GCSE Summer 2020 - Thread 11 Carry on Corona Cohort - Starting New Terms and Settings

[OrangeCinnamon1]

Welcome all to the 11th Thread for this year's GCSE cohort - The Corona Cohort!

This is a thread for supporting all young people post GCSEs regardless of the institute they attend 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 don't within this thread.

Similarly it should be recognised that the grades our children need/deserve/want will vary across the board. One same grade outcome can simultaneously cause Joy and Despair for different posters. Please be sensitive when responding to threads about grades.

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 any new threads should have 'GCSE Summer 2020 Thread # : Carry on Corona Cohort' in title just to make it easier to find. Not fussy about who starts those !

From now on our DS/DD may go down various paths such as employment, apprenticeships, higher ed, so we decided not to be exclusionary and stay right here in Secondary - at least until Mumsnet HQ chuck us out .

At this precise moment in time we have had GCSE results . It has been decided that the higher of Centre Assesd Grades and Calculated Grades will be awarded - the algorithim seems to have been applied a schol level to the detriment of some students. Lots of our young people have already started on the next stage of their journey with some still to start.

We are all STILL trying to protect our young people's mental health, which the government claimed was their priority...when they talk about wanting students back in schools/college in September...now we have their physical health to consider too as the mingling at various settings starts up again. Hopefully a positive experience this term!

First Thread

previous thread

I had to take a test for the zoe tracking app this week and also got offered IOW. Apparently people are going over on the ferry to take tests.

Case at ds’ school earlier in the week but not his bubble. Every day they both go in feels like a bonus right now!

Oblomov19 I sympathise with feeling bored of the meals but you have more on your list than we do I think, although we do have Thai curries quite a bit. Dd is the fussy one in our family now. As a baby/child/tween she absolutely loved food, she was quite heavy although with not much fat and would eat huge amounts. Last couple of years she’s had teen body issues on and off although never managed to keep up bad habits as she loved junk food too much. But this last year she just seems to have lost her love of food. Takeaways/chocolate etc hold no excitement for her and she just doesn’t seem to like any meals. She’s eating so I’m not too worried but it’s a bit joyless!

In a moment of paranoia earlier this week (my youngest had a cold) I checked test availability and yup, IOW was what was offered, we’re SW London based Luckily I didn’t need to take it any further as he is fine but that is an insane option to offer! I mean fair enough if you’re in Portsmouth or similar but London?! How realistic is that going to be for most people?

@Oblomov20 you are a woman after my own heart. If I never had to cook again I’d be so happy! Mind you then again if mine would eat half the meals on your list then I would also be happy I need to get a bit more adventurous with my cooking I think but there is zero motivation to try new stuff when you know that it will be rejected.

Hope everyone has a good Friday, and as relaxing a weekend as possible. Sorry to hear about positive cases being confirmed, let’s hope they can be contained. Such strange times we are living in.

How's your DD @Alsoplayspiccolo?

Peas are too small and too green for me

DS has taken up riding his bike to school rather than being given a lift part way there. He has to go to morning registration every other week although didn’t have to yesterday. So he set off for 8:55 registration at about 8:50 I think. I am trying to be more chilled about this although finding it hard!

Scary (but inevitable I guess) to hear of all these positive cases!

Impressed how much some DC are doing out of school - my 2 are not doing anything out of school at the moment (combination of them deciding to drop thing and clubs not actually restarting since lockdown). Just going to school and back again seems to be enough at the moment! DS (not up yet) is clearly relishing no lessons until 11am today!

@Oblomov20 that is a much bigger list than my DSs went for when in Y12/Y9!

For your DS2 have you discovered quorn nuggets? A healthy (and more expensive) version of chicken nuggets which tastes very similar. We were veggie Monday to Friday during lock down and discovered new things.

On testing, I think there are a lot of "worried well" getting tests, which is easy because they are free and there are no controls. I know people who got the whole family tested because their son went to a party and a week later found out that the grandmother of person whose party it was had tested positive. She was not at the party and the birthday-boy had no symptoms, they should have waited until the birthday boy's family had been tested before getting tests themselves. They were not vulnerable. One of them has now had 3 tests, he had a cold, but it was a snotty cold with no cough. The tests are meant to be for people with symptoms and maybe their close contacts.

Monkey we love those Quorn chicken southern bites and cook them for fajitas and they taste yummier than the meat ones. Our DD went veggie for lent one year and we discovered all sorts of meat alternatives and try and eat meat free 2-3 times a week. Lentil cottage pie and stir fry being two firm favourites as well as the Quorn fajitas. We had a vegan friend over for lunch yesterday and we made a tabouleh salad, with roasted seasoned chick peas and roasted purple cauliflower. So yummy.

Love the 'pink tie' look Oblomov your DS looks so debonair.

DD has her first day of lessons and informed me she has a morning of frees then a two period dance lesson then another free. Think she's going to love Fridays! Frees have to be spent at school and she'll self study in the library area in the 6th form I guess. Wednesday is also a whole day of frees but again she has to be in school. I believe they will be starting some enrichment so perhaps it'll be on those two days. DD wants to do a first aid qualification, BSL and driving theory over her 6th form time.

@Oblomov20 That is a cracking list you’ve got there and I likewise dream of being rich enough to have a permanent chef. He/she would cook a variety of healthy and nutritious meals for each day and store them, ‘labelled up’ in the fridge. Everyone could then eat whenever they wanted.

