GCSEs 2018 (15) The Reckoning

[mmzz]

thread 14
The next step of the all new GCSE journey.

Just caught up!

Have German friends staying this week, they are easy houseguests in that they don't need to be waited on, and they do the washing up and tidying! But they eat so much!!! Been through about 5 loaves of bread, several lbs of salad stuff and a kg of cheese and a lot of booze but that's normal for me Their DS is a bit younger than DS2 but they share a love of Fortnite, Fifa and sport so have got on brilliantly. His English is really confident and charming and improved no end. Their DD is 14 and moody and solitary so we left her to her audiobooks and occasional appearances for food We took them into Cambridge yesterday - you would have thought by the whining from the three of them that we had made them have an extra physics lesson

My DS1 is in Spain on an immersion language week for Spanish teens (they speak only English for a week and it's free for native English speakers!) it's this https://www.diverbo.com/english/english-for-teens/teens/ if you fancy it for your teen next year. I'm hoping it will improve DS's self-confidence and maybe make some new friends. Have had only one (positive) email from him so I assume he's having fun! Four weeks til results....

Taking Germans to London today where they're staying on their own for 10 days because we are off to the Isle of Man on Monday. The weather there is rubbish but I'm looking forward to being cold again

Shocked by some of the NCS tales. Good for your DC for sticking with it and getting positive stuff from it. They will look back and laugh one day or discuss it during therapy...

you would have thought by the whining from the three of them that we had made them have an extra physics lesson

^^good description! This is what DH and I get from our two each and every time we try to have a family day out. They especially dislike anything that involves the words, "walk", "National Trust", "gardens" and "Old Town".

Mine are exactly the same! They’re usually ok after they’ve left the house (not always) but I think they actually shudder when they get invited to go for a nice walk!!

LOL at mmzz 'fatal' words! Although we did go to a NT property on Tuesday just for a walk up the hill to the amazing folly which the kids absolutely loved. icecreams definitely not used as bribery we did feel we'd ticked all the boxes - exercise, nature, culture, fresh air - so the harm of subsequent 7 hours of screens was cancelled out

Rather glad we didn't try NCS! It wouldn't have suited DS3 at all.

We had a lovely time in Amsterdam and the Dutch Center Parcs. Only real problem were the mosquitoes who feasted on me first night at CP. I squished 6 of them but got bitten 17 times. None of the boys did. Grrr!

4 loads of washing done but not a lot else.

Windows open or closed? I can't decide whether they make it hotter or cooler. The curtains are closed. Someone said open them downstairs on the hotter side of the house and upstairs on the cooler side to get a through draft, but that just seems to let hot air in.

Thinking of your DH, Alexander and of you, Sost.

Not thinking about GCSE results day too much. DS2 got his BTEC results in the post while we were away. Totally as expected. He passed all 9 of his modules this year, with no merits or distinctions. Last year he had 3 distinctions, 3 merits and 3 passes. In total that meant MMP overall for the 2 years, worth 80 UCAS points. (The same as CDD at A level.) Plenty enough for his HNC but much less than he's capable of, if he'd have worked a bit harder. Oh well. Onwards and upwards.

Did you go to Wimpole @terfterf ? I have not been for ages...used to take DD to all the lambing days..We are off into Cambridge for a meal tonight ...Its a Mystery dine so even nicer when you are not having to pay for the food and drink.

Just picked DD up from her DF's and was informed I am looking after the Hedgehog whilst they are away and that there is no choice because no one else could look after her ...just as well I am not going away too!

teenmum yes Wimpole. We used to take DC when they were little every Wednesday with a group of friends. It's a very nostalgic place for me Memories of pushchairs, trikes, first bikes, wellies, puddles, porta-potties, drink-and-snack-at-the-end-of-the-drive, and tantrums from tired legs

Ellen I know someone that got those grades at A level they went on to do a foundation year in computing at Uni and have now successfully finished their first year, they are loving it and doing really well. I'm sure your DS will also I think the main thing is doing something you enjoy everything else then seems to fall into place, we can't all be high flyers

I'm not really complaining, BlueBelle. It's great that he's got any sort of qualifications when his ASD affects him so badly. It's just a bit sad in comparison with his brothers who are both high achievers; what might have been, I guess. He's quite happy at the moment, though. I've always tried to only look ahead a few months or a year or so at most, to the next battle or milestone but with it getting close to the end of education for him, I do worry about what he'll do next. Will he ever work etc.

