Current Year 10 2020/2021 support thread

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I can’t see a thread for upcoming new year 10s, so I thought I’d start one, as the long-running GCSE one I’ve been part of for DD has been a life-saver.

DS has opted to take history, German, drama and music, plus double science, maths, English x2, and RE.
He’s pretty bright and does well without having to break a sweat (much to my frustration!), but doesn’t really know what he wants to do in the future. He’s a music scholar at his school, so does a lot of music (DH and I are both professional musicians...or were, before Covid hit...) but loves history and English.

His school provided excellent online schooling and he was lucky to be able to go in 2 days a week for the last 3 weeks of term.

His sister has just finished year 11, so we are biting our nails, waiting for results next week. She has quite a different academic profile, having ADHD and possibly dyspraxia, and has had to work hard throughout the last few years.

I hope us parents of DCs just starting the GCSE journey can help and support each other over the next couple of years. 🙂

DD not back until Thursday. But timetable now available on class charts. She basically has all her lessons in the same building; must have been a headache sorting that out although for year 7 and 8 I think they're staying in the same room all the time except for PE and computing. Means they'll miss out on getting lost all over the school

Hi there, can we join this thread? DD started Yr 10 properly today. Her timetable has lots of double lessons and even 1 triple(it's actually a double), they go for lunch and then have a single lesson after lunch.Strangely, she has no PE on her timetable!DD is very happy about this but I think some exercise at least once a week would be useful. They have also been told they have mocks the 1st week back in January 2021, so its all go for them.DD is generally feeling positive so far, although it seems that their sets are going to be mixed due to year group bubble.The GCSE journey begins!!

DD is back on Wednesday so is DS. DS has been invited in tomorrow for a tour as he has SN.

Having issues with school for both though. DS has been moved to middle set science as they said they can't get a TA for top set. and said they didn't know he only wanted to do triple but I've said in many e-mails he wants to do triple.

DD suspects she's been moved down in English but we will see. Will have to pay for a tutor if that's the case.

DS's new tutor seems nice. School seems in chaos though, no-one told parents first 2 days were online and lots of timetables are wrong. Though would imagine it will all close down shortly anyway though at least we are rural but bubble of 180 and lots of things were kids handing in things or handing out so no SD with teachers from what I can see who are in all the bubbles. And I've just been diagnosed with asthma so covid will be something would rather avoid.

No lockers here either though we are 5 mins walk so not too much an issue for us but most kids come in on buses from rural villages.

And we have wierd food rules - DDs year get hot food, DS year don't but must be hard to plan that and was expecting everyone called though that's easier with siblings. Annoyingly DS is the one that eats hot meals and DD cold.

Welcome, MissPaige. I hope you'll find this thread helpful. Sounds like your DD's school is straight back on it, with the talk of mocks! With regards to PE, DS is doing PE and games, and even had pre-season training at the end of August, but I know our local comp isn't offering PE. I guess it depends on class sizes and space available?

Koala, that all sounds a bit symbolic and stressful. Hope some of the issues are sorted promptly.

DS went back on Thursday and so far is happy with his teachers and is in the top sets that he was aiming for. He has ASD so is finding the changes in the school a bit stressful but hopefully he'll get used to it soon.

Is anyone's else's DC doing the DofE? DS started his 3 months ago so has completed 1 part and halfway through a couple of the others. They have a school meeting this week about the expedition and what teams they'll be in - I'm surprised this is still going ahead but I'll wait and see what comes back about it.

@Gumbo

DS went back on Thursday and so far is happy with his teachers and is in the top sets that he was aiming for. He has ASD so is finding the changes in the school a bit stressful but hopefully he'll get used to it soon.

Is anyone's else's DC doing the DofE? DS started his 3 months ago so has completed 1 part and halfway through a couple of the others. They have a school meeting this week about the expedition and what teams they'll be in - I'm surprised this is still going ahead but I'll wait and see what comes back about it.

