GCSEs 2018 (14): the aftermath

[mmzz]

Following on from www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3275972-GCSEs-2018-13-Untwisting-our-knickers-lucky-for-some

I think the last half hour might be on his own in the big exam hall - don't think anyone else in FM gets extra time. I did say to him don't be tempted to leave just because your the last one there - make the invigilators earn their money !

that's fantastic - lovely to hear all these positive news snippets

Oratory yes! I'm an invigilator and I need the money!!! Loving Calzones cake and banner.
It's a bit quiet here, picking DD up from friends later. I'm back to School From Hell invigilating DT tomorrow...two and a half hour exam...urgh!

Alexander well done to dd! lovely news.
DS did an hour's music lesson and band practice yesterday. Today he is rotting his brain on the computer!

DS1 has cleared out all his A-level notes. While DS2 is in his last exam, I've swapped over DS1 & DS2's desks (so DS2 can have the larger desk for A-levels). It will be interesting to see how long it takes for DS2 to notice...

Loving the cake. Congratulations kittie. Well done to all those finishing today. We did It!!!!

DD & I have bickered non stop as everything has been wrong. Compliments have been taken the wrong way, practice prom hair was done at the wrong time & I wasn't allowed to see it, no attempt has been made to do anything constructive.. can I get back to being my usual, unsupportive self now, after months of bei g patients, and start squealing like a deranged middle-aged mum again please?!

Thank you all! (DD did react with 'Oh god, if he's through, does that mean we've got another year of DS degree stress to look forward to?', but given how understanding she's been so far, I think a bit of cattiness is overdue.)

Well done Alexander's DD!

Congratulations Kittie's DS and Alexander's DD. Great achievements.

I am also now wishing I had baked a very artistic cake. But I do have a card for DD containing a message to say how proud I am of the way she has risen to the challenge, plus £20 in hard cash so she can go to the bookshop tomorrow and buy some of the novels I didn't let her buy when she was revising. She intends to most of the summer reading stuff that has nothing to do with school work and it sounds fab.

At the moment, I have no idea where she is, but I assume it's a sunny place with all the friends who also finished today.

aaah... it's so lovely when you see them all relaxed after exams Makes you realise quite how much stress they had under wraps.

I've just been out with DS2 to get a tie for his prom as he says the 'lads' are mostly wearing suits rather than DJs.
Now we're back and DS1 (doing A levels) is back home after spending the day at school (sixth form centre) revising and he's happy as he said he got 100 UMS on the two practice papers he did for his C4 maths exam he has tomorrow.

Now they're both messing about in the kitchen - raiding the fridge and freezer, and DS2 is making banana milkshakes for them both.
Love seeing them like this

Is there anyone left with exams? Hopefully all done for everyone now.

DS3 took himself off to the barbers today. Decent haircut, too, all ready for tomorrow's prom.

All - I really really need some advice!! I know this exactly the right thread but I don't want a private schools are awful session

Here's my problem. DD in the same all girls selective Inde since age 4. She's done really well and has an offer to stay at 6th form (probably only about 35 of them). But in one class she will be the only DC. To get to it she has to be taken and then picked up by her grandparents because there's no direct transport route which is a bit limiting. All her friends live about 30 mins even further. But this year she got the 6th form academic scholarship
We have a 6th form college 10 mins walk away. It has great facilities, classes of about 10 students but about 1500 students in total- it's rather like a university. It failed its Osted in 2012 but it has new management (in fact a new building too!) and is now rated as good. It's hoping for an outstanding at the next one. The kids I see leaving at 4 are complete unruly nightmares, but only a small proportion do A Levels (the grade and pass rates are pretty good)
DD likes the school but I am worried that she could be overwhelmed especially since she will be going from a girls school to a mixed school and from a tiny school to a massive one - not to mention that she has a really plummy accent!!

All thoughts welcome (other than the ranty private schools should be banned ones).
You lot are a supportive bunch and have given great advice throughout GCSE season!!!

I should have also mentioned that she is torn as well and I don't know how to advise her.

How do the college's A level results compare with other schools? My DS2 goes to a local college that has a sixth form as well as vocational courses and while it suits those DC who might not have enjoyed school, in that they're treated more like students than pupils, their achievement is lower than mist local sixth forms. That said, I haven't checked their progress figures and the fact that there are lots of school sixth forms locally means that they have perhaps a lower achieving cohort. Your local college may be the best option around for state school pupils.

I wouldn't like the idea of a class with only 1 student. What subject is it? If it's one that would benefit from throwing ideas around like philosophy and ethics etc, then I'd say it's a definite 'no.' We have chosen a different sixth form for my DS3 partly based on the low numbers taking FM, 3 in current Y12, as that seemed too small to make for an adequate experience.

