Year 12 / 6th form support thread

[minesawine]

The term is about to start and I though it would be good to have a support group to help us on our 6th form journey.

May the year be drama-free and our DC's study hard and without complaint

Piggywaspushed do you think he hasn't hit his stride yet? I got very mediocre A Levels (similar to your DS's predicted ones) but totally turned myself around for my degree (without boasting I couldn't have done better!) which I totally loved and immersed myself in.

Organisation, presentation and IT are all skills he could learn, even self teach. Does he , or might he have , any additional needs? I think you will need to take a step back for now, signpost him to resources and let him follow up or not. Are there local volunteering opportunities over the summer or casual work? Will school allow him to continue at that level, is there an FE college which offers guidance?

Any possibility of your DS going on to a further education college instead of staying at school, Piggywashpushed?

I'm very impressed that he got full marks at GCSE in his Spanish. He's clearly got aptitude but yes, clicking with the teacher is particularly important for A Levels isn't it? (Says someone put off doing A Level History because the teacher I would have had clearly disliked me).

As I said we are semi rural so there are no other providers. He started at a sixth form college in a nearby town but asked to go back to his school after a week. He doesn't have the confidence at this point in his life to change again or to take on volunteering . He has tried applying for jobs but there are very limited opportunities locally.

His school made them all sort out their own work experience and he is one of no doubt quite a few who did not sort anything out.

Lizs - he has a laptop concession for exams but no one ahs ever really shown much interest in assessing underlying need as he ahs always pretty much coped. He cannot self teach IT skills and his CATs did throw up extraordinarily low spatial awareness (below 85!) combined with very high numeracy so there are huge problems with his clashing learning abilities really.

He may come into his own at some point : but who knows when! This thread makes me realise how focused and sorted so many teens are and it's a bit depressing.

School will allow him to continue : it's just a state comp!

I will contact them again but I don't think they think I am any more than a bit of a nag...and I have so little time to sort out my own life and his too , she wails! thank God for DS2

he ahs some UCAS info day at a nearby place today so -who knows?- maybe that will wake him up..

I think boys generally mature more slowly, so it may just be that your DS needs more time to get that focus, Piggy? Maybe he will be inspired to do something a bit left-field? If he's good at languages, is he good at seeing patterns in things? GCHQ?

DS has knuckled down to working much harder in Yr 12 than he did for GCSEs (and earlier on his school career), BUT I still wouldn't say he's driven or focused (compared to many in his cohort, particularly at his school!). He's just found something that he loves and that's making study enjoyable for him (at long last).

FWIW the sibling in my family who took longest to sort themselves out, academically and career-wise, is actually doing best of all of us professionally.

Let's hope the UCAS info day is useful for your DS.

I do agree about the boy thing and he is also a July baby.. unfortunately, school years, university applications, exam timings all militate against summer boys...

Now me.. I definitely should have been a spy! (apart form my rabid socialism which may not have been considered all that helpful)

I occasionally try to steer him towards doing an obscure language. He's like that is there was no lit content and it would go with his curiosity about strange foreign dictatorships!

Essentially, he needs to care enough to want to knuckle down.

Piggy - I wonder about GCHQ too for your son. There are free residential summer courses available right now with spaces (google cyberfirst courses) which are funded by GCHQ. There is also an online programme called Cyber Discovery which he could pre-register for which begins again in September. That one is all online and he works through it at his own pace. The government are putting mega money into this with the aim of getting kids interested and then applying for apprenticeships later with them.

Hi wiifit : he hates computers, so this really is not for him. Thanks though! I think the whole 'digital natives' thing is a bit of a myth.

I'll still have a look!

Does your DS currently use a computer for typing up essays or researching homework? I don’t imagine his computer skills would need to be much beyond that at the start of a BTEC.

Also, you say in an earlier post that he doesn’t have ambition or ability, yet also say he scored very highly in MFL and Maths.

So if you’re ruling out a fresh start at the local college, then would his school allow him to resit year 12, perhaps swopping some of his choices?

would he be interested in doing MFL at university Piggy? Maybe redoing year 12 with different subjects would be a good option. Though tbh there are kids in dd's year who are getting far worse than CCD & are just carrying on to y13.

DD was feeling a lot better this morning (thank you antibiotics). Chemistry went well this morning, I hope that if she does well in the rest school will cut her a bit of slack regarding the disaster yesterday - she told be some of her answers ... I can only assume she was delirious!