DD is doing bronze DofE, started a year ago, has got her skill and volunteering almost finished and physical completed, so I really hope they manage to get the expedition done at some point.

First day back today, three lots of homework already, inc a vocabulary test tomorrow. DD thriller

D'S started the training for DoE in year 9, and has completed the skills part of it, nearly completed the physical, but hasn't e enough started the volunteering part and no real prospect of doing so as things stand with Covid.
No mention from school about expeditions; they've simply said keep going with each section.

Interesting reading the different things at all the schools!
One of the twins is finding the 2 hour lessons a struggle - can't say I blame her - they have 2 x 2 hour lessons and 1 x 2 hour lesson a day.
Music lessons are not happening at all - no communication from school - but have spoken to their teacher who says they need to organise a timetable for lessons in the evenings via zoom. They are both doing music GCSE which has a performance section so it is not as if we could just do nothing (a part from the fact that they want to,carry on)

DD cycled to school for the first time yesterday (other option, the bus, which is what she took Friday and today). I can't work out which I am more nervous about, but I think probably the cycling. She says she won't do it every day. She does meet up with a friend part way, and then they go together, and I think the friend is a little bit more grounded than DD, but not much.
They are mostly within one of a couple of classrooms in one block (except for science, I think), all of which have been dedicated to her year, which are bubbled together. They are only required to change their shoes for PE for trainers, but can wear tracksuit bottoms under their skirts on days they have PE if they want. DD is probably not going to bother and will just do PE in her normal uniform. As it happens, she has PE last period on Friday only.

A screen has apparently been put up at the front to protect the teacher, and the teachers are not supposed to move around the class - but she said one of her teachers that has always been a "prowler" was prowling regardless.

So much variation between schools! DD's school has them moving between lessons as normal, but they have prescribed break areas for each year group. They have reorganised tutor groups so they have core subjects (maths, English, science) in their tutor groups. And then for options they sit children from the same tutor group together. So DD gets a table to herself in RE as no one else from a tutor group is studying it!! It's been quite cleverly thought out - I'm assuming if they do get an infection, they will not have to self isolate many more than just an individual tutor group.

They are still changing for PE though more spread out, and all PE is outside. However they are not allowed to do anything involving balls. Because, as DD pointed out so eloquently, clearly kicking or touching a ball that someone else has touched is way more dangerous than sitting next to them in a classroom all day.

Lovely to see this thread. Dd started year 10 in a new school yesterday. Very excited to begin - it's a school with specialism in the arts so very different from her previous comp. So in fairness, she has nothing to compare with in terms of covid changes. I think that makes things a little bit easier for her. She is settling in well and enjoying meeting lots of new people so I'm counting my blessings that she is content and hoping for as little disruption as possible. She is taking GCSE's in Music, film studies, history, visual arts BTeC and the usual compulsaries.

She has to wear a mask in communal areas and her bubble is all of year 10 and 11, so fairly big. Wishing you a hassle free return for all your year 10's.

It is interesting how differently all of the schools are doing things, DD's school are having the teachers move around, allocated areas of school for each year and pretty much mixing them up for their options. The canteen is closed so no hot food, there is a "grab bag" lunch option which has to be ordered the day before and delivered to the bubble area or packed lunches. PE here is all outside and come to school in kit and stay in it all day and no contact sports at all.
By contrast, DD's football club have been back since July with distancing at first and then all as normal when the government guidance allowed. First game back last Sunday and they enjoyed it so much, was great to see!
I'm a bit worried about DD around A Levels though (already and we've been back to school for a week!), she has always wanted to be a physio which means Biology is a must, but she's already talking about taking another science alongside it which I'm concerned will limit her options if she either changes her mind about physio or doesn't manage to get onto a course. I've said to her that it's a bit early to decide things like that and to keep things open but she has a tendency to be very blinkered and I don't want her to only concentrate on the subjects she's thinking about taking further.
I know some posters have already gone through this with older DC's so thought I'd ask when these conversations really need to start (and also advice about the most "open" combinations if there is such a thing)

makemyweek that is so brave of your, glad it's going well!

