a level in her private school :( aaarrgghhh

MABS that sucks. Mine are at private school, but they're allowed a high B or an A in the subjects they wish to continue with at A Level. But, they must also get minimum of C grades in Maths and English (both) even if they're not studying them.

DD1 is NOT diligent in any way, and frankly was lucky to get the grades last year. She does have good exam technique though, according to her teachers, which I imagine helped at the final hurdle.

DD2 is naturally clever, but she also works extremely hard.

DS is not and never will be diligent in any subject other than those he likes. He is massively lazy in subjects that he feels 'pointless' - ie anything he hates.

Kez IMO if they have worked as hard as they can, and are not and never will be A grade students it's an uphill fight to get those As. One of my brothers was not a good student, he simply couldn't grasp a lot of the subjects and did not enjoy school for one minute. He is now 38, flies private planes for a living and is doing very nicely. He found his niche. His dream was to join the RAF as a child (we're Forces Brats), but he didn't make the grade. So, he did it his way. Took himself of to the States, learnt to fly and couldn't be happier. I am one of five children.

Two of us (my youngest brother and me) did do very well at school, which was surprising tbh, as we were what one might class as fuck ups! We we crap teens, did everything we shouldn't and still pulled it off with top marks. The other three were all model teens, worked their bums off, but just were not made for academic success. We range from 41 down to 29 and are all successful in our own ways. FWW it's worth, I did absolutely fuck all after school. Didn't want to be a student. Didn't want to do anything unless it suited me. I have O levels and A levels, but that's it.

mine is lazy too, it all came very easily to her for a long while and the last year has been a shock to her. That said,her disabled brother had very serious surgery and the enad of last year and was very unwell for 3 months, i have no doubt that unsettled her. Then dd got glandular fever early this year which didn't help her :( But, despite all that, she is still lazy!

I am hopeful that the school will take this in to account, am sure they will coz they have been amazingly supportive, but dd is adamant that it's an A or nothing. We will see tomorrow..

She has to get c or above in Maths and English too to get into 6th form, so if she doesn't get that I will be in despair :( She is not worried .

I would have thought that they would most certainly taken all that into account. What a rotten awful year you have had. How is your DS now? Much much better I hope.

I do think though, that the general guide is A/B in chosen subjects and C minimum in Maths and English - whether they are privately educated or not.

Well, we shall know what the score is by this time tomorrow......Even though I know that DD2 will have done fine, I am still very nervous. It's funny, last year I was not nervous at all with DD1 - we knew that she hadn't done her best, but we knew also that she had probably done enough, and that was plenty for us. Perhaps because DD2 is a high achiever, it's making me worry on her behalf. She certainly doesn't give a jot it seems!

wise words Rockstock, we will see tmro :) Yes, ds is much better thanks, but to complete my week we have a day in london seeing his surgeon and scans etc Friday. what joy??!!

Oh Lordy! What a week for you! Fingers very crossed for your day on Friday as well in that case.

Thanks Rockstock, very sweet of you

thinkin of us all x