Corona Cohort - Year 12 - 2021 - NO 'Self isolating' please.

[Oblomov20]

We just want our kids in school. Please. If at all possible.

And driving lessons. And good Mental Health. And happiness.

In-and-amongst all this Covid nightmare and lockdown debacle.

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May I join please? Haven't read the whole thread but could do with support. I have a DS doing Further Math, Economics and Physics. Keen on doing economics at university. He seems to be doing ok but hard to tell as he is a very stoic and uncommunicative sort!

Welcome aboard frequent. I think there's quite a few of us here familiar with the grunting & uncommunicative sort. Lots of good advice and supportive mners here, so feel free to post away.

Thanks, Shirny.

Hi Frequent and welcome. DS has been a very grunts sort but just starting to emerge from it.

I listened to a talk on the current consultation process for this year’s exams which was very interesting and gave a fair bit of insight as to what year 13 looks like in a normal year at DS’s college.

I'm intrigued by this talk of backpacks ;-)

Welcome to the gang @Frequentflier

Ds - having always, always thought he wanted to do comp sci at uni - or though a uni apprenticeship route (& consistently loved and performed extremely extremely well in comp sci) is suddenly having a wobble as he's loving his psychology course so much. And his psy grades are the best too.

So he's looking at both courses now ;-) The exploration seems to be somewhat slow (& I'm resisting the urge to take over as he does seem to have some sort of ownership of it, although the sound of those lovely spreadsheets with details of travel time etc is making me a bit itchy ;-).

DS said yesterday he wants to be back at school now :-( He's doing OK, and his report (although not detailed) was very positive. But he's conscious he's not working at the level he can work at and not doing his 'best work'. Plus missing his mates of course. He's on the autistic spectrum and in lots of ways home working suits him. But even he has had enough now ...

Hello @Frequentflier - tricky to be a frequent Flyer now!

So we are off now until at least 8th March, sigh. I think it will be after Easter. Hope that the govt agrees to put teachers at the top of the next vaccine cohort.

@Monkey I am also hoping that teachers are prioritised, it's just common sense.

Vaccinating teachers would be a step in the right direction but doesn’t look like there is clear evidence yet about transmission- so if the numbers are still high I suspect March 8 will come and go - even if teachers have been vaccinated which I doubt is feasible by then.

I am an expat and only just arrived in the UK, hence the name. I picked a good time, didn't I? Really did not anticipate it would get this bad.

I was expecting the 8th March announcement and frankly do not expect them to open until Easter. Dh is vulnerable and I am selfishly hoping he gets vaccinated first.

DH is vulnerable too Frequentflier and hoping there is some chance he may be vaccinated before DS is back in but not sure that is realistic . A CEV friend in next county along had hers this week which was unexpected and encouraging.

@Monkey2001 I agree in regard to vaccinating teachers!
I’ve broken down the 8th of March ‘earliest’ to DD as:
2 weeks until half term, then a week and a bit off followed by another 2 weeks before you can go back to school.
The ‘go back to school’ is more ‘you can then mingle - in some form- with your mates and escape being cooped up in your room’
Academically wise, because of her online provision, I have no concerns but as a ‘party animal’ - for want of a better phrase - I’m concerned
Scary thing is and apologies in advance for being a ‘harbinger of doom’ our CC are now half way through Yr12

Proggy 😮 I hadn’t thought of them being halfway through the year.

DS’s school said at the start that they are prepared to teach online till Easter so that’s been in my mind. I’ve prepared DS for that and anything earlier is a bonus.

Spoke to his tutor, his class are very quiet. Missing their induction week and social distancing definitely impacted how they have bonded. They mostly all live a distance away so not the scenario that they can see each other out of school easily when the time comes they can. Sad but we are where we are and I am going to try to think outside the box a bit for the summer depending on restrictions.

Yes ds3 in year 7 told me he's half way through his first year at secondary. A strange first year in a new school for him too.

