Y11 2025-26 Final exams are here. Now we wait….

[UncomfortableSilence]

New thread for all things Y11, did they cook or are they cooked. We will find out in 10 weeks😉

DS has been struggling a bit since finishing the exams. He hasn't managed to meet up with anyone although there has been a bit of chat on Whatsapp.
We have taken this week and have been doing day trips which has been lovely and weather has been about right rather than stupidily hot. Prom is next week.

I’ve barely seen Dd - I think there’s been just one day she’s not been out gallivanting with friends since the last exam. Prom was on Monday and they’ve had book return etc so totally done now.

7 WEEKS TODAY

A mixture of my DD hanging out with friends, she has a volunteer job 1 day a week in a community cafe, and is starting to work for her Dad next week for 1 1/2 days a week. Other than that she’s reading, watching TV and sleeping.

I am extremely jealous of her life 🤣

This is interesting as whilst obv a wheelchair is a barrier to some jobs there are so many where it shouldn’t be. I do volunteer work where it would not matter and Dito my day job where we always need admin temps

DD finally had her prom was very rushed at the venue but she had a great time stayed till the end lots had left with over an hour to go for after prom parties.

Bf broke up with her and friends disappeared when exams finished but slowly popibg back up again !
She is trying to sort out friendship groups as still unsure if going to stay on.
She had no taster days but if a shame as might off helped with deciding.

DD and I sorted out her papers and books yesterday. Macbeth was thrown in the recycling with glee. She's loving life- occasional short outings with friends - shopping and swimming - plus lots of lazing about. She still has quite a few activities to get on with - spending all day today on performances, dance exams next week. Made us whoopee Pies on Thursday.

I've delegated helping with the PTA uniform sale to DH and DD, and she's going to be my assistant volunteer for a couple of primary school reading sessions.

Not pursuing any jobs because she's doing volunteering and qualifications this summer which will hopefully lead to a summer / part time job. But not guaranteed so keeping fingers crossed.

My dd thinks we can sell all the revision guides on vinted? I would rather give away on fb as want them gone. She is abit of a hoarder and doesnt want to part with alot of her work!

DS isn't touching his revision books and notes until results are out they are exactly where they were when he finished his last exam. I.e on his bedroom floor.

Someone also said this to me (possibly on here), I've put the science revision guides up on Vinted but I'm not hopeful given no-one else seems to do OCR. We're taking all the French stuff including DDs lesson notes to a friend who is (unwillingly) home schooling. DD did point out to me which of her notes were particularly good (physics) and admired them briefly before chucking them!

Also I knew she wasn't a fan of the chemistry teacher she got, but she told me she taught herself about 50% of the content. Including ignoring the teacher in lessons and just learning through the workbook instead. She thinks lots of others did the same. I pointed out it might have been good to tell me this before the exams rather than after.

@applecrumblespider my DD was the same waited till exams to tell me couple of her teachers where not very good. She also taught herself part of the chemistry syllabus. Fingers crossed their extra work pays off.

Teenager are frustrating aren't they! We had similar in Year 10 when she told me they had had a succession of teachers and substitutes for maths and she was feeling worried about it. We looked into getting a tutor but then she got a really good, permanent teacher and also put more effort in going to maths clinic and more practice and we didn't need to. She went up a grade. I told her then to tell me (properly) if there were teacher problems but it goes in one ear.

DS2 had a shoddy chemistry teacher too - he used to move away if asked for help apparently! Also though the real depths of DS2s lack of understanding didn’t really come to light till far too late !

My dd didnt finish the Chemistry Syllabus and nor did my ds 3 years ago at the same school.

Chemistry has been the worst teaching by far here too. Guess it must be tricky to get people with the depth of knowledge combined with the personal qualities required to teach it!

Mine also had a bad chemistry teacher in y11. It went from being something she wrote enjoyed in Y10 to a complete slog in Y11.

She's doing work experience this week, hoping they have AC! was also a bit put out that she's expected to stay till 6. Still it's with an architect so hopefully she'll be able to decide afterwards whether this is something she wants to pursue.

Science teachers are hard to recruit I believe, seems to be a trend with the chemistry teachers here! Frustratingly I have a chemistry degree but have forgotten most of it. If I'd have known though I could have refreshed and helped. I did help with one topic she didn't understand, just by talking through the revision guide really.

@Stowickthevast hope she has a great time at work experience.

Interesting so many have issues with chemistry!

DD has spent the day decluttering her room, and trying to sort meet ups with friends seems so complicated!

DS has completely changed his sleep schedule for the world cup and is now staying up all night. Will be pleased when that is over! He is starting a project to revamp his bedroom though which is great

Of the three sciences, DS's chemistry teacher was the best. She set regular homework on Teams (mostly Seneca). I complained several times that biology and physics teachers were not setting homework and was told they did but often verbally in class. So basically not as that gets forgotten.
We got DS to do extra Physics as we thought that would be his worst due to the maths but in the December mocks his biology score was the worst.

We got back from holiday this morning, and this afternoon DD went for an interview for a part time job at a local wedding venue. Don’t know if she will get it, as I think they really want someone over 18 who can serve behind the bar, but just having an interview is a good experience anyway.

She seems to be very stressed about results. Prom on Thursday and then hopefully she can relax a bit. She missed taster days while we were away for both colleges she’s applied for - not great timing but was already booked.

Talking of Wimbledon - DS was going to go and queue with friends but didn’t go in the end. Just as well as apparently they all got their ID checked to make sure they were 16, and DS is still only 15!

My daughter's chemistry teacher was FANTASTIC! She absolutely loved the subject because of the teacher and she prepared them really well for the exam. Bizarrely, she ran into her chemistry teacher a few days ago in a completely random place while hacking in the woods. I think she was more excited to see her teacher than the other way around 😂

Biology and Physics were taught awfully though and she realised they hadn't been taught the full content while revising.

I didn't know you had to be 16 to camp on the Wimbledon lawn. Loads of kids camp with their parents. Is the rule that you have to be accompanied by someone over 18?

The Curriculum Lead for Chemistry at the school where I work is incredibly young - like 24. They’re great, mind you 😊 But I did find it surprising that someone so inexperienced was promoted to leadership - perhaps that speaks to the difficulties recruiting science teachers? As I understand it, science teachers often have to teach outside their specialism, eg Biology experts teaching Chemistry (same for geographers teaching history etc in humanities). So maybe that’s why it can be patchy.

Staying til 6 is hardcore work experience @Stowickthevast! I have a few kids in next week and I'm only making them do 9-3. They get an hour for lunch too.

DS had his prom last week and really enjoyed himself, despite saying for months that he wasn't going and if he did, he'd only stay for 30 minutes. I think it helped that he made last-minute plans to go with a group of friends. He definitely perked up when I dropped him off and he saw so many of his friends dressed up to the nines and taking group pics.

No signs of a job hunt happening so far but I'm away with work this week and left him a list of tasks, including recycling his mountain of past papers. He's also turned nocturnal for the World Cup @Callmejudith and phoned me from his mate's house somewhere around 3am on Monday, completely oblivious to the time!