I am not ashamed to say I have copied and pasted ‘your meals’ oblomov , to add to ours, only problem there are a few I don’t know how to make e.g. the chick peas were a disaster last time I tried but I’ll try them definitely. They sound delicious.

@Piggywaspushed Sorry to here everyone’s on tenterhooks now a Covid case has now been discovered. Would it be unreasonable to think we should all prepare ourselves for Covid reaching all bubbles eventually or is that too pessimistic?

‘Hear’.

Is it normal for a sixth form college to provide no textbooks at all and expect the parents to buy them instead?

Monkey, I will buy the quorn ones, Ds2 probably won't even notice!

They all turn up their nose at vegan options, despite me cooking lots because both my best friends are vegan.

I cook spiced butternut squash or pumpkin quite a bit. And sweet potato, paprika, mustard, radish, avacado, onion, tomato, white sesame seeds. Tasty.

Yes I think so re the textbooks - doubly so this year when they cant reuse them. We have had to buy textbooks in our DS' school since the start of GCSE.

I think DS's text books are all available on line now.

Our textbooks are all online. Paper textbooks seem to be a dying breed.

Shimy the cauliflower curry is really easy. But I choose to use a Pataks paste and add coconut milk and a tin of Passata.

Cut up a sweet potato into cubes and roast in oven in dash oil, salt and pepper.

2 cauliflowers cut up, with onions and mushrooms in a bit of oil in big frying pan/wok.

Add Pataks paste, coconut and passata. And later add the cooked sweet potato. And a drained tin of chickpeas.

Easy.

@Oblomov20 Thanks. I’ll definitely try that, even if ds1 doesn’t eat it, I know DH and I will .

All we eat is: Chilli, spag Bol, lasagne, I make cauliflower sweet potato and chick pea curry aswell, jacket potatoes, fajitas, enchiladas, roasts, salads, steak, chips and home made curry sauce grin, steak pie with steamed veg, fish and chips, sausages and mash, quiche and salad, home made chicken kebabs, burgers, beef casserole, shepherds pie, lamb shanks, gammon, pulled pork, paella, risotto

omg Ob, this has so much variety! I know what you mean though, DH keeps saying is it wrong to say to DD 'so which evenings are you not eating at home this week' so he can plan off plan dinners for the two of us.

btw, your son is looking very dapper in his suit and pink tie. Loving all the boy diet and weight gain regimes. I have a DD that consumes way above what she should, that somehow all goes to her hips and legs (5'8"), but I have to tread very carefully and she does keep very active. And she is one of the smaller girls in her school, in height at least.

Really hoping the odd case or two will not be sending too many of our DC back into the dark stay at home months. It would be unbearable now that they are all back into some kind of routine.

My understanding is that there will be 2 weeks at home for the bubble each time there is a case. DS seems to be in a bubble of the whole of Y12, so probably won't be long before he is home for a bit. As he is 50% on Teams anyway, it will only mean 5 extra days on Teams. Luckily for us both DH and I did 3/4 if his subjects, so should be able to help.

I find it odd that they are not wearing masks in common room.

@Oblomov20 you have a lot of variety there. Ours is mostly the same meals certain days of the week. Sunday roast (2 dc's don't eat potato, one doesn't eat veg apart from sweetcorn) Monday is chicken wraps (2 dc's won't eat the wraps but have pasta instead) Tuesday sausages (either with beans and mash but 2 dc's don't eat potato or beans so have tinned spaghetti) weds is curry (one dc only eats the rice) thurs is usually bolognese or a chilli (one picks every piece of veg out the other only has the rice) Then fri and sat I have run out of ideas, sometimes burgers in buns with salad. I find mealtimes so hard as they are fussy. The fussiness drives me insane. Ds1 is great and will eat anything. Ds2 is fussy but I can work with it. Ds3 is a complete nightmare. I swore I would have kids that were fussy with food. I got that wrong.

We have so much in common on this thread!

Roast - everybody eats
Steak - everybody eats
Pancakes - very popular
Pizza - so popular that I have a special indoor pizza oven (my top gadget)
Burgers - DS1 has halloumi burgers, DS2 has as much meat as poss
Lasagne - DS2's favourite, DS1 hates it
Pulled pork - DS1 loves it, DS2 hates it
Gammon- DS1 loves it, DS2 hates it
Curry - DS1's favourite, DS2 reluctantly tolerates it

The joys of being a parent.....

@icanbewhatiwant and @Monkey2001 hugely relating to everything you have written in those last two posts! I always say trying to find meals to feed my three is like that Meatloaf song “Two out of three ain’t bad” because for almost all meal options two will like something and one won’t...

so youngest two eat potato, eldest won’t
Eldest and youngest eat pastry, middle one won’t
Middle and eldest eat rice, youngest won’t
and so and and so on.

I swore I’d never have fussy children either!!

Yes pulled pork that is one they eat. Though ds3 won't if I've cooked it in a recipe with tomato in. Ds3 doesn't like anything in any kind of sauce, he calls it slop. Yet he asked me to buy him tinned ravioli to try, he likes that, I do have to drain the sauce off...but that really is slop. Ds1 is at university and will cook himself quite a few things. So he's fine. Ds2 wants to go to university in 2 years...he will live on pasta with salad. But ds3 goodness knows what he'd cook, he likes chicken nuggets, plain noodles and plain pasta with nothing on either of them. He won't eat fruit or much veg. just cucumber, peppers and sweet corn but not if I didn't put it in his plate. I love food so I just don't understand them. Packed lunches are difficult too. Ds3 doesn't really like bread at all. Ds2 isn't keen.