Current Year 11 - 2 more weeks of exams!!

[Rollergirl11]

New shiny thread!!

Bumbling along here. Had forgotten about results now DS has a job but was reminded by the news about AQA

DS job going ok but his trainer is a bit temperamental and hasn’t moved DS on from the first two weeks of training to the next stage. He came home today mumbling something about being moved from trainee chef to food runner. I said if the same money who cares as it’s just a part time job not a career but instead of asking why thinking of moving me he didn’t say anything. He’s a shy 16 year old ! He’s on probation til end September so don’t think they can sack him but can move if not progressing. But I think a bit unfair as training is quite light on instructions and it’s all on the job training and it’s a busy kitchen. Oh well what will be will be I guess. I said just treat as a summer job in your head and look for something else if needed in October (he has to have a part time job in hospitality for his course but food runner is fine!!)

Thank you all. Best wishes for birthdays this month, and also (isolating) hugs for those dealing with funerals and illness. My thoughts are with you all.

DH looks like he's been hit by a bus, DC now coughing and my throat is full of razer blades and I feel terrible. We're playing Top Trumps of symptoms. But on the plus side we can completely isolate for the next 10 days. Hoping to maybe convert some of DH's holiday to sick days instead, and go away either at the end of August or Christmas.

Truly, thank you everyone. It's amazing that the good wishes of people I'll never meet can make me feel brighter.

sorry to hear of you all with covid, for the first time I got it, and it really knocked me. I wasnt expecting to feel so ill as keep hearing about it being mild, but do suffer from migraines, and it provoked a monster of one.
with the exam strike, would they not delay everyones results as it puts an uneven slant for the ones who might need to change their sixth form/college with their results if the AQA kids are still waiting? not sure if there has ever been an exam strike before, but i would have thought they would hold back everyones results and realise at the same time? or am i overthinking.

There’s a response to the media on the AQA website:

“We’d like to reassure you that Unison’s decision to go on strike later this month will not affect schools and students getting their results this summer – we have robust plans in place to make sure it doesn’t.

We’re disappointed that Unison is claiming otherwise, as this is wrong and only serves to cause needless alarm for students and teachers at what’s already a challenging time.

For context, only about 5% of our staff have voted for industrial action, and nearly 90% have already agreed to our pay offer, which is an average increase of 5.6%.”

Thats good news. Thankyou for the update, PaddingtonPaddington.

Good news! Thanks @PaddingtonPaddington

Thanks @PaddingtonPaddington although I'm always a bit sceptical about management statements like that...but fingers crossed.

We are nearing the end of our holiday in Mallorca. Have had a quiet couple of days as poor DS sunburnt his feet at the beach on Sunday, thinks he forgot to reapply sun cream to them after a swim because they were sandy 😂 a bit annoying as it is too hot for him to wear long trousers so it has restricted our day time activities but on the upside I was able to spend a few hours yesterday browsing the shops on my own. It has been so nice having the full fortnight away, we've not done this since DS was at primary school & I have really unwound...feel very lucky!

I also feel somewhat distrustful of management words like that but will try and stay positive that there will be results (as DD only has one exam that isn't AQA).

She has been doing some 6th form transition work, which means I am now learning about Russia. Thought she was busily studying this morning but was actually using a card website to make a birthday card for one of her friends who will be 17 at the beginning of September 😄

My DS has been doing some bridging work for computer science as he is busy the next three weeks with NCS and then our holiday to Spain.
He's going to do the maths work after results day. Hopefully AQA are right and the results will be on time.
Glad you're having a good holiday @legosunqueen I can't wait to get away in the sun.

Hi all, sorry to hear of those peeps with Covid and @Womblesaremyfavouritefood so sorry to hear you’ve missed your holiday as a result! Hope you manage to get away a bit later in the year.

DH and I have also just had Covid too, for the first time ever. Both the kids managed to avoid it.

DD went to Truck festival last weekend. Got back on Monday tired and bruised but very very happy. She has her interview for Supermarket assistant at Waitrose on Friday. I hope she gets the job as she is in serious need of money. She’s spent an absolute fortune this past 5 weeks!

We go to Turkey for 2 weeks next Thursday. Really looking forward to chilling by the pool with a good book and a cocktail.

4 weeks till results day. I think it will come round quickly. GCSE’s seem like a lifetime away….

How is everyone doing? DD has started transition work properly now - has been doing Russians for history and was doing English this morning. She’s also been looking into getting a part time job - I will just be keeping an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t try and do too much.

My DD is working full time in children’s farm / play attraction thing. It’s hard (and hot) being up on her feet 10hrs a day but they recruit a load of students for the season so it’s very sociable. She is also back summer camp training in the evenings for sport and will have had 3 separate one week break holidays across the summer - so working hard and playing hard.

We briefly were talking results with her friends the other day and I explained research has shown that your expectations slowly decline from the exam to results as self doubt creeps in - so hopefully in results day it will be a nicer surprise.

One of the breaks is a festival which she goes to on the Wed - then we have to pick her up from there at 7am the next day to drive her to her school to get her results (not online!) and then drive her back to the festival …… better than one of my older sown who could get his online whilst at the festival …. but didn’t log on until 5pm to get them - so we had a long wait for those.

Really sorry to hear about COVID impacting people's summers and particularly your holiday abroad @Womblesaremyfavouritefood . Hope you manage to sort something else out, as I'm sure you were very much looking forward to the change of scene.

Good to hear all the young people are getting on with their jobs. DD has been a bit miffed that she wasn't given prior notice that her tutoring job would be much less full-on over the summer. So now she's a bit hard-up and complaining about it.

