Year 11 - 2024/2025: And relax! Support Thread for the summer holidays.

[QueenMabby]

New thread to carry us all through the summer as we transition from dealing with stressed teens to dealing with bored teens!

I got DD her provisional licence as soon as her Nat insurance number came useful ID particularly as she likes concert going and is short so get id! (I find people use height as an age indicator she is 5ft3 and her 12 year old brother is 5ft10 and they are always mistaken for twins or him being older due to height!)
From what I have heard learn theory so book that in as soon as 17 and then when passed book in test - it is a six month wait so enough time for lessons!

@Tiswa DD2 isn't even 5 foot 2 - but she also isn't yet 16. Still got id'd on a child's train ticket the other day though - conductor seemed quite disgruntled she was actually still legally able to get half price tickets

I'm having to get her a 16-17 railcard from next week, but she does need to travel a LOT on trains so it will pay for itself.

Her 18 year old sister is only 5 foot 2 and has a baby face, she gets taken for a child all time and uses her provisional for ID.

My DD had same issue re ID she has ended up just shy of 5ft and doesn't wear makeup. When she was 15 she was asked for ID to buy a 12 rated film. Having her provisional drivers license is helpful for age proof even now she is 20.

oooooh, that's a good idea. Not cos DS2 is short or looks young for his age (more the opposite), but (unlike his older brother) he is very keen to learn to drive as soon as possible.

You can get a citizen card for them to use as ID. Also get the Yoti app where you can upload passport or driving license or citizen card then you have secure proof of age and don’t need to risk taking valuable documents out!

Anyone else wrestling with Sixth Form dress code? DD2's is both complex and baffling - number 1 and number 2 uniform, shirts must be 'pale but may contain fine stripes or checks' and skirts must match blazers and be minimum 7cm above the knee.

Also, if shirts have top buttons ties must be worn. There's also a 'muted tweed jacket and navy chinos' options. Can't see her going for this.

DD2 says nobody adheres to these codes and refuses to countenance anything that is 'suitable'. Which would be fine as we would manage with trial and error were the school not 100 miles from home and with no actual shops that she would ever buy anything from in town (Fatface, Mistral and Seasalt not being her scene). I see a battle ahead - both with me and with the head of Sixth Form.

No dress code here. For the taster day they instructed them to be in 'work wear'. They all decided they were working in a gym, beauty salon etc - it was warm, they were all in shorts, little dresses etc.

I presume they will expect them not to show their underwear (or more/less!), otherwise let them get on with it.

skirts must match blazers and be minimum 7cm above the knee. That can't be right, surely? Do they mean maximum above the knee?

Surely just order online @achangeofnameisasgoodasarest DC & I rarely bother with actual clothes shops.

My other DC now also on school hols. DC1 has either been wallowing about in a disgusting pit of a room or out at parties. I do miss the school hols when they were diddy with long days crafting, playing and at the park. We’ve entered the classic ‘house like a hotel’ stage where they come in to eat, sleep and get clean clothes!!

I have exam anxiety dreams about GCSE/A levels/university finals, you name it. Also a lot of packing (suitcases/bags/boxes for a move) as well. I’m sure it’s all deeply psychological.

@somethinggoodisgonnahappen I will order online - she'll reject anything that actually matches the dress code because 'no-one adheres to it' - she is already at the school so I guess has had opportunities to observe - but then will probably get in trouble. She hates anything that pulls across the shoulders so blazers always a problem

i don’t understand 6th forms that have old fashioned uniforms or make them dress like mini merchant bankers.. Just look around the office & at commuters - who dresses like that any more? Other than Jacob Rees-Mogg and he’s not someone to emulate!

@somethinggoodisgonnahappen I completely agree!

We are done with uniform thankfully - a plus for the college. The schools here have them in the same uniform as rest of the school which to me feels odd.

Driving talk seems odd to me as well - we don't drive but DD2 only just 16.

However the ID aspect is a good idea and hoping can sort that for DS before he hopefully heads off for uni.

hello all , I’m a little worried I’ve dropped a ball - DS is also a a very early September born - how long did the provisional licence take to come through please ? Looks like it’s our first job when we get back from holiday 🤦🏻‍♀️. I’m mum taxi due to being rural so sooner DS is driving the better

We are rural too. I spend 1/2 my life driving up and down the windy road to town.
DS usually gets the bus one way. He will occasionally walk (with much grumbling).

Did their NI numbers arrive by post? Am I keeping DS's safe in the pile next to the coffee machine?

Dd not remotely interested but will be 17 soon so I might just get the provisional licence as its valid for 10 years...
We are back from our holiday:(
We had a great time....so much so we've booked again for next year! :)

I applied online for provisional 25th June got it in post 8th July - so it’s quite quick
I had NI number and his latest passport is just over a year so plugged in his passport number and they used the same photo online - assume that made it more straightforward

NI number came around 16th birthday through the post

Ratty won’t be driving I don’t think that much before he goes uni - if he goes let’s see what happens 21st August!

Bridging work enthusiasm has dropped off a cliff.

I tried getting DD’s (she’s a December birthday) and it told me she could only have a moped one as she wasn’t 17 yet. How is everyone else getting them early?

For 6th form uniform dd has to wear a charcoal grey or navy suit. Trouser suits can be from anywhere but a skirt suit has to be from the school shop. The school shop skirt looks very badly made but dd won’t countenance a skirt from anywhere else (even if it looks the same) in case it gets her into trouble!

16yrs 9months is, iirc, the minimum age to apply for a provisional drivers license.

@QueenMabby DD2 is like the antithesis of your DD - she starts with a 'what can I possibly get away with ' position and works from there. She's just dyed her hair an 'unnatural colour' so that's going to have to go before September.

The skirt suit thing sounds deeply irritating though. I'm trying to persuade DD2 that trousers will be much more useful anyway - and less likelihood of rows about length.

She is still mostly at orchestra rehearsals, though has now started taking her English Lit reading list with her 'for the slow bits' - guess that's a start.

It’s 15 years 9 months you just can’t do the driving side until later though I think they can with Mopeds.

We got ours for the day after DD birthday as she was standing at the O2 for Gracie Abrams and thought (rightly) she might be id!

Dd has uniform black skirt white shirt and blazer - all bought. She likes it finds it much more relaxing and short skirt and shirt are what she wants to wear.

the school DS goes to (will be year 8 next year and isn’t the school DD went to or is going to) has no rules at all so that will suit him to wear joggers and hoodie everyday

DS is young for the year, so no immediate plans for driving though he’s keen when he’s old enough as public transport round our way is pretty woeful. In terms of sixth form uniform, I’m annoyed by the minor but fairly expensive changes that the school requires. No blazer in sixth form, but a different coloured jumper. So even though we still have jumpers that are fine and fit him, we now need to get different ones. And a different tie (almost indistinguishable from the main school tie unless you’re close up), and smarter shoes (but we’re going to be vague about how we define ‘smarter’). Still, at least no skirt lengths to worry about!

I agree with the comments on sixth form dress codes, the office dress type ones really don’t match how most people actually dress in offices now. Thankfully DS is going to one with no dress code, though probably needs to get some more casual clothes now he’s not in uniform any more.

i need to get on with sorting his driving licence too, he turns 17 later this year and is keen to drive as soon as he can.