GCSE Summer 2020 Thread 10: Carry on Corona Cohort ‘The Next Step''

[OrangeCinnamon1]

Welcome all to the 10th Thread for this year's GCSE cohort - the Corona Cohort!

This is a thread for supporting all young people ( and their parents) who were examined for GCSEs 2020 regardless of the institute they attended or the grades they needed. It is respectfully requested that we are all supportive and helpful to each other.
If you want to start a debate e.g state vs private - please do not within this thread.
Similarly it should be recognised that the grades our children needed/deserved/wanted will vary across the board- we wish to celebrate and comiserate with all. One same grade outcome can simultaneously cause joy and despair for different posters and their families. Please be sensitive when responding to threads about grade outcomes.

Some of us have been here since I started first thread back in yr10, some will be new. Everyone has been friendly and helpful in the past. It is hoped this will continue. Going forward we intend to stay on the Secondary Education Board (at least until Mumsnet HQ chuck us out grin ) as from now on our DS/DD may go down various paths such employment, apprenticeships, higher ed etc so we decided not to be exclusionary.

Any new threads should have 'GCSE Summer 2020 Thread # : Carry on Corona Cohort' in title just to make it easier to find. There is no preciousness about who starts new threads!

At this precise moment in time it us 'results day ' most have GCSE results and some awaiting BTEC results .

We are all ALWAYS trying to protect our young people's mental health, which the government claims is their priority...when they talk about wanting students back in schools/college in September popping this here.

previous thread

Tell us more Karen: how does dd feel, her gut instinct; how far away are both; subject choices; different opportunities; what is her objective- Uni etc.

DS2 drew up a pros and cons list. The 3 factors which persuaded him to move to the bigger sixth form were that they offered more subjects, felt like progression to be moving on to a college environment and they have a casual dress code (nothing ripped and not too much flesh on show, old school is suits). However, being confident that he could probably go back to the old school if it was not working out was a nice safety net.

I agree with PP that generally the "business wear" is much more prescriptive for boys than girls.

Her objective is Uni although no idea what to study yet. A level subject choices are the same at each place. Right now her gut says move on. I think this is partly because there has been such a long break since school she very much feels like she has left and thinks going back would be strange. She wants to start afresh but I think having the support system of teachers who know you is an advantage.

I think it depends a lot on their personality. Some thrive in a smaller place where the teachers know you, it’s familiar and they get their chance finally to be at the top of the school . Others need a change of scene and prefer to be somewhere larger which colleges generally are.

Really surprised to read about all the sixth form uniform faff. Ds’s Indy requires continuation of the same uniform he’s always had. Only new thing we’ve bought is shoes. Hope you all manage to sort it out in time.

DD is moving, to a much bigger school, for Sixth form and will have a longer commute.
She’s been fortunate to have made friends with some of her new peers through the online A level transition lessons her new school provided and SM.
She’s met up with a few over the last few weeks.
Dress code is ‘smart office wear’ which, in my opinion, allows for an injection of personality. That said, a few of DD’s bits have too much ‘personality’ and I’m expecting she will trouble the uniform police
When we attended the Sixth form open evening I noticed a lot of the current Sixth form boys wore chinos ( a lot of the skinny fit ankle grazer variety) and a blazer or tweed jacket.

That said, a few of DD’s bits have too much ‘personality’ and I’m expecting she will trouble the uniform police I’m sure you didn’t mean it to sound like that @ProggyMat

@Shimy
Oops, no, I did not
Stuff?

@Seeline - I find M&S quite good for ladies work blouses/shirts usually plenty on line even if they don't have them in store. They usually don't need ironing if hung up to dry - v useful for my daughter as she boards and has to do her own laundry.

@ProggyMat

'Smart office wear'

WHY? As long as they turn up covered, why do they have to comply to this?

DD is having a nightmare deciding what shoes to wear to 6th Form!

She has bought a pair of loafers but isn't keen, as she feels they won't be great to walk to school in (about a 25 mins walk).

Can I please ask what shoes has your DD got? (links would be great :-) thanks

My phone calls with Deputy Head and later Head of English, have riled me. More.

Both teachers are so nice. But their meaningless platitudes, irritate me even more.

Everything they say, just makes it worse.

Talking about how target grades aren't realistic, they are inspirational. So why are they given if it misleads parents and the whole teacher/parent relationship is this a sham?

I don't care if he got a 4 or 5 in the last mock. He's been predicted, and achieved an 8, or a 7, or a 6, and still been predicted an 8, for the last 5 years.

You aren't supposed to be using the last mock as the most heavily weighted factor in trying to produce a CAG score.

I keep coming back to the main ethics, the driving force is supposed to be:

"that students due to sit the exams would be awarded a grade based on an assessment of the grade they would have been most likely to achieve had exams gone ahead."