I used to live in a hot country (its where I learned to call 30C+ "bad weather"!)
The advice that every local gave me was to open all the windows and internal doors early morning and let the heat escape, then close them all from 10-4 (with shutters closed too, or curtains if no shutters) and then open again in the evening and try to create a through draft.
The other advice was whatever you do, don't have big windows because a bright, sunny room is not a good thing!

I'm not sure if its what you want to hear, EllenJanethickerknickers but those results sound ok to me. They get him safely onto the next stage and that's the first priority.
FWIW I don't think there is that high a correlation between academic achievement and career success, definitely very little between academic achievement and future happiness, because so many other factors come into play.

Take Ggirl27's DS. I can fully see why the manager gave him a job. Well-mannered, willing to muck in, common sense and eager to work are extremely appealing characteristics in a team member or employee. They are quite rare too.

Certainly rare in this house! Unfortunately DS2 doesn't really do interacting very well!

mmzz I would certainly agree with you there regarding academic and career success. I know someone who is exceptionally bright but doesn't work they gave up a very well paid job in the city as they couldn't handle the stress and hours that were demanded of them, sometimes being very bright can send you into careers that just aren't suited to your personality but due to your intellect you may of been encouraged to pursue!

DS sitting in a curtained room doing some History pre-reading.
Every few minutes the fan (on full) lightly lifts up a sheet of info on Pitt the Younger, wafts it gently around the room and carefully re-files it with the papers about Vietnam...

Cricket match this evening when (I hope) it will be a tadge cooler.

I am impressed at your ds doing some History reading Kingscote my ds is glued to his phone doing not very much today.

Third I am very close to the South coast and I hope you have the slight breeze which is making being outside a little more bearable. I can't seem to motivate myself at all today.

terf I like the sound of your ds's week and thanks for the link. You never know ds may be persuaded to do something like that....

Survived the county show. It was very hot. Took plenty of water and also brought thermoses of iced water to leave in the car for after we came out.

I always have good intentions like that Third then forget to do it.

Just checking in and breaking my self imposed 2 week ban whilst on holiday because I'm missing you all!
Good to hear of the positive NCS experiences, shocked to hear of the bad ones - I shared the view it would be all "naice" middle class types.
Well done to those who have stuck it out despite being difficult.
Brilliant news about the jobs, work experience etc.
Our dcs have all changed so much this past year.

My DD1 is currently holding an Oxford offer (fingers crossed for 16th!) from a pretty average comp - 3 to Oxbridge in her year which is a record I think.
They were very supportive, but not enormously helpful if that makes sense - the most useful resource for us was MN, especially amazing, knowledgeable types like goodbyestranger (DH and I didn't go to uni, don't know anybody who had ever been through the Oxbridge process)

Oo, exciting! Good luck for the 16th, Lobster! I'm quite glad not to have DS2 waiting for A level results this year. At least his HNC is already confirmed. DS1 has already got his 2nd year uni results, just DS3's GCSEs to go...

GettinTrimmer He’s only doing the list of reading marked ‘Mandatory’, not the (much longer) list marked ‘Optional’. Although he has watched a few of the films marked ‘Interesting, but potentially misleading in their inaccuracy’.

Somewhat to my surprise, DD1 is managing some A level preparation. She has been asked to keep a holiday diary in German. We are currently in a holiday cottage which is a converted barn and yesterday a bat got inside and flew in circles round her bedroom. I'm curious to see whether her German teacher will believe her or assume she got the vocabulary wrong!

DD has driven a power boat apparently & now feels the need for speed. Shall I remind her about readi g lists when I collect her tomorrow?

Lobster fingers crossed for the 16th! I don't imagine it can be at all easy waiting for A level and gcse results!
Ellen well done to your DS and good luck for the next stage of his journey.
Stickerrocks power boat sounds impressive!
DS1 has spent the day on the computer, DS2 is hiding in his room. It's too hot to do much. I have resolved to get out of the house tomorrow...

Some kids got sent home from NCS in our area for taking ketamine on the residential.

Well done to your dd Chicken unusual vocab will be needed!

Larlar awful to hear that....they will have to search them. I read up about Ketamine as a child at my ds's school had a fatal accident after taking ecstacy ketamine & alcohol.