Continuing Year 13: January 2016

[Needmoresleep]

Only two more terms at school. Let's support each other support our DC in getting through to the end.

Good luck Lizs!

Our last ever parents evening next week as well. I'm not sure there will be much to say, especially as mocks are not till after half term. But it will be sad to say goodbye to teachers. Both DC have really enjoyed their time at the school, to the extent that DD does not want it to end.

Hopefully at some point she will get a University offer so will start looking forwards. At the moment the known seems safer than the unknown.

Being an independent, we get a glass of wine afterwards. Probably the last time we will see many of our fellow parents, some we have known since this whole education journey started.

Very happy daughter here - she has a recall to RADA which is hugely encouraging all round. Only 3 more auditions to go before she gets her RADA offer (we're thinking positively). Not sure my heart can take the strain!

Well done!
Exciting. I hope the next three go well.

Bucking - that's wonderful. Well done to her.

Bucking - good luck to your DD.
Needmoresleep - I knew there must be some advantage to an independent - we only get offered tea or coffee!
DD has had her mocks (although obviously not in all modules as they haven't finished them yet). They went fine. She just needs to carry on working hard now and not give up before the exams. It is going to be a long haul - I remember is too well with DD1 last year who did lose some of her momentum before the end.

There are also too many 18th parties going on and far too much fun to be had in this last year

Our parents evening is just after half term.

Last data report with mock results due any day, but DS already knows they were fine. As others are saying, its just the keeping going now!

Just popping in to say that if your DC needs to interview for their course and haven't heard yet, don't be afraid to follow up with the department! DS has only received one offer so far as all his other choices require an interview and portfolio. Three interviews are set up, but he hadn't heard from his top choice. I phoned this morning as getting there requires a flight for us so some notice would be appreciated to find that they had put him on the "wrong" list so if we hadn't chased it is highly likely we would have missed the whole thing! As it is, they have been interviewing since before Christmas (despite the acknowledgement of his application saying they would only review all applications after 15 Jan) and have only three dates left, only one of which he can make. Aargh! All's well that ends well however.

Great news Bucking!

Tea, coffee, wine at parents' evening?? We've never had any of that.

Our last one was last week. Mock results were fine except for Chem - hoing for A got C, honestly don't know what's going on there. Teachers say he needs to work harder & improve his exam technique which is true but when his other teachers say he's doing really well & when the Chem A2 results last year weren't very good it makes me wonder if there's a bit more to it. They actually gave him a certificate at the end of last term for working so hard. He can still get into uni even if he completely messes up Chem anyway (teachers don't seem to realise that). I thought they would know what his offers are & what he's aiming for but they didn't.

Just all a bit strange & would have liked last ever one to have ended on a high note & felt a bit deflated.

Ah Bethan, perhaps finally in Yr 13 we have found the solution to the solution to the state vs private question. Wine. With nibbles. I will watch how quickly people grab a glass and take it as a sign of how well teacher feedback went. Or possibly how long the queue was for some teachers. I will probably find myself wishing DD was taking minority subjects.

DD is shattered. Roll on half term.

Another shattered DD here! Our final parents' evening isn't until early March so I'm hoping that in the meantime no news is good news. Mocks not until after Easter.

DD seems to be really busy and working hard though I sense that her organisation (never a strong point) has slipped of late. It's so difficult to tell now as I'm not about to start checking her planner in Y13!

On the one hand a 3 A's offer from Oxford is a godsend. On the other I worry that she'll get complacent. Either way I'd be worrying I suppose. No change there then...

If we'd known about the wine back in year 6 maybe we'd have chosen private.

Perhaps we should have brought our own wine in, we could have set up a 'my dc's doing A2 Chemistry' support group in the corner.

Actually since the C in his mock DS is working harder - has to be good.

Tea and Coffee provided at ours. And there's always a fundraising cake stall from an extra curricular group if you need some comfort!

We get tea, coffee, sandwiches, cake and biscuits. No wine though!

