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.

Ahhh I'd love my DS to make friends with some of yours! But at the moment he really doesn't see close friends as important. He has a biggish group of close acquaintances, some of whose he's known since Reception, but they don't hang out either online or in RL. He's very very comfortable in his skin and in his own company, which I do think is a useful skill to have, but I'd love him to spend a bit more time with there of his age just so he is not quite so 2D He does rather exist in his own echo chamber, I try to have debates with him but obvs I'm far too old to have any real opinions that matter in today's world!

Not interested in girls (or boys! But knows all the theory about dating, sex and biology) or alcohol or gaming/sci-fi/GoT/comics/anime/music or any of the stuff 'normal' kids like. He likes reading about world economics, US politics, bitcoin, and watching box sets (Friends, Suits, Brooklyn 99) and YouTube talks about all of the above. Can we set up a Tindr for our kids??!

I had also noticed the large proportion of SEN DC and the fact that many of them could be described as geeks

At DDs school it's kind of cool to be a geek though
They all watch Star Trek (including the really old William Shatner ones where they all seem to love Mr Spok), Sherlock Homes (incl black & white Basil Rathbone ones), watch Anime, read Marvel and DC comics and watch the films, and listen to 80s music (aaarggghhh)

They make Physics jokes (!) and the majority (unsurprisingly) don't have boyfriends. Spending time on makeup, hairstyles and clothes is positively frowned on.

.....it's kind of an anti fashion thing but 'the gang' is about 30% of the year and really inclusive.

They do have a fair number of 'parties' which seem dull by comparison to my youth

Many of your DC would 100% fit in and be welcomed with open arms. So there are lots of geek girls in my area that would be perfect for many of your geek boys

for sost today, and anyone else under particular strain. How is DH today Alexander?

DD not a party animal, but saying that she has just persuaded me to say yes to her attending her first proper party on Monday when she has dance exam the following afternoon. Have agreed to pick her up at 11, and said she is not to drink at all...she has the odd fruit cider or weak Pimms with us, but I don't want her drinking the night before an exam. I can't quite decide whether we have made the right call or not, it is so difficult when most of her friends have finished. She went out yesterday afternoon for icecream, and evening for birthday cake and dancing at a friend's house but promises to study all afternoon today and tomorrow...

That’s like Dd Terf - not interested in boys (or girls) & finds the thought of a romantic or sexual relationship very distasteful (it’s quite common for aspie girls apparently).

He’s feeling fine but tired thank you Panda.

DS has finished now and it was prom night last night. They all looked so smart and grown up in their togs!

Popped round to a friend's for drinks and photos beforehand, and then afterwards they had a party to go to too.
Think they all had a great evening even though DS had a bit too much to drink - I think something fruity with vodka was the problem 😏

Wish I'd got more photos of them, especially he and his girlfriend as they did both look lovely. But hoping some will emerge soon, possibly online.
I am definitely promised at least one!

Yes - DS could definitely be described as a geek and sounds similar -not heavily into parties, has just a few friends and is happiest watching Marvel universe films, Lord of the Rings, Star Wars and boxed sets (Friends, Parks and Rec etc).
Has yet to really find his 'tribe' at school. Sadly I think he is targeting the wrong crowd as he hangs out on the periphery of the 'sporty/gym' crowd, but it's not really him. I'm hoping next year he will throw himself more into the Drama department (which is more his thing...)

I had a sudden awful realisation last night that if DS2 ends up NOT staying at this current school then MY life is going to change a lot too as quite a bit of my social life revolves around the school! DS1 will have left to go to uni, and he was always very musical, so we were always at concerts and events chatting to other parents and friends. I also help out with a few PTA things at the school occasionally and sing in their community choir for parents and staff.
If DS2 leaves to go to Sixth Form college instead then the door will suddenly shut on that whole social side of my life - eek!

