It's been a while - again. Sorry, life keeps getting in the way.
D is a happy soul. College is definitely suiting him. He has now decided that he may like to do a degree in Geology and/or Chemistry rather than Maths and Computing as he his having so much fun in the science lessons. He's nursing a strained joint where his right-hand pinky finger joins the hand - basketball injury. Hopefully it'll be better by next weekend.
K has been in need of attitude re-alignment this week. All that typical teenage angst has been flying around, and I'm the one on the receiving end. Well she got her re-alignment on Thursday and it seemed to work, but today she decided that my 'no food in your bedroom till it is tidy to my standard' rule could be forgotten. So I removed all PC/PS2/Wii/TV privileges. Guess who is now making in-roads into that tip she calls her personal space (trade descriptions act could be used there)? Voluntarily too! Edited to add, she's just taken the hoover upstairs!!!!!
A is fighting off yet another cold. This must be the third in 2 months. He's been working longer hours so we are wondering whether it is down to the air-con system at work. Lots of people there are sniffly and coughy. His car is now working again, touch wood, fingers crossed, etc. But we are still looking to change it in for something smaller. Then he will have my car for work and I will have a tiny runabout.
I am crocked - again! My running was doing really well and I found a new burst of stamina. Then the achilles and plantar fascia in my left ankle/foot decided they weren't happy and I'm back to walking. The physio I saw last week has suggested that the Great South Run might be too much for me but I'm doing it. Sponsorship is inching ever-closer to the £1000 mark.
I didn't get the part-time admin job at a local Sure Start centre. Part of me is disappointed but part of me is ok with it. After a lot of thinking I've decided that basic office work would be boring. I enjoy a bit of variety and would prefer to be really interested in what the place I work at does. Anyway, yesterday I found a job in a Traffic Management Office. The blurb on the job website suggests it is like I used to do many years ago as a despatch clerk/typist but with more general admin as well. I'd really like to apply for it but the downside is it's full-time. A is pretty sure that jumping straight back into full-time work after 17 years off might be too much. K isn't ecstatic about being left to fend for herself each weekday but says she'll get used to it and be fine. So what do I do?
Saturday, 18 October 2008
Wednesday, 1 October 2008
Have an interview!
A few weeks ago I applied for the post of Admin Assistant at a Sure Start centre attached to a local-ish secondary school. It's 25 hours a week flexible between1 - 8pm. I got a letter a couple of days ago asking me to attend an interview on Friday 10th at 11am and to bring my ORIGINAL exam certificates. Does anyone know where their certificates are after 25 years?! My house is going to be the tidiest in the country. Or, of course, they're still lurking in a box at one of the parents houses. Serves us right for moving so many times.
Wednesday, 24 September 2008
At last!
Amazing what can happen in 24 hours. D has come home today with all the bumpf needed to do Stats 2 in Further Maths! Now all he has to do is get on with it, which shouldn't be an issue.
Yesterday he sat in on an AS Geology class. He sorted it out himself with the teacher, and is going to sit in on a couple more before getting it added to his timetable.
Today he received a letter from college - no, it doesn't make sense to me either seeing as he's there all day - asking him to attend ICT Key Skills workshops to work towards Level 2. Umm, the boy is studying A-Level Computing. I hardly think that his ability to file handle and make Office do its thing is going to be sorely tested here. This is the boy who, at 6 years old, was rescuing his primary school teacher's files and folders from wherever she'd hidden them on the class PC. Ah well, the hoops we have to jump through just so the boxes can be ticked.
As a total aside to all this, my daughter loves me! What did I do to bring this about? I made lasagne for tea, a whole load of it. Then she promptly invited a friend over to help make a big dent in my hoped for freezer supplies. Now A will be taking some to work tomorrow for his lunch so I may be lucky to get 3 portions frozen. Not bad for 3lbs of mince ;-)
Yesterday he sat in on an AS Geology class. He sorted it out himself with the teacher, and is going to sit in on a couple more before getting it added to his timetable.
Today he received a letter from college - no, it doesn't make sense to me either seeing as he's there all day - asking him to attend ICT Key Skills workshops to work towards Level 2. Umm, the boy is studying A-Level Computing. I hardly think that his ability to file handle and make Office do its thing is going to be sorely tested here. This is the boy who, at 6 years old, was rescuing his primary school teacher's files and folders from wherever she'd hidden them on the class PC. Ah well, the hoops we have to jump through just so the boxes can be ticked.
As a total aside to all this, my daughter loves me! What did I do to bring this about? I made lasagne for tea, a whole load of it. Then she promptly invited a friend over to help make a big dent in my hoped for freezer supplies. Now A will be taking some to work tomorrow for his lunch so I may be lucky to get 3 portions frozen. Not bad for 3lbs of mince ;-)
Monday, 22 September 2008
What would you do
D has settled well into college. So far the work isn't stretching him and he is considering adding AS Geology to his timetable. Our biggest gripe is that he hasn't had a Further Maths lesson yet.
