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

My dd has 4.5hrs teaching per subject per week.

To begin with 2x45 min sessions with tutor a week for first 4 weeks then it drops to 1x45min tutor session a week.

Lots of free ‘study’ periods or time for enrichment activities which they are supposed to pick one of per term either sports, arts or another short course. Or a combination of them if they want.

Dd has to be in for earlier start 3 days a week and has a later finish 2 days a week.

She’s going to hold off on the finding a job front until after half term- give her a good start with making a good effort in the course work and see how it’s working out after that. Just didn’t want to overload her too soon especially as I think she will need time to adjust back into the study routine plus the extra travelling time that she didn’t have before as she’s chosen not to stay at local 6th form at her old school.

We have 9 hrs per fortnight at my place DS has 10 at his with these crazy not quite 3 hour lessons! That's a hell of a lot of planning ahead from a teacher perspective!

So I’ve just checked DD’s timetable- 3 x 1 hour lessons a day (3 subjects), 1 x supervised study period a day and one ‘free’ period (except for one day a week which has a period of ‘enrichment’ instead.) One period of voluntary games on a Wed afternoon instead of the free if that option is taken.

She has a 10 minute registration period every day in the morning but no longer tutor time.

DS has 5 timetabled lessons (lessons roughly each an hour, they vary in length due to the school enforcing staggered starts) in each subject but varies between subjects whether they are all taught lessons or a mixture of taught and study.

@Piggywaspushed - Those class sizes are huge for A-Level! DD1 has 12 in her history class apparently - that’s one of the more popular classes. I can only feel grateful not to have to fill 3hr lessons with my lot. They are wilting after 10 minutes (really hope they build up some stamina soon!).

@Alsoplayspiccolo Hope DD is feeling better soon.

Thanks everyone for the A level lesson structure feedback. Sounds as if DS's is within usual range then! Trying to impress on him the importance of using free periods to get work done rather than faffing about...time will tell whether that gets taken on board.

Good luck to all Y12 DC and parents for tomorrow. It'll be my first full school day with no DC in the house since 20 March!

Dd is feeling really anxious about the week ahead. She says she finds the big groups of boys really intimidating. It’s strange as although she’s been at a girls school for five years, she’s always had plenty of male friends outside school.

She’s also already worrying about coping with the work load! She’s such a worrier.... and we’re still waiting for her therapy sessions (originally referred her in Jan and se had a telephone interview to assess her in maybe June!).

@FlyingPandas I had a (short) day without either of mine on Friday. It was really odd!

I am not looking forward tot he marking for my huge A Level groups! Google Classroom does make it easier though as you can mark stuff as it comes in.

I am jealous of a class of 12 : it's pretty much the ideal size.

Just had my first email from a year 11 asking for work as she is quarantining!

Thanks for sharing that article, Sarahbeans, and thanks for the good wishes, crazy, ealing, flying and Orange.
Thankfully, DD hasn’t got a temperature, vomiting or diarrhoea - if she had, I’d definitely be insisting on a test.
She seems happier tonight and has eaten roast dinner, so I’ll see how she is in the morning.

DD's only had one lesson so far - maths. I think he said they were about 20 in the group, and there are 2 maths groups. Be interesting to see how large his other classes are.

Glad that DD seems to be picking up piccolo

DS has 30 or so in his classes apart from one. I was surprised but there we are.

DS has not had any lessons yet, they start on Wednesday. He is really hoping that he manages to make some friends on Wednesday as only 1 of the people he tried to talk to at the induction session responded. I can't decide whether to contact the Head of Sixth Form to ask whether the teachers are going to encourage people to be nice to starters from other schools. I think he would want to know, but it seems a bit of a parachute parent thing to do! Normally they would have had an induction day in the summer which would make it easier.

Double checked DS's timetable - it's 13 lessons not hours per subject per fortnight which equates to approx 10 hrs per fortnight.

Minkey I would hold off just for a moment but if it is an issue when he starts then I would .

Good luck to everyone today.

Good luck everyone.
Hoping dd is ok piccolo.
Ds1 has a recent job at Sainsbury's, I'm liking the fact I will get 10% off, once he finishes his training.

I haven't asked how many free periods he has. I will. I too fear he won't use his free periods for solid study, instead mucking about. I'll mention that.

I did talk to him, based on pp advice, re putting date, and teachers initials on every handout etc, and filing weekly, monthly, with quarterly filing checks.

