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

down to earth with a bump today.

They had a chemistry test, it was awful, one person has swapped out of chemistry (six in the group now). The two people who did double science couldn't do any of it, the rest all said it was horrendous (based on C3 but different & hard). I hope this is the swift sharp shock approach to teaching & dd hasn't done spectacularly badly in the grand scheme (she said the chem teacher was grinning when she asked them all if it was awful ! ).

Lots of people off to an Oxford open day tomorrow. I don't think dd is going to do any more before Christmas.

A bit of a wobble here from dd as she's stressing a touch about the leap from gcse to a level. She's found everything so easy til now that I've been expecting this to happen at some point.

The good news is that she's a star... literally. She's had a lovely email saying that she was to be part of the Seren (star) network, which is the Welsh government's network for 'Wales' brightest students'. It promises activities and events to help them deepen and broaden their understanding of their subject and is designed to aid them with Oxbridge applications if they want to persue them.

Dd has decided to sign up for DofE gold. I don't think she knows what she's getting herself into!

DD has been stressing all week over the step up that maths/further maths is. She is reluctant to change as she does not fancy the other subjects on offer and does not want to take another essay subject.

Anyone else finding FM stressful?

Is she doing maths, FM and one or two other subjects? If FM is her 4th, can she just drop it?

If it's her 3rd subject and she really hates the idea of anything else, I guess she'll just have to stick with it. What's the problem? Fretting about a possible step up, or is she actually finding the topics hard?

Ds's maths class is going over GCSE topics so far, and his FM class has started on complex numbers.

Her school has a policy that they must take 4 A levels in Y12. So it is her 4th and no epq.

All are finding FM hard, my DD is just moaning loader and stressing more!

Dd1's coming to the end of her first week. Bit of a bad first day when she was waiting for the sixth form on the stop and saw it turn the wrong way (according to both Stagecoach website and the sixth form website), so I had to do an emergency run to take her. Luckily for her she had a free first period, so wasn't late, but some of her friends missed half their first lesson on the first day.
It's continued taking the wrong route, which misses out a number of stops, so she's taking the standard service bus, but then she has a walk when she gets in.
And the other issue with the sixth form bus is apparently half the time it's full not long after she'd be getting on and just sailing past the stops anyway, so it may be a good thing she's not trying to get it.
For the record, Stagecoach is rubbish at either answering phones or responding to emails.

So that wasn't a brilliant start.
She's found the actual work is starting slowly. So far in maths/FM she hasn't done anything new, but as she did additional maths and not many other people have, that isn't surprising.

She admitted yesterday the longer day she's finding quite hard, it's a good 2 hours longer than her school day by the time you take travel into consideration. She's also finding having lunch at 12:15 too early-school was 1:30, but I've told her she'll get used to both.

She doesn't talk much but I think that's all that's bothering her about it. If we can sort the bus issue then I think she'll be happy there, but she always takes time to adjust.

DS is also coming to the end of the first week at his SFC. So far, so good. He seems to really like the college and his new teachers and tutor and is finally doing 3 A Level subjects that he enjoys and has a natural flair for. Even though he initially wanted to stay at his old school (but couldn't because of no MFL option) I am now relieved that he has moved on and is able to wipe the slate clean and start afresh. Things are still up in the air re various GCSE remarking, but he has moved on (both mentally and physically) and I've tried to be pretty chilled with him this week. I've asked him to draw up a study timetable (he has so many free periods) and then, finally, my helicopter parenting/interventions might stop . He's had so many upheavals over the past few years - schools, school systems (foreign to UK), plus this last year we've been faced with huge family turmoils and difficult financial times, which have been stressful for everyone, and came slap-bang in the run up to DS's exams. His old school fucked up monumentally in one of his favourite subjects, managing to lose his controlled assessments (60% of the final grade) 3 times and he had to try to make up for 50 hours of lost work in March and April. He got some sort of dispensation because it wasn't his fault, but it almost broke him. In the mean time the typed components from some of his exams have been lost by the exam board (or never made it to them in the first place). The only GCSE re-mark that we have had back so far remained the same (still 1 raw mark off the next grade ). He was pretty shattered on results day, but at least he got the grades he needed to be able to move to his first choice SFC. This has been such a huge learning curve for all of us and I'm now (in no small part due to some fabulous MNetters) so much more aware of how the UK exams system works and have a much better idea of what to look out for/expect over the next 2 years. It's all so different from my (ancient) O Level and A Level days. They say what doesn't kill you makes you stronger, but there have been times over the past few weeks when I haven't been so sure...

Only one GCSE remark back so far. No change. Still 1 raw mark off the grade above

DrMadeline - That's fantastic! Well done to your daughter.

sorry, meant to post that on the GCSE remark thread...

Wow, Cafe, that is a truly awful story - you can't believe the level of carelessness. Your poor son. Good luck to him in SFC. What MFL is he doing?

Cafeconleche - that's terrible for your DS. Unbelievable that the school could be that bad with something so important.

We are a week in and all is well so far. He seems to be enjoying it all. Managing to arrange his psychologist and acupuncture appointments in his free periods which is good. The Psychology apts will finish soon unless he needs them.

We had Geography and Physics remarked this week. Both were Ds. Geography has gone up to a C but Physics stayed the same - in fact his marks went down! Pretty happy though.

