2015 Yr 12 support thread

[Needmoresleep]

Mocks this week, and the reality of AS exams in a few months is starting to hit home. I don't think it will be an easy journey, so would welcome some company.

DS2 has his mocks next week.
I think he has probably done enough preparation but I anticipate a last minute panic.
He has the advantage of having an older brother who did January modules for his AS exams. DS1 coasted through GCSEs and got good grades without too much effort. It was a shock to discover that tactic did not work for AS levels and DS2 has apparently taken that on board.

His college are doing a proper "mock results day" as well, just to try and instil a bit of genuine tension into the occasion.

DD's mocks aren't until March, which seems later than mots schools do them.

Excellent idea for a thread though, and Good Luck to all DCs doing mocks now.

Our mocks are in February. It seems a little late.

I'm glad the mocks were early, and no bad thing if they highlight problems.

The ones I am expecting are:

1. issues with a different style of exam. DD is doing sciences and she is naturally good at chemistry. She likes biology and seemingly knows her stuff but says the style of questions and what the examiner is expecting is quite different. I hope she has enough time to get to grips with this before the exams themselves. But would welcome any thoughts or tips.

1. More work is needed. She could wing GCSEs by listening in class and taking a slightly minimalistic approach to homework. She recognises that sixth form needs more and that others are working a lot harder. She could also usefully read around her subjects. Again there is still time to put her foot on the accelerator. However its for her to do this. I can only sit and watch. There are lots of things we would like to tell our 16 year olds, but at the end of the day they are 16 year olds and will make their decisions using their own perspective.

DS1s are at the end of January, in his birthday week. He seems to be focussed, (he asked we didn't book his first driving lesson until the next week so he wasn't distracted), and his report was good. I think I want proof he is heading in right direction, and actually so does he.

I thought GCSEs were bad!

I know what you mean raspberry - it's all very well being told they are on track for their predicted grades but...words are wind.

Very happy to see this thread-thanks Needmoresleep

DD's mocks are after Feb half-term although they do seem to have had a fair amount of testing as they've been going along. She's finding A Levels much more interesting than GCSEs and seems to be doing a fair amount of reading round her subjects and her grades are good so far but we shall see. I'm hoping there'll be enough time to sort out any problems that emerge from mocks before the real thing...

The trouble with mocks is getting most 16 year olds to take them seriously. In theory they should be like a full dress rehearsal but often they are shrugged off as "just mocks". DS school are apparently making an effort to make them as real as possible to the extent of suspending lessons for "study leave" .
DS has been tested and tested so far. We get regular reports and he seems to be doing okay. Part of his problem is lack of direction. DC who have a particular career or passion seem better able to focus, there is a purpose which gives them drive. DS hasn't found that yet although I am relieved that he is happy with the subjects he finally chose after months of agonising.

DD1 has been tested and tested too, but the tests seem very specific. And mainky occur in two subjects - very very little marked work that I am aware of in the other two subjects. We've had a parents' evening and one report but - I'd say the feedback is pretty limited. It's a concern, especially since DD1's focus is split between her school work and her music (she wants to do music, preferably at a conservatoire, so it's a real balancing act because if she gets in to a conservatoire, that's an EE offer - but she doesn't want two Es, she's predicted (at this point, obviously things may change after AS) A A A A but it's difficult to tell if those predictions assume uninterrupted focus. I suspect they might do. Several of her subject teachers seem to have little grasp of what her life is like and how much time she has to devote to music. Her likely UCAS choices will be AAB or higher, I guess, so she can't let the academic results slip...and she wouldn't want to anyway. It's a difficult time, although having said that she is hugely enjoying all the subjects she is studying (and fiercely resisting any suggestions from me that she should drop down to 3 subjects for A2 (it's standard to keep all 4 at her school). She has scored top marks in the class in each test for the subject she would drop which doesn't help matters I feel.

DS has done his mocks. He didn't do much revision at all, maybe three hours in total. I got sick of telling him to revise. I'm hoping the shock of the results get him moving a bit.

Two years ago when DS was in Yr 12 and thinking abotu visiting Universities someone poasted a brilliant link which in turn listed dates for different open days and links through to the Universities. As I remember some Open Days are very heavily over-subscribed (Warwick was one) amnd so you need to book early.

Anyhow, try as I might, I can't find the link/page. Does anyone else have it?

Thank goodness. Only two DC. No more GCSEs. And after this summer no more AS. I don't envy people who have over a decade of public exams.

Ds vaguely mentioned yesterday that all his friends are off on university open days etc. He said there was "some sort of meeting about it"

I have posted about this before but I really don't want ds to get swept along with things and apply just because it's the done thing. His friends are very focused and clued up; ds is the exact opposite. I don't know whether to adopt the "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em" attitude or tell him it's ok to step off the conveyor belt. He is a (typical MN) clever boy and is predicted very good grades so has academic potential... only not yet!

Don't worry, Brenda, my DS & his mates haven't even started thinking about open days yet. I did mention it since I remember my niece started going to open days in year 12. DS thought they didn't need to do that till year 13. So, he's only just started drawing up a list of potential places. They seem to be mostly in June & Sept.

