Gcse 2018 (10) The one with half term

[Stickerrocks]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3256691-GCSEs-2018-9-Will-we-get-to-half-term-for-never-was-a-story-of-more-woe-than-this-of-Juliet-and-who-is-Banquo

Oops. Can't remember how to link nicely, so this will have to do.

DS has 6 papers this week, mostly his weaker subjects, but is very relaxed. I'm not sure when the fear is going to hit, but my guess is it will be at about 9:10 on Tuesday when he's had a chance to look through the English language paper.

Thethird ask yourself how bad can it realistically be tomorrow? I bet if you're honest with yourself, the answer is that it won't be anything that will have a lasting impact.

(Hope that's not patronising, I'm just trying to help you rationalise your anxiety away).

Third I completely understand, I've said it many times on the yr13 thread but it seems cruel that there can be so much riding on just a few exams. So much can go wrong and there is so much to lose.
DD1's first exam is Wednesday and I can already feel the dread setting in.
Like you though, it tends to settle once the first exam is out of the way (until results day!)

DD2 has 5 this week and 5 next week and then that's it!
So 2 pretty heavy weeks (an exam every day) but as the end is nearly in sight it feels manageable I think.

Oh Kick it sounds like you're going on my dream holiday - number 1 on my bucket list!!

I'll be picking your brains when you get back. How exciting.

I'm interested to hear from those of you whose dc are moving schools or going to 6th form college - is it because their current schools don't have 6th form? Or don't offer the subject ranges? In my area, there is not a huge movement at 6th form - some move for subject choice (e.g. my ds school don't do Music A level or languages, and dc move into ds school because it is strong on Maths) but generally the majority stay where they are.

Ds quite relaxed about this week - we have re done his revision program for the next 2 weeks and it's great to see less and less on it!

It's so much easier (as a parent) when they are doing their exams at university. You have no idea how much revision they're doing and it's easy to forget when the exams are. DS1 has done 6 of his second year exams and I think 4 to go. No idea what the subjects/topics are, whether morning or afternoon. No specs to look up, no grade boundaries to be published. Bliss!

There's quite a bit of movement locally. Some schools don't have sixth forms, some sixth forms are in grammar schools and there's a FE college in town and a couple of other colleges within reach. My DS3 is hoping to move to a more local comprehensive school sixth form as it has better results/reputation in his chosen subjects. All the sixth forms are selective but schools give lower offers to internals. The FE colleges are a good fall back insurance place and students who are disappointed with their GCSEs and don't make their sixth form offers can usually find something at a college in August/Sept even if they haven't looked at them before.

lobster I'd be happy to talk about it all day long! I can't believe we'll be on the plane 4 weeks today. DD is really looking forward to it but it feels so distant at the moment with 3 weeks of exams, prom and 3 x sixth form taster days to get through before then.

cubscout DD's reason for moving isn't for academic reasons. She feels like she needs to get out of our very small, very boring and non-diverse town ("A local school for local people") and go to the nearby big city. I secretly think it's because she knows she'll never get a girlfriend unless she leaves!

I think she's doing the right thing. She's pretty much finished with her friendship group here and has had various hassles and low level bullying episodes. She really needs to find her tribe and that isn't going to happen here.

I am worried about how early she'll have to get up though

Kick - Your holiday sounds lovely ...I need to venture further a field before I get too old!

Good luck to all the DC's doing GCSE's or A level exams tomorrow..NOT sure I want to even think about A levels....hope the nerves calm down.

I think moving at 6th form can be a real opportunity for some - particularly if the school is small. KickBishop, I'm sure DD will get used to the additional travelling! We looked around other school 6th forms by ds was very happy to stay where he is but in some ways I would have liked him to broaden his horizons. He's a stubborn lad though, and there wasn't really a good reason to 'make' him move...

cubscout I think it depends on the child. I was a very young 16 (summer birthday) and really wouldn't have coped with a big city sixth form. School was the right choice for me. It meant I could hit the ground running with existing teachers and not have the big upheaval. I had that when I went to uni instead from a tiny village having only turned 18 a few weeks earlier.

DD is much more mature and ready for a change than I was. I think she'd go mad staying at her current school. There are only around 50 on the roll for sixth form vs over 2000 at the sixth form college.

DS has been working hard on history all week. He says it's the equivalent of 4 other GCSEs! The week kicks off with edexcel paper 1, which is crime and punishment you him. He has also done a bit of each science, but no maths or English even though they are this week too!

DD's A levels also start this week!