Piggywaspushed snap; I posted a week ago. So after 1 day at 6th form (TUESDAY) came home to find DS in bed, pale and miserable... saying that he thought it would work but now he knew it wouldn't... So having emailed (after the first day) 5 colleges/6th forms, the very next morning had 3 responses; full/interested/interested. One of the interested options was a private school which would be too much of a stretch financially (but useful to find out regardless). Checked with DS after day 2 (WEDNESDAY), still unhappy and made an appointment at 3rd school, went along with all documentation (THURSDAY), signed the papers there and then and he started FRIDAY! Same/similar subjects but different exam boards.
He does have to get the bus at 7.40 in the morning though .
He tells me that the students are more polite and respectful and the teaching better. I have had a call and some correspondence from his old school saying that if he changes his mind... although I think if they had rolled the red carpet out on the first day he might still be there! He is having to cope with lots of frees and he is several bus rides away from home, I've left him to it whether he waits for the direct school bus or tries to get home on his own sooner. He'll be doing the EPQ and was thinking about a 4th A level although I left him to discuss with the Admissions Officer. Now I am coping with the novelty of getting emails from another secondary school, and their funny little ways (and demands for money). I am hoping that DS heard wrong that the trip to Washington next year was £5000 - probably more like £1500 (maybe they are staying at the White House ).

Hello, just seen this thread. My DD started sixth form college last week doing RE, psychology and biology. Loving it so far. Not much communication from college though, I know they are supposed to be doing enrichment but she doesn't seem to know anything about it, I worry as she has dyspraxia and so is a bit scatty at times. She seems to have a lot of free periods - not sure how many. Not really on top of it all as just come out of hospital. It's so good to be over the whole GCSE thing and getting on with it all.

Thanks Cromwell I know - a pretty shattering experience all round. DS is doing Spanish and had his first lessons this week and is loving it. I've posted on so many Secondary Education threads over the past month and the long moan in the message above is just a snapshot of our GCSE nightmare. Don't get me started on AQA Lit and Lang - or the protocols the school followed to the absolute minimum regarding the typed component of his exams. I need to move on from it, but also need to do everything I can to check and double check he has got the results he deserved.

Madhairday, hope you are okay

There's an information evening for year 12 parents next week. I've given dd another week to try and sort out the EPQ situation (she & two other's don't seem to be in the EPQ group) but I'm expecting to have to chase down the coordinator at the info evening.

DrMadeline that's brilliant :) well done your dd!

Cafe I hope your ds has a much easier time with A levels - what a nightmare!

Another one has decided not to carry on with chemistry, down to five now & there have been a lot swapping out of philosophy & further maths. The school seem pretty amenable to changes if the timetable can accommodate it. I contacted the lovely chemistry tutor I know to see if she had any spaces (thinking ahead ) & she's taken the year of for maternity leave which is a bit panic inducing!

End of week one for my DS. Happy to say he's really enjoying sixth form college and is so much more positive about it than he was about school. He says he likes the fact he's only doing subjects he's chosen, rather than having to sit through loads of boring lessons he has no interest in. So long may this last!

Laniakea, does your dd know why so many dropping philosophy - is it that they don't find it interesting, or is it more difficult than they thought?

(It's a sort of 'mystery' subject to me - I know nothing about it! But have heard it's difficult! and different from other 'humanities' (inverted commas because I'm not sure that philosophy really is a humanity))

I think it is much more difficult & has a higher work load than some of them expected!

Ah, that makes sense Laniaka (sp, sorry) - I have heard philosophy is much more focused on logic and precision than students necessarily expect.

Though I expect it does depend to some extent on which board and syllabus they're doing. Anyway, all to the good if they find out early on that they prefer something else!

Well so far so good. Ds is enjoying his first ever experience of school. He too is finding that with maths and further maths, they are covering ground he has already done as he did the further maths GCSE. I am sure it will get harder quickly though! He enquired about the EPQ as he hadn't been told anything and they have said that it is done in year 13. I was a bit surprised about that! He has his first tests Monday in maths so will actually have to study this weekend - a new experience for him!

So happy to hear that your DS is enjoying the SFC too wiifit! Mine's just told me that he's going to the library on Sunday to finish off some homework which isn't due in for another week

My DS has told me there is lots of swapping courses and moving around going on at the moment. I think the window is about to close and panic is setting in. It is really sad that it seems to be the science courses that the kids are moving out of. He said that 5 have moved out of his psychics (including him) course into other subjects. It is really sad that expectations are not being managed and is there a lack of explaining what is involved in A Level sciences. My DS said it was not what he expected and he found it really boring, now it could just be a wrong fit for him but we need good scientists and schools should be doing everything they can to encourage students and make the course as interesting as they can. I am disappointed my DS dropped psychics for psychology, but he needs to do what makes him happy (and leaves me blame free for forcing him to stay!)

I've posted about this on another thread but, anyway, after 2 attempts AQA admitted that they never marked DS's typed component of one of his GCSE science papers (either lost it or it was never sent ). A copy was sent to them on Thursday and on Friday his Core Science went up by 2 whole grades. I am now worried that this has happened on a few of his exams, especially the ones which were half written/half typed. I had to fight tooth and nail to get his Chemistry paper looked at a second time after the initial re-mark came back unchanged and now some of his other raw scores also look really low. DS has left the school, so I'm now relying on some (fabulous) old teachers who are fighting his cause - but the deadline is this Thursday for any more remarking and the clock is ticking.