Starting Year 11 GCSE 2021 Thread 2

[indy69]

Just continuing on from thread one. Let's support each other through these difficult times. Here is the earlier thread. www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/3653238-Starting-Year-11-GCSE2021-title-edited-by-MNHQ

I think DD is looking forward to next week. Has plans to meet up with friends during the week for shopping and lunch. She has been doing a springpod course which she finishes on the 18. Went shopping for a prom dress, but listening to the news not sure if it will go ahead as planned. It is being held at school, so they have said there is some flexibility. She is hoping to move for sixth form but where is dependent on results, so still some stress.
We are going in on results day, then dash to various school(s)to register.
Just glad to see her relaxed this past week. We have been out most days for lunch, cinema or shopping and it has been great that we have not had to worry about any revision or school work. Just been Good to enjoy the sunshine and relax.

@ihearttc

I think DS is feeling rather strange as well. Half term has been really busy (I deliberately planned lots of stuff) but I think it’s going to feel really strange tomorrow. Good idea about picking up siblings…I also work in a school so DS2 normally walks up to my school (it’s a split site) as he is Y5 and we go home from there but he’d love his brother to get him one day!

DD is quite happy to go back as her old teachers will chat to her, DD2 usually walks up a bit and meets me as I leave work to get her used to walking alone ready for September, if DD stays at her sixth form they can walk together which will be nice as she's quite nervous to start secondary!

Lowther we're not too hopeful for prom now, hers is at a hotel so even less likely if 21/6 doesn't go ahead as planned

DS has finished now too. Very nice not to have to revise and worry about if we have the date correct for the many exams he had to sit! Now it's done I am less anxious.
Just hoping results are enough to get onto the next stage.
DS keeping busy with money making projects. He is so ambitious and such a hard worker but just didn't fit into the school shaped peg doing subjects he had no interest in!
Will start to look for part time work too but I don't think they can work properly until 1st July as that's the official end of school?
Been grateful for this thread to keep me going and hoping everyone can start to relax more now.

DD did her final assessment yesterday which i took into school and exchanged for her leavers hoodie. We are just delighted she managed to prep (in a very limited way) and sit some assessments at all. Now we can focus on getting her out and about in the world again. See you all on 12th August!

Yes see you all on 12 August. Wishing everyone good luck and hoping all our kids get the grades they have worked for and deserve. It has been a very hard slog for this cohort and just keeping their mental health stable has been very difficult. So glad is is over and done with and we can perhaps look forward to better days ahead. All the best.

Mine haven’t finished yet. They’re in doing ‘activity’ weeks. A lot of parents are annoyed at what’s been thrown together but it’s hard to see what could be arranged when teachers haven’t had the time and there’s hardly anything allowed. They were given an extra long half term so there has been some post exam respite.
Fingers and toes crossed that all our DC get deserved grades. Good luck everyone!

How's everyone?

Was just reading on another thread, nothing actually to do with exams, that Wales, not sure if we have any Welsh posters on this thread, have already released the GCSE results, A Levels next week so that students have a chance to appeal if they are not happy with the results being put forward

How, just how is there so much discrepancy in how this is being done.

Education is devolved, that's how.

I wonder whether had Michael Gove still been in charge of education they'd have just sat exams and that would have been that? Maybe teachers would have preferred it? Perhaps it's a case of watch out what you wish for!

I think there will be fewer appeals with results not being until August than there would be if provisional results were released now. With a bit of distance by August pupils will be looking forward to next steps and be less worried between a 7 and an 8 or a 4 and a 5, provided they have what they need for next steps.

Plus there is still some moderation / oversight isn't there, to stop schools inflating results too much? So telling pupils now provisional grades could cause all sorts of issues if a school is moderated down...

Ok, so prom postponed. Told it would go ahead on Friday but today email to say postponed and wait for what Boris says. Hope it will go ahead end of term. Disappointed but not unexpected. School are doing some masterclasses from next week but DD not sure if she will take part. Just told me she has applied for a summer job! Otherwise working on her music in the hope of taking face to face exams scheduled for November. She is not talking about grades/exams. Granddad's birthday to day. It was good to have a catch up and almost like back to normal. Hope your DC are able to relax and not worry about results or school too much

We’ve talked about vaccinating children and the side effects of myocarditis here before. I’m not sure if this is new data in the New York Times this morning…
The coronavirus vaccines made by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna may have caused heart problems in more than 1,200 Americans, including about 500 who were younger than age 30, according to data reported on Wednesday by researchers at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Still, the benefits of immunization greatly outweigh the risks, advisers to the C.D.C. said. They strongly recommended vaccination for all Americans 12 and older.