...and registration hasn't even opened for them yet.

At DD's school, I think they typically go to open days when the ASs have finished. I don't know whether she is meant to be drawing up a list of potential targets though!

Oh, I missed this thread completely in January and started another y12 thread the other day! Oops, bad etiquette, sorry :)

Think the open day directory link is just www.opendays.com/

Dd2 has been churning out essays this week. She only has a week back at school, and then she's off to France for a week. A bunch of the schools round here organise an exchange, and the students spend four days in a junior school, basically TAing and doing a bit of English teaching. And then we have a week's gap and a French girl back here for a week

Anyone else got any trips coming up?

DD was away on a History trip for the first few days of half-term but has been revising for mocks since she got back. Feels like the mocks are quite late (they're spread through March) so she's pretty much revising for them and the real thing now. Am hoping she can keep the momentum up- it's only 11 weeks or so till they start. Eek!

Thanks Atia, and no breach of etiquette. I think there have been a couple of attempts to start up something relating to Yr 12, yet with no joy. Even though Yr 12 brings a whole set of new challenges. The Yr 13 one is going like a train.

My working assumption has been that once DC2 starts at University I can sign off from mother duties, though people tell me that will not be the case. Hand-holding for AS/UCAS/A2 over the next 15 months feels a bit daunting. Booking open days is just one part. Difficult for us as DD wants to study medicine and so really need to know her UKCAT score and AS results before deciding which Universities to consider. (Or indeed whether she is being a bit ambitious.) I hope it will not be too important that she has not visited somewhere before applying.

And Brenda, DS is in his first year at University. He was very clear what he wanted to do. However the reality of three years hard work (and he is working much harder than I ever did), looking for internships in the holidays, and then a lifetime of employment, is starting to hit home. His friends taking gap years seem to be enjoying themselves, and one or two have used the time to consider more carefully what couse they want to take. Life is much tougher for this generation. I think a gap year is a valuable thing to do.

Does your DS wish he had taken one, Needmoresleep?

I am glad that, so far, my DD hasn't mentioned this as a possibility, as I would prefer any gap year to be taken later. There is still time though!

When do they sit UKCAT, Need? Will she do BMAT too? It doesn't sound like for medicine there's much time to be pondering choices after results, so I guess you have to have looked into everywhere thoroughly before August.

Leeds there are quite a few clashes between open day dates, so it's definitely worth having a look at dates and thinking about them a bit earlier than the end of June, but not to worry yet!

I think things for DS have become amplified by being on a course with a high proportion of very hard working overseas students and an equally high proportion of students whose ambition appears to be becoming highly paid investment bankers. Far too much talk about internships, firsts and networking.

This is obviously coming straight after three years of GCSE/AS/A2 and for DS, 13+CE. I dont think it is his course particuarly, as a friend was expressing concern recently about her DS, at Oxford, who was finding that the workload was leaving little time for other things.

The job market, housing market and much more will be harder for our children's generation. I don't know what DS thinks, but I would love him to take some time out, hopefully doing something constructive, before launching into a career. There is so little security that resiliance and flexibility seem important life skills.

Atia, I am more than happy to have advice from someone who has been through the system, however UKCAT seems to be done at some point during the summer, and I understand this needs to be booked and she will need a couple of weeks beforehand to practice. There are then some amazing Student Room schedules which suggest which Universities are looking for what. These will be pinned to the wall so once she has the UKCAT score and AS results, we can cross the ones where she is unlikely to get a place. I dont think she will do BMAT unless her UKCAT score is awful, or unless her AS results are so good that it makes sense to apply for some of the more academic courses. (I dont know about others but the work in Yr 12 is so different it is hard to know how well she is doing.)

Then it has to be a pretty quick decision as applications need to be in in early October. The good thing about medicine, though happy to be corrected, is that the University does not matter too much. They should all take you to the same place. Perhaps the trick will be to visit some which offer different types of teaching, plus look at campus vs city.

As well as UKCAT there is work experience and reading round her subject. Poor girl will have a busy summer. A recently qualified doctor has warned her this is only the start. Medical school will be even harder. I think she do it, she is a work hard play hard sort of girl, but at this stage it looks rather daunting.

Good Luck to her, Needs. Hopefully, if she knows what she wants to do it will motivate her to work hard to achieve it. Does she have much work experience? Friends with DC applying to do medicine seem obsessed with this, so I gather it is important for aspiring medics!

Ds said today was fraught with ramped-up nagging at college. There was a talk on how they must think about future careers, and from now on it's going to be very hard work. Ds's friends were all talking about where they hope to go (and some are looking at European universities...).

Ds said he wants to stop the train and get off!

Brenda DD said similar when she came in tonight. Mocks are imminent and they had a UCAS talk today. She said it suddenly feels like all the pressure is piling on at once. I suppose they'll have to get used to it, poor things.

I'd really like her to have a gap year-I think 3 consecutive years of public exams plus university applications is tough.