So looking forward to it being all over in 3 weeks!

Cubscout, I live in Norfolk where secondary schools are called high school and few high schools have own 6th form. The walking-distance 6thFC probably is main 6thFC destination for kids from at least 3 nearest high schools (usually one HS in each market town, dotted every 9 miles apart or so).

Secondary school "choice" here means "Can you afford £600 annual bus fares to go out of catchment?"

lljkk

My nephews were at school in Surrey in a town where many schools did not have 6th form. there was an absolute scramble to get into the 6th form - I remember my sil queuing from 5 in the morning to get in line to hand in an application. I feel lucky really to not have to make any terribly difficult decisions.

KickBishop wow - from 50 to 2000 is quite a leap! Sounds like she is ready though.

Our situation is fairly different. At ds’s school many leave after year 11 for the bright lights of London or because they want a more classical or contemporary based school or because they’ve decided they no longer want to perform.

Locally few schools have 6th forms. The few that do like ds’s are very small 20-50 per year) & offer very limited subjects.

Good luck to all tomorrow doing exams. Dgd starts Tuesday. She has now took pup out to get some air. Pup is not well and if no better tomorrow will take to vets. Ever known a dog turn their snout up at roast chicken, bacon and even her favourite treats? She hasn't eaten for a couple of days just a mouthful here and there. Any rate fingers crossed for all DC!

Cub Hampshire doesn't have schools with 6th forms (there are at least 4 of us here from updates this weekend). Instead there are a number of huge 6th form colleges (around 1500 to 2000 p.a.) which take students from across the whole county. You simply find the college which you think suits you and then enrol after results. The only constraint seems to be the cost of or access to transport. The colleges have such a good reputation that students commute daily from the Isle of Wight, as their education system is more...erm....challenging.

We also have very limited choice of schools in rural Hampshire (ignoring Portsmouth & Southampton) and you may or may not get a place out of catchment. DD was in a low birth year, so we got the school of our choIce, but the majority go to their catchment school, the majority of which reflect their area IYSWIM.

Sost it's obvious. Pup has decided to leap on the vegan bandwagon. Try a cauliflower steak or avocado smash and Pup's appetite will be back in no time.

Interesting to read of different systems in different counties. An added anxiety for some I imagine. Local 6th for me here are selective but all offer different pathways : so APS of 6.5 for 3 A levels but some vocational courses and BTecs for less academic dc. Most subjects require a 7 for progression to A level.

sticker we are also in Hampshire. DD's school didn't have a 6th form, but in the end she decided to go to another nearby school that does have a 6th form rather than Brock, our nearest college. Her 1st choice was PS where most of her friends went, but we couldn't afford the train fare (about £3000/year!)

Just been out for a walk with DD and the dogs for two and half hours along the beach in beautiful warm sunshine. She gave me a full oral account of medicine since 1250 (well we got home just after the Great War but she covered a lot in two and a half hours although still had a hundred years to go). Supper will be ages so it's not going to be an early night. She'll sleep better for a long walk though. Good luck to all DC as the exam engines fire up again.

A lot of movement here at sixth form too for a whole host if reasons. Also a lot of switching between private and state both ways at that stage

Good luck all for tomorrow and the rest of the week. I will be so glad to get the next two days out of the way (as will DS)

I think the Hants system is good in parts.

On the one hand every DC has to make a positive choice of where to go / what to do - no staying at current school by default. it can also act as a great stepping stone to university.

On the other hand it means no one knows both the DC and the intended course so advice is less good. And some DC just aren't ready for the 'stepping stone' level of freedom. Plus pastoral care doesn't seem as good as at schools, so for more 'vulnerable' teens this can be an issue.

Most of the secondaries around here do not have a sixth form, although DS's does. There is a medium sized sixth form in town and one of those warehouse-type sixth forms approx 15 mis away by train.
The (surprisingly, large % of) DC who are leaving DS's school, are mostly looking to go to the warehouse place. Their mums say to me that they are just "ready" for a move, similar to when they had outgrown primary school. TBH, I find it an odd decision. Why would you leave a sixth form that gets far better results, and has really good pastoral care to go a warehouse with weaker results and is a train ride away? (I just nod and smile though!)

Others go private for the excellent career advice and help with university applications.

DS is leaving (if he is leaving) because he has a place at a sixth form that will give him a highly specialised education in the area in which he excels and no regular sixth form could do that.

Wow, catching the ferry daily from Isle of Wight to Hampshire, that's quite something!