GCSEs 2018 (18) Well that's all over, let's get the party started

[Stickerrocks]

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3341060-GCSEs-2018-17-What-will-be-in-your-coffee-cup-on-Thursday

Do all your Kids know what they want to do?

Sorry I am a bit late to this but exam season (and the associated hell) is over

I have a daughter who is clueless - and I am not much better!!

Please don't go, either of you, cblue or loose. You are both highly valued members.

These threads have always aimed for universality and I can't see that changing. They only wandered briefly into league tables because our DC are the constituent parts of those league tables this time.

Most of the talk, even now, amidst the league tables chat etc, is about "what next?" and scanning the thread, I don't see a lot of certainty. I know that I, personally, am stepping into the unknown and I'm just going to have to fumble my way along, hoping that I'll be guiding DS well.

So, please stay!

I spoke to DB on Thursday night. He asked me what A levels DS1 will do and was surprised that they are so narrow. At our school, maths and English were compulsory at this age and that meant education continued to be necessarily broad-based, with the result that there is a lot of scope to change direction easily ( which I personally did after arriving at university and I don't know what would have happened to me if that hadn't been possible).

Here, in England, the DC specialise now, and I am finding that hard to understand given that very few people have matured enough at 16 to be able to make decisions now, that their 25 / 35 / 45 year old selves will be happy with. A few are driven by a vocation (doctors, teachers etc). The rest of us just try to find something that suits who we've grown into and get on with it.

Yes am in agreement loose we must not turn this thread into a competitive one. We should carry on being supportive no matter the ability if the DC or choice of path towards a career. If we can help each other with advice and information if problems arise that's great! I'm all for that to help dgd but like loose I don't want a competitive thread. Its not what this thread was set up for.

Oddly enough Loose that was my thoughts last night - I loved those early days but the thread is too big now (although in stating this I did post about looking at the other schools results with DD's trust group but that was more of a the school that rejected DC's results were weaker than the other two schools who were inclusive).

I love the fact how well everyone has done but I also feel that in some ways this may have made some posters feel that their children have done badly which they haven't this was a transition year.

Good luck everyone with the next stage.

Thanks but I must apologise for seeming to tell people what they can post about - I'm irrationally annoyed by TES and league tables so ignore me! Especially in the wee small hours!
But actually that's a great point about whether A levels mean too much specialisation too soon. The advantage is depth but it means making artificial choices when you only have 3 subjects. I don't think that reflects the range of skills dcs need these days.
I'd love to hear from people whose dcs do BTECs because that is even more specialised but I get the impression that doing the coursework and projects develops a range of skills. I'd like to hear about BTECs anyway - has anyone chosen them or mixing them with A levels?

Oneteen ah, that's what I was getting at - you put it much better than I did!

Reading with interest and catching up this morning. My problem is I can’t keep up any more - I see something I want to agree with or add to but realise there are three more pages so it would be out of date !! I must be a bit of a MN slacker.

I confess I turned off during league table discussions these last couple of days! But fear I might have missed something good buried within them. I am not in the slightest bit bothered by the tables; DS will go to the school that suits him best and he will achieve because he is him. Our group of eight close friends are going to four different SFCs between them and not one was swayed by tables - the DCs chose them based on Open Days and guidance meetings (they're not 'selective' as such)

I disagree about the specialism though - I do think the options at 16 are now so varied that students can specialise really closely if they have a firm career plan (medicine, engineering, sport, performing arts) but others go for a much broader spread of subjects which can enable them to do almost anything, especially those 'facilitating' subjects that they're always talking about. In addition, the availability of BTECs alongside A levels, plus the IB, means a much much bigger choice than I ever had. I know all schools in all counties don't offer what we're lucky enough to have in Cambridgeshire (in state schools) but I do think we've progressed massively.

Agree terf you need to pick carefully either based on leading to what you want to do, or on giving yourself options if your not sure - or if you really don’t know just do what you love. Really feel for those dc who don’t get good advice at school or at home or who have missed out in doing what they had planned. Feel really fortunate that ds gcse experience confirmed to him what gd enjoyed and results confirmed his choice

And I don’t know anyone in rl who has picked a school based on league tables or results

If that wa the case ds wonderful school would be empty 😂😂

I am looking forward on this thread to hearing about the learning journeys particularly of the DCs who have had health/SEN/confidence/bullying/anxiety issues and hopefully their new environments, new friends, new teachers and favoured subjects will help them blossom. My DS is already talking about looking forward to meeting new people...and he's never said that before! For him, shaking off the 'sporty cool boys' clique will be a relief, and knowing that the others in his classes are also there by choice will make him much happier!

