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. 🙂

Sorry to hear about more isolations and now y10 seem to have lost first week of Jan as well though DS was happy about that as it includes his birthday.

Finished today at midday for Christmas. Hope everyone has a lovely Christmas. Ours is just a quiet one at home. Had the electrician in today but plumber cancelled. Few more grades in and doing really well but not sure how much school there will be next year.

Finally, we’ve received some information from the school. Targets are all achievable for him, 7s and 8s but when I showed him he was confident that Spanish and History might be potential 9s. The working at grades were quite surprising - but he pointed out they have only covered a very small amount of the syllabus.

I’ve put it to him though that he needs to start scheduling some revision from January. Even if it is simply to ‘record card’ today’s lesson or work through one of his revision cards - 15 mins work?

We had an email from the school today to say that Yr7-10 and Yr12 are online for the first few days of term but all expected back in on Monday 11th - we shall see, feel like things could well change before then!

Seems our Christmas is going to be quieter than expected as all our family are in Tier4, never mind I'm sure we will still have a nice time just the four of us.

Also very proud of DS for getting a merit in the Senior Kangaroo - he got 80 - turns out he was only 1 mark off qualifying for the BMO round1 in the SMC! Not that the school made any kind of fuss, he was just handed his certificate in the corridor on the last day and we still haven't heard his result from the Cayley Olympiad back in March, sigh.

I do find that competitions like this are not as widely celebrated as, say, winning the football cup or something. It’s annoying.

Yes, we’ve had that letter too. I have to say the last few weeks of school because of staff shortages etc there was a lot of online work for whole year groups and they really have got on top of it. I thought it was very thorough and well executed. That said, I can only comment on how we received it and I’m really hoping for the entire cohort’s sake that things are a bit more settled. We have the daily testing thing too which should cut back on isolations.

Have a wonderful festive season if you have celebrated, are celebrating or just looking forward to some down time. We are tier 4 so will be our first Christmas ever without my parents and cousins but if it means we can all be together as much as we want sometime next year then here we are I suppose.

Congrats on the Senior Kangaroo results - that's amazing. Our school are the same about competition and its never mentioned whereas if you are in the school play or do football you are all over school Twitter and newsletter. I feel for the maths department mostly though they spend hours running these things and also run Maths, FM Level 3 and stats and are unappreciated.

We have had lots of results so far and update daily - our current seems to go up to 8 (presumably as y10) but you generally need 100% for that (or very close). She's on 7, 7+ or 8 for them all 11 as current grades so really happy with those, only 3 are at 7 and one of those is an old grade from last year and one is the NQT's grading which is very volatile and the final one was English Language where last assessment she got best in the year and massively up on first one. It's just a shame it's looks very dicey for schools opening up in January and y10 and y12 seem forgotten about in the plans. Though she did go up grades in lockdown so she'll probably be OK and much better its her than DS, must be a complete nightmare for people with SN kids. DS was horrified by the idea of testing looked absolutely terrified, he's very flighty at the best of times so I guess he's going to be home with me a lot next year. Had the Ed psych for him yesterday.

Had electrician in here and at old house, phew and plumber is in right now so hopefully no more leaking taps though dread to think what our water bill will be. Still looks like old house sale will complete in Jan so we will have money again then assuming no more issues.

Just us and the pets for Christmas but that will be nice assuming we can get all the Christmas food, booked for 1pm on 24th so hope we don't have cancelled turkey and veg. I had low expectations but didn't consider we may not get Xmas lunch. Have a lovely Christmas everyone.

Back on 18th here now in theory at least. Remote from 4th, which was very patchy in lockdown. No more news on testing though as trying to get house sale to complete by mid Jan not overly keen on getting tests before then. We have just been staying in and down to old house so in theory should be fine. Tier 4 lower here now and old house is Tier 4 covid hotspot.

Happy New Year everyone.

Happy New Year folks. How are we all feeling about next week? DD is quite happy to have online lessons for a few days, but will go bananas if it’s weeks of it again. She just wants to see her friends.

Last week she met a friend for a walk, and one of the others went nuts at them for breaking the rules. It’s exhausting. She is also worried about product design; the head of PD retired last term, so new teacher from this week. She doesn’t want her first lessons with a new teacher to be online, which is quite understandable.

Couple of assessments that were due to be last term, and were bumped when school closed early still hanging over her too, which is no fun.

Come on, the vaccine!!

Happy New Year!

So - Ds's school now has an inset day tomorrow, then his year will be set some work to do at home this coming week. The biggest issue is that he has his 1st GCSE exam next Monday (!!!) so he needs as much revision this week as he can get. He'll obviously have to attend school on the day of the exam. Is anyone else's DC doing the Sports Science exam in a weeks time? The timing is dreadful!

Other than that, like the rest of the country, home until the 18th.... The school is planning on daily tests if a child in the year group tests positive - if you're negative you still get to go to school. I suspect there'll be some children who will really struggle with daily tests for a week or more (I definitely would!) Not sure yet about regular mass testing for the whole school - the logistics must be horrendous.