Why? Well it seems that the first module they do for the AS is Statistics 1. D has done this, and passed with an A, for his A2 Maths (Maths and Further Maths are two different courses, although the modules available are interchangeable). Now college have known he would be starting full-time there since November. They knew in February/March that he would be sitting the Stats 1 module in June. They've known since the middle of August that he got an A. They've known since 29th August exactly what his finalised course choices are. YET THEY HAVE YET TO DECIDE WHAT MODULE HE CAN STUDY INSTEAD!!!! They don't want to have this issue next year for the A2 so they need to decide what they will be teaching next year so that D can choose something else instead. Wouldn't you be a bit peeved that here we are two weeks into the year and he still has to do any maths?
I've told D that when he sees his tutor, who happens to be his Further Maths teacher, on Wednesday he is to tell him to sort it or I will lose patience and be in to see him - and that it won't be pretty if I do.
Why? Well it seems that the first module they do for the AS is Statistics 1. D has done this, and passed with an A, for his A2 Maths (Maths and Further Maths are two different courses, although the modules available are interchangeable). Now college have known he would be starting full-time there since November. They knew in February/March that he would be sitting the Stats 1 module in June. They've known since the middle of August that he got an A. They've known since 29th August exactly what his finalised course choices are. YET THEY HAVE YET TO DECIDE WHAT MODULE HE CAN STUDY INSTEAD!!!! They don't want to have this issue next year for the A2 so they need to decide what they will be teaching next year so that D can choose something else instead. Wouldn't you be a bit peeved that here we are two weeks into the year and he still has to do any maths?
I've told D that when he sees his tutor, who happens to be his Further Maths teacher, on Wednesday he is to tell him to sort it or I will lose patience and be in to see him - and that it won't be pretty if I do.
Thursday, 11 September 2008
Did you miss me?
It was the summer holidays and not much was happening here in Dark Corner. The kids were quite happy to bask in the afterglow of their exam results. K got back into studying last week and is making inroads into Maths, Chemistry, Latin, French, ICT, and Ancient History. She only plans to sit exams in the first two, the rest are to build up a portfolio to impress college ready for next year.
Speaking of college, D has had his first day today. It was an orientation day - to meet their tutor and the other students in the tutor group, to sign up for some extra-curricula activities, sign up for a NUS Extra card and bag lots of discounts at various places, sign up for the gym, get a library card, check out the college cafes, grab a locker, etc. He's really hyper. He's made a couple of friends, one of whom has almost the same timetable as him, and signed up for basketball and archery. The NUS team gave him a free UV anti-theft marker to write his postcode on all his valuables, so he's been busy finding things to mark. His timetable has plenty of gaps in it so he has room to do most of his homework at college. In fact, he hasn't shut up since he got in. Long may it continue.
I have a few possibilities on the job front, all office-based. Fingers crossed one of them comes up trumps. A is working hard, as usual, and liaising with D on which nights D will need a lift home from college.
Speaking of college, D has had his first day today. It was an orientation day - to meet their tutor and the other students in the tutor group, to sign up for some extra-curricula activities, sign up for a NUS Extra card and bag lots of discounts at various places, sign up for the gym, get a library card, check out the college cafes, grab a locker, etc. He's really hyper. He's made a couple of friends, one of whom has almost the same timetable as him, and signed up for basketball and archery. The NUS team gave him a free UV anti-theft marker to write his postcode on all his valuables, so he's been busy finding things to mark. His timetable has plenty of gaps in it so he has room to do most of his homework at college. In fact, he hasn't shut up since he got in. Long may it continue.
I have a few possibilities on the job front, all office-based. Fingers crossed one of them comes up trumps. A is working hard, as usual, and liaising with D on which nights D will need a lift home from college.
Thursday, 21 August 2008
Tigger is still in da house!
A lot has happened since my last post. I went back up to Nottingham to finish FIL's front room, so that was me absent Friday - Tuesday. K came with me and we had a great time.
On the Thursday before we left we all went to college to collect D's A-level Maths result. My 16 year old boy got a Grade B! Despite getting an E in one module! Is he satisfied? Is he heck! He wants a Grade A. To be fair all the universities he'd like to go to want an A so he really should try again on a couple of modules.
Today we went into Portsmouth to pick up D and K's GCSE results. D got a Grade D in Geography. He's a bit disappointed but didn't really like the subject so is not too upset. Hopefully college won't hold it against him - bet there aren't many students doing 3/4 A-levels with only 3 A* - C GCSEs. K got a Grade C in Biology. She was quite upset as she was hoping for a B. So she is planning to resit over the next year. If she wants to do A-level Biology she needs the B.
All in all not a bad haul for them. K has proved she CAN cope with exam pressures and do a sterling effort into the bargain - something I didn't think would happen this side of college.
Looks like Home Education hasn't done them any harm.
On the Thursday before we left we all went to college to collect D's A-level Maths result. My 16 year old boy got a Grade B! Despite getting an E in one module! Is he satisfied? Is he heck! He wants a Grade A. To be fair all the universities he'd like to go to want an A so he really should try again on a couple of modules.
