GCSEs 2018 (15) The Reckoning

[mmzz]

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

Has he always been thin, TheThird? Is there a suspected eating disorder, or he's just not that keen on food?
DS is thin, but he just doesn't seem to like many foods, and he stops eating the moment that he's full. He won't even take a small piece of his own birthday cake, if he isn't hungry. Is it like that, or something else?

sandy I remember DS being steamrollered by Jack Draper in an orange ball tournament at U10s!

I haven't read a single post yet, but I'm back. Norway was stunning & I found a genuine Cornish pasty shop in Bergen in case I was feeling homesick!

He has always been slightly underweight. He has grown in height this past year. He is on medication which has a side effect of suppressing his appetite. He also has some sensory issues which make it difficult for him to eat foods with certain smells / textures. We'll try the supplement shakes for a month and then reweigh him.

@KingscoteStaff - very impressed by Jack Draper. Can't believe he is the same age as our DC! Saw one of DD's friends Ball Girling on No 1 and had Pimms - lovely day.

Jinglebells were you on Britannia with me? If so, were you in D433 or D435? Wouldn't it be funny if our DD had become friends. At least you can't have been the couple who spent 2 hours last night explaing that it had been their worst holiday ever in tea At detail.

I don't think you could have been the lady who tried to climb up to the Briksdaal glacier in 3 inch heels!

Hi Stickerrocks :) Lol, yes we were on Britannia, :) We were there as a family of four. Did you enjoy the shows? I really enjoyed the week, great weather, but it passed so quickly. What trips did you do?!

I lurked inbthe Crow's Nest rather than go to any shows, as the timings always seemed wrong for us.We did the Cookery Club, the Glacier & the cable car. I wish I could attach a pic of the cloud at the top of the mountain, but it did give us a chance to use WiFi! How about you? Did you do Les Mis?

Ooh, we were in the crows nest quite a bit too, were you there last night?! Loved Adam’s requests and piano playing. My dd and I did do Les mis! Did you?! Didn’t Owain have a fab voice? First soloist!
We did boat trip and gardens, and a boat trip, waffles, and glacier. The last two ports, we did our own thing.

jufus beautiful photo!

Stickerrocks, was your dd one of the soloists in les mis?

Definitely not, but she did come & watch.

For the benefit of everyone else, yesterday approximately 60 lads & 100 lasses performed Les Mis on board P & O Britannia (3500 passengers in all). 2 of them were from this thread. I wonder what can be drawn from that.

sticker I think we can draw that Mumsnet has really truly permeated every strata of society and we are ready to take over the world! One talented DC at a time

(Also that our kids were right when they say "Muuuuuuum, it's not fair, you know EVERYONE, nothing's ever secret!)

Hi,
Vaguely on one of the many earlier threads I recall seeing somebody or various somebody's giving advice about possibly doing medicine.

DS (remember Year 10, but did two GCSEs early) has just done work experience (big architectural firm). Learnt a lot, - and I think it was a really great experience in terms of exposing him to the world of work, but it made him start to wonder about whether architecture was for him, he has been waivering for ages between architecture or medicine. My suspicion is that his strengths would be better in architecture, but I don't want him to feel that he took the wrong option because he didn't explore properly.

Can somebody remember/point me to what was said regarding doing medicine - A level choices? applications? Work experience etc?

Thanks

DD came home from Airshow yesterday keen on an doing Engineering degree! She picked up loads of literature. She isn’t doing any of the Sciences at A level though nor will she be able to as she was entered in Foundation level so able to get a high enough entry grade.

Obviously don’t know serious she is as this stage, google tells me some Unis offer Engineering with A levels in Maths and Further Maths which she is taking. Need to look at UCAS but in the meantime, any advice?

There are lots heading towards medicine in my school. A level choices must have chemistry, other subjects often biology and maths, sometimes physics, psychology. They have BMAT 'lessons' at the start of y13. Any medical wex is useful, but often need to be 17. My DC aren't medics or heading that way so hopefully others will have better info. You could start your own thread as well.

Oddsocks, you really need physics tbh. Or a Btec in engineering. But look at uni websites just in case.

There was some advice on here but lots of medicine threads on higher education which may have more detail.

For a levels yes chemistry is the key with maths and biology useful but not necessarily essential. Work experience key too though different med schools prioritise different entry requirements so need to do research as to which suits your dc strengths - does mean though that if you don’t have stellar everything you still have a chance if you pick uni s that suit your strengths (eg some look at gcse s some focus more in bmT, interview or ps)

DD just done A levels has a place for medicine - just hoping for the grades now!
You definitely need chemistry, for most places biology and generally the 3rd doesn't matter. Most places like some kind of volunteering over several months in a caring environment (eg care home) even if you can't get actually medical work experience. My DD also volunteered in a localish hospital doing patient surveys once she was 17.

A bit off topic but do all DC have their national insurance numbers? DD is 16 on 31st July and so far we have had nothing. Even her friend who is born on 25yh August has hers. Every time I call the helpline it just says they are too busy to deal with my call and I get cut off! DD wants to start applying for summer jobs but she can't without the NI number.

DS applied for his NI number yesterday as it happens. He did it via the Webchat function on the website (linked from this page www.gov.uk/government/organisations/hm-revenue-customs/contact/national-insurance-numbers)

It took about 5 mins.

First, the lady on the webchat said that he had to go to a different page and enter his passport details. DS told her that he doesn't currently have a passport (he's waiting for the first adult one and it takes six weeks). Then she suggested he use an old P60 (obviously she wasn't thinking as he'd already said that he wasn't quite 16 yet). Finally, when she understood that there is no P60 or passport, she just asked his full name, DOB and home address plus the name of someone else in the house - DS gave DH's name- and then she said she'd post it but it could take 15 working days to arrive.

HTH

Also, off topic, but if anyone is interested, DS (with my help) applied for his first adult passport using a photo taken on a mobile phone. The application has been approved so the photo must have been accepted.

It took a bit of fiddling to get the photo right. Getting a plain wall with good natural light on it and no shadow was not easy, but it was less hassle than going to one of those photo places in town. It meant DS got a nice photo too, which is handy since the driving licence etc will use it too.

Next, after the passport arrives, I'm going to order his provisional driving licence so that he's got ID that he can take out with him that is not his passport.

I'm finding it a bit weird that DS is grown up enough to have a NI number, adult passport and driving licence!

I just checked and the webchat is open now, @JufusMum