Doubt he'll take a blind bit of notice and we'll have utter chaos by Xmas!

Morning.

Dd is all sniffly and has a sore throat this morning. It started last night but we thought it might just be allergies as she’d spent time at a friend’s house who have a cat and sometimes she does react a bit. Definitely seems like a cold though. I’m oddly irritated by it, just because she’ll be tired and it’s not the best start to her first full week. I’m going to give her a lift today so (so she can conserve her energy ) but she’ll have to walk after that as I’m working the rest of the week. No Covid symptoms btw, just nose and throat, no cough/temp.

How is your dd @Alsoplayspiccolo?

DD was fine when she went to bed, but she’s white as a sheet this morning and says she has abdominal pain and feels terrible.
No school for her and a phone call to the GP. 😞
I’m worried about her, and stressed about her potentially missing a whole heap of school, just when she really needs to be in and getting to grips with everything.

greenele, I’m irrationally irritated by the situation with DD (my chaotic hormones aren’t helping!) - I know it’s not her fault she’s not well, but it’s such bad timing. She slept over at a friend’s last week, and told me that said friend’s dad doesn’t believe in Covid, doesn’t believe in masks etc.

@Alsoplayspiccolo on no, what a nightmare! I would be exactly the same - really worried about dd missing the important settling in days. But I’m sure she’ll be fine. Hope she feels better soon - and hope it’s not Covid!

Oh no @Alsoplayspiccolo: hope she feels better soon! And hope your ds manages to break into some friendship groups soon @Monkey2001. I was delighted that both dd and ds mentioned that they were making a special effort to talk to new kids this year as (prompted by comments on here) we'd had a chat about how hard it would be to start this year with everything so weird. DS has only two lessons today and the rest is all free! As he hasn't got any homework to do I suspect he's going to have an easy day!! He's been giving it some chat about getting on top of making revision cards now, but I don't think he's actually taken any in, so not holding my breath on that one ;-)

Thanks, crazy.
I honestly don’t think it’s Covid, but of course if the GP insists on testing, she’ll have to isolate until the results come back.
If it’s not that, I’ve got no idea what it could be - grumbling appendix? Ulcer?
My catastrophising brain is already imagining all sorts.

Oh @Alsoplayspiccolo what a nightmare. Hope she feels better soon. I can completely understand your frustrations though. My youngest has had a cold over the weekend and my immediate (silent, in my head) reaction was a kind of “oh ffs, already?!” So frustrating when it’s the start of the year. Is there any way it might be new school nerves related do you think? I only ask because I know with DS1 any kind of nerves often manifest as bad stomach pains/feeling sick. Hopefully the GP can shed some light.

Thinking of your DC too @Monkey2001 and @crazycrofter and hope they find some friendly people to get to know this week. So nerve racking, I really feel for them. I’m hoping that for all our dc, once classes start properly there will be a natural development of student friendships as they begin to work and study together. DS is lucky in that he has a few friends going to the same sixth form as him but he won’t be in actual classes with any of them as all studying different subjects. He struggles socially at the best of times so I feel nervous for him too.

DS has headed off for his first full day today - well I say a full day, that’s two lessons and a tutor session! This sixth form lots of free period timetable malarkey is going to take a bit of getting used to after full days of lessons at school. Then again this year perhaps it’ll benefit them to ease in gently!

Sending positive vibes to all for the first full week.

@Alsoplayspiccolo worth keeping an eye out if you think it might be appendicitis. Dd had that in year 7 (also felt like bad timing as it was first term in a school where she knew no one and I think she missed 3 weeks or so!). She had stomach ache on and off for a week or so then severe sickness. Hopefully it’s not that though!

@Monkey2001 I hope your ds finds some friendlier people today. It makes me so cross that 16 year olds can be so rude and unkind! My sister started at a new sixth form college knowing no one and nobody spoke to her until after half term! Awful. I’m glad to hear of all the kind students on here who are looking out for newbies!

Oh Piccolo, what rotten timing , so sorry to hear that and hope she is ok.

Let’s hope that it’s a good day for them all. Realistically there are going to be some teething problems , I do think the Covid situation adds another layer of stress.

First Monday station run was pretty smooth. He got a little lost other end but has arrived with 30 mins to spare. He has his headphones with mic attached so hopefully easier to hear him this week.