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

2x9s, 2x8s, 5x7s, 1x6 (in RS) and an A in his FSMQ. Not bad considering he has ASD, ADD, and was put in the bottom stream because school thought the faster streams would all be a bit much for him. Go DS1!

Now starting 4 science/maths A levels.

When did results like that become commiserable?? made up word

@Queenofthesilverdollar Your DS has all As and Bs!! Those are amazing results - why in earth should this ‘friend’ think you need commiserations?! Ridiculous!

Thank you for the welcomes back. I really did hit a wall with it all last night with the BTEC stuff. DS has SENs and an EHCP and I have had to fight for him and work with him so much over the years and occasionally the emotions all crash in.

It's so lovely and supportive on this thread, you are a great bunch.

I know I am quibbling here, but I am still not entirely pleased with 2 of ds's grades that were lower than expected.
Predicted 8, got a 5.
I just can't decide if it's worth doing anything about?
Would I sound like a moaning minny to talk to the school about this?

Easily, my Ds1 is very difficult. Many ASD traits.

@Oblomov20 it’s a tough one, 8 to 5 is a huge drop I don’t see the harm in asking how the teachers came to those conclusions but I’m not sure if you will be able to officially appeal

@Oblomov20 that’s a big drop. I’d ask.

I don’t know where all the grade inflation is...all DD’s friends marked down a grade from mocks in at least one subject.

@Oblomov20 I'm the same about one of ds's results he got a 5 in a subject where he was predicted a 6 which is also one of his A level choices and he hasn't met the entry requirements. His target for this subject based on prior data was a 7. He got a 5 in the mock but that was back in November and had received 7s in work he submitted after the mock.

I don't see the harm in asking either, 3 grades is a big difference. Are they subjects he wants to pursue in college / 6th form?

No easily they aren't A'level ones.
But it's just the point, the ... just me being .... questioning?

Hey have an open day tomorrow. I'm gonna go.

Oblomov - dd has the same issue. Dropped from 8 to 5 in one of her A level choices and from 8 to 6 in another. My dd has spoken to the school and put in an appeal ..... not sure if it means anything officially. It's thrown her confidence and she is now worried she's not good enough in those subjects.

Nasty thread just started in AIBU. If you have the stomach for it go and vote.

Aw, I just looked back at the first thread and the name changes, including me
I was recommending the 15 min bag for study. Wow, it seems so long ago now.

I have a tip for those starting textbook A level courses, too, once we get going.
I don't think I posted much after the first one though, perhaps because I never really knew what she was doing at school.

Muliplying

That is absolutely brilliant news and I am so pleased for him. Gosh he's really clever doing Maths and Science.
Can I ask please, is he over invested in his subjects, I mean compared to other kids. Mine has diagnosed Aspergers (I know they don't diagnose it now), and is fixated, sometimes long after she should have finished.
I think people look at their difficulties as a problem. Directed in the best way for them it can be the making of them. I'm sorry if I'm off the mark, was just interested.

I have only just found this thread. Doh...wish I'd found it sooner.

Ds2 was very laid back about it all. He was thrilled exams were cancelled. He started year 10 not wanting to go to university or anything. Ds1 went off to university last sept and ds2 decided that was the best way to leave home!! So year 11 he really stepped up his work. He didn't bother to revise for the summer mocks. He didn't for the December ones either. He promised himself he'd work hard for the actual exams, obviously he didn't take them in the end. But he said his grades would be good enough for A levels. So he wasn't bothered.

Today he collected results from school at 9.30am. He was disappointed with science results as he'd got high 7's in all tests through year 11 and they had a mock on the last day of school (20th March) he got a 9 in that, that was the only one he revised for! But they gave him 6's for science. So he's wishing he'd taken the exams now! Everything else he got 7's and an 8.

He's not doing science for A level. So 6's are fine. It's such a shame most of them couldn't show what they can do.

Well done everyone.

@Piggywaspushed - Voted but couldn’t stomach more than the first few comments. Why are people so poisonous? It’s not our DCs’ fault that the exams were cancelled, and the vast majority of teachers will have assessed them fairly and honestly. Can they not just let them have their day?

Welcome @icanbewhatiwant and congratulations to your DS!

This may be a sweeping generalisation, but I do wonder whether girls will have done better this year because they tend to work more steadily through the year rather than cramming last minute. The ‘top performers list at DD’s school is overwhelmingly girls this year - only 3 out of 20 are boys. It looks very different to previous years.

@Piggywaspushed

Nasty thread just started in AIBU. If you have the stomach for it go and vote.

Ffs didn't take long.

@lockd0wn101

My DC got an 8. Was told by school not to do maths because it didn't come naturally. DC could learn the gcse maths syllabus and answer the questions accurately but had no flair. The step up is big.

@bigchris, this^^

I am a maths graduate, DH is an engineer, and we all think in numbers in our household. Both DSs got 9 for maths GCSE with very little work because they could just do it. DS1 got A* for A level, DS2 doing double maths. My niece got a 9 with hard work and lots of practice and found A level difficult. She got a B with hard work.

The GCSE result reflects a mixture of ability and hard work and if they worked hard to get their GCSE top grade it is tough to get top marks at A level.

@Janie74

"This may be a sweeping generalisation, but I do wonder whether girls will have done better this year because they tend to work more steadily through the year rather than cramming last minute. The ‘top performers list at DD’s school is overwhelmingly girls this year - only 3 out of 20 are boys. It looks very different to previous years."

I think there's something in this. My daughter is a last minute crammer and whilst her results were okay, we both felt that she could have done better in the exams. I know several of my friends' children who are the same and they're mostly boys.

Was discussing this the other day. When I awarded grades, I didn't feel I had any evidence to judge if they would cram and do better at the end or not, so I didn't include that in my calculations. But I have a teacher friend at another school who did.

Once the exams were cancelled, there was never going to be a perfect answer. Not that exams are either, mind!

What's the YANBU to YABU stats at the moment. It doesn't show on my phone?

Oblomov - i would definitely query a 3 grade drop

More people agree with the OP, sadly but it's swinging.

I thought that about girls, too, but Ofqual told us to be alert to unconscious bias. they made a Very Big Point about this (who knows? maybe they were already trying to fix their own algorithm) so most conversations centred around whether we were underrating boys.

@Janie74 thanks.

I've had several friends asking if we going out to celebrate results. But I can't help feeling he hasn't done anything as not been at school for 6 months. Is it just me that feels this way. I think the fact ds is so chilled about it all makes me feel this way. He couldn't understand why friends of his were saying they hadn't got the grades they wanted. He was saying "so what" as long as they are good enough for A levels (or whatever else they want to do) 🤷‍♀️

I should be glad he's chilled.