On the train to Bangor now - it broke down outside Birmingham & they had to find an alternative then nearly missed their connection. She sounded pretty stressed but at least there are three of them together!

error he uses a laptop in exams because his handwriting is illegible. He would be default do nearly all homework by hand . When he types he has no skills, such as using the correct font etc!

His maths is a CATS test. In actual maths GCSE he got a grade 6. The space and shape issues hold him back. He is numerate rather than a mathematician.

The BTec issue revolves around the fact that it is taught in units and prioritises certain skills/learning styles this is the boy who cried when he was told to organise a folder and hole punched his duvet cover trying to figure out how to use one.

I think he would have done MFL if he hadn't hated A Level Spanish so much and if he could guarantee no lit or culture content!

He is back form UCAS day having done nothing other than get a sunburnt face and wander around. Not even so much as a free pen...!

Piggy - if he was mine, I think I would focus on local work experience. Nothing special, just as much as you can find in lots of different areas. A week here, a week there sort of thing. See what captures his interest. See what might be a good fit for him. Then you can look in more detail at what route he needs to go to get there. Personally, I think Uni is a huge waste of money (debt) if you really don't have any idea of what the end goal is. I know this is not everyone's view but it is mine!

The trouble is (and I know I am putting up excuses for everything) there genuinely is no local work experience. Attempts have been made and many paces do not want 16 and 17 year olds. We live in a village with no employment and no real transport. He doesn't drive and I have no flexibility in my job to drive him about during working hours. It's all a bit of a bind. But I agree he needs a job. I have tried to suggest even a golf club to him. But they aren't recruiting and don't want work experience. Sigh. Bakery owned by family of colleague is last hope for now for work!

Debt isn't a huge concern because he actually has quite a lot of money in a savings account left to him by a grandparent to use for his education.

I think maybe finish A Levels and then perhaps a job as a TA for a while might give him time to mature. but of course this is my idea not his!

Have just found some interesting apprenticeships at Santander. Have emailed him! Less grunting and wriggling involved... him not me!

Piggy sometimes some teens need more of a parental steer than others, don't they? Finger crossed.

dd's waiting for the train back from Bangor.

She liked it (helps that the weather is incredible, she should go in February ;) ) - uni buildings are pretty, accommodation is good, town is small but fine, very hilly & lots of walking (she likes city rather than campus). They have aquariums and the boat was good. The course looks good but it's a very long way from home (6+ hours on the train).

So she's found three she likes now - A*/AAA, ABB, and BBB - which seems like an okay spread. Going to see Southampton again next Saturday then just worry about getting the grades.

DS and DH did the UCL open day today. Both were a bit "meh" about it. DS really liked Imperial when he looked there. Kings is not until September. For London, I think it will be three: Imperial, Kings and Queen Mary's. We are doing York in September and he is still thinking about Cambridge. He was thinking about Warwick too but I am really thinking he will hate it. He is a London teen and used to be able to get anywhere he wants on public transport. From what I understand Warwick is really quite isolated and not actually in Warwick itself!

DS is a London teen and not even considering Warwick. But not considering any London unis either. He's been up in Newcastle today - will be very tired when they get back at midnight...Trying to get him to consider Scottish and Welsh unis too but he's not interested.

Newmodel He should look at Cardiff. It's a fabulous city.

We did Loughborough today. I liked the accommodation we saw but otherwise I wasn't very impressed.
However, DS really liked it. He's a country boy so everywhere looks huge to him.

I thought Warwick may be interesting it has a good reputation but they don't do his subject.

UEA for us next week.

Glitterbiscuits, we're off there too with DS's cousin (same age).

So far ds has only really liked one of the unis we visited (Bath). I'm hoping he likes Southampton next week. He likes the idea of a campus university but of course they are not all the same! He was pretty ambivalent about Nottingham though it may stay on the list if nowhere else appeals.

decorate DD didn’t love her subject talk but did like a totally different dept at Nottingham!😏 She took from talk that teaching was a nuisance to their research! Taster lecture felt like all about him rather than the subject. I felt that too. Not so, in the other dept talk weirdly. She preferred Loughborough. Off to York tomorrow.

eatinglesschocolate It wasn't so much the faculty/course he is ambivalent about. I think he was not overly keen on the campus. Possibly too big for his liking.

DD wanted to love it. Liked campus. Saw a lot of the accommodation. Tried to override the unease she felt after lecture. Think still on list but time will tell 😏😂