Corona Cohort Y12 into Y13, braving the storm of the third wave

[Monkey2001]

Supportive thread for parents of Y12 students going into Y13.

Previous thread - www.mumsnet.com/Talk/secondary/4240252-Thread-16-Corona-Cohort-Year-12-2021-Zooming-through-Summer-Term

Anyone looking at Bath? they are doing a tour, dinner and stay overnight thing over the summer. £40 pp.

www.bath.ac.uk/campaigns/tour-talk-and-stay/?_cldee=c2FyYWhhbGtpbmdAZ21haWwuY29t&recipientid=contact-e67b78f66a32eb11a813000d3ab824df-e76bb9b0291346ae8474457837a04c91&esid=1ee28622-12be-eb11-bacc-000d3ade3b59

OOh, ds has Bath as a possibility: that looks great, thanks piggy! I suspect he'd like us to come with him/would be terrified to go alone - is that horribly naff?!?

@Piggy thank you for the Bath option.
I think I will send dd2 on that.
I'm very keen for her to go to Bath.
She perhaps is rather less keen ...

Oh, God, don't worry Foff. I am absolutely going with DS! I am, firstly , over invested and nosy. Secondly, I liek Bath. Thirdly, he'd probably flood something or get lost or panic. Or something.

I was going to send DD by herself.
How about an MN meetup in Bristol/Bath? The kids will be fine 😊

Might be time for the MN badges to come out!

I've never had an email about any covid cases in the school. I heard before Christmas that some year 10's had to isolate. I don't know if it's just because we are in a quiet area for covid or they don't tell us. Neither of my boys years have had to isolate nor anyone they know.

The school Facebook page currently has year 11 parents furious because the prom has just been cancelled. They'd all gone out and bought outfits, but due to restrictions not being lifted they can't have it. Our year didn't have one either, no need to make such a fuss.

Huge sympathies to your DCs, Shimy and Crazy - I really do feel for them, after such a horrible year.

Wow, that’s crazy that you’ve not heard of isolations @icanbewhatiwant. They were constant here before Christmas and have started up again now. DD’s school write to us about every case- I got at least 2 emails every day in the few weeks before Christmas. I wasn’t at all surprised when we all went down with covid over Christmas!

Ds’ trip to a theme park has been cancelled because Birmingham is an area of concern and they can’t run trips outside the city.

Ughh, Crazy and Shimy, sorry to hear things are so tough. Hope it gets better soon.

Re exams in 2022, I can't see how any solution will be fair. I am annoyed that the govt has failed to see some of the challenges of covid as an opportunity to change things. Terminal exams will give terrible results for schools which did not manage virtual teaching well or had a lot of isolations through no fault of the students affected. There should be a re-think of exams.

I also think they should be trying to change the way people travel on holidays. I don't think people should go abroad on holiday more than once a year and work trips should be expensive so only done if really necessary. Rather than propping up an unsustainable travel industry, they should be managing a significant reduction in travel.

Totally agree with you on exam front Monkey and am really pissed off they didn’t start a review of the system after our lot had their GCSE’s cancelled.

Those of us with older DC will remember the above days and the absolutely shocking mess they made of changing things things each year so no comparisons could be made across the years so it’s not a surprise this is a clusterfuck.

I don’t think course home done at home is the way forward but feel there is a role for classroom based assessments again and indeed s good time to reintroduce it as a proportion of the courses on the back of TAGs, makes sense- so no doubt won’t happen. I can’t put into words how angry I am about education over the last decade and somreleoved we are nearly through,

@Alsoplayspiccolo & @Monkey2001 Thanks.

@FoolsAssassin Thanks to you to, missed you out above.

Tell me about it crazycrofter so many essay plans and themes to memorise and plan for in History. DD is getting in a bit of a tizz about it too panicking that it'll be based on a question she won't know how to answer. I can so empathise.

Sorry for your DS too Shimy as a double whammy missing his guitar exam and missing out on his award ceremony. Congrats to him though for his award.

L6th had been told to fundraiser for U6th's prom which DD was appalled at as their year had totally missed out on one last year (were promised one in Autumn term to make up but never came to fruition) but nothing more has been said so it may not be going ahead or on a smaller scale. Wonder if our year will even get one as there's now only c15 students left in L6th after the group of trouble makers have left so can there be a prom with only that amount of students?

