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Thread 15 - Corona Cohort Year 12, 2021 Lateral Flow & Driving Tests

999 replies

orangecinnamon · 11/03/2021 10:44

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ChristopherTracy · 01/04/2021 13:05

State comp. He is doing 3 and a btec at the moment. I agree we need to drop one.

I have just found a new maths tutor but the prospect of micro managing the work like we were doing for gcse fills me with utter dread. If he cant meet us halfway then whats the point?

Piggywaspushed · 01/04/2021 13:06

What are the A levels and BTec in? Does he have a plan after school?

ChristopherTracy · 01/04/2021 13:41

I think it will be too outing but they are technical/science. No plan after school other than a vague wittering about apprenticeships or forces.

Monkey2001 · 01/04/2021 13:46

@ChristopherTracy my DS has dropped one and is picking up Y12 Chemistry in Y13, with a plan to maybe finish it in Y14. I know of another person who did that 2 years ago at same school. He could stick with the 2 which are going well and add something else next year.

Another friend is leaving end of Y12 and starting a college course on animal management.

He may prefer to get on a practical track - could be great to have a plumber in the family with all these failing boilers!

Is there anything he is really interested in? The key to success must be tapping in to a passion if you can find it.

Piggywaspushed · 01/04/2021 13:49

3 and a BTec is way more than necessary. He needs to drop the thing he is doing worst in imo.

20newnames · 01/04/2021 13:51

DS changed school for sixth form but his old school had yr11 prefects, it was social suicide to apply to be one so there was no way DS would have done it despite it looking good on a job/uni application.

With regard to personal statements, DS has been told to come back in September with a draft PS. He is flagged as a potential oxbridge applicant, I am not sure if others not on that pathway have had any input as yet. I’m really not sure that this thread is representative at all of a ‘normal’ experience, I think far more students are probably oblivious and see it as something to be done in the autumn.

Monkey2001 · 01/04/2021 13:56

@orangecinnamon musical opportunities have been limited for everyone this year, normal will not apply. Has she done any singing exams? My DC did lots of music and were amused by how much easier singing was than anything else. DS1 did grade 8 violin and singing at the same time. Got a distinction for the singing for which he did almost zero practice and merit for violin after practicing an hour/day for 3 months. Piano and violin are the most work.

We are the other way round from you, DS2 did loads of music from the time he was 5 and will soon have 4 grade 8s, but he wishes he had done more rugby and did not consider music A level. We can't know what they will want when they are at primary school.

If she is looking at academic music, they will not be that bothered by music exams. If she is thinking about singing at conservatoire they charge you loads of money for auditions the tell you to come back when your vocal cords are more developed - they like singers to be in early 20s .

orangecinnamon · 01/04/2021 14:52

[quote Monkey2001]@orangecinnamon musical opportunities have been limited for everyone this year, normal will not apply. Has she done any singing exams? My DC did lots of music and were amused by how much easier singing was than anything else. DS1 did grade 8 violin and singing at the same time. Got a distinction for the singing for which he did almost zero practice and merit for violin after practicing an hour/day for 3 months. Piano and violin are the most work.

We are the other way round from you, DS2 did loads of music from the time he was 5 and will soon have 4 grade 8s, but he wishes he had done more rugby and did not consider music A level. We can't know what they will want when they are at primary school.

If she is looking at academic music, they will not be that bothered by music exams. If she is thinking about singing at conservatoire they charge you loads of money for auditions the tell you to come back when your vocal cords are more developed - they like singers to be in early 20s .[/quote]
Yes...she is a singer, hopefully doing grade 8 in June. The music thing kind of crept up on us ...we suddenly realised in year 9 how important music was to her. She has a natural ear her progression is quite funny really, she started off by auditioning in primary with a tin whistle and Ukulele, they let her in and lent her a flute. We bought her guitar and later a keyboard as birthday pressies...when she moved to secondary she begged for flute lessons as a late entrant there were non available so I booked her onto singing she had just been diagnosed with asthma thought it may help!

So the upshot is the only formal musical exams she has done are for singing and theory. The 'passion' for want of a better word is there..I never have to nag to prepare or practice, composes in spare time etc. I guess it is about how she can illustrate that in her personal statement.

Not considering conservatoire ...thank goodness.

Have you heard they may be reducing A level content ? .they talked about it for edexcel then there was some controversy and have not heard anything since !

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orangecinnamon · 01/04/2021 15:04

Sorry...posted my draft...which had a lack of commas !

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Monkey2001 · 02/04/2021 09:56

@orangecinnamon I think they have only just sent the guidance out on 2021 A levels, but yes, they are reducing the scope for 2022, but patience will be required!

It may interest you to know that a friend's daughter was told at her Cambridge interview for music that she seemed more interested in playing viola than academic music - it is not true!

Actually, taking music up late shows that it is her passion rather than her parents pushing, should be the basis of a compelling PS.

Delphigirl · 02/04/2021 14:53

Hello have you got room for another? I have DS2 in year 12. He started the year doing Physics, Chem, Biology and Geography but has dropped Physics already. He started the year thinking about medicine and starting an EPQ on a medicine-based topic but has decided he does not want to do medicine (which I think would be a stretch and he didn’t seem interested enough to really go for it anyway) so has also dropped the EPQ. His main interest is the armed forces but says he would like to get a degree first, and I don’t fully know if he is really interested in the armed forces or in just becoming a fighter pilot, which would be nice (!) but Uber-competitive. He is now looking at geography-environmental geoscience-oceanography type courses which would fit with a later military career or would lead him to the sort of practical problem-solving data-driven outdoor career that would probably suit him. He was v late to mature and v late to take schoolwork seriously so his GCSEs are ok but not stellar (his school just awarded mock marks even though they were taken v early, before syllabii were completed, and were full past papers). 8s and 7s. I have no real idea how he is likely to perform in full exams or whether this year group will even have them.
I have no idea what his predictions will be yet. He is dyslexic and has full extra time/uses computers/regular breaks etc. I think we will be looking for highly rated departments in good universities which do not require top grades... they do exist.
Anyway that’s him. I have a DD who has been through Sheffield and out the other side very successfully and another DS currently at Birmingham in his first year so if I can help anyone looking at those unis, let me know!