Happy New Year to everyone!!!

Like most DD has inset tomorrow, then online learning for the next two weeks and all back to school (hopefully) on the 18th. School have been asking for volunteers to help set up the testing and I think DD's dad will be involved - he's been on & off furlough since March so is bored witless!

She seems fine with the idea of online learning - the lessons I heard when she was off before Christmas SI seemed great, a lot of live with involvement for those in class and at home. The big plus at the moment is that grassroots sport is allowed to continue in Tier 4 so football is back on - she's far more bothered about that than being in school tbh.

DD wants to be back in school and is worried and thinks it will go on much later than 18th - I suspect she's right on that but hospitals are more than 100% full here (suspect from other areas who are way over 100% and we are apparently doing 999 for them as was low here) and now its been rising fast past few weeks here. Our remote learning was very patchy in March - July - only half the lessons coming in and practical ones were especially dire, maths and English was also poor. We changed her options to drop drama because of it so she has no practical subjects which helps though did get made to do computing instead.

Last term school were very on the ball about assessing and grading and testing not much fun but does mean there's assessed grades for all subjects except two on long-term sick - two of three sciences but she has strong y9 grades in both those. We just added things ourselves last lockdown and her grades improved on return so think she can manage it by herself but not a great time to be testing that.

She's disappointed in Tier 4 you can only meet up with 1 friend outside from your village and her friend is from next village though she saw him just before we went into Tier 4 on Boxing Day. No after school / sports available here at all which DD misses, she started running for an hour a day but been difficult with darkness and school hours - she maybe able to do that with school closures.

DS is terrified by the daily tests so I suspect he will be home with me a lot. DD is scared but says if that's what it takes she will do it. School sounded understandably hacked off that's been put on their plate - daily testing seems excessive to me. I had one in hospital and it was pretty horrible though quick at least. Though I do suspect its been rife in the school and many not getting tested, none of the kids have been very ill, its been things like mild lack of taste.

I'll now have 2 weeks of teaching DS(ASD) which will be me doing 90% of it and lots of whining (normally an hour each day) / screaming (normally only 10 minutes or so each day) and other times he's keen to learn and the perfect student. DS was wondering why I wasn't looking forward to it, he's happy as he thinks he's got 2 weeks extra holiday doing absolutely nothing other than ipad and cuddling/feeding pets which is living the dream for him.

Hoping our house sale will complete soon - we are really scared Tier 5 will appear and won't be allowed back as classed as second home though isn't really and EA forced to close. Atm house moves are allowed and we are hopefully days away from exchange. All done from our side just about 2 more visits needed to clear. Hopefully one today and if can't do another may need to ask buyer and give them money to pay to clear rest - its minimal at least. Been trips everyday for past week. Our house here now looks like we have hoarding issues but we'll probably have a few months shut in to sort that.

Not taking sports science but our sports science y10 says only y10s allowed in though not sure for what whether just exams or lessons as well, implied lessons but not clear.

Happy New Year everyone!!

So our school starts back on Wednesday with home-schooling and then in to school face to face from 18th. I can’t see it happening to be honest. Both DC’s are okay with Home-schooling and it actually worked really well when the school closed for 2 weeks in November with a full timetable delivered on Teams.

School are still to provide details on mass testing but personally I think it’s a recipe for disaster and absolutely the wrong thing to be doing, if schools actually go back that is. I think the mass testing of all students on their return is good and may weed out asymptomatic cases. But replacing self-isolating of close contacts with these lateral flow tests that are less than 50% accurate (at best) with the students administering them themselves sounds utterly bonkers to me! These tests are used by the NHS as a screening tool, not to replace isolating for close contacts of a positive case! We need more prevention in place with this highly contagious strain, not less!

DD has been meeting up with one friend at a time outside pretty much much every day this week. In fact they all have been seeing each other one on one on rotation. Not really sure how it’s different from them all meeting in one go to be honest but I’m glad that I don’t have any concerns when it comes to DD sticking to the rules. DS is on the opposite end of the spectrum, he’s hardly been out of the house and is happy playing with his mates on the Xbox! We’ve had to drag him out for walks.

I am really missing some time to myself and can’t see myself getting any for the immediate future, what with gyms closed and the kids probably not going back. I feel like these Christmas holidays have stretched endlessly with no end in sight. Roll on Spring/Easter!!!

@Gumbo good luck for DS’s exam. Have you had confirmation that it’s definitely going ahead?
@HelloDulling but how is your DD meeting a friend for a walk breaking the rules? You’re allowed to meet one friend! Hope her lesson with her new teacher goes well.
@Silkiechickscat fingers crossed your move will go ahead. Do you know when you’re hoping to complete?

