Year 11 - 2024/2025: Heading down the home straight towards that finish line!

[QueenMabby]

Next thread. 10 days of exams to go. Looks like we’re all heading into a busy week this week - good luck!

Congrats to all on finishing Spanish today. No exam for DS today, but FM still to go tomorrow afternoon. He’s done a practice paper today and done well, and is saving his last practice paper for tomorrow morning to get him in the zone.

I took him out for coffee and a walk by the river at lunchtime today to make sure he got some fresh air and exercise. Might drag him to my orchestra rehearsal tonight for extra “rest” since he’s not planning to do any more study today.

looking forward to when this is all over tomorrow afternoon!

Think we in all actuality passed that milestone on about Eng Lit paper 2! :-)

So is there anyone with anything outstanding after Further Maths tomorrow pm?
(other subjects tomorrow pm are available)

HappyRatty just said "wow I just had my first time for thinking 'best do some revision' " before coming to his senses!

And just realised how quiet the house has been, little brother (he's end of Year 9 so not so little a fully formed teenager) came home and during exam season he has been good as gold, off into room/out not distracting RattyRevision, they are now in their lounge room, chatting, radio is on, the house has returned to audio life! (We were doing the exam time revision under quiet conditions under the theory that he would have to recall the information in silence who knows if that helped or not)

The sun is out, the garden doors are wide open the teens are yapping about "insert shallow topic here" and Little doesn't need blazer for rest of however long this warm spell lasts.

Congratulations to everyone who has finished today! DS shocked me by bring up fairly early, I didn’t expect to see him before midday now exams are over!

I’m surprised how many sixth forms are very formal with business wear (even though it’s no longer what most people working in offices actually wear!) The sixth form college DS is going to doesn’t have any dress rules

Looking at the AQA timetable there is DT and further maths tomorrow, after that the only one is Modern Hebrew on Thursday morning, but I don’t imagine many take that one.

Dd is done! No more uniform- the source of so many battles over the years but I was allowed one last picture. Her 2 choices are college or a different 6th form, both of which have no dress code. The 6th form in particular actively encourages students to express their individuality and there's lots with piercings and vibrant hair that would give her current school kittens. She thought Spanish higher and Food tech went well. Dh taken her to get cake and tomorrow her and her bestie are off on a mystery coach tour.

Just asked Little if he wanted any of these exam notes keeping "a fair chuck actually"

I WANT TO CRY

Well done to today's finishers! Trying to get DD1 and my foster daughter to work in this heat is not fun. They are definitely in holiday mood. DD finishes tomorrow and FD on Thursday - then one is off home to Ukraine for a month and the other off on her girls hol to Marbella. They have booked an entire suitcase for hair straighteners.

DD2 has apparently got up early ish, done two music lessons, two sessions with two different accompanists and an audition for the school play.

She's been told she needs to work 'very hard' if she wants to take her flute diploma this autumn (spoiler, she does..) so that and her plan to record grade 5 piano and teach herself the sax over the summer should keep her busy when she's not orchestra-ing this summer.

She is weirdly driven. Does not get this from me.

She is, however, off out for dinner with friends tonight- all feeling so grown up as they're going for pizza by themselves!

Dds school books all went in with recycling ♻️ today and her text books are going to my dn who is going into Y10 in September

Both Edexel papers were great, nice photo card and 30-40 word question for Foundation. The 80-90 word choices were lovely, as were the 130-150 for Higher. The translations were also very fair and didn't have any random tricky vocab or grammar in them. All of mine came out very happy, so a positive end for most of them (some are still going until tomorrow).

Did they not request them back we have to return the school books tomorrow before further maths

Both kids revised in garden today. DD has finished her FM revision for today? Forever?
DS is still doing alevel maths out there. On a mission to do well as p’d off about his performance in paper 2 and now apparently there were 2 papers in circulation. One with larger font for access arrangements and another one. The AA one was a nice fair paper and the other one wasn’t. According to
Mr Bicon? (tik tok maths man) they should both get their own grade boundaries, but nothing acknowledged or confirmed yet by edexcel….sounds like a shit show to me.
Anyway BF is taking DD out to London tomorrow after her exams. Booked her favourite restaurant and everything.