Still not heard if the Winchester open day is going ahead. Was meant to get an email giving us time slot options so SD can happen but nothing come through.

Thanks for the Bath info @Piggywaspushed. I LOVE Bath and DD is interested although not as much as me :-)

I like the way they have split up the weeks so that if U18 all the accompanied will be together and another week the unaccompanied so it won't look naff if a parent is tagging along (definitely me) as they will all be in the same boat (if U18).

@AnneOfCleavage only 15 students in the year!? How is that even viable? Must be very strange socially, but good to hear the trouble makers have been dispatched. With just 15, they would have the option to do a very different sort of prom, might feel more like a small office Christmas party. Something a bit different like bottomless afternoon tea the DD of a friend did recently. www.buyagift.co.uk/food-and-drink/bottomless-afternoon-tea-for-two-at-the-montcalm-london-marble-arch-br-10779183.aspx

Tell me about it Monkey2001. The 6th form is new to her school so it's in its early days of recruiting. The next year coming in is tripled in number as they've had their taster session this week and DD has been on hand to show them round etc.
I like the link you shared and I guess it would most likely be in a restaurant situation rather than hotel hired room. I actually love the idea of bottomless bubbly and afternoon tea idea for me

I do think @Monkey that there's going to be a permanent reduction in Business travel.I think so many meetings have been held over Zoom and it's generally worked well. DH hasn't traveled since January 2020 due to the quarantine regulations in Asia/India. He now says it's going to be a permanent change.
I'm still wary of booking a holiday because of several cancelled flights/lost money last year. I think if cases carry on going up holidays may well be rescinded.

I'm going to check with DD if she wants me to accompany her to Bath. Given that she's been in London in an air b&b for the last two weeks with her friend she may decide she's independent enough to go by herself. I grew up in Bristol and I know Bath quite well, but not the university campus.

I do hope there not going to be another year of exam/no exam turmoil. Dd's school have 12 kids without Medical offers this year, which never happens.
There seems to be a major over-supply of students in the melting pot. If students are school assessed again this will affect the next couple of years applications. But I really don't know what the alternative is.

Sorry about your Ds @Shimy that sounds really tough and such bad timing. Also sympathies to the students who felt their exam results could have been better.
We just found out that DS wasn't made a prefect but DD was, so it's pretty bittersweet. And is the story of his life ☹️ ( very quiet and non-assuming).

Wow Fferny1 how v independent of your DD. I'd love DD to do something like that even if just locally. Her first taste will be in a couple of weeks time as DH and I are away and leaving her behind for 1st time alone. She's hoping to ask a friend to stay over for company so that will be her taste of independence.

How gutting for your DS to have missed out but your DD got a position. Assuming twins. Are they in the same school? Congrats to her.

They are twins @Anne but in different schools, with very different abilities. DS is dyslexic and we've had to fight his corner many times. He's only just coming into his own.

DD has many friends in London at the moment, before they go back overseas. Plus dd1 is now 22 ( and I think dd2 thinks she can do the same things as her). But she did get scammed the other day by a woman with a baby saying she had no food. I don't know how much money she gave them. Then her friends told her off!

That is so difficult with twins Fferny, I do feel for your DS and for you too as hard to watch 💐 I’m another who grew up in Bristol.

Although the boarding was hideous at the start, I think DS is benefiting now and I hope it will make the transition to university easier for him . When I thought about pulling him out during the bad times I was quite aware that if we did it could turn going away next time much harder so very relieved it has worked out ok.

@AnneOfCleavage - I didn't think we had heard anything about Winchester either but I just checked DS's email (he has an account I have access to to help him keep track of all this stuff) and they emailed out on 04 June about new arrangements, did you see that email? Subject sessions virtual on Friday (3.30 - 6) and campus visits on Saturday, slot booking will be nearer the time.

Are more young people applying to medicine because of covid? Pandemics focus their minds maybe on 'saving the world'/'doing their bit'?

I think there are probably more applicants for medicine/nursing etc now. I must confess, when people were losing their jobs/being furloughed, I did say to dd and ds that they should do something in public services/ health where they'll have job security.

Sorry your ds missed out @Fferny1. It must be so hard with twins. Glad your ds has settled @FoolsAssassin, I remember all the worry in the first term.