MrsW my year 10 DS is also considering physio as a career though he is specifically hoping to go into sports physio. Well, in an ideal world he would like to be a physio or a sports scientist for a pro cycling team. He is thinking of doing Biology, Psychology and PE for his A levels and already has a good idea of what Universities he is interested in. He'd picked his A level options in his mind before he'd picked his GCSEs in fact! Its a bit ironic as his elder brother is in year 13 and needs to complete his UCAS forms very soon and still doesn't know what to do. So I have one that is terribly indecisive and another who is maybe making his mind up too soon.
However, the good thing about my Year 10 DS being so focused is that he is already looking at the entry requirements for courses he is interested in and realising that its not so easy as just wanting it. Seeing the entry requirements is giving him a good push to work at all his GCSEs as he knows he is looking at competitive courses and that his overall GCSE grades will be important, not just his most relevant subjects.
In my experience schools start talking to pupils about their A level choices part way through year 11 but you can change your mind, within the limits of the timetable, up until the start of term. In fact some pupils have to change after GCSE results of course. I've even heard of people changing after the start of term when its obvious that they've made the wrong choice. Its not something that's encouraged of course but I don't thimk schools would force a pupil to continue with a subject they are not suited to - well ours wouldn't anyway. So there's loads of time for decision making. I would maybe get your DD to look at some courses and, if possible, talk to some physios, though I appreciate that will be hard at present unless you have friends in the field. But I am sure that the conclusion of such enquiries would be that a good set of GCSEs across the board is important and this may inspire her to work hard at everything.
My DS was really annoyed at having to do a language at GCSE as he doesn't enjoy them, so we sat down and looked at the variety of nationalities in all the various professional cycling teams and discussed how he would probably need to pick up at least something of a number of languages if he was working in such an environment. He can see the point in it now so will, I am sure, work hard at it.
I think if they can see the value of studying something it really helps, even if they don't enjoy it particularly. I am struggling a bit with English Lit mind you - just sticking with "well Universities expect good grades across all your subjects" for now!
Good luck to your DD. I am really hoping they get to do work experience next year though not holding out a lot of hope to be honest.

@TheOnlyMrsW I've also got a dd who's just gone into year 12. I don't think she really started thinking about A Level subjects too much in year 10 although she did some career stuff which gave her ideas. Year 11 - first term we did open evenings in Nov and Dec and she'd definitely decided on three subjects by then.... except that by Jan/Feb one of those subjects was replaced by a different one. So she finally decided in Feb of year 11 and that was probably early as I remember others on our year 11 thread who were trying to make up their minds much later.

In terms of narrowing her options - I wouldn't think two sciences would do that particularly?

Interestingly DD was talking A levels yesterday, I don't know exactly what brought that on (although it may be her new Chemistry teacher, who seems to be the real dud this year - there is always a couple that DD really doesn't like). DD really wants to do zoology. I am not thrilled by this, because zoology is one of the courses that they keep saying is not worth the money you spend on it, but DD is and remains obsessed by animals, and doesn't want to study anything else, although I keep suggesting geography or environmental science or something where I think there are actually jobs afterwards. I tried vetenary science as well, but she doesn't want to look after sick animals, she wants to study animals, preferably in their natural environment (sigh). Of course for this biology is also a must, and geography is her other definite A level (the good news is that she has a new geography teacher she really likes, because although she was interested in the subject, the ones she has had over the last few years she hasn't actually liked, which tends to mean she then doesn't learn in school) (further sigh). I had gone looking at zoology and biology courses (the Oxford biology course seems to be half zoology, but the chances of DD getting into Oxford seem a bit remote), and it looked to me that a number of them looked favorably on having another science (where maths is included in the definition of science). Originally she was saying, maybe chemistry, but now she was going on about how boring chemistry is. But she is not interested in physics or maths either, despite being perfectly capable. And if anything unlike TheOnlyMrsW my sense is that there are lots of options with two sciences, and if anything less without them. With chemistry and biology she could go any of the related medical courses, or animal related courses, or pure science. Whereas other than courses that ask for sciences, how many courses are there out there that specify more than the key subject (Economics wants maths, I know, as well as economics, but maths seems usually to be classed as a science), but does History want more than History, or English more than English? Or languages more than one language. So if you are not sure what you want to do with your third, isn't science in some ways the safest bet?