Lol oratory that's just the thing!!! No league table (or ofsted for that matter) can encapsulate that special 'something' that makes a school brilliant despite its lack of oxbridge entrants or Y9 Nobel prize winners

I feel uneasy sometimes when I see talk of your DC enjoying or even loving subjects. DS seems to have a different scale that just doesn't go up that high! His scale ranges from "hate" to "it's ok"!

The only things he positively enjoys aren't school subjects eg football, stand up comedy, Game of Thrones, some general knowledge books etc.

The thread is fast moving now, but I bet it will have slowed to a crawl by this time next month.

Post-16 advice is shocking in so many schools! If they have a sixth form they tell you to stay and don't advise about alternatives. If they don't have a sixth form they don't care cos it's no longer their problem!

Round here, the schools tend to concentrate on only 3 post-16 places; they never tell the kids about the state school that offers IB, they rarely push BTECs and apprenticeships are mostly dismissed. So the kids have to find out themselves, and if parents not engaged then it's no wonder so many end up dropping out of courses they aren't enjoying or interested in. In an ideal world there would be money to set up post-16 advisory services in every county who would be independent of the actual schools and would have all the information about what is available and experienced staff on hand for guidance. I imagine it to be in a mobile unit/bus, visiting each secondary school a couple days at a time, perhaps in Y10, and each child having to go for a chat about their future. Records could then be made so that school staff can see what their students are hoping for and where the subject focus needs to be.

sigh pipe dreams only

You’re right whistl on both counts. Ds enjoyment of maths is a very recent thing (probably because it was dyslexia affected too) and for me that live if a subject never came. I just did what I was good at and didn’t hate

Love not live

whistl perhaps your DS just hasn't found what he's looking for you? My DS2 is similar. He tolerates school for the PE lessons and lunchtime socials on the field! He is conscientious, because he hates to fail at anything or be picked out for not having done something. But would never volunteer answers in class or ask a question!! I'm hoping he will enjoy his gcse subjects more (starts Y10 in Sept) but I suspect he'll only be really happy when he's left school and working at a job he likes and has time for footie

Loose I'm not a 'this year' GCSE person, but my DD did a BTEC after GCSEs. Lots of ups and downs. We ran 2 'BTEC support' threads which if interested you could find by searching. I would happily contribute if someone set up a thread for next academic year, as it is likely my DD2 (starting y9) will go that route too.

Main things with BTECs

• they all, I think, now have some level of exam, but much lower %
• the work counts from day 1 so you need to hit the ground running
• level 3 BTECs need literacy too, and to get the best marks you need to not only be able to list and describe, but evaluate & analyse.
• if your DC got extra time due to slow processing at GCSEs, they will probably take longer over their coursework, but have the same deadlines
• level of motivation varies between students, some will have chosen actively because they really want the course, others just because they 'have' to do something.

Personally I think that for a B/C average student (or grade 5 as now is), succeeding with A levels is a pretty tough ask. Might be better to do a BTEC well than come out with D/Es at A levels.

Terf
In our county we have a thing called Youth Connexions which gives free advice to young people about education, employment & training.
All Y11s get an interview and advice session. Because of his ASD, DS2 was eligible for several sessions.

The service users are mostly looking at vocational training and/or level 2 qualifications, but the adviser looked up some stuff about university for DS2 and helped him to break down his plan into steps.

whistl I think those of us with children who know exactly what they want are in the minority! I was like your ds, but I found my passion at Undergraduate level. School subjects can be quite narrow, particularly at GCSE.

What A levels has he chosen? Can he keep things wide to keep his options open? A neice of mine did Maths Physics, French ann Italian becuase she ahd no idea what she wanted to study. Once she had staretd A levels it all became clearer.

I think this thread will settle back down to its original supportive self very quickly once the dust has settled on results and everyone's busy getting sorted for the next stage.

As an antidote to league table talk, DD1s main preoccupation at this precise moment is the acquisition of stationery (or is it stationary ) for sixth form. No guidance whatever from school and she is getting the urge to get equipped but doesn't know what to get.

@LooseAtTheSeams - please stay! What I'm interested in is sharing the experience of parenting a DC who's moving onto the next stage. As the dust has settled I've definitely moved on from GCSEs and am thinking about what next. We all have 16 year old DC in common - some may even be coming up 17 from next week!

I'm nervous about how DS1 will cope with independent study needed for A Levels and whether he'll blossom socially over the next two years. I'm not sure he knows where he's heading next and worry that being keeping options too open he won't have the subjects he needs later on.

What I did know is that (with a bit of luck) GCSEs 2020 with DD should be a bit easier having done it once before (plus DD is a different character). I also know that with DC there is always something to worry about.

third that sounds exactly what I was thinking of! Why isn't it in all counties? Money. Aargh! Why should education be a postcode lottery?! I told DS that when he's made so much money he doesn't know what to spend it on, he should invest in education services - not for monetary profit either! He wasn't convinced