Cblue - yes, what's with the physics joke thing!? I picked up DS1 (Upper Sixth) and some friends from a party, and although they had been drinking a little, the whole conversation in the car was about estimating the incline of various hills and the rate the car would pick up speed if the brakes failed . No Love Island discussion there!

@Wonderwine - there's as much chance of DD telling me she's going to the moon as telling me she's going to watch Love Island. She can only name one Kardashian (That's Kim and only because she's married to Kanye West and has a kid called North West which amuses her). I know more current pop music than she does (or should I say, she admits to).

Weirdly she's quite popular ( voted class captain, house prefect etc) - it seems that the geeks rule at her school.....being normal/a conventional teenager is "Sooooooo boring and sooooooo dumb" or so I am told!

She does occasionally drink but her preference are champagne (too expensive), baileys (too rich for more than a couple) and lager (to much liquid) so I am yet to see her drunk....it would be very funny though (bad mother )

Cricket match - it would appear from the score at lunch that the opposition partied a little harder than our boys last night!

DD actually socialising today by being Dungeon Master with her D&D group in the kitchen (2 girls, 3 boys today).

She said yesterday that one of the stressful things about school was when she was really enthusiastic about a topic and she could see people getting irritated and/or sniggering.

She says she knows her ADHD makes her loud and intense (it does) but she loves education but hated school.

Of course she tells me once she’s left school. A levels feel different I know.

This makes sense of her worrying there won’t be many geeky kids on her college course.

BTEC course

Dd knows about Love Island because one of them is a West End performer who is being sued by the producer of Dreamgirls for walking out of the show, breaking her contract, with 24 hours notice to join Love Island.

For those of you without older DC I will tell you that 6th form is where they really grow up and change and become young ladies and gentlemen. It's part of the reason I don't think they should be at school for 6th for but at a 6th form college. 6th form seems to be absent of all the petty squabble stuff and they have to take much more responsibility for themselves. I see it as a half-way house preparing them for Uni or the big wide world but boy do they change and mature.

Oh and this time next year you'll be looking around universities if your DC is interested.

I offered to buy DS2 a couple of books that I could give him after his last exam, in recognition of the effort he has put in over the past year. He has chosen two hardback D&D tomes, costing over £30 each.

DS2 didn't find his people (D&D, gaming, computer nerds) until the end of Y9, but once he did find them they have been good friends ever since. Most of them will be going to the same sixth form.

for *Sost and sending some positive vibes. There are load of us out here on the survivors side.

All this talk of DC out celebrating and drinking makes me realise what a young 15 year old DD is. Never had a boyfriend, never had alcohol, never been to a teenage party. All her choice completely.
Jufus, my dd is 12 weeks off being 17. That's quite a bit older than 15 yr olds, (I know, dc1 was 15 when he did all his GCSEs). She's counting down to her first driving lesson. She's just got herself 3 different jobs. they change quite a bit at this age. That said, she doesn't go to teenage parties, or drink alcohol (except a small glass of very lemonade-y Pimms if with us at a party), and would love to play with a hamster if only she had one . I think dc like ours are very, very normal. No-on in our house watches Love Island or obsesses over z-list celebrities.

My DD (nearly 16) is similar. Small
Circle of friends, finds socialising a bit of a struggle. No boyfs, rare party attender and not really drunk alcohol except on special family occasions or a taste of what I’m having.
I’m
Also hoping sixth form
Affords more social opportunities for her .
Now she’s staying put she may look at more extra curricular stuff out of school.
Anyway, she is out tonight with some girls and hopefully will have a good time!

She’s into Love Island though this year and has dragged me into watching the shite!

Is there a mumsnet education category for 6th form?

Further education

I thought further education was post-18 non-degree (eg Commercial College) Oh well, you live and learn.

Strictly speaking further education is anything between14 year and 114 years (ok, ok, I think our oldest student is in her nineties, but still...!)

No. It's anything below degree level for anyone above secondary school, so that covers all 6th forms. Don't forget most 16-19 year olds don't take A levels and in my part of the world colleges don't call themselves 6th forms in many cases.