I know nothing about private schools, personally, but my good friend's DS left one in Y11 down in Cornwall to go to Truro college which is huge and loved it. He did well and is now at uni. He didn't seem to get any stick for being an ex private schoolboy.

What's your DD like, shy or extrovert?

They accept DC with grade 5 in A Level subjects and must have at least 5 GCSES at grade 4 and above whereas DDs school only accepts grade 7 for a levels and wants 8 to be at 6 and above. So comparing A Level grades between the two schools is a bit like comparing apples and oranges because they can start from a different academic level.
The history teacher said that 60% achieved a grade B - A* and that everyone got a minimum of a grade D
Pretty much everyone gets a B and above at her school (I think there was one C last year)
The subject she would be on her lonesome for would be computer science and she likes the teacher (which is why they are going to run it just for her)

She's friendly and outgoing but rather like many other DC on here she's very geeky.... but given that she will be doing maths, further maths, computer science and history (or English) I am pretty sure she would be in classes with similarly geeky people

She'd get on with my DS3, who's chosen maths, FM, computer science and chemistry!

I know you'd be comparing apples and oranges but how about their progress figures? So do students make the expected progress? That's a more comparable figure.

Good question- I will see if I can find out

-0.15 below average in 2016-2017. But they are def expecting good results for 2018

Is that a long way below average?

And after gov.uk it's actually the best in the borough???
I live in a London borough that has some lovely areas but lots of terrible areas- hence the private school

Congrats kittie and alexander DC.

Week one nearly over. I have a rest Saturday and Sunday hooray!

Cblue I've read your 5pm post but not the subsequent ones so apologies if the conversation has moved on, or this has already been said. My instinct would be that the culture shock would be too great for both of you.
What jumps out is that very few do A levels.
Also think about what Ofsted are looking for. It's not delivering a great education on an absolute level is doing a good job with what the school has got to work with.
DS goes to an outstanding school, behaviour and teaching and everything is pursued by OFSTED. It's outstanding in every category.
However, a reasonable portion of the year 11s have decided that they don't need an education because they already make enough money selling drugs outside school. So they kick back and sometimes if pushed to work, they kick out. That's an outstanding school in a leafy, decidedly middle class town where the majority of parents are professionals.
I think your DD would find it very difficult to adjust to the state sector after so many years in a more cosseted environment.

CBlue Does the college have a taster day?

Remember that if you see going to college as a big step from her current school, how much of a bigger step will it be to go to university in 2 years time? I know she'll be 2 years older, but the step will be bigger. Whereas the step from college to university will be half the size.

Being in a class all on your own seems pretty lonely...

@mmzz - yes I think that's what I am worried about :( There's a small number doing A Levels but I think the progress measures are being dragged down. Many of the RG now have contextual offers where they drop grade requirements to reflect where you studied, socioeconomic group, I care etc. A few of them show the schools that qualify and most of the schools including the SF so offers are ABB instead of A*AA.
@TeenTimesTwo - I get your point too that Uni would be a MASSIVE shock. Even now there's only 45 in her year!

I am just so conflicted. It's all really scary.
We only looked at the SFC as a backup plan (DD can be a bit neurotic) but she really liked it but is also a bit confused/worried about it at the same time. She's going to the taster sessions in about 3 weeks time.

I am so glad that you have said the same things I am thinking- albeit both sides of the argument.

A noteworthy point was that there is no (and I mean no!!) graffiti anywhere- and we even tried 2 Loos....and there was no fresh paint smell either

As a comparison, the school my DS is leaving has A level progress score of -0.02, the local college +0.04 and the school he hopes to move to is +0.2 and the local super selective grammar which gets stellar results, but from a very bright cohort is +0.05, so I'd say that wasn't a very good score for that year. In the bottom 30% of schools for this measure. -0.02 was average as was +0.05, 0.2 was above average.

My local college with it's fairly low achieving students does well to get a positive progress score. i.e., they do slightly better than expected, but in your college they do somewhat worse than expected.

Sost have a restful weekend.

Cblue I think I’d be most worried about the requirement for A Level being a 5, particularly in maths (presumably it’s higher in FM?). That will make for very mixed ability classes and the pace may be slower than is appropriate for your DD.

A class of 1 isn’t ideal obviously, but of all the subjects it had to happen in, I would have thought CS would be the one where it would have the least impact. As far as I know, it’s not a discursive subject (am prepared to be corrected on that!).

The lack of public transport and distance from friends isn’t ideal either. When is your DD 17? Could she learn to drive fairly soon so that she could get herself to school and to visit friends?

On balance I think I’d go with staying at school. It would mean that university would be a big change, but it is anyway and she’ll be a couple of years older at least by then.