Thread 14? Corona Cohort Yr 12 2021 - 'Vaccinations and Eliminations'

[orangecinnamon]

Just place marking for the New Thread!

@Heifer that sounds good about the exercise. Our school wanted all pupils to walk, run, cycle etc the distance to Korea. They had to upload proof of their distance. But they didn't have to do it. Ds3 did a few walks. But ds2 (the year 12) called him a weirdo for taking part.

Ds2 wont do anything outside the house. I can't even get him to drive the car for practice. He says it's boring and pointless if he can't have lessons.

I heard him discussing with his friends who had stayed in the house the longest. Then ds2 said, oh...I went for a drive in the car a few weeks ago, does that count?

I am definitely looking forward to them going back. But it'll be early school years in March. I can't see ours returning then.

I think it is looking quite promising for mid March. I think exams years might go back 8th March and then the others on 22nd March for a couple of weeks before Easter.

Our discovery today is that DS2 has realised that being a GP would fit well with what he wants from work. He is not doing Chemistry or Biology so the only place he can apply to medicine in Y13 is Newcastle, but I think he stands a good chance of getting through. If he still feels like this in a couple of months, he will probably drop further maths and do AS Biology in Y13 with a plan to do A level Biology in "Y14". Bit of a swerve there!

We just had a letter from school with report in the post. It tells us there will be an important assembly for year 12's on 4th feb about exams. That's the assembly ds slept through 🙈

It goes on to say there will be mocks after Easter whether in school or online. Then there will be AS levels in the summer held as normal in school, they will sit them as official exams but not get certificates and they won't get an actual AS grade like last years pupils did.

Ds's attainment grade for history has gone down from B to C. That is the subject he would do at university if he decides to go. I'm sure he will get the grades back up again when he returns to school. Target is B for all of them and distinction for business. Target grades were spot on for ds1 so I can only assume they will be for ds2.

Can you ask school if they recorded the assembly? DS's school have sent one or two email links to recordings of the year specific assemblies to keep parents in the loop.

I'm sure attainment grades for many will pick up again when back in school.

Just booked DD into an invest in - Architecture course - online in March.
She also wants to go on a Summer one in London. Its rather a lot of money.
Lots of different courses are available.
She's already been told her schools normal work experience contacts are not available due to Covid this year. So this looks a good option.

It says in the letter students will continue with their NEA coursework or an adaptation of it as preparation for year 13 NEA work. Anyone know what this is? Ds just shrugged when I asked. I'm sure he knows exactly what it is..,he just enjoys me not having a clue.

@icanbewhatiwant DS's school has all the syllabus info on their website - might be worth a look.

Do you just mean what is NEA? It's the newfangled word for coursework . A limited number of subjects have NEA these days.

Yes just NEA. Thanks @Piggywaspushed I did google NEA but didn't really say what it is.

So his course may not have it anyway if it's only a limited number of courses. So maybe ds didn't know then.

History has NEA...they most likely haven't started it, though.

Ah ok. Thanks @Piggywaspushed it's nothing I need know about then.

I shouldn't think so(yet!).

Teta DS went on one of those a while back, the 'Business' one. They're quite good, though terribly expensive but ds came out feeling very confident and inspired. Hope your DD enjoys it.

Wow, just looked up the two week immerse in engineering summer course. It is £4,795 , blimey there is expensive and there is ridiculous!

For those interested in work experience in economics/maths/business, DS' teacher has sent the following. Hope it is of use to some of you.

. Ideas for work experience and volunteering:-
It’s great that you did the online course in Financial Markets for which you submitted peer-reviewed essays and did tests, gaining a certificate at the end. It is also great that you have applied for virtual work experience via Springpod in Finance, and with HSBC and Rothschild. I hope you get onto those and get a lot from the experience!

Further Virtual Work Experience:
Look out for emails we send you about the latest virtual work experience opportunities.
Search for your own by Googling “Virtual work experience in Finance or Economics” etc. to see if anything appeals to you.
Useful organisations which list virtual work experience opportunities are: Springpod, Student Ladder, Forage, Investment20/20 and the Changing Education Group.

Volunteering: Search “Volunteering Near Me” to discover local opportunities that are going on at the moment. If these relate to your interests or future study ideas, even better.

Other Economics-related ideas for you to consider:-
Summer Schools offer students the chance to explore subjects, prepare for university and experience a challenging approach to learning. Courses are offered in Economics, Maths, Law, Politics, Philosophy and many others. Go to: debatechamber.com/summerschools.
InvestIN Education Summer Internships – offer a range of courses including Young Investment Banker internships. Go to: htps://investin.org to have a look at the details.
Student Ladder lists a huge range of work experience (currently virtual) opportunities in all sectors including:- Finance & Banking, Accountancy firms (PWC, EY, Grant Thornton) and many others. Have a look at the wide range on offer:- www.studentladder.co.uk
Investment 20/20 is a careers site offering a huge range of internships (virtual at the moment) and networking events and where you can learn about all the roles involved in the investment management industry such as finance, sales, marketing, legal and HR, as well as the mathematical and IT-related jobs. Go to: Investment2020.org.uk.

