Year 11 in September 2016. Feeling nervous for DS

[minesawine]

I have been on mumsnet since DS started at a nervous wreck in Year 7, and shared many stories. He is now about to enter Year 11 and I am terrified. I am waiting on his results for early GCSE's and his Year 10 mocks, he thinks he has done OK but I think he could have studied more. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised, fingers crossed!

Now he is about to enter Year 11 and it feels really scary, lots of big decisions - focussing on his studies not girls, what A'Levels to take, what school or college for 6th form, university subjects or apprenticeship etc etc. He really needs to grow up and I need to get a grip.

Are there any other anxious, soon to be Year 11, mums and dads out there?

[carysrebeccamum]

Great ideas many thanks
Lockedoutof MN could you post a link to the clip of Dr J and Mr H if poss please ,i googled it but not sure if its the right one thank you

[WhoTheFuckIsSimon]

Dd starts year 11 in sept. She's stressed already. She puts a lot of pressure on herself.

She's better with coursework and not so good with exams due to dyslexia.

So picked art, photography and graphic design and is now going a bit crazy with course work which I did warn her about!

[minesawine]

ice queen what a lovely post. It gave me hope. If I can just get him to take his studies seriously, but also if I give him a break and stop nagging him then he has to take responsibility for his own fate. Ha ha - even as I write the words I know I wont stick to it.

[Icequeen01]

So glad it helped Minesawine. I also forgot to mention just how much 'nagging' and revision the school will do with the year 11's. It's almost like brainwashing It really does seem to get through to them in the end.

You will find that you will live up to your username, particularly during the GCSE's

Good luck!

[catslife]

Try not to be too anxious on behalf of your ds. Your role is to support and encourage him so that he stays on top of things. My dd has just finished Y11 and although parts are stressful there are also high points too and overall it wasn't as bad as it could have been. Keeping in touch with other Y11 parents on here helped too!
dds school had a parent's evening at the start of Y11 that clearly explained how parents could support their children and also there was one at the start of the revision period as well. Attending these was very useful.
They can apply for more than one sixth form and the one they go to will depend on their results or whether the sixth forms have enough students to fill the course. They provisionally choose A level subjects when they apply but most colleges are fairly flexible and a final decision can be made once they have their results. While it is sensible to consider possible uni options, Y11 is too early to choose degrees imo!
Hope that helps

[LockedOutOfMN]

carysrebeccasmum Sorry for the delay, I've been offline for a few days. This is the Ian Rankin documentary, really interesting: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b007qyzv Hope you can find it on iPlayer or similar (or the English teacher might have a copy already?)

[carysrebeccamum]

Thank you v much LockedOutOfMN thats great

[minesawine]

Thanks Catslife. I just got a letter from the school saying there is a meeting on the first day back. I am going to calm down and see what they say about the support given to the kids and parents. It will be fine.....If only he will read his Macbeth book

[LIZS]

Us too. Dd has a history practice ca due by next Friday and English essay due beginning of term. Awaiting Maths iGCSE result due 25th but we'll be away and no arrangements in place to collect by email yet!

[errorofjudgement]

LockedoutofMN - massive thank you , this thread had dropped off my list & I've just come back to it now. DD has read Dr J & Mr H by the pool on our holiday this week. It's helped that our friends have read the book, and I read it too so we've had some boozy chats about the story over the last couple of evenings, and will check out the Ian Rankin piece.

Icequeen01 - good to hear that your DS got his act together. DDs school, a comprehensive, also keep a very close watch on how well students are doing compared to their MTG and work hard to encourage and motivate every student. I think it's s common feature of all good schools.

[errorofjudgement]

Minesawine - Macbeth is on at The Globe in London at the moment. Might that be an option? DD got taken to a performance in some caves in Bristol by the school- apparently it was brilliant

[minesawine]

Just looked at the Globe website and it looks great but all the weekend dates are full. I wonder if it is too soon to sneak him out of school for the day to go and watch it (only joking!)

[LIZS]

You can queue for groundling tickets on the day.