@Rollergirl11
Thanks! Yes, school have confirmed it's all still going ahead... but with things changing by the hour right now it's entirely possible it may not - which will be a real shame for all the kids who've spent the holiday studying....

We've been given provisional dates of exchange early Jan, completion 14th Jan. Just looked up March lockdown and removals shut down - we can manage with car or worst case scenario give buyers money to chuck out the 1 cupboard of stuff left and post keys. All done from our side just hope our buyers and their solicitors can move at speed of light and their buyers (end of chain), related transaction is ready to exchange AFAIK and we are imminent but we had 23rd December questions which we replied to but solictors not open until 4th. At least we've already moved. All good fun. We are Tier 4 lower, old house is Tier 4 covid hotspot and buyers are in a 3rd Tier 4 covid hotspot area. DH said too tired for today but hoping he'll go tomorrow.

I've just been through schedule for tomorrow with DS and got lots of giggles as he's been put in two geography classes so has double geography, repeat lesson on timetable. Told him it was as he loves geography so much. I'm expecting his severe hearing loss to reappear around 9am tomorrow and magically return around 3.15pm. Though he is quite bored atm so I maybe in luck.

[quote Rollergirl11]@Gumbo good luck for DS’s exam. Have you had confirmation that it’s definitely going ahead?
@HelloDulling but how is your DD meeting a friend for a walk breaking the rules? You’re allowed to meet one friend! Hope her lesson with her new teacher goes well.
@Silkiechickscat fingers crossed your move will go ahead. Do you know when you’re hoping to complete?[/quote]
In Wales it’s not allowed, which is profoundly stupid, but ANYWAY. But the girl making a fuss is an enormous pain in the neck and likes to make a drama and then get lots of others on her side. DD laughed it off, I was very annoyed.

Just had email, as it’s stands today, online lessons Thurs and Friday, then back in from 11th, but reading between the lines they expect that to change.

We start "school at home" from Wednesday then theoretically back in school on the 18th - we wait to see. All of year 10 are supposed to have assessments week beginning the 18th so could be interesting! They have said to follow their regular timetable but that means some days he has 5 different subjects and other days only 2 or 3. I'm actually more concerned about my yr7 child as they haven't done the online learning before, it worked quite well for DS in the summer (well apart from French.) At least they both have their own chromebooks. DH starts working from home again tomorrow so I'll have to try and keep them out of his way. DS basically hasn't left the house for the whole of the holidays - he says he is following government guidelines (we are in Tier4.)

Fingers crossed for your move Silkie - sounds like you are 90% of the way there.

Thanks It

Online learning for both today but at least a full timetable for both today at least unlike last lockdown - how long that will last I don't know. DD has no physics at all though and 2/3 science teachers are long-term sick and no work being provided in physics. Otherwise fine.

DS did 2 lessons out of 5 today with me so not ideal but 2 more than nothing and at school would normally do 3/5, the extra one is maths which he's way ahead of what sending out so hopefully OK - did geography and English and missed RE, Art and Maths but not taking RE or Art.

School are recording y10 attendance from tomorrow. Also said masks to be worn at all times at school. Only 5% of school pupils in this week. And told kids needs to isolate and be covid tested for every symptom under the sun including tiredness and stuffed nose, skin rash and about 15 others not on official criteria for a test. How they think parents can say my childs tired test him I don't know and would also be tested and isolating permanently then.

Awaiting 8pm lockdown announcement for house sale news, Scotland still allowed so hopeful though for how long? So trying to push it through and buyer trying to push through. DH is clearing rest today hopefully.

Here’s hoping you can get to completion Silkie, you’re almost there!

So are we thinking nationwide lockdown announced at 8pm? The only thing that makes me think not is that he’s going to look so ridiculous when he went on the BBC yesterday stating that primary schools were completely safe!

Nationwide or Tier 5 - we will be hit either way as house selling is covid hotspot Tier 4. Scotland has closed schools all of Jan I think and suspect we may get that - Joe Wicks has announced new programmes 3 times a week!

No exams again! So our Year 10 DC’s will be the first GCSE exams to be sat for 3 years!

Possibly - I was messaging someone who works at Oftsed and they said to expect DD (y10s) to also go to teacher assessment - I had said she was y10 but don't know if they were confused. I would just prepare for both. No school until at least Feb half term, argh but house moves can continue at least for now.

In case anyone loves rules as much as my DS or is very bored:
assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/949536/NationalLockdownGuidance.pdf

Ds was due to take RS GCSE this June so is delighted it's been cancelled. Told him to hold the horses as we don't know how it will be assessed now.

The school is now saying they don't think the pupils should be taking the Sports Science exam next week, but to go for an assessment mark instead - but that if the child REALLY wants to, they can still take the exam

Poor DS has no idea what to do - he's studied hard and is predicted to get a distinction - but if the exam is harder than anticipated he may not - and he also has no idea what assessment mark the teacher will give... and what moderation will do to it! This is so hard/unfair on the kids....