Today we went into Portsmouth to pick up D and K's GCSE results. D got a Grade D in Geography. He's a bit disappointed but didn't really like the subject so is not too upset. Hopefully college won't hold it against him - bet there aren't many students doing 3/4 A-levels with only 3 A* - C GCSEs. K got a Grade C in Biology. She was quite upset as she was hoping for a B. So she is planning to resit over the next year. If she wants to do A-level Biology she needs the B.
All in all not a bad haul for them. K has proved she CAN cope with exam pressures and do a sterling effort into the bargain - something I didn't think would happen this side of college.
Looks like Home Education hasn't done them any harm.
Monday, 11 August 2008
Tigger is in da house!
The last week or so has been spent in nervous anticipation of when the IGCSE results would be published. They usually come out earlier than A-Levels and GCSEs. The I stands for International. These are the exams sat by other countries or private schools. As far as I know state schools are not allowed to offer them, which is a shame as most are quite a bit more rigorous than their GCSE counterparts. If you're interested in reading more try http://www.cie.org.uk/qualifications (IGCSE is listed in the 'Popular Qualifications' box on the left) or http://www.edexcel-international.org/home and click on qualifications. Scroll down the list on the left-hand side and click on IGCSE. Finding somewhere to sit the exams can be quite tricky but we found somewhere in Bristol willing to support my two with extra time and PC access (all signed for by Educational Psychologists).
Anway, back to the story. The nice man from the Exam Centre phoned this afternoon to say the results were available. Both D and K got grade Cs!!!!!! D entered the Extended Tier (Higher Tier equivalent). He needed a C or better to avoid all that English Lit. stuff at college for the next year or so. K entered just to see what it was like and she did the Core Tier (Foundation Tier equivalent). Grade C is the highest grade on that tier. She ran round the house crying and squealing "I got a C!" with a grin a mile wide all at the same time. (I've checked the windows and none of them have shattered).
A & I are a complex mix of relief (at D's), shock (at K's) and joy (for both of them). We promised D a meal out if he passed so we're heading for the Indian buffet restaurant on Thursday evening for a fixed price pig out! FIL is staying for a few days and he is just as chuffed as we are.
For those of you who don't know D & K, a grade C is one heck of an achievement for them. D has always hated writing and creative writing in particular. His school books (from when he went to school) were full of comments along the lines of "Scruffy work. Be neater next time." to "Lazy boy! I know you can do better than this!". Hence his hatred of the subject was very well entrenched. He didn't do any formal English for nearly 2 years after leaving school. In that time we found that his handwriting speed was appalling (4 words per minute average) but his typing speed was better (14 words per minute). He still balked at creative writing. Thanks to the care, talents and, above all, patience of three ladies at our local HE group he learnt the tricks needed to get the marks. By Easter his essays had much improved and I dared to hope he could get a C. He did!
K has issues with understanding and using language, particularly when she has to assimilate a lot of it at once. She doesn't qualify for a diagnosis of semantic/pragmatic language disorder but certainly exhibits some traits. We entered her this year (a year early, she's not 15 till tomorrow) just to see how she would do and to give her a taste of what the English exam is like. She didn't attend half the lessons that D did at our local group as she found the workload too much. However one of the Mums said she would mark any work that K did out of the text books. I wasn't allowed to see any of it! Obviously this was the way to go.
So we are all bouncing off the walls like Tigger!
Anway, back to the story. The nice man from the Exam Centre phoned this afternoon to say the results were available. Both D and K got grade Cs!!!!!! D entered the Extended Tier (Higher Tier equivalent). He needed a C or better to avoid all that English Lit. stuff at college for the next year or so. K entered just to see what it was like and she did the Core Tier (Foundation Tier equivalent). Grade C is the highest grade on that tier. She ran round the house crying and squealing "I got a C!" with a grin a mile wide all at the same time. (I've checked the windows and none of them have shattered).
A & I are a complex mix of relief (at D's), shock (at K's) and joy (for both of them). We promised D a meal out if he passed so we're heading for the Indian buffet restaurant on Thursday evening for a fixed price pig out! FIL is staying for a few days and he is just as chuffed as we are.
For those of you who don't know D & K, a grade C is one heck of an achievement for them. D has always hated writing and creative writing in particular. His school books (from when he went to school) were full of comments along the lines of "Scruffy work. Be neater next time." to "Lazy boy! I know you can do better than this!". Hence his hatred of the subject was very well entrenched. He didn't do any formal English for nearly 2 years after leaving school. In that time we found that his handwriting speed was appalling (4 words per minute average) but his typing speed was better (14 words per minute). He still balked at creative writing. Thanks to the care, talents and, above all, patience of three ladies at our local HE group he learnt the tricks needed to get the marks. By Easter his essays had much improved and I dared to hope he could get a C. He did!
K has issues with understanding and using language, particularly when she has to assimilate a lot of it at once. She doesn't qualify for a diagnosis of semantic/pragmatic language disorder but certainly exhibits some traits. We entered her this year (a year early, she's not 15 till tomorrow) just to see how she would do and to give her a taste of what the English exam is like. She didn't attend half the lessons that D did at our local group as she found the workload too much. However one of the Mums said she would mark any work that K did out of the text books. I wasn't allowed to see any of it! Obviously this was the way to go.
So we are all bouncing off the walls like Tigger!
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