Good to hear that some of the young people are getting down to their holiday (academic) work. DD in true form has decided that she's not going to start until she knows which sixth form she'll be attending. She's not 100% sure which subjects she'll be taking until she gets her grades. Of course she could start on the work for the 'dead cert' (geography) but she rationalises that if she does it now, she'll have forgotten it by the time she's due to be tested on it at the beginning of term. I have told her that doing three lots of work in her last week of school hols is not the way I'd choose to spend my last few days of 'freedom'. We'll see!

@legosunqueen great to hear you had a lovely holiday (and got in a few hours of shopping on your own!).

@Silkierabbit hope you are doing okay? I bet your DD is glad that the 'punting season' has got a bit cooler?

Loads of pre-learning going on, I've had to fork out for text books. She better bloody get the grades now!!

I’ve also been getting text books for DD - and I’m sure she’ll be wanting some English texts too as well.

Blimey @DFOD that’s very good of you to do that for your DD picking her up to go get her results. DD is going to school to get her results and then heading straight to Reading festival. A few of them had paid for early bird tickets to go on the Wednesday so not sure what they will be doing in terms of results.

I think DD has done some of the summer work that’s been set, not too much though. She had her Waitrose interview that seemed to go pretty well. She should hear by the end of this week if she’s got the job or not.

Thanks Louis Sounds familiar about the school work, not started here either though tbf DD is working a lot and needed a good break.

DD is doing well and is busy working at her punting job and loves it, doing 6 days this week, seemed to manage OK in the heat. Keeps her fit, lots of social contact and chatting to others and lovely scenery and well paid for her age, think she said it was about £85 a day. I have radiotherapy starting this week on Thursday for a week, its normally much easier than chemo and main side effect in 90% of cases is tiredness and some slight redness / burns but about 10% have worse side effects and of course now its close getting more jittery but they think its a no-brainer to do and they know best. And I have just been chased by endocrinology for my adrenal mass for a final test, that is just steroids and a blood test. Then its just hormone tablets for 10 years and 1 more operation for reconstruction which quite a delay time on about 1 to 2 years from end of treatment but that is just cosmetic but a much bigger op than before. DS still has no education plan so spending lots of time on that but not getting anywhere and he is year 10, argh, nearly year 11. Lovely week in Cornwall and hope to get to France later this summer but not sure if we will be able to, will only be to see DHs Mum and maybe his friends but not sure due to my radio and covid rules. DS we found out recently had not had covid vaccine at school, we thought he had, he had 1 out of 2.

Glad you had a nice holiday Lego and hope you are enjoying yours Zig

Hope everyone has a good rest of summer.

Still Covid positive here, but gradually feeling better. We've successfully claimed on the insurance and aim to go away at Christmas instead. It sucks, but we're hoping to 'borrow' a friend's house (they have offered by the way) for the next fortnight if we recover. Then home in time for results! They are suddenly looming large in our minds.

No schoolwork being done yet. DC keeps mentioning it in an airy fairy sort of way ...

Glad to hear this @Womblesaremyfavouritefood and hopefully you're having a good time.

Ds mentioned results day today - I think it's on his mind despite being fairly busy. Summer is going too fast for my liking! Hope everyone is ok.

Hello everyone, hope summer is going well.

Back at work last week after the holidays but a very quiet week as boss & other contacts away. DS is also working but only Saturdays so far, the extra summer shifts haven't materialised. He is also dedicating 2 days a week to his martial art, & apparently will start the sixth form pre work this week, a morning each week...we'll see...apart from that he is hanging out with friends mainly.

@Rollergirl11 glad your DD survived her first festival. I know we both have Reading & Leeds on the horizon...I am a little anxious about Leeds although I recognise it's a rite of passage etc! Hope the Waitrose job worked out?

@DFOD that's really interesting about the increase in self-doubt as results approach. I have to say we don't really have a plan B apart from me frantically calling all HE colleges in a 15 mile radius if DS doesn't get the required results...

@Womblesaremyfavouritefood thank goodness for insurance, hope you do manage to get away this summer even if it is in the UK, just the change of scene is great

@Silkierabbit hope your radiotherapy has gone smoothly. The punting job sounds fun & your DD sounds very motivated.

Have a good week everyone!

Things going along fine here - DD seems to have done a good amount of 6th form transition work but she did say as a few of her friends are away at the moment that it was better to do it now!

She and DS are off to Scotland today until Friday as their dad’s side of the family is having a family holiday up there to celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. I am leaving the organisation to DD who is much better at this than 18 year old DS….

What is this 6th form pre work you speak of? DS hasn't mentioned anything.

Here the 6th form sent an email with links to work for each a level subject. About 5 hours work per subject!

My DS has done some more computer science bridging work today and planning on doing maths tomorrow.
Don’t think all schools/colleges issue it as know my friend’s DS doesn’t have anything to do and we have had no correspondence from the college my DS potentially has a place at. Unless they wait until after results and give some work out then?
DS has also applied for some more jobs today. He’s not heard anything back so far which is frustrating.

Summer is whizzing past here. Dd is doing extra shifts at her summer job and spending the rest of the time out with friends - we rarely see her. She's starting to panic about results and going to a new college now so trying to keep her on an even keel.
she's been sent some work to do on psychology, I assume that's because it's a completely new subject at a level. Not started it yet though!
we are struggling to find clothes for 6th form, she has to wear a 'suit' (really just black jacket and trousers) but she hates those blazers with ruched or 3/4 sleeves which is all we can find at the moment.