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

We were told tests at half term to see whether they could carry on with the courses or not. Especially for those that are doing 4.

@Piggywaspushed We have had a nightmare with teachers coming from abroad this term - because of COVID all the visa applications were delayed. One arrived today but now has to quarantine for 2 weeks before they can even go out to find permanent accommodation etc. Another seems to have gone AWOL altogether. And of course it’s too late to find anyone else.

DD’s first day today- induction yesterday.
Timetable wise, over 2 weeks, she has 10 hours per A level subject, 4 hours for EPQ, 4 hours for enrichment courses and 1 afternoon of games each week.
‘Independent learning’ expectation is 15-20 hours per week, spread over ‘study periods’, evenings and weekends.
Class sizes for her 3 A level subjects are: 10, 7, 4
Normal ‘perks’ of being able to nip in and out of school during lunch times and ‘frees’ are currently suspended,

I'm very dubious who this person is they have dredged up tbh!!

@PaddingtonPaddington- that sounds like the CEM suite of baseline tests?
At DDs old school she did MidYis in Yr7, Yellis in Yr10 and would have done Alis in Yr12, if she’d stayed for Sixth Form.
We haven’t been told that her new school use these baseline tests.

@icanbewhatiwant another parent of a tiny 16yo DS here. 5'2" and no idea of weight but very, very slim, age 13 trousers are big on him. It doesn't generally bother him but sometimes he gets mistaken for a y9 which winds him up or a twin to his 14yo sister who is the same size and height. He plays disability football (he has SENs) and mainstream hockey. Their dad is short too and I'm only 5'5". It would be useful to have one tall person in the family I must admit.

@Piggywaspushed Surely they would’ve quarantined in time for today’s class? You’d think so wouldn’t you?

Place marking. DD with ASD had her first week start this Monday on a co.pletely different setting with 3 hrs travel per day...So far so good. We'll see...

It’d be nice if our short ds’s could meet some short boys their age so they doesn’t have to feel like they’re the shortest persons in the world. DS has always been the shortest every year of school.

Mine's always been the second shortest but his shorter friend from yr7-11 has gone to a different 6th formso he takes the crown.

My Ds is very short. He was born tiny and grew very slowly. When he stRted secondary aged 11 he was wearing 7-8 clothes. Before lockdown he was in age 12-13 clothes but he’s shot up recently and is now in age 14-15 or primary xtra small.

@EasilyDeleted glad to hear there is another small one. I'm only 5'2" but I guess that's not that small for a woman. DH is 5'9" though so fairly average. So no idea why ds2 is small.

Thanks @Shimy I'm sure he will be happy with his size. Yes...I think the gym would help.

Ds said this evening he's really enjoying 6th form. I smiled to myself and wondered if he will feel the same in a few months. He's been cooped up in his bedroom the best part of 6 months so it must feel great to get out and see his friends. Ds1 said he remembers all the free periods to start with in year 12 they used to all chat and play games, but soon there will be work set to be done in free periods. It won't be so much fun then.

It's all very cloak and dagger shimy. the MFL assistant implied the teacher was still in America!

Yes @Shimy ds has been the smallest boy for all his school life. In secondary he got to year 9 before there was a smaller boy in year 7.

@PaddingtonPaddington. My DD had baseline tests last week (alis). They are doing screening tests next week (dyslexia, processing etc).

I read that some of the outbreaks in schools at the start of term were due to teachers who had been abroad. Obviously they would not have known before going away that they would have to quarantine on return.

@PaddingtonPaddington. DS did Alis tests last week too on induction day. DD (Y9) did MidYIS tests on the same day too.

Max class size of 16. Selective Indy. Textbooks received so far for Maths & Physics. All brand new this year for obvious reasons - normally, they are inherited from the previous year and are a tad dog eared. Most work to be submitted online. Still researching laptops to take to school for the free study periods. There is too much choice.
DS is also doing Computing & DT so wants a decent HD so no chromebooks.

Sorry to barge in on this thread but tonight at half past nine my dd got an email from the college, specifically the art teacher, saying she unfortunately doesn't have the gcse grades to do A levels'

Now we actually know this. But she's spoken to A level people, has an email from the head of A levels, has her timetable, ID badge and went to an orientation session yesterday. Been told her first week is online, then the next week in college.

She is distraught. It's not the first time she's been told this - it's like an emotional rollercoaster . She's always been honest about her grades but to be told you can, then you can't, then you can and now you can't do A levels is just awful. She's bought loads of stationery and clothes and is so excited.

Can they do this? So late on? Surely all the other courses will be full by now.

She would have been gutted if she was told 2 weeks ago she couldn't do them but would have accepted it and moved on.

I'm just hoping the this art teacher will talk to the people we have and let her on. I've no idea what she will do otherwise.

Do they offer a Btec instead?

@pasanda what a horrible situation!

First, the other courses will not all be full, there is usually a fair bit of movement in the first few weeks of the year.

Second, the school should not say yes then no. Definitely a good idea to go back the the Head of A Levels, or forward something to the art teacher showing that the school confirmed she could go ahead with her grades.

Good luck!

No. It's either 3 A levels or a level 3 course of say media makeup, accountancy or visual arts for example which is worth the same as 3 A levels. The trouble is, dd doesn't fancy any of the 'courses' as most are quite vocational.

passanda, that’s awful! How does the art teacher have the jurisdiction to overrule what your DD has been told by the head of A levels?
I’m not surprised your SD is distraught - it beggars belief that this has come up after orientation!

Not great news here - DD is still unwell.
She made it through a whole day at school yesterday, but has got up this morning feeling dreadful and has been sick.
We are pretty sure it’s gastritis, causes by 5 months of anxiety and daily coke/coffee/chocolate, but it’s not going to get better overnight and without treatment.

Pulling my hair out at the thought of her missing any more education.

@pasanda I'm so sorry to hear the issues you're having with the college - that's awful. I hope you can get something resolved soon.

@Alsoplayspiccolo are you sure it's not her appendix? What a nightmare for you. It sounds too severe to be simply caused by anxiety? Dd has been having tummy aches and not feeling able to eat, but she knows it anxiety about school. I keep telling her she will get through it - but your dd sounds really poorly.

A class at ds' school was sent home to isolate due to a covid case yesterday, so I'm wondering how long we will get at school this term anyway!

crazy, were pretty sure it’s gastritis, which is basically inflammation or erosion of the stomach lining.
DD is a stress head by nature, but she’s also spent lockdown drinking coke and coffee, and eating chocolate and ice cream, which are apparently the worst culprits.
I think it’s the perfect storm of physiological and psychological factors that’s triggered it.