GCSE Results thread and starting 6th form

[WitchofScots]

Follow on thread from the GCSE exams and proms thread. For hand holding and recommendations of wine/chocolate/biscuits to get through the post results stuff.

Ha BTM you hAve to remember or maybe learn. I'm 5 ft 11 and have heels on in any pics so he never looks much bigger than me. He's got a new gf he met in Japan !! She's v v nice

HSM that's good, ds did the same and is chuffed. He's loving his a level options at the minute.

Ah!

Well done to the A graders - DD hasn't had any essays marked yet, AFAIK!

DS and I went to a meeting about Oxbridge entry and the speaker from Cambridge said on average, Cambridge entrants have 5xA star GCSEs and Oxford 7x A star GCSEs.

Cambridge have traditionally relied more on the AS results and so are working on a new approach which will be published on their website early in the New Year.

Really interesting meeting but DS still not really giving any thought to uni ( just that he wants to go rather than getting a job!). I guess it is still early days in year 12.

Just back from a 6th form information evening. Lots of general info about timetables for doing all applications, personal statement, finance etc. Bit pissed off to discover school trying to convince kids to do DOE as a good way to put stuff on ucas form, but when I asked about scout activities was told that didn't really count!!! WTF I've looked at what they do for the various grades of doe and he has done everything to already get his siliver. So he's gone to explorers to find out what scouts have to say about how he words this.

Off topic but I am so embarrassed - I have just posted something to a former colleague's Facebook page along the lines of 'lovely to see you with your daughter X' but X is the name of the daughter who died at birth. Oh what shall I do? I am tempted to just delete my account and never darken its doors again

AuntP, I have it on very good authority that uni's are really only interested in predicted grades/results and some don't even look at the personal statements

Oh no, ono. You poor thing. Cant you just remove the post and message them to apologise?

Oh Ono, I would delete /edit the post immediately and send them a private message saying how sorry you are, they may not have seen it yet. Not everyone checks fb religiously.

Well BTM that lady from Liverpool Hope said they often go back to them when their grades aren't as good those predicted to see whether something in the statement will swing it. And I know my friend works at Liverpool Uni and spends many weekends reading them before offers and especially when going through Clearing. Its 47 lines or 600 words.

One of my friends was telling me that her DS (Y13) had been told to do a 3000 word one by his school

What why??? That's bonkers. Unless it's first draft and then the school help them whittle out the good stuff. She had a number of characters, number of lines, number of words and was adamant that was it, more concerned with loans and accommodation fees. Need to stop eating for a year or so to get some savings. He needs to get a job.

I know - we were laughing about it. What on earth could you waffle on about for 3000 words?!

I think they must mean characters not words. UCAS says between 1000-4000 characters.

DS survived DofE silver and in fact really enjoyed it. He even said he would sign up for gold - without me 'suggesting' it!

Ah, characters sounds much more realistic

Glad to hear your DS enjoyed his silver DOE

DD is off babysitting tonight with a pile of books, so she can get her homework done.

HSM my DD too has had a few babysitting jobs recently. She's building up quite a client base! She charges £5 an hour and £7.50 after midnight. They invariably arrive home at 12.15, too blotto to find change and round it up. Kerching!

What subjects is he doing Draylon? Have you got any support from school/ college? Would a change of subjects help if he is not interested?

Draylon, big sympathies I can't understand quite how to make the links work, but I seem to remember that you/he were trying to find a combination of subjects that would work for A'levels at the local sixth form college?

Nearly all the DC I know that are doing A'levels are finding the jump and work-load unbelieveably difficult - DD in particular and also with the move to a new place. I guess you have been in contact with the sixth form about what is happening at home/there? They MUST have encountered this before!

One boy has changed subjects three times my son said in one of his choices. Although it is getting a bit late to do that now.

Mine have found it dead easy so far as glad to have given up subjects they didn't like and one just got 100% in one test which the teacher says he has never given before so ... they are amazed at having study periods too so with those and lunch breaks (they don't usualyl go to lunch at school) they do not bring much work home at all....sigh... hopefully how hard A levels are will hit home soon however. It is a big leap. The 100 per center can only fall.... as all his siblings are telling him. High bar.

Draylon that sounds hard. He needs to be in some form of education if he's in England (not sure about the rest of the UK). Would it be worth doing an apprenticeship for a year, or looking at other places and other courses? A bit last minute, but still possible until half term I think.

DD is over the moon as she has the part she wanted in the school play (ChaCha in Grease - lots of dancing/acting and hardly any singing).

Draylon Why not give it until Christmas to see if he gets his act together? If he isn't doing the work, presumably there will be tests between now and then which will show this up? Then you might get the college coming down like a ton of bricks too. So it won't just be you.

If he does stop college, will you need to go hardline to stop him just dossing around? So stop allowance, turn off heating, internet or whatever during the day. Ask for rent etc?

It seems he doesn't have the maturity to work on his own, which is even where doing a BTEC maybe won't help as there are a lot of regular assignments (though workload is less overall I think), though an apprenticeship could work I suppose? Does he just think 'it will all work out'?

You must be so frustrated.

He can restart next year, but whether the same college would give him a second chance for A levels is I guess unlikely.

Congrats to your DD HSM!

T&T, if Draylon's DS (or any of our DC, for that matter) stuck it till say Christmas and then dropped out, with the intention of a Fresh Start next Sep, what can they/are they allowed to do inbetween, do you (or anyone else) know?

Sorry to hear things are tough/frustrating with DS Draylon
Not knowing as much as you do about your DS and the situation I think I'd still be inclined to see how things are at Christmas, and whether they can be improved over the rest of the term? It's still quite early days as yet? Could there still be a chance he might see what a good opportunity he has in front of him with just a bit more work? If it doesn't work out there are always other options but worth a good try first? (hope that doesn't sound too annoying) Will look back through the thread and try to work out more of the background - sorry, don't have a great memory for details. Feel for you though x

Here DD had a bit of a Sunday night melt-down when she realised she should have used her w/e more productively regarding homework and especially flute practice. I think she was being a bit harsh on herself and having a rather un-necessary Sunday night panic as I felt the w/e had worked out quite nicely really. She then stayed up nearly all night doing art homework and was knackered this morning.
I hope we've done the right thing opting to start with 4 subjects. She's now (apparently) committed to doing these to AS. Then the plan is to probably drop art and keep on with biol, geog, and maths. But she could be tempted to drop maths instead and keep the art. Knowing how much time she spends on her art projects I do rather hope that maths works out - and doesn't become completely incomprehensible as she goes through the year

Draylon, sorry to hear that. Have you put other options to him? If so, how did he respond?

Are we at 1k? Did a new thread start already?