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

I can categorically confirm that I am not a Cheryl. Baker or otherwise.

Aw, disappointed!

I didn't ask her for her autograph either!

We've had an email from College 2 confirming that DD has withdrawn her application. It feels as though 10 September is a long way away, but 18 days will fly by.

Dgd now researching unis and is looking at bristol as she could do geography route or neuroscience. We tried yesterday to change psychology to chemistry but its impossible to fit in to option blocks unless she gives up geography and no way will she do that but bristol will take her providing she has biology, maths and psychology whereas others insist on chemistry as well as biology and maths.
She was asked yesterday what unis she is thinking of. She said doesn't everybody want to go to Oxbridge? But then said Russell group is more realistic. So I feel she should aim for Cambridge at least but there you go.

5th September start date for dgd..

My advice when you have a younger sibling with low self confidence:

Always reward and praise effort not results (and encourage family members to do the same)

Encourage choosing different subjects where possible so less chance of direct comparison.

Help them decide a goal/future plan so they have their own target, that's nothing to do with their sibling.

For DD2 this was the most powerful - she found a subject that fascinates her and has plotted out her education and career path around it - so her goals have become about her own future and not matching or beating her sister.

DD1 got 11 A* s 2 years ago. DD2 had suffered a lot of anxiety about living up to her but eventually realised it doesn't matter and she was genuinely over the moon with her results, as are we.

(I think for us, the change from letter to number grades was actually helpful as it means direct comparisons are less likely
)

It's hard praising effort, though, where that's the main problem. DS1 put in lots of effort. DS3 much less so!

sticker glad it's not just mine who is looking at his mate's results and wishing he had worked harder! Hard hard lesson to learn, but vital, and he has renewed enthusiasm for sixth form and determination to do better.

I realise also that he has got pretty similar results to my Olevels and that is probably making him feel a bit shit - he has always fancied himself smarter than his old mum and can't comprehend that once upon a time I also cruised O levels with no work but I was clever enough to get away with it. He thinks I'm a bit dim now I suspect Of course DH got straight As but he did the second ever year of GCSEs, with dodgy exam board in Suffolk, mostly coursework, so relatively easy compared with today's (his gcse physics practical was wiring a plug). DS naturally wants to be "as clever as daddy" 🙄

sticker glad it's not just mine who is looking at his mate's results and wishing he had worked harder! Hard hard lesson to learn, but vital, and he has renewed enthusiasm for sixth form and determination to do better.

I realise also that he has got pretty similar results to my Olevels and that is probably making him feel a bit shit - he has always fancied himself smarter than his old mum and can't comprehend that once upon a time I also cruised O levels with no work but I was clever enough to get away with it. He thinks I'm a bit dim now I suspect Of course DH got straight As but he did the second ever year of GCSEs, with dodgy exam board in Suffolk, mostly coursework, so relatively easy compared with today's (his gcse physics practical was wiring a plug). DS naturally wants to be "as clever as daddy" 🙄

@Sostenueto - I am trying to sort the same thing out. DD changed her options but they don't fit in the blocks now. I have just written a begging email to the school- they need to move one subject to block D or E and it all works marvellously. There's only DD and her friend doing the subject that needs to be moved so I am hoping that they might be able to do something (the other DCs A Levels would still fit too).

Meanwhile she has the right hump but I think it's just the emotional trauma of the exam season finally being over 😢

Food for thought from the wonderful Glosswitch...about girls v boys results
www.independent.co.uk/author/glosswitch

Food for thought from the wonderful Glosswitch...about girls v boys results
www.independent.co.uk/author/glosswitch

Stressy tears from DD today as she has decided she really doesn't want to do A-level English and has spent the morning looking at the syllabus for everything else under the sun and deeming it all 'really depressing'.

She has gone off to register for 6th form without having decided on a replacement. Hope they can help.

(No, she hasn't a clue what she'd like to do in later life.)

Dd has gone off to London today for a day of dance workshops. Got the 7.15am train.

We went to visit a potential host family yesterday. They only have a tiny box room left but she seemed fine with that and more importantly we all seemed to gel.

My baby is leaving home!

We have had confirmation of DS3's place at his new sixth form. I emailed to let his old school know he wouldn't be taking up his place there. There wasn't any system in place to let them know, which seemed a bit strange. Otherwise they wouldn't have known until he didn't turn up in September. Which considering he was one of 3 opting for FM might have been a bit of a shock.

Anyway, the head of sixth form there replied with a good luck and if he changes his mind the door is always open for him, which I thought was nice.

DS3 went off with his gang of five 10 pin bowling this afternoon. They have loosely arranged to meet up in October half term. 3 are staying at the school with one going to college and DS3 moving schools. Sad to break up the group but DS3 is happy to move on to hopefully more sociable and local friends.

