What will your 16yo do now there's no gcse exams?

[NCTDN]

Wasn't sure whether to put in here or on the Coronavirus page so sorry put on both!
DS now finished school. Younger DD has school work to do but what about him? What can he fill his time with whilst trying to stay away from friends? Prepare for a levels? Revise in case he needs to do exams? It's all so vague...

Mine has already decided to still study his A Level choices, plus some history for fun. He has worked so hard and is finding the down time hard to adjust to. Glad he is very level headed and organised, this is so hard for them all.

No work set from school - they have officially left now. Exams are definitely cancelled unless they want a resit if they don't agree with teacher assessments.

Lots & Lots & Lots & Lots & Lots & Lots & lots of video games.

God knows. I'm in the same boat and mine doesnot have many friends to virtually hang out with either. Maybe we should set up a teensnet.

If doing humanities a-levels, check out Massolit.io - lots of online lectures accessible for free until the end of April.

If mine was y11 (I have a y10) and planning to do A levels, I'd be encouraging them to get a head start on A level background reading or syllabus.

The ones doing BTECs? No idea unless you can get hold of a course textbook.

Go and stack shelves in Tesco

My 15yo DD (summer birthday) said she wants to teach herself to play the guitar she got for Christmas, that's been put on hold up to now due to mocks & revision, practice yoga & stretching exercises for her stiff limbs & do more fiction reading, which she had already started to do but is looking forward to doing more of.

Currently though she's full of cold that has hit her since school ended abruptly & unexpectedly on Thursday (they thought they would be in on Friday) so with that & everything else is feeling a bit miserable.

My son will be spending some time preparing for A levels. Then lots of gaming, Netflix and sleeping. I also have a daughter in year 6 so I might get him to tutor her if he wants to earn some cash.

Go and stack shelves in Tesco

Not sure Tesco take on 16 year olds? Even if they do, there’s plenty of adults needing work more to pay bills at the moment My sons plans to get a job will be on hold for the moment.

TeenPlusTwenties I also suggested she keeps her hand in with the subjects she intends to take at A-level, which I think she is happy to do as they're the ones she enjoys anyway. Some of the subjects she was looking forward to never doing again!

Mines planning to do a level prep and looking at maybe working in Asda/tesco. We are also looking at the free courses in the OU. It's hard to know what to do with them. My younger three have work set but there's not really anything for him.

Sadly we are in isolation at the mo so he has
missed his last day of school.

ChickLitLover I also have a younger DD in yr6. It's such a strange situation to have them both missing so much/the end of the last years in their respective schools.

Same here and no idea.
With the summer holiday, it will be 5 months out off school.... it’s a very long time

What were his plans for after GCSEs? A levels? College? Apprenticeship? Basically what ever it was he could make a start on the knowledge side of it (providing you have Internet access).
Or just get him to do something like start a blog of book/film/tv/lego sets reviews. Or just research something for the fun of it and write a report (random example - history of a toy he used to love like toy cars). Learn to knit, sew, etc. This is the opportunity to teach teens that learning something shouldn't be just about getting an exam grade out of it but sometimes it is nice to just learn and do stuff because it's interesting and fun or is a nice thing to do for society (ie if he learns to knit he could knit blankets for babies in special care or something).

Mine has been playing Minecraft online with his friend, just appearing for meals & reading. Spent a lot of time talking & texting as well. He is pretty grumpy at the moment but that is nothing new.

Well so far she is learning songs on keyboard and learning trick shots with a football. We are thinking about buying some Maths Bridging textbooks for step up to A Level. She really wants to work or volunteer so if any essential work is needed from 16 year olds in this sorry crisis she will apply.

I nothing now. He was going to get a summer job but he wont be now. I think for next 6 months hes going to be gaming and earning g money from me doing chores as he wants the cash ( for what purpose now I dont know)

why would they not take on 16 year olds?

ginggang any 16 year olds who were due to take GCSEs are still of statutory school age until the end of June. This limits the amount of employment that is available to them and limits the hours they can work. That's why places like Tesco won't take them on.

Our 16yo (Y11) dd has been lucky to have zoom classroom lessons so still very much working to the curicculum. The school have made it fun too and it's great the kids get to see their friends online still in a classroom situation, albeoit from their bedroom/ study or wherever they choose to work from. Lots of fun challenges and house competitions set too. Daily tutor and house meetings keep the kids focussed and feeling part of their school community. I do feel for those kids/ schools who do not have this option as Y11 still need to complete work, projects etc to present for grading, the more more work presented, the more chance of a better grade. I cannot imagine how difficult it could be to have 6 months off from school - and that's if everything is back to normal in Sept. It's hard keeping teens motivated and off their phones all day. Maybe set a daily challenge at home ? Could you get some A level material from the school ?

I'd like to add, dd has done a lot of sleeping too ! She's working on finalising her Art mock and wants to complete her final peice and anyone who has had a child take GCSE will realise just how much work is involved - it's huge ! So I let her sleep when she wants at weekends and now Easter Hols, they need to reboot too :-)

There is a great GCSE 2020 thread I've been on OP.

Yes Ds1 is just waiting for his results in August.

His school sent over work right from the beginning in March.

Since May 1/2 term they've sent over bridging work for the 4 A'levels he's chosen. (His school make them choose 4, then they drop one, down to 3, pre Xmas).

So he's been doing 'some' of that. He maintains he's nearly on track! (Don't ask!)

He's also got a place at the local college. That was always a backup though.

Other than that he's been laying in his bed, playing Xbox 24/7 and going on long long runs with his younger brother.

And in the last couple of weeks meeting up with mates, which I'm very pleased about.

ChickLit & JuneJuly,I too have ds's your ages: Year 11 and Year 6 : nearly 17 and nearly 12.