I think there's a balance to be had between not closing too many doors too soon, and having too broad a subject range which might mean you don't meet the requirements for many courses.
Things have changed a lot since my A level days. Then it was pretty simple - you either did three sciences or three arts/humanities. It was rare to do a mixture and it was absolutely not allowed at my school. My SIL who is now a Speech Therapist really had to fight her school to be allowed to do English and Biology A levels but that would be considered very normal now.
I would imagine schools will be fairly switched on about what subject combinations are ok and would advise against any which are too limiting. My elder son is doing maths, physics and computer science so has pretty much nailed his colours to the mast in a way, but there are still absolutely loads of different degrees that he could apply for with those. Even what seem like narrow choices still leave plenty of doors open, especially if they are fairly "core" subjects.

Thank you for all of the responses re: A level choices, MrsAvocet DD has also mentioned sports physio specifically within football (either that or play for Manchester United!), and she actually enjoys languages too. It's a good idea to get her to look at course requirements as a starting point - I have a feeling that realising how hard she is going to need to work will be an eye opener, which is also why I think she needs a back-up plan!
I think I'm worried a little because I didn't know what I wanted to do - who really does - so took the advice of school to take A level subjects that I enjoyed and was good at, so I ended up with Biology, English Lit and Psychology which was then a struggle to "fit" into UCAS applications. Like Naem said two sciences may not be too sciency in the light of that.........
In other more immediate news it's been confirmed today that food practicals are definitely going ahead so I won't have to cook on Thursdays from next week
crazycrofter hope your y13 works something out soon!

I agree with all that had been said. Two sciences and then AN other will keep options open but still allow for her chosen career.

DS has known he will do History at uni since about the age of 6 and he wants a corporate law career. He’s thinking history, English lit for A level and I think can be persuaded by a decent teacher for politics/classical civilisation/Spanish (I hold out hope for this but after the French situation for GCSE I am going to really check my influence levels).

It does seem that the DC are thinking ahead though.

DS is in Y12 and had to choose A levels in the February of Y11 I think - then they try to work out the timetabling to make it all possible, and decide whether all the courses will run depending on the amount of interest.

They are allowed to change their minds and anyway the GCSE course will help enormously when they have to decide what they want to do next. I don't think you need to worry too much at the moment @TheOnlyMrsW as she may well go through several more ideas before settling on what she'd like to do. If that's still physio then two sciences would make sense and would leave many other doors ajar as a PP said (especially if chemistry was the second one) but she could always have a look at various courses and their entry requirements to work out the best combo if she was wavering between physio and another degree course.

I think it's very important to do A levels that they enjoy and are interested in, because they're hard and need good self motivation. It would be difficult to do well if you were slogging through two years of something you find boring.

DS chose maths and physics but then couldn't decide between biology and chemistry as his third so is doing all four at the moment until he decides what to drop. He has also asked to switch classes twice - luckily the school is very flexible as long as it all fits into the option blocks.

My DS is adamant he wants to do Maths Physics and Chemistry a-level and Further Maths too if he gets a 9 at GCSE (by no means a sure thing!). He wants to study astrophysics but it’s insanely competitive and required grades for uni are high. He’s not quite realised that that’s going to mean a lot of work. I’m hoping it sinks in sooner rather than later!