The heart problems are myocarditis, inflammation of the heart muscle; and pericarditis, inflammation of the lining around the heart. The risk is higher after the second dose of an mRNA vaccine than the first, and much higher in men than in women. Researchers do not know why.

But the side effect is very uncommon, just 12.6 cases per million second doses administered.

C.D.C. researchers estimated that every million second doses given to boys ages 12 to 17 might cause a maximum of 70 myocarditis cases, but would prevent 5,700 infections, 215 hospitalizations and two deaths.

Agency researchers presented the data to members of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, which makes recommendations on vaccine use in the United States. (The scientists grouped together pericarditis and myocarditis for reporting purposes.)

Most cases were mild, with symptoms like fatigue, chest pain and disturbances in heart rhythm that quickly cleared up, the researchers reported. Of the 484 cases reported in Americans under age 30, the C.D.C. has definitively linked 323 cases to vaccination. The rest remain under investigation.

Ooops wrong thread!!!

I asked already on one of these threads, and am going to ask again incase I've missed it....what have you been told about taking actual exams in the autumn?

I understand there will be the usual Maths and English resits, but what about those who think threy could have achieved a better result than awarded? Has anybody's school addressed what will happen?

School have said that ofqual expect that students will be able to sit all subject exams with adjustments agreed for this summer exams but since things change at the last moment who knows! School have also said they will support as much as possible even for those students who have moved for sixth form. Not much help. Sorry!
We have been sent via teams extra work and masterclasses to attend up until the end of term. DD is thinking of attending her A level choices. Reading history tonight whilst watching football

@LynetteScavo

I asked already on one of these threads, and am going to ask again incase I've missed it....what have you been told about taking actual exams in the autumn?

I understand there will be the usual Maths and English resits, but what about those who think threy could have achieved a better result than awarded? Has anybody's school addressed what will happen?

iirc I asked a while back about how many actually bothered to retake things last year and it was pretty low. (I expect noble or piggy or someone kindly provided the link / picture).

I personally think that unless the result is really needed most young people will be too focused on their new courses to want to revise the whole subject for a full retake. Retaking just because you are disappointed you got a 6 not a 7 or whatever is probably not a great use of time.

But what if it was Maths / English and you got a 4, but had been working all summer because you expected a 3. What if you'd worked so hard you think you could now achieve a 5?

School are ignoring my emails asking about this.

I see what you mean. (If I were the DC though I'd be so delighted with the pass I wouldn't want to push my luck!)
I expect that either the school haven't got a clue, or they feel that talking about retakes comes under 'discussing results' which isn't allowed?

@TeenMinusTests - as they get to choose the higher of the two grades there is nothing to lose!

DS retook and went from a 3 to a 5, so I really think it could be worth it. When you have a DC who struggles academically you get used to fighting for every little piece of success.

When you have a DC who struggles academically you get used to fighting for every little piece of success.
I know what you mean there.

If DD gets a 3 for her maths she could well get a 5 on the retake (out of education for y11), but if she gets a 4 no way will she want to sit 5.5hrs of maths exams just to try to go up a grade!
However we decided no schoolwork until results come out. Then we have 4 weeks before college starts as needed to both do maths if needed and get a bit of a headstart on the biology needed for her college course.

Just got DS's last Y11 report and had a cry because he's done so well despite struggling through the last two terms with chronic fatigue. I have everything crossed for good grades in August.

WhatHave

Just realised there is less than 6 weeks until results day.
(or should that be there are fewer than 6 weeks?)

Well done to your DS and you @WhatHaveIFound.
How is everyone's DC holding up? Keeping busy?
DD has engaged in some of the on line work but mainly catching up on reading when she wakes at midday!

DD is ploughing through some enormous reading lists. The one for Classical Civilisation is rather long! She seems to be really enjoying the reading which is a good sign. She has had a tough couple of weeks due to a family bereavement so we are extra proud of her and how she has coped.

She has got a job tutoring and enjoying that but it is only a few hours a week - however it seems to pay more than working an entire day in the coffee shop they refused to give her job as she had no experience despite offering to work for a couple of days for free to learn how to use the equipment.

No news on what will happen on results day yet from the school.

DS is doing some of the bridging work and has his 6th form induction on Tuesday. He has applied for over 20 jobs and only had one interview, he finds out next week if he was successful. Tbh I’m not really bothered. There is only a few weeks until I finish (I work in a school) then we are going to Edinburgh for a week then it’s nearly results day.