Then a not-so-stealthy boast. We got tea and coffee and nice biscuits beforehand, and wine with nibbles after. The wine was of a reasonable quality.

I assume Yr 13 parents evenings are largely the same though. The need to "maintain current efforts" or "put more effort in" if the student is to achieve predicted or required grades. We more or less kept out of it and let the teachers talk to DD directly. We are lucky in that there don't seem to be major problems, though I find the idea of a long slog from now till June more than slightly dispiriting.

Parents evening in a couple of weeks.
No refreshments just elbows at dawn.
I agree NMS there can be very little to say. I've never missed a parents evening in 16 years of school age DC but was tempted to skip this one. I will go though as it is my last ever parents eve.

DS has bagged the first slot with his wonderful, enthusiastic maths teacher who always runs hours behind as she seems incapable of getting rid of parents who overstay their allotted 5 minutes .
At least they don't employ the system which some schools adopt, where a buzzer sounds and everyone moves around like a beetle drive.

we have the bell after 5 minutes thing, but that's only really an issue in the lower years when you have lots of teachers to see. for 6th form, with only 4 max teachers, it's a leisurely stroll from hall to hall rather than a mad dash as Mr B was running late, and Mrs S has squeezed double the number of appointments in, so you need to be there just as the previous person gets up. And not even any wine .

Chemistry coursework almost final draft handed in today thankfully, January was quite stressful trying to find enough lab time to do stuff with iodine and warm baths - I did head stroking and "there there" ing rather than actually listening to all the problems .

Still waiting for the final offer (or not) here - they said they weren't going to look at applications till after 15th Jan, but the website also says they may interview, so I'll get DD to ring them up next week in case she's on a wrong list too. She just wants to know one way or the other now, so that she can make a decision as to her firm and insurance. Although she has decided that if her results are good enough, she's going to consider reapplying to Cambridge for 2107 and have a gap year, so we might have all that stress for a second time. Maybe I should buy shares in a gin company

My DS has just got an offer from Durham, but it's higher than the one from Oxford! At least he can now accept and decline, which he couldn't do until all offers were in.
Good luck to anyone still waiting.

Visited Southampton on an offer holders' day. DS1 would be quite happy there, I think. He's visiting Exeter next week to make up his mind between them as his insurance. I think Exeter is a lovely city but possibly more expensive to live in than Southampton. It's a shame that needs to be a consideration but finances dictate.

DS has just made his final choices and Southampton is his firm offer with Bath as insurance. Having said that there's only one grade difference! He would be very happy with either I think.

He had four offers and we've just given up on waiting to hear from Bristol. He had an invitation to an interview there months ago, but wasn't able to go, and they said they'd get back to him with another date. Months later and he's heard nothing so he got fed up with waiting! Luckily Bristol wasn't one of his top ones anyway.

He's working incredibly hard at half term, spurred on (hopefully) by a less than impressive physics mock result which put him into a complete panic . . .

Strange that you haven't heard back from Bristol Morvah.

Bit of a panic here when DS realised he'd booked Warwick & Bristol for same day but soon sorted.

Have had 'Warwick or Imperial' dilemma going on since second visit to Imperial. Went back to Warwick yesterday, rained all day but he came out buzzing & saying he's chosen what type of accommodation he wants (thankfully not most expensive) & which optional modules he'd like to do next year. Get the feeling Warwick has won.

Now just needs to work hard & get the grades.

BethanKate Does he need STEP for Imperial as well?
It's tricky when all the offers are the same grade.
Warwick is looking like DS's favourite as well. Still waiting to hear whether there will be an offer visit day at York. Although he has an offer they are the only uni not to have made any other welcoming gestures.

That's suprising about York, they are holding their post offer open days this week. I wonder if you're invite got lost in the post/cyber space.
We went yesterday and there seemed to be all departments there. I think they are holding them today and tomorrow too, it might be worth giving them a ring and seeing if you can go tomorrow. (My DS even got a Christmas card from York!)