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.

The 'getting better results' thing has to be judged very carefully though, doesn't it? (Obviously I don't know your area or schools mmzz)
Some school 6th forms, reading on here, have very high entry requirements, plus of course last year's scandal of some schools not letting kids progress to second year if they weren't expecting at least Bs.
The Hants colleges tend to just say 5 A*-C (old money), plus some subject specific requirements, plus at most 3Ds to progress to the next year.

adrinkofwater googled Hampshire schools with 6th forms & I stand corrected, but if you're where I think you are that would be heck of a trek to Symonds. I think we'll be looking at £1200 train fare or around £600 for the bus which take 1h 45m each way compared to 25 minutes on the train.

Juggling a lot of people commute both ways. I used to & it's quite relaxing to spend 25 minutes bobbing about on the Jet. You can get the Yarmouth to Lymington ferry, hop on the connecting train (there is a platform at the terminal) and be at Brock 20 minutes later. The 6th form is a 5 minute walk. Alternatively, you can easily go from Cowes to Southampton, then onto Eastleigh, Winchester or Brock. DH is currently on the boat tonight coming home, but they've virtually ground to a halt and the fire alarms are going off intermittently. Someone must have burnt some toast!

@sandybayley
DS2 is booked to attend a Physics summer school with Debate Chamber. He isn't doing it until August so I can't give feedback yet. He can get there on public transport, so that helps.

Stick You know there is something called something like 'academic season tickets' which are slightly better value than usual rail tickets? Your college should have info.

Our preferred warehouse of choice had 680 As last year from 5367 entries, with 64% getting grades A to B and 99% grades A* to E. Not bad for somewhere just requiring 5 GCSEs! Around 50 a year go onto Oxbridge. I think our back up also has excellent results. I think DD is fed up with being with people she has known since infant school and is looking forward to broadening her horizons, which ever warehouse she attends!

@Nettleskeins
Thank you for the info about DS1's firm choice. At the open day they implied they would drop a grade for him, although obviously he doesn't have that in writing.

I think the £1200 is the academic version unfortunately.

@TheThirdOfHerName - DS1 will do the Physics one in July so I can report back to you. He can also get their on public transport and is very confident being out and about in London. One of the benefits of growing up here, at the same age I thought London was really quite scary!

@EllenJanethickerknickers
I do think A-levels were the right choice because of the subjects offered, but the linear assessment is hard on him. He has had long-term health issues (both physical and mental) since Y9; he dropped down to 8 GCSE subjects but couldn't do fewer than 3 A-levels and his grades have suffered due to workload and health balance.

@sandybayley
I look forward to hearing about it. DS2 is booked in for Physics 1, starting 16 August.
His main question is where should he go to eat his lunch!

@TheThirdOfHerName I'm sure DS1 can recommend mend something. He is a boy who needs to eat to think

It's really interesting how very different the sixth form arrangements are in different areas. And yet I've never heard of people making strategic house moves into areas with their preferred type of system, in the way that they do for primary school or even secondary entry.

DD1 would absolutely hate a sixth form with 100's of students per year and is very pleased that she can stay at her school where the staff already know her and she doesn't have the upheaval of changing. So I'm relieved that she has that option. But it's more by accident than design and it never even occured to me to look at sixth form arrangements when we were at the stage of choosing a school.

After all that, I've just realised that tomorrow's paper isn't actually that important for DS1's future. It's a resit of an AS paper he did last summer (his only non-linear course).

The AS had two papers. He got an A in one and an E in the other (yes, same subject) giving him a C overall. Because that course is still modular, he can keep the A grade and retake the other paper this year with the A2 papers.

So he has nothing to lose and has a chance to gain some marks.

mmzz perhaps they want to get away from the helicopter maths teacher & his compulsory revision sessions!

Stickerrocks that I could understand! Also, I discovered today that the current school insists on students attending religious stuff throughout the sixth form which is hardly an attraction for many teenagers.
I just checked the results and they are vastly different though. Even the local sixth form college that they probably have to pass to catch the train gets better results. One of the mums told me though that the facilities at the sixth form place are really new and look good, so maybe that's why?

That's not a comment on all large sixth forms btw, just that particular sixth form.

Slowly catching up with the thread and hope poor Pup is feeling much better soon.
All our local schools have sixth forms. DS would be fairly happy to stay at his current school but the option blocks are a bit weird. Another school in the neighbouring borough has a very large sixth form where he could do his first choices. It also has better extracurricular music and crucially does not insist on a suit and tie in sixth form!

stick yes a long treck from us to PS. A few years ago basically everyone from DD's school went to Brock. Then for a couple of years about 1/3 hopped over into Dorset for a school 6th form. The year above DD PS started to be popular from her school. Her year and year below (she is year 13) about 1/2 went to PS and it was talked about as the place to go if you care about education. There were just 5 from her secondary who went to the other school with a 6th form. I have heard that this year most are going to Brock. It's amazing how what is popular from 1 place changes from year to year.

DS is at a state grammar in Bournemouth, so will probably stay for 6th form. He is off on a bike ride after studying crime and punishment!

Third that's a nice gentle start for you both. Hope you and DS are feeling a bit better about tomorrow.

I found an old newspaper article about GCSEs when I was googling for something else this morning. It was from 2013 and it was quite interesting because it was talking about the proposed changes that have now come into force and our DC are doing the first exams.

Everything the article described which makes the exams more challenging has come true (eg linear, no retakes), but the one thing that was supposed to balance it all has been dropped: the maximum number any child does was supposed to be 8, except in exceptional circumstances. The idea was it would leave time for having a work-life balance.

mmzz our school always took the exams as linear, so all my DC (who took GCSEs in 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2014) took them as linear with no retakes and they each took eleven or twelve, and all in the same year, as did all their peers. Not all schools opted for modular or for splitting subjects over different years. Perhaps that's why I don't see the changes as seismic. The content is tougher but that's the only change at our school, which wasn't alone in its approach. Doing only eight would be incredibly limiting educationally unless schools provided non examined subjects alongside examined subjects in the way some independents do - but I don't think that's the way things would go.

TBF, my DS3 is only taking 10, the norm at his school is 9 while 4 years ago my DS1 took 13.

DD is only doing ten and has always maintained a very good work-life balance which is why I think she is calm. That balance is about approach rather than number - work expands to fill the time available etc etc. Ten really isn't a lot and has the advantage of not being too narrow too early.

Ellen as I say, my DC have taken either eleven (three DC) or twelve (four DC) all as linear and it was manageable, even without modules. The less able are not well catered for at the moment but reasonably able DC should be fine.

The less able are not well catered for at the moment

This is my big fear for DD2, currently y8. I am struggling to think of 4 option subjects she will have a hope of passing. I would rather she picked 3 and spent time saved on core subjects, but I don't think it will be permitted.