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

@piggywaspushed I feel for you having the more challenging one first! I feel like I’m just warming up for round 2!

That sounds very dubious about the Spanish teacher. Could you finance a tutor? It’s such a shame. Dd had a fantastic Spanish teacher at her old school. I assume the school isn’t in an academy trust or whatever, where they can share teachers?

Gosh Piggy that doesn’t sound great.
I think the tutor might be an idea ...

School in our area sent all yr11 home today for two weeks...

Amazed at all those of you struggling to persuade schools to let you drop the 4th A level - so frustrating, esp this year where you feel some flexibility to let them focus on their priority subjects would be sensible. In previous years I've wished our school would allow them to start with 4, but this year I'm grateful it's only an option for the further maths cohort.

@Piggywaspushed: is a tutor an option? Even an online student type tutor just to keep him moving and practicing his language would help I would have thought? My youngest is a languages fan (in and out of school - teaching herself various asian languages at the mo!) , and has learnt LOADS watching TV in different languages with subtitles on - might be an easy way to help?!

@pasanda: hope your dd had a useful session with your ex - even if it is frustrating! DS has dyslexia, and (apart from his horrific handwriting and complete inability to spell and capitalise properly!!) his challenge with organising and getting things on paper has been the hardest/most challenging thing to support. We did try lots of audio recording and ds looked at audio transcribing too: what sort of things work for your dd?

The teacher he ahs at the moment does speak and teach (in some form ) Spanish,and I do have some Spanish teacher connections for tutoring if need be. It's more the actual lessons and the ability to know how to teach to an A Level spec. it is honestly very difficult to teach without a command of education system, specs, exam styles etc...the teaching of the language is my smallest worry!

I'll give it til half term I reckon and see what happens.

Sorry to hear of problems with missing Spanish teacher Piggy , Que?
And shit Dyslexic support Pasandra.

We are on fire here. All is fabulous. Both boys make lunch the night before, pack their bags, spring out of bed at 7.05am and are leaving early to go to school. No stress. All homework is done. (there seems to be tonnes) Both boys are extremely happy.

I had year 7 zoom evening, and year 12 zoom tonight.

I was impressed with pp's whose dc had one week in, one week at home from the off. We have had no talk of anything, and we have no Microsoft teams, no zoom teaching, nothing set up. Worrying.

But fear not. I'm not gloating. Just because life is good for me right now. I know that an imminent disaster is always just around the corner. Ds1 being his difficult self (diagnosed ASD but refuted by primary and my children removed from our care and had to live with my Bil for 2 months whilst they claimed I had munchausens and Also as a type 1 diabetic since birth, apparently I "never should have been allowed to have children". Yes Really. They actually wrote that in the notes. )

So, I'll have the police, HoY or social services in my lounge before the year is out, for sure.

So I'm just enjoying this calm. Before the storm.

Long may it last oblomov! It certainly sounds like you drserve some good stuff going on.
Gosh, when we had newborn babies, did any of us think that parenting them would be so hard!!

That’s not great Pasanda. Hopefully it’s just a case of early days and the Covid stuff thrown everyone. Hard for her though, huge step up academically after so long off plus adjusting to new school, think needing an emotional punch bag fairly inevitable.

Piggy really hope the mythical Spanish teacher appears soon. I am sorry but I am laughing about DS1 and the blind!! DD has always been the one that I have had to think out the box for but so different from DS solutions I have for her don’t work for DS.

Sprouts our local school has some year groups off for 2 weeks. Really hoping the test being waited on at DS’s school is negative as he may well be home if it isn’t, though nor clear of a Yr 12 or 13. Not sure how I am worried how he will cope if he has to stay in his room with online lessons whilst waiting for someone’s test results but will cross that bridge if and when I have to.

Crazycrofter I did economics for all of 6 weeks. Long enough to make a friend whose DC have attended same school as mine (100 miles from where we grew up) so grateful I did but hated economics with a passion! Think you are wise to leave well alone.

Oblomov, so glad all is going well. Am really shocked at what you went through though.

Only one more night then DS back. He was busy last night so didn’t speak to him. DH asked him if free tonight and he said not sure. I don’t need him to really like it but to hate the boarding bit less than last week. Feel a bit sick already at what he will be like when meet him off train. DH coming with me to station as the hour’s drive home last week was grim.

On plus side DD has timetable and is able to do some online lessons at host university at sensible times of the day. Still waiting for borders to open. If they do soon will have to contend with that which on top of DS struggling feels way to much so I am not mentally going there until I have to. Feel physically rough with all the stress and my already up and down sleep pattern is absolutely shot, though did sleep last night.

Any suggestions for easy meals to feed about 15 I can suggest to DS for his next cooking session?

Hey Fools, do they have a big pot? All the ones on amazon look far too expensive and posh these days. We had an old one like this, that looked like it had died, but it worked a treat.

We, as a uni household used to cook up big batches, to feed us all.

Chilli?
Or no meat = cheaper : cauliflower, chickpea and sweet potato curry?

I would guess they do. Was thinking chilli, no vegetarians he needs to accommodate. Or something he can chuck in roasting tin and in oven in one go.

Will Something that you bung in a roasting tray be enough to feed 15 though?

He might have to do 2 trays. Pasta bake with meatballs? 2 trays would be as easy to prepare as 1. Later, Bung in a few garlic breads. Jobs a good'un. Students like that kind of stuff?