University of Exeter Pre University Summer Schools – in Business, Management & Economics. For more details, email [email protected], visit: www.exeter.ac.uk/international/preunisummerschool or contact 01392 726906.
John Locke Institute Summer School is for students wanting to explore university-level Economics and other subjects. For more details visit: www.johnlockeinstitute.com/summer-school

2. Supra-curricular Ideas – think about what else you could do to enhance your Personal Statement. NB: Remember universities aren’t interested in simply what activities you’ve done but what you gained from them and what they inspired you to research further in your own time:-

Free University Taster lectures – Attending these is a great way to gain ideas for extra reading and research, which universities love to see on your Personal Statement. As they are virtual at the moment you can access and book onto any lecture now, regardless of the university’s geographical location:
Google “Taster lectures online” for the full range of what is on and when.
For London uni lectures, go to london.ac.uk to book onto these.
For a specific university’s taster lectures, go to its individual website to see what’s on offer.
Gresham Lectures: These are well-respected virtual lectures in a range of topics such as Finance, Maths, Law, Astronomy, Philosophy and many more. Go to www.gresham.ac.uk/schools.
MOOCs/EdEx courses - Keep up with extra reading around your subjects. Consider doing MOOCs (Massive Online Open Courses) www.mooc-list.com during the summer holidays and any essay competitions available. These again are great to discuss in your Personal Statement.
Oxbridge Masterclasses – Have a look at this site www.Oxbridgemasterclass.com because it offers a wealth of information about applying for and studying your chosen subject at Oxbridge. Watching their videos and tutorials could help you decide on your final degree choice and are good to discuss in your Personal statement i.e. what you learned and what that encouraged you to research further.

No Shimy, this is our first report.

FrequentFlier , thanks I think quite a lot of that could apply to Ds1. I wonder how much of it I can get him to take up.....

@20newnames yes the summer courses are so prohibitive. I think they're aimed at very wealthy international students. Dd wants to do a similar one in the summer but some schools eg. Bartlett have cancelled the Architecture course for 2021 already. I would be concerned that many may not go ahead, plus the risk of all those mixing unvaccinated students. Saying that wealthy Chinese students have reputedly all been vaccinated over the Xmas holiday. I'm not sure re. Other countries.

For those looking at apprenticeships apparently UCAS apprenticeship week next week with online activities

here

Also big virtual fair
www.vfairs.com/

I don't know why that changes ...anyway you will need to Google 'National Apprenticeship Show' as it won't let me post the link...sorry peeps .

after reading through the cost of some of the ‘work experience’ aimed at Yr12.
Obscene !
Anyhoo, my friend’s DD ( northern lass) is now in her 3rd year of a maths degree at a London University
In the spring of her first year she did a 2 weeks internship at major investment bank
Work experience was ‘working in a tattoo parlour’.
The first year internship lead to an offer of a 10 week internship at the end of her second year, which because of Covid became ‘online’
She successfully completed that and now has a offer of a graduate position, subject to her achieving a 2:1 classification in her degree.

@ProggyMat

after reading through the cost of some of the ‘work experience’ aimed at Yr12. Obscene ! Anyhoo, my friend’s DD ( northern lass) is now in her 3rd year of a maths degree at a London University In the spring of her first year she did a 2 weeks internship at major investment bank Work experience was ‘working in a tattoo parlour’. The first year internship lead to an offer of a 10 week internship at the end of her second year, which because of Covid became ‘online’ She successfully completed that and now has a offer of a graduate position, subject to her achieving a 2:1 classification in her degree.

Good on her @ProggyMat!

Frequentflier That’s a very useful list, thanks. Glad DS has done a number of these.

The InvestIn experiences are terribly expensive indeed. DS went on a 1 day event so no where near the £4,000 mark. Like Proggy said, experience can also be found cheaply especially for those embarking on Finance/Economics etc pathways. It’s shame everything is close as DS was about to start some volunteering in our local charity shop. He’d already done some in the local library and helped put on an event. Employers don’t really care so long as it’s related to what your are applying for. We felt the investin experience was also good for DS at the time as he got to meet mentors and those already in the sector not-to mention a few hundred dc, all planning to study business related degrees. It was inspiring for DS and he came away much clearer about what he wanted to do. I was pissed off though that they provided no lunch despite the amount they charged.

Ds didn't have his first lesson today. Instead they were asked to go out and build a snowman with a prize for the best. Ds had it all planned, 2 snowmen with one murdering the other with a spade. We get outside to find the snow is like icing sugar and won't roll. So he made one on the garden bench, this is ds's sense of humour, I hope his teacher didn't mind, Ds has is sitting beside but I've blocked him out....

Absolutely brilliant @icanbe's ds.