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

DS has some more tests at the beginning of this week and his motivation is zero. Part of me thought just let him get the bad grade if he doesn't revise but the other part of me was yelling 'but a good mark could help improve his predicted grade!' so unfortunately I went into moaning mum mode. DH and I keep discussing that he won't have anyone to do this for him when he's at uni so he really needs to learn to self motivate.

It's difficult isn't it, Just. I am back in moaning mum mode after backing off resulted in very poor grades at DS's last report. He has loads to do over the summer to try and revive his A levels but at the moment is doing ok. I think a lot of it has to do with lockdown, huge loss of confidence from being out of school and I expect there will be times when he needs support during Y13. I try to do it as if we are a team instead of just bossing him around but inevitably there is a bit of that. I am secretly hoping he will defer, get a job and then go off and do exciting things during a gap year, think it would be great for him. And you never know, maybe the penny will drop before that 🤞

Congrats again to your DS @Monkey2001!!

@FedNlanders I love your positivity, it's so easy to get sucked down when things aren't going as hoped. Here's hoping that next year - with a little bit of research on You Tube! - gets him where he wants to be.

@singingstones my DS also admitted to me quite recently that he really struggled with his Biology during the lockdown, just couldn't engage with it sitting on his own in his bedroom. He never mentioned it at the time but he's not one to really open up. He definitely needs some time over the summer to enjoy being a teenager. He definitely still has some work to do but I think that its essential for him to be able to be free of worries for a while and reset ready for a potentially tough year 13. Fingers crossed they get some decent weather!

@FedNlanders that’s amazing progress, but I can understand he feels his work hasn’t been rewarded. Are they realistic predicted grades or aspirational UCAS ones? As they don’t sound very aspirational given his mock results? Surely he can improve in a year?

Dd has been given UCAS predicted grades of A* A A so she’s happy. They’re having another exam week in early October for those who feel they can improve (although compulsory for all).

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn DD really struggled here with biology during lockdown too. One of the topics they learnt from textbook without any teaching at all. She was very stressed before exams in April but managed to get a high C so she has some work to do. She's never really found a decent revision method that's worked for her and tends to copy the textbook on to flash cards. Next exams in mid September and she's feeling quite resentful that she spent Easter trying to revise and the September exams will mean she'll have to start revising in August.

@mummabear74 sounds like my DS, he would revise by reading his notes and g me or DH to test him but this was not very successful. I would recommend Biology Carol on You Tube, they are quite long videos but very useful I think. If that doesn’t suit, there are lots of others on there which offer advice on how to revise, definitely worth a look.

Biology is an odd one - the mark schemes tend to be very narrow and unpredictable. The DD of a friend was outraged on one question about the digestive system in animals - to get one of the marks you had to state that "cows eat grass" - she thought it was too obvious to write! It is particularly hard for dyslexic kids because the questions are not phrased in a way which helps them. Our school had no A*s in Biology A level in the last 2 years for which results were published although almost 100 kids took Biology. Hopefully next year the schools will help the Y13s with exam technique.

Ds1 is doing biology at university, just finished second year. He only got B in his A level biology. He needed ABB the A was in business. He's enjoying his degree, apart from the fact he only did 3 months of labs. Practicals were cancelled for 3 months due to strikes then covid struck. End of year 2 he was given a 2:1 he's hoping to improve on that for the final year.

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/further_education/4296515-Thread-17-Corona-Cohort-Summer-Vacation-to-Yr-13-Finding-Freedom 15 posts left before this one ends ..click here for shiny new thread in new home of Further Ed board]]

@JustHereWithMyPopcorn thanks for the recommendation of biology carol. DD did find some videos on YouTube but by then it was too late in the day and was overwhelmed. She has a real lack of motivation to start things and everything becomes last minute. She recognises it's a problem but doesn't know how to sort it and no end of suggestions from us help. She's very bright and I often wonder if she needs further help or has an issue.

HI all and esp @orangecinnamon21 - is your DD doing Music? Mine is. Getting her ready to go. Would love to chat if your DD is. Which halls etc.

Six is fab!