I am known for lacking the ability to 'let things go'.

I'm beside myself with anger. Just because. Because it's wrong.

Help me get over this MN'ers. Please. I beg you.

Ob: I don’t know how you are going to move on from having the series of platitudes you keep getting from school. When an injustice happened to DD (it was a while back now) the only way to move on was for her to prove them wrong by absolutely smashing an ‘objective’ she was told she had no way of meeting.

I think your boy has the ability to do this with his A levels. He is smart, charismatic, and probably learned a great deal these last past months. Yes he’s still going to be challenging (aren’t they all?) but he may just need this shitty episode to motivate him so much to turn it all around. I am looking forward to hearing how he is and does with you in 2 years when we can look back with you. He’s better than this...

@Heifer DD wears DMs - she has a lace up pair and Mary Janes (due to a slight mix up and asking both Grannies for the same Christmas present...)

@Heifer my dd has a pair of smart ankle boots she’ll wear with skirts. She’s not keen on wearing them with trousers, going out to the shops today to see what else we can find.
Keep me posted on what you get... I thought shoes would be easy, but dd very fussy!

@Heifer & @KingscoteStaff my dd after a pair of dm’s

Another DMs vote here. Never failed to last for years and years...

DD has these:
www.clarks.co.uk/c/Hero-Brogue/p/26149389

@Iamnotminterested Because that’s the dress code as opposed to full school uniform which they’ve all worn for the last five years.
It’s less formal than ‘business wear’ but obviously more formal than ‘smart casual’ or ‘casual’.
@Heifer my DD has loafers but she has some chunky trainers that she is thinking of wearing for her commute and then changing into loafers at school.

@Oblomov20 I would be beside myself too in your situation. Some schools are trying to challenge and get fair results because they are conscious that their students lost out in the process. I think most schools want to put it behind them and get on with the complicated business of getting students back to school. One of the issues any school has is that if they agree that one grade is wrong, that has an impact on the rest of the ranking and opens the floodgates to more appeals.

@ealingwestmum mum is right - the most positive way to react to the situation would be to take back control and prove they got it wrong by your DS delivering great results himself. He could do the exam in November, English is the least content-heavy subject and his grade can't go down. Of course he should not be in this situation, it is not fair that other schools used a fairer approach or were more generally optimistic (a private school in Oxford, Rye St Anthony increased A/A* from 18% to 48% - really?!), but if you can focus on getting a more appropriate outcome from where you are rather than the unfairness which has caused it, it might be better for you and for DS.

Would I be that rational about focusing on the outcome? Probably not, I would be seething and salty (that is what DSs call it when I am cross).

Sorry you have to deal with this.

@Oblomov20 I do feel your sense of injustice, in similar situation with my DC and it has been keeping me up at night. What compounds it is hearing that other students who have always performed less well in the subject have been awarded higher grades and are laughing about it. I have yet to have any response at all from the school which is infuriating in itself and I'm not holding my breath. I am doing my best to hide my annoyance as I do not want it to overshadow things and trying to be all bright and 'onwards and upwards' for my DC but inside I am seething.

Thank you Ealing, Karen, Monkey. I've just been up to talk to him. He's sat there, just finishing off the new psychology bridging work. Which he has completed, doing it everyday, in a week.

He's so lazy he won't entertain re-sitting English. Plus he says once he gets his A'level, it will supersede it. And he points out that he has 8 in maths and English lit. And 3 x 7's. "It's good enough mum".

I've told him yet again that he'll have to hit the ground running as of next week.

If it was me I'd carrying on fighting. Just as a matter of principal. I'm a stickler for following the rules. And justice. I hate injustice more than I hate just about anything else.

But I think I am too tired and fed up of it all/ just can't be bothered now.

I need to focus my efforts. Next week said Ds1 starts at their 6th form, which is on a different site. And Ds2 starts at at the secondary school.

Best I focus, ahead, rather than behind.

ZebraCat DD got her pink blazer from Next. Think it cost around £20 but it was a few weeks ago now so either all gone or reduced more. Good luck.

@Oblomov20
I would be exactly the same and in a way the fobbing you off with platitudes is the worst part - if they just said - yes, in hindsight we probably should have given him a higher grade or been more realistic beforehand about what he was achieving, and if we'd known that the CAGs were going to be used we would have taken a different approach. We're sorry about that. But this is where we are and appeals are not possible for these very good reasons and we have every confidence that he's going to smash his A levels and will be doing everything we can to help him - fair enough.

As you say though, if he's ok about it and looking forwards to the next chapter, it's probably best that you do the same

London mummy we did look at Marks, but nothing met the school requirements - everything seems to be frilly at the moment! I shall keep an eye on the website.

Heifer my DD has really awkward feet. She's opted for a smart pair of brogues from Clarke's. School won't allow boots.