Fish pie is so easy if cheat with a can of soup for sauce. I just get the potatoes boiling, chuck can of fish soup/chowder in big dish with finely chopped leek & frozen peas & sweetcorn & packs of the "fish pie mix" (cod,salmon,haddock) into a big dish then place in oven to warm up. By then potatoes are done, mash & butter/season. Check the fish dish is bubbling but does not have to be thoroughly cooked, give good stir. Put mash on top & then plenty of grated cheddar. Back in oven for 10mins at 200.

Would think they have a couple of trays, if not he can bung them on the shopping list. Pasta bake a good idea as is garlic bread. Thanks 🙂

Seems like DD has the option of changing one of her subjects, so has a meeting after to school to discuss the possibility of swapping comp sci for Business. At least with that, none of them would have studied it before. Although she did the same spec at her school for CS, it seems the boys at her new school covered things in far more detail so she is having to try and learn more basic stuff which they have already done, before even starting with the A level content. It's really getting her down.

Seeline That was me back in the day with French. A whole tense not covered as different O level syllabus. Never really caught up.

@EwwSprouts I think that is her concern - if her school only covered the basics throughout the course, then this is never going to get any better! Hopefully they'll let her swap, and then she'll be in a better position to make an informed choice as to whether she wants to drop one of the 4 at Christmas.

@Seeline: ds is doing comp sci - it doesn't feel (from what he's told me, 90% of which is incomprehensible!) like an easy one to 'add on' given the specialist language and coding requirements. My impression is that decent comp sci teachers are gold dust too! Ds's school has one (& one not good one, who luckily only seems to teach the lower years!) and he flies through the syllabus, and builds in about half a year revision time/practice papers, so all the students always achieve great grades. I live in fear of him deciding to move out of teaching before DS completes his course! But it does mean it would be a bloody hard course to join as a newbie. Hope she manages to get it sorted.

Yes DS says that he is a long way in front of the technical aspects of his CS A Level compared to those in the school he has joined though they did a different language so he's learning that.

@Seeline he loves his business classes though. I think you are local to me btw. God that sounds a bit creepy.

Piggy. That made me laugh about the blind. I was following the uni thread you're on with him for a good few months last year as ds19 did A levels but took a gap year so I kind of dropped off it. I hope he's getting on ok. Sometimes I think I / my kids live in a different world to some on Mumsnet tho. I remember there was lots of talk about what to buy for dc off to uni. I think T-shirt folders were mentioned and people had been buying so much stuff. My ds has asked for nothing yet and all I've bought is a bottle of head & shoulders for him! I am determined to make him write a list but at this rate, I'll get off lightly and not have to buy him anything!! He goes in 10 days!!! 😵

@ChristopherTracy Good to hear your DS is enjoying business. I think DD was just taught what she needed to know for her GCSE, whereas her knew school seem to have taught Comp Sci if you know what I mean!

I saw your name on another thread which made me think we might be localish to each other - possibly neighbouring Boroughs. I'm LBC, are you LBS?

@FoolsAssassin I’d go for a pasta bake with jars of sauce and garlic bread! I really hope he’s had a better week this week.

Dd has just texted me talking about adding Spanish as a fourth subject! Not sure what happened to Economics but I won’t mention it.... I’ve no idea why she’s suddenly wanting to add a fourth, just as the work is starting to kick in. It must be something to do with who’s also doing Spanish! She loved Spanish at her last school but found it difficult and had to work really hard, plus she had a great teacher. She hasn’t touched it since March. She’s not a natural linguist.. none of it makes sense.

@FoolsAssassin I used to go on choir holidays staying in church halls when I was a student, and apart from pasta, a really good one is jacket potatoes with a choice of toppings - baked beans, cheese, chilli, tuna mayo. All easy and you don't need to manage a vast quantity of anything. Unless you are an experienced cook it is quite difficult to cook big pots evenly.

@pasanda I thought the T-shirt folder sounded ridiculous, then we watched the video and were captivated. I actually bought one(!) which DS1 refused to take but his GF loved folding his vast collection of T-shirts when we were helping him to pack, it did a beautiful job and was fast and sort of fun. She said taking the lovely neat pile out and putting them straight on the shelves was very satisfying! DS1 said he would be able to spot DCs of mumsnetters in the laundry room.

DD is just loving Spanish right now. As Piggy says, the language learning is not the only aspect, it becomes more about the culture, history, spread across regions etc. She says it absolutely fries her brain, as she wouldn't know half the things in English, let alone Spanish but is pushed to think in spanish. It helps if you are a fan of more than just the linguistic side of languages.

Ob, hats off to you. Enjoy the good streak; you deserve it. I have come across your story on other threads over the years (not stalking, honest!) and your challenges, to put it mildly have always been met with both dignity and resilience to the injustices.

Pasanda, I do understand it can't be easy. I do have an academic DD; it's not from her parents that's for sure. I was more like your DD, but lacked motivation with the school system (for many reasons). Years on when I talk to my mother about the issues she faced on having a more creative vs academically minded child mid 80's, she admits that she wishes she had focused more on what I was good at, vs what I wasn't, as now she sees intelligence in a very different context. But I was driven, and DD has possibly inherited that aspect. I think there was a compliment there somewhere...

Can't add much more to the great suggestions of dinner for 15 Fools, other than a chicken curry and pitta bread? Jar of Pataks what ever your spice tolerance if other spices are too complicated, couple of passata cartons, natural yogurt/cream, seasoning and voila.

And I hope I haven't made it sound like cooking for 15 is easy. I just come from a cultural background where the 'aunties' and odd uncle were all able to cook in the most gigantic steel pots curries for, I kid you not, 100s of people constantly coming through the doors of the million annual festivals. Amazing skills.

Yes @Seeline thats correct!