Piggywaspushed · 02/04/2021 15:47

8s and 7s are only not stellar on MN delphi. Those are brilliant GCSEs! Sounds like he might like to look at Southampton?

DS is looking at both Birmingham and Sheffield (he has just read the Sheffield prospectus) so I may well be bending your ear!

Piggywaspushed · 02/04/2021 15:49

Just realised I recognise you from a thread on Geography?

Monkey2001 · 02/04/2021 16:32

@Delphigirl has he looked at army scholarships? I have a GP friend (in late 40s) who trained in the army and a friend's son is at Edinburgh with an army scholarship and a lot of TA involvement. I think the TA is strong in Bristol too.

KingscoteStaff · 02/04/2021 16:38

You are very welcome @Delphigirl! I think we went through all this together 2 years ago??

One of my best mates at uni had an Army Air Corps Scholarship and got to notch up all his flying hours for free!

Oblomov21 · 02/04/2021 16:52

ChristopherTracy how did you leave things with school? That you would come back to them after Easter? Or that they would come back to you?

Love Kingscote prefect white smoke!

Orange my closest friend teaches piano and flute. Now only online unfortunately.

Ds2 starts football again this weekend. Ds1 is back to boxing in a week or so, thank god! This time with a brace though - bit worried. His driving is getting much better. Dh announced he has picked up my bad habits and is too speedy! Blush

Oblomov21 · 02/04/2021 16:54

Welcome Delph, always room for another!

Delphigirl · 02/04/2021 23:30

Hi @Piggywaspushed, yes you have been v helpful on my geography thread! Happy to answer any Qs about Sheff, which was entirely positive for my dd- or Brum, which despite a bit of heavy handed security guard policing has generally provided a much better pandemic 1st year experience than lots of other places, including Manchester and edinburgh.
@Monkey2001, yes he has looked at them, and looked at the new army internships for a gap year, and thought about just getting fit and going for pilot selection on the basis that his reaction times won’t improve with age... he just can’t quite work out what is for the best really. Wants uni but wants a gap year but wants a year abroad but wants not to be too old if he does go for a stint in the army...
@KingscoteStaff - maybe! DS1 had a gap year so it may have been 3 years ago even... I am an old timer on here with a recent name change. In fact I was posting on MN the night DS2 was born at home in sept 03 ....Grin

Delphigirl · 02/04/2021 23:32

Thanks @Oblomov21!

Piggywaspushed · 03/04/2021 10:44

DS1 has announced he just got 69% on a uni essay :after the shock of getting modules back at low 2:2 /3rd, he pulled his socks up! Long may it continue. Posting here, although it's irrelevant just out of relief. I suppose I could rejoin the second year uni thread...

DS2 has his first football match today. Big fall out yesterday with wankery manager engaging in a WhatsApp mansplain/public scolding (undeserved) about a Covid test result so all back to normal there then...

DS's kit STANK. He had it in his bag with his ancient putrefying shinpads since whenever it was we last had any team sports...

Piggywaspushed · 03/04/2021 10:45

What did your DCs study at Sheff/Birmingham delphi?

Delphigirl · 03/04/2021 10:58

Well done to your ds1! As long as they can pull it out of the bag when it matters , that’s the main thing.
My DD did landscape architecture at Sheff which she really enjoyed (and the landscape architecture /architecture departments in Sheffield are really fantastic) but is now doing surveying professional exams while working for a big property co in London. DS1 is doing politics at Brum. He wants to do a year abroad in yr 3 so is currently focussed on keeping up his first year marks so that he gets one of his first choices of unis abroad.

Piggywaspushed · 03/04/2021 11:09

Trouble with DS1 is all his module results count apparently (he is a bit vague on this!) Not sure what he is averaging now but hopefully am mid 2:2 rather than hovering at a 3rd. It's a tradition in my family... DF has an ordinary degree (that takes some doing!) having been nearly thrown out of Durham for malingering. I find this so hard to imagine as he is an utter workaholic! DH has a third class maths degree. However days were very different then and they both went to 'fine establishments' at a time when not so many people had the chances.

DS2 is a bit torn between social policy or something a bit broader like sociology joint degree or social and political sciences. He definitely doesn't want to do politics al though he is very political : I think he is more interested in how to effect social change. That said, he does seem to really love history. If you take London unis and Strathclyde out of the mix, Birmingham is basically top of the league tables for social policy. Sheffield does a a great looking applied social sciences degree. I think it'll be these and also Bath, Leeds and York vying with maybe Manchester and Glasgow in the mix. If he went for history it would be a whole different set of decisions I guess!

orangecinnamon · 03/04/2021 11:14

I've heard Lancs good for Sociology too. Great to hear about Uni essays back on track @Piggywaspushed not so great about annoying coach...or the kit !

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Piggywaspushed · 03/04/2021 11:27

Lancaster don't do Social Policy so off for the meantime but it does look good for history.

The coach will always be annoying! I don't know if you recall but he was really gung ho about a positive test in the actual team last Autumn and now he is being all arsey about someone's mum getting her dates in a muddle.

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