It's so sad for all of them. Dd is desperate to get back, after finally breaking into the 'right' group just before Christmas. She's spent loads of time chatting to them since then, so that's good, but it's not the same as hanging out in the common room at lunch is it?

I'm desperate for ds to go back as I can't take the organising and nagging her requires! And I'm really worried that he's doing the bare minimum. And he needs to be socialising too of course.

Does anyone think the lockdown experience will bring a new appreciation for 'school' amongst the young? I imagine them going back excited and facing their studies head on with renewed gusto. Cutting school might just have lost it's charm.

I'm saying this because I grew up in a family/country where children constantly kept under lock and key. I was sad when the holidays came and delirious with excitement when school resumed.

I think for some Shimy, yes. Actually ds has never been that enthusiastic about school, often felt ‘ill’ in the morning, complained about the journey etc. I noticed a significant difference last term. He says he’s fine at home but I think he appreciated school last term

I know my little niece is desperate to get back, for some children school is a great heap of fun.

Just checking in with you all. Have read all posts.

Who is going to start the next thread? We need a good title and a link. We need to be organised , puts headmistress cap on, not last minute dot com, like mine/this one was. tut tut.

AND. Mn rules. No one posts the 1000th post, that blocks it full at 1k, until we have at least got a link to the new thread.

Ok.

You can all turn around from the blackboard. And come off the naughty step now!

I think DS will have a new appreciation for school at the end of this. Discussion with tutor last night was really interesting as they wanted to know how the online learning is going.

DS finds computer science to be the hardest online , followed by physics. Maths and FM working very well and he knows exactly where he is with that but more unsure of how he is doing in physics and I think that’s holding him back a bit on making decisions about degree subject.

The online provision is really good and the teaching staff have been great , they do a fair amount of work in small groups and have graphics tablets.

But we concluded that the feedback from others in the class that you don’t actually realise you are getting until you don’t get it , makes a big difference. He was saying the small groups are good but how hard it is for the teachers. They have to proactively join a group whereas in the classroom they can hear conversations and as a result go over and help them expand on a concept.

DS is apparently very good at contributing and apparently his class are very quiet, in real life and also online - the online aspect highlights it more. It was an interesting discussion and the 3 of us continued it after our time with Tutor was over. I think DS will definitely have a new appreciation for face to face teaching after this, though very grateful for what he has at the moment in the circumstances.

I wouldn't say that happened after last lockdown hate to say. Not so much our age group but the slightly younger ones (my schools goes form year 9) showed a distinct deterioration in behaviour as last term wore on. I think partly because they don't have to do what adults do (SD. wear masks and so one) an awful lot of them had quite a sense of exaggerated teenage entitlement . I think lots of parents have come to appreciate school and its necessities more!

Sorry, glum post...

Morning, I know we did all this before Christmas but anyone got any 17yo boy present suggestions? He doesn't want to learn to drive yet and isn't into gaming apart from a bit of time using the Switch. Main interests are football and hockey, also history and the countryside (he likes camping, walking etc).

I got my son a tent for Xmas but has not used it yet:(

Ds2 was pleased to get back to school in sept. and start 6th form. He hadn't done anything really since 20th March. I think he will be pleased this time too. He does spend all his spare time messaging his friends, speaking on FaceTime or he games with them and yells down his headset. So I feel he still does a lot of socialising with his friends. Which is good.

But ds3 (11) only messages one friend (from primary school) and that isn't often. He wasn't at secondary school long enough to get details of friends, maybe if they'd known they weren't going back after Christmas they may have exchanged details. So I feel he is missing out socially as will many other youngsters. So for that reason I'm looking forward to the return to school. But I really want dh vaccinated first as he is a slightly higher risk group. But I don't think he will have had a one before they return.

Lurking for any great birthday suggestions too, @EssentiallyDelighted: and any great lockdown celebration ideas?!?!?