Parents of Year 11s - the end has been and gone

[BitOutOfPractice]

The thread that got us all through the exams is now full so here's a new one to get us through the nervous wait for results

Well done to all our brave Y11s and wish every last one of them all the best

Link to the last thread

DD can't wait to get away from her school and spread her wings.

The bit she's now most nervous about is getting the bus as she's never caught a bus by herself before. I'm a bit ashamed of that tbh. She uses the trains and walks but never caught a bus alone!

She's also going to another induction next week (her fall-back school) which is also two days

BOOP - that is good news that she had such a great experience at the induction. :)

Yay BOOP

Reporting back that dd had a good time at her prom and really enjoyed herself both at the prom and the post-prom sleepover at a friend's house. They slept in a large tent in their back garden.
Sixth form taster days done and she definitely still prefers the sixth form college. They have set some homework tasks to be done over the Summer!
Yes please to a Year 12 thread but if possible would rather we all stay together than have a separate thread for A level and BTEC. In theory dd could end up doing a mixture of both.

I'm glad to hear that it all went well BitOutOfPractice. I also have a bubbling inductee. I was worried that it wouldn't live up to his expectations but it was "even better than good". People were sat chatting on the bus (smaller bus and no shrieking Y7s), he's enjoyed his lessons, there was no queue in the cafeteria, the food was good and again, it was quiet enough to be able to talk. He negotiated the scrum for the bus home and he's keen to go back tomorrow.

I knew that there were four going from his school but he saw five more people he knew during the day. The next thing we need to look at is the journey planner app for when he misses the bus. The college is on the main road out of town and there are many buses that come this way, some of them take the scenic route though.

DS1 was happy with the taster seminars he attended for the three subjects he has applied to do. Apparently Biology was 'lit' (I think that's good).

Those planning to continue with Maths have been given a fair amount of bridging work to do over the summer holidays in preparation for a readiness-for-Maths-AS test in the first week back.

DS1's logic is that he shouldn't look at any of this until after 25th August, as the effort would be wasted if he hasn't achieved the required A grade in his Maths GCSE.

I disagree.

I can only assume that the drop in stress levels have caused the 2 migraines this week 😞
Still it was only induction lessons he missed, it could have been worse and happened during the exams.

Second - that would be ds's thought too 😃

DD's prom tonight. Though I say so myself she looked fabulous. In fact, I seem to have had something in my eye when she came down the stairs

Did she have makeup done BOOP? Or do it herself?
Sadly I won't be there to see DD go to prom as she's going before I get in from work

Oh no Fantasy - no way you can get away?

She had her hair and make up done yes. She looked so elegant.

No it just so happens to be our leavers on the same day and our year11's have there's on school site so I'm needed.
DD is doing her own hair and makeup but her makeup skills if i do say so myself are very very clever it's amazing what she can paint on her lids the power of YouTube that's all that plays on our tv at the minute

DS had his prom last night and looked very handsome (even if I am a little biased!). He got in from the after party at 1:15 this morning so I doubt I'll see him for a while!

The last couple of weeks have been filled with lots of catching up on sleep, watching football and annoying the dog. He's now started to recover and is waiting to find out about a job he applied for and has sixth form induction on Wednesday.

I'd definitely be keen on a combined A Level/BTEC thread as DS will hopefully doing both (history and comms&culture a level and BTeC drama).

My DD went off this morning to her induction for 6th form. I felt proud of her but a bit sad as she is growing up so fast. She wore a skirt and blouse from Jack Wills as she wanted to look smart. Don't know how long that will last!

DD really enjoyed her college induction day today
She was struggling to make a decision which subjects to take and today helped her make up her mind. Just hope she gets the results she needs

Am please to hear that others are up for a joint thread. We should also include IB so shanghai stays with us too!
dd still not fully decided on subject choices but guess will have to wait for results now.
A friend who lives down the road did her make-up (will need to buy her a thank you gift). The only aspect of the prom she wasn't keen on was the food so she was pleased that I insisted on some food before she went. she couldn't have lasted all night on a slice of quiche!
Hope remaining proms and induction days go well and help them decide what to study (and where).
Am looking forward to a revision free weekend.

yes - combined further thread is a super idea :)

DD managed to power through the 2nd induction day despite getting in at 3:45am from her after prom party

Combined thread seems to be the way to go, then. DS2 has had a visit to college to meet the learning support staff, (including an autism coordinator) the software teacher and the TA who does most of the computing support. So far so good. DS was particularly uncommunicative and kept hiding behind me, but hopefully he'll be better when I'm not there.

We had a day at West Mid Safari Park today as it was DS3's birthday and a convenient inset day but DS2 hasn't been getting dressed most days so far.

Glad we're all staying together. It's been lovely having you guys to get me through this year.

I'm happy for a general post-GCSE thread, especially as we don't yet know if DS1 will be doing A-levels or Level 3 CACHE diploma.

Oh a continuation thread would be lovely as we enter these new chapters

Can I just check everyone's understanding of changes to A levels and AS levels? For most A levels now, you an still do an AS level at the end of Year 12, but it won't count towards the final A level grade. Some subjects won't be affected by this change yet. Only students who are predicted to get As and A*s at GCSE will do 4 A levels, and most students will do 3. Is that right and are there any other changes I haven't mentioned? Many thanks!

Not all institutions will be entering for AS levels in reformed subjects, the AS doesn't count towards the final A level (as you said) and the final A level can be taken without taking the AS. Where DS is going the only people taking 4 (irrespective of their GCSE grades) will be those doing further maths, prospective vets and medics and anyone else who is planning on a degree that has very competitive entry.

It is going to vary by establishment - 3/4/5?, A/S or not, start 4 and drop to 3 - we visited four places and had the prospectus for another and they all had slightly different approaches.

No AS where we are (aside from those like Maths that are not yet decoupled), and 3 subjects as standard for the majority of students.

Well done to all the DCs for getting through the last couple of months. DS2 had two days of sixth form induction this week, really enjoyed it and has a reasonable chunk of work to do over the summer for each subject. The step up from GCSE to A level is I think starting to dawn on him.

DD will do 4 or 5, depending on whether she does Further Maths. Her school is still doing AS, but Maths still counts anyway. Eng Lit has argued the case for no AS successfully though.