Year 12 preparing for AS levels

[HSMMaCM]

Here we are everyone.

teta Really feel for your dd. Hope it turns out better than she thinks at the moment.

My dd said the same as Littlehum's. C2 was easier than C1. One tricky question. Her exam board is Edexcel.

She came home happy.

Must be a day for it - DS went off on his bike only to knock on the door 2 secs later to say he had forgotten his pencil case. For his Physics GCSE exam. He checked his stuff, no sign then rang DD to check she hadn't taken his. Found DD's old one and a calculator from upstairs and went off cool as a cucumber, saying he might have left it in his locker when he went to play a footy match!

I am not too worried - the school are great and pass round whatever the students need before the exam

Oh teta, so sorry for your DD
I had this a lot last year with DD. When the results came out, she hadn't done as badly as she thought - really hope it's the same for your DD.

My DS's college is clear that they only have X number of spare calculators and there are Y number of students, Y being a greater number; and Z is the number of students who forget to bring a calculator in, or whose calculator malfunctions; then Z - X = lots of crying.

teta hopefully she's thinking about the one difficult question, not the whole paper. Poor thing. It's a cruel system.

It is good that they put it in the form of a maths equation Liney.

I asked if dd3 had taken spare batteries for her calculator after the exam and she pointed out it was also solar powered (hadn't I noticed?) and that to change the batteries she would need a screwdriver too.

adds screwdriver to shopping list

adds small portable sun to shopping list

So the shopping list for school essentials:

• screwdriver
• human skull
• portable sun

Anything else that the average school parent wouldn't think of?

Forgot to add previously that the drama teacher has sent the students off to steal borrow props from around the school - bowls from food tech, mop from the cleaner, etc etc. She said everyone is fed up with drama asking to borrow stuff, so it's better if they don't know .

Yes, it was Edexcel.For some reason I keep.on wanting to say Abrsm : But thats music exams ( my 52year old brain cannot cope with this).
I've e-mailed the Maths teacher and asked her if she can reassure dd1.I don't know what's happened but I know she is a real perfectionist.I f all else fails she can repeat the module and defer Vet applications to the following year.
The main problem is with the requirement for vet. School being A/A* there is very little leeway to make mistakes.So I think she's putting too much pressure on herself.But thank you all for being so kind .

I understand, teta. DS needs AAA for e.g. Durham and has already cancelled going to its open day in July. He's asked me to help look for other options. It's heartbreaking for me as his mum to see this brilliant kid struggling with this exam system.

But I know he'll find a great course at a really good university.

Dds maths tutor said that they will come out focusing on the last question, so if it was hard, they will worry about the whole paper. Dd said c2 wasn't bad, except for the last question! She's now fretting that if she doesn't get 90% on each paper, thats an A* out of the window for A2. The pressure they put themselves under.

Liney ,if your DS is brilliant his brilliance will eventually find ways of circumnavigating the exam stress.
What does he want to do and what other options does he have other than Durham?

Dingit - DS said the same thing. His teacher predicted him 100% on C2 but DS said the last question was a killer. He's hoping to have picked up a few marks for it but that's all. His friends all thought the same.

He's got a hankering for Biomedical Sciences, teta, and he's looking at Manchester, Cardiff, Exeter and Warwick at the moment. I just hope the admissions tutors are aware of the 'transitional period' being a bit of a nightmare for the students.

HSM loving the shopping list!

I'm trying to hold on to those thoughts too Liney - that there are a great many different courses and universities which will be able to offer them a great context for experiences and learning for their first three years of independent living, coming up all too quickly.
I think both mindfulness and gratitude are helpful things - ideas to help keep everything in some kind of perspective?
But my DD also did well in her GCSE's and is finding these AS's at least somewhat more challenging. I guess exactly how much so we won't find out til results day. But I'm trying to keep an open mind and help her to do so on which Uni's to apply for. I hope we'll be looking at and applying for those offering a range of offers from something like Sheffield (asking for AAB/ABB for her course) to South Wales and Salford (with a typical offer of BCC) Possibly Lincoln in the middle with likely offer of BBB. Of course she may have a completely different set of places in mind!
But for example we visited Salford last summer and I could imagine her having an amazing time there. As long as she does well enough to go somewhere I think it's going to be great! Really liked the department and campus and several of the lecturers we met there were very encouraging.
What is your DS hoping to do Liney? Glad today was good

Juggling, that's a great idea to look at Salford. They do Biomedical Science with work placement.

Cool - I'm sure they could both have a great three or four years in Manchester together!

Daughter found OCR Maths C2 hard and worried that she hasn't made up marks lost in C1 debacle. Bracing myself for therapy and counseling duties tonight... She is down because she had done so well in Mocks and various tests, but there are always resist next year, if she goes on to A2, I suppose.

Doesn't seem to have been like C1, though. Thank God.

I am impressed and that you/your DC are so knowledgeable about possible courses/entry requirements - DD hasn't got a clue what she wants to do. Her only criteria currently is a city with a good social life

I know someone who got mostly A* at GCSE who hasn't decided what he wants to do at Uni yet - is thinking about maybe a gap year?
So I think there's a lot of variety on how much idea they have about what's next at this stage?
Your DD has some adventurous plans I think BTM?

DD was talking about a gap year before GCSES, but not heard anything about it lately. I suspect she may be hoping to go to uni with a friend. So not particularly adventurous

I'm sure it will all change!

What does your DD want to do, Tilly? Is she keen on open days or does she prefer doing the 'virtual' tours?

X post with you Tilly