DT - wjec and some of her friends have food tech as well.

Apparently last one at her school is Friday and is tourism - which I didn't even know was a subject they did.

They are books I purchased

Dd now very much concentrating on her prom outfit 😊

Just how it should be if prom is applicable 😀

You’re very lucky to have a school that provides any books. Ours provided none!

Ok so I took him and best out for a day of "buy what you like" driving around finding pretty spots to have a cold diet coke.
Bought what he wanted for dinner

Ratty's bored (on a comedown more like it)
Can I throttle him?

(I gave him a list of things that he hasn't had time recently to do, plus various jobs/games/leisure pursuits around the house no one has had time to even look at over the past "catch up with year 10/revision time") suggested "so all that stuff you wanted to do instead of revising, why don't you do that?

Almost wishing he had further maths to get stuck into, should I suggest it?

ORC FM today was ‘fine’ and with that, GCSEs are DONE!!! Congratulations to all those who have finished, and good luck to all who have exams left!

Congrats to all those that have now finished! My DS joined them this afternoon. His last exam was food and nutrition (AQA). He said it was "fine", but he was so past caring I don't think he was as well prepped for it as he could have been if it had been earlier on when he still gave a toss! It's a shame as I think it could have been his best subject as he did brilliantly in his coursework and practical exam. Anyway, it's done and he's delighted. He and a mate went for a round of golf to celebrate! Just want him to have the best summer now 🥳

@CoffeeChocolateWine same with DD and food. End of an era. There’s now an awful lot of catch up 16th bday parties - pretty much back to back. 🥳🥳

@frozendaisy … Well, has BoredRatty’s comedown work off?! Has he ticked off the undone tasks he so desperately wanted to do during Revision/Year 10 update? .. if still Bored, either FM plan, or the throttling?! 😈😹!

So good to hear they have tunes on and the lounge room has life back in it! It’s been so horrible creeping round, going Sshhhhhhhhh!! It’s been like having a sleeping baby again! Not fun!! Sounds like yours have good age gap! Mine are almost exactly two years apart in age, but due to DS18 August and DS16 September Birthday, it’s 3 school years…

I’m obvs being blonde , but re the notes, and on Little keeping them, or not, did he instruct you to “chuck”?! Yeh, I’d have cried, too!

Well, the “ buy what you like” and Diet Coke stop trip sounds a good way to spend time! Hopefully HappyRatty will adjust to not having to revise soon!!! ( or.. it’s, what was it, other than FM, nutrition or Modern Hebrew left?! 🤷‍♀️😹!)..

Ds2 finished today. I didn't even take a photo because he wasn't dressed when I left for work. 3 posts on FB of 1st day of school v final day of school. I have neither.

He is now playing on x box. I suspect he'll do little else for the next week. Dh and ds1 leave for Portugal tomorrow so ds2 and I will be home alone. We'll get on fine! He's got football referring at tournament this weekend so he'll earn £100. Prom Tuesday, then we fly to Turkey next Wednesday evening for 10 days. I'm encouraging him to go scuba diving, Turkish massage in hamman. He seemed unsure about a big burly Turkish man doing the massage, unconvinced by Dh and I that this was quite the norm.

Anyway I'm glad it's all over. Thanks for the ride everyone. I've enjoyed being on the threads and all the advice and calming attitudes.

Now we get to all the nice bits, prom, relaxing. Results, hopefully good enough results to get to the next place, and support for anyone that needs help with getting papers remarked etc.

I look forward to the continued journey with you all. What a nice thread this has been!

Sooo relieved to have it all over - thank you all v much for the support throughout. DS finished as 1000 yesterday and was in town with friends by 1030. I picked him up at 1 and we spent a long time in IKEA as he is redoing his bedroom for A levels apparently - the joys of a job I guess (garden centre to add to the conversation of earlier). We are now at my parents overnight (although I am back to work tomorrow) and he has a friend over tomorrow night.

DH is then taking DS and 5 mates away to Alton Towers next week. I am in awe - he’s an amazing and brave man 😂