GCSEs 2018 (13) Untwisting our knickers, lucky for some!

[Stickerrocks]

Thread 12 Link to the thread with our potted histories. Now the end is in sight.

Ive only dipped in and out of this thread, but it’s over whahey! Well done to all for surging the last 5 weeks and good luck to those going onto next week.
Hugs to those going through tough times.
DD our this evening - hooray! - she’s not been out for weeks. Physics - Edexcel higher triple wasn’t good but when she talked through it, it didn’t sound as bad. She needs a 6 so here’s hoping.

DD isn't a party animal & after her friendship issues a couple of months ago, I didn't want her to be left out or feel deflated which is why I booked some gigs. She is meant to be going to the beach with another group of friends on Wednesday, so let's hope the sun shines.

mmzz you'd think so, eh? Apparently art is the hardest thing to get a 9 in, says the teacher. Anyway, friend isn't even planning to do art in the future, it's just something she enjoys and de-stresses her!

I think our year 11s will be in luck, weatherwise this year. The forecast seems to be that it will be a really good summer.

Jufus your DD sounds very like mine. Also not yet 15, no boyfriends, no alcohol (by choice), goes to parties of close friends, which are mostly nice meals out. Likes to climb trees and make things. But she's growing up in her own way and I think she'll be fine.

I'm extremely glad that German was the only language on offer to their year group, for various reasons. So almost all DD's friends are also still hard at it. But they had a German lesson and an after-school revision session yesterday, so she's feeling reasonably prepared and the pressure is definitely off slightly this weekend.

Alexander I'm finding it gob-smacking that a boarding school isn't geared up to deliver results to people that aren't physically on the premises!

Sostenueto I will be sending you postive vibes throughout the day

DS finished yesterday and guess what time he got up today.............7.30 to go for a cycle ride, he never once managed that time when there was revision to be done!!

Not one of DS's friends or him did anything for their 16th together, I really don't think its unusual at all.

TerfTerfTerf You have to be in the top 4% to geta 9 in Art, but that's the same as geography, French, German, Drama, Computing and maths.

You have to be in the top 2% for Media, so that's the hardest.

Maybe the Art teacher is just feeling the pressure or trying to manage expectations?

mmzz I was wondering how long it would be before we saw that table again

Actually I think "hardest" is not really the right word. They are all much of a muchness in terms of difficulty. Its more that relatively few highly able students take Media, so the top grades are rarer.

Bluebelle

Sost

DD isn't a party animal either - but then her school year group is just 24 students in total. She has been to just one party prior to last night (with some of her school year group - and it was a low key affair), and yesterday I dropped her off at 5pm for her second ever party where there were 4 other girls from her school year and 7 boys - so more like a gathering of friends (than a drunken snogfest). The boys were camping in the garden and the girls were to sleep in one of the bedrooms in the house. There was toasting of marshmallows and modest amounts of beer available (spirits banned). All sounds quite Enid Blyton

Sost - I too can't imagine that the Art mark allocated will be anything other than a 9. Best of luck today by the way with your treatment

Well done sticker's dd on calling out the rude young man, and well done sticker on what sounds like a rather taxing driving manoeuvre

Love that table
Yes I think it is about managing expectations and also she perhaps feels somewhat adrift having taught the subject (very well) for 30 years she now can't predict what grades this years children will get. Must be very unsettling.

It was lovely to talk to her about the work though (she taught DS1 in KS3): I've known quite a few of the gcse students since pre-school days and interesting to discuss their developing personalities portrayed in their art. It's a talent I wish I had and which DS2 has but doesn't want to use

My DS3 is still only 15 and has only tried alcohol once, to my knowledge. For his mates' birthdays generally they've not had a party or one had a cinema trip followed by an all you can eat buffet, home by 9.00pm. DS3 wants to take a few friends to Thorpe Park, but as it's at the end of June many of his friends are away on 'term time' holidays.

He still seems really young for his age and he's young in the year. I'm hoping sixth form expands his social life a bit as the school is closer to home than his current one. But he'll probably fall in with the same sort of geeky, unsociable lot!

DD very smugly told me last night that her age group are assumed to all drink, but it was my age group who were fighting through the crowds with several pints each. She has the odd sip of fruit cider, but is otherwise puritanical. I did spot a few kids leaving school after exams and immediately getting out their vaping stuff.

Thinking of you Sostenueto. Hope the treatment goes well today. Look after yourself.

To give me if I'm making assumptions, but so many of our DC seem to fall into what I (lovingly) call the freaks & geeks category, because they do music, sport, dance and so on rather than just hang out in shopping centres. Perhaps we should form their own FB group and introduce them to each other, because I think they would all get on! Seriously though, it proves that there are a lot of them out there and they will find similar characters, once they are exposed to the wider population. It just takes one or two to have the confidence to strike up a conversation and, hopefully, college will provide the impetus to do so.

hmc the daft thing is that my car has park assist for getting in & out of tight spaces, but I was too scared to use it for the first time in case it didn't work and I got even more wedged. Why do parking attendants insist on packing you in with a car width between rows, so there's no space to swivel?

Stickerrocks you are so right that there are plenty of kids like ours out there. I also remember reading one of Michelle Obama's speeches about education where she used her own story to encourage the hard working, studious and less "popular" students that in the long term their time would come and it was people like them that ended up in positions like hers. I thought that was a really good message for her to try and get out there.

I loved Michelle Obama's speech about the value of education which she did in a London girl's school a few years ago. It may be the same one, but it is a recurring theme of hers. Maybe I should force DD to listen to it before she finishes writing her HG's speech for graduation on Friday!

hi all, I have only just found this thread typically as gcse's are coming to an end. I recognise a couple of you from a medic thread I'm on. I am so relieved to see not all your DC are going out partying, my DS sounds very similar to most, has a very small friendship group who never go out but play on xbox together. He hates alcohol (at the moment!) and is not interested in girls yet. Unfortunately there is a lot of kids at school who are very 'cool' and he just doesn't want to be part of that. We've had a total rollercoaster ride of exams, some good, some totally terrible and lots of meltdowns. Dreading results day.... We also have german next week and DD in full swing of A levels.

I think sticker & chicken are right.

Ds had no friends except one fellow “oddball” (others words not mine) all through primary & the first two years of secondary. He moved schools last September at the start of year 8 & I feel so lucky that 2 6th formers from his theatre group took him under their wing & now he has a small, select but genuine group of friends who hang out in the music department (& a fantastic music teacher who facilitated this)

Last week he was asked to help out at a feeder school music g & t day so I hope that come this September he will he able to return the favour.

It does seem there is a high proportion of us with children with Sen (diagnosed or not). Perhaps that is reflective of the extra support our children need.

Sorry he moved schools at the start of year 9.

Yup you re right - ds has always been seen as a bit different. One of the reasons we chose independent for secondary (and were lucky enough to be able to and have a host of good independents in the doorstep) is we felt he would be open to bullying. DD1 is similar and still doesn’t have friends but has found acceptance in groups and joins in societies etc It does get easier as they nature and also focus is different. I think boys do need something to bond around and don’t make random easy friendships as girls do. This last couple of months with more focus on the subjects they like and higher level music etc is the first time he has stated made connections at school. I really hope it continues next year