The new sixth form is much closer to where we live but has a tiny catchment for Y7 admissions. Hopefully that will make meeting up after school a bit easier.

EllenJanesthickerknickers , re your DS3, Chinese not French GCSE hardly seems like a lazy kid's option - I'm saying this as the daughter of two academics in Chinese Studies who has never learned any herself - I did do lots of language exams but not with great grades - A at O'level French but it was my weakest A level (C) and I only got Cs for German and Latin too. Issues of both lack of application and not great teaching, especially in Latin. But in Chinese DS3 must have to do some work just to learn the sounds and the writing system, as they are just so different!

EllenJane when DS2 collected his results the school had a registration desk so those wanting to stay could confirm their place and their subject choices. Even so, I'm sure they get students turning up on the first day that they weren't expecting (and some not turning up that they were expecting).

For the two places DS2 turned down, I made sure he emailed them before going off to celebrate with his friends. That way they could offer the places to other people.

Kitties that's what the enrolment staff are there for. They are able to discuss all the options & sensible combinations with her. Has she come home yet? Which English was she considering doing? DD is going to take language, which didn't even exist when I took my O levels, but looks like an interesting course. I couldn't imagine DD wading through Chaucer to take Lit.

I officially own a sixth-former! He's been to enrol today, confirmed his courses, been photo'd and got an ID pass and lanyard. There's over 1000 students in Y12 but he said he felt very comfortable and at home already and really looking forward to meeting new people. Several good friends going to same college but no one else on his courses, except maths (but there will be about 50 maths classes!)
Feeling so positive today compared with yesterday's anticlimax 👍

No registration desk this year. Members of the sixth form team were available if you'd had a disaster with grades but not for registering. Odd. I emailed them out of courtesy once his other place was confirmed.

Re Chinese, elkie DS3 is great at maths and has a really good visual memory. Great at puzzles and the like. In Y8 he excelled at Chinese when compared to others. (It wasn't like that in French. He was pretty average.) But not down to being good at languages, per se. So he chose Chinese because he thought he was good at it. In his exam, old style so each paper's marks and grades detailed, he got maximum UMS for reading and writing, his strengths, A*. But for listening he got a U! And a B for speaking. Averaged at a B.

He is a lazy oik, but very quirky and a lovely boy really. Reminds me of me!

Had to laugh email to students inc DS has gone out from school today copied to parents.

It is about the procedure for L6 (Yr12) Induction Day and for the Maths and FM students - homework!! To be completed and an online test to be taken by the Monday before they return! DS is at Reading so I suspect won't have access to his email. That will be a nice surprise for his return!

Thanks so much to everyone who has offered their thoughts and experience on sibling rivalry. So many wise words and food for thought and I guess we have three years to really work on getting DD2 find her own path and stop defining herself with reference to her sister. As someone said, rewarding effort is problematic because the honest truth is that she doesn't like to work hard! But maybe we can turn the feeling she's having now into a bit of determination to work on that.

Interesting that someone mentioned Chinese. She's been dabbling in Mandarin on Duolingo, which is definitely something that's not within DD1'S skill set! I now have a cunning plan to make sure she gets the chance to show her grandparents what she's learned when we see them this weekend!

Alexander good to hear that you have a potential host family. It must feel pretty daunting, though. They are growing up so fast.

reservoir I'd be interested to hear how hard their maths test is! DS got emailed a maths paper to do before term starts; I did it on the train to our holiday, it took me a good hour but really wasn't that hard (I did do A level maths 30+ yrs ago). Surprised me that they're presumably not expecting the standard to be that high coming out of GCSEs? or maybe I am smarter than a 16 yr old

Checking in late.

Despite having the conversation on our way to pick up the results "It won't matter if you fail Spanish, as long as you get a grade 7 for Maths so you can do Maths A level" she was still a bit apprehensive going into school (I was banned from coming in and had to stand outside....in the rain)

So imagine our shock when she came out with an 8 for Spanish (predicted a 5)
A 9 for maths and another 9 for Chemistry. The rest were 8s and 7s. All in all, not bad for a kid from a bog standard innner city state secondary school.

She's happily off to a specialist STEM 6th form to do maths, physics and (in a change from her original intention to do computer science) Chemistry. The head of the 6th form is also the Chemistry teacher. He took one look at her results, practically salivated and begged her to do Chemistry. We followed this up by having a nice lunch out then went to the Science Museum to look at space rockets and dream of a future career in the space industry. She's currently keen on the idea of building satellites.

Thanks, Sticker! DD is back from 6th form enrolment looking a lot happier, having been told she is a 'serious overachiever' for one of her courses. They talked it all through with her in a nice neutral fashion (though I gather the counsellor did say 'Hmm, unique...' about one of her suggested combinations). She has till Tuesday to decide, but has swapped in a different subject for English for now.

Admittedly it's one her older brother took and hated. Same staff, same school. But she's not his clone.