On Target

In a way I had been dreading Thursday morning, what if the unthinkable happened, what would I do then? The problem was that I was not in control, I had done my best or at least I thought I had, but this wasn't about me. All I could do was get on with my morning and wait for the phone to ring. 


At last the phone took pity on me and rang. A rather cheerful voice at the other end informed me that he had passed. He had some very pleasing results and most important of all he had got more than enough to get into the sixth form of his choice. After a huge sigh of relief, I was the proud mum full of congratulations and cross with myself for my moments of doubt.


So why was I so anxious, I don't recall being this nervous when his sisters got their results. He is every bit as bright and able as his sisters, but perhaps not as diligent. The girls were able to continue to the sixth form at the same school, but 'the son who must remain nameless' wanted to change schools. We all agreed that it would be the best option for him, and he had been offered a place at the better school (the one his sisters attended) but he needed at least 8 good GCSE grades in order to take up his place. Perhaps it isn't so surprising that I was anxious, so much depended on his results.


Today I took 'the nameless one' to the new school for a meeting to sort out his timetable and do all the necessary  paperwork before starting school a week on Tuesday. He will be one of only a handful of boys at an all girls school, but I am certain it is the right place for him. It is not always easy for him to cope with ordinary things because of his Asperger Syndrome, but the next couple of years will be very important not just in achieving good A level results but in helping him to become independent enough to thrive at university. 

Wearing The Happy Hat

My son has decided that he no longer wants to be named on the blog. As a blogger himself he understands that this will be rather challenging for me, so he has given me permission to write about him (as long as it is not too embarrassing) but he does not want me to post photos of him. So the question is do I give him an alias or should I just refer to him as my son. So far that question is unresolved and for now he remains nameless. My dilemma reminded me of when he was about 8 and going through his spy phase. He decided to change his name to Flash, his teacher was most annoyed when he changed his name on all his exercise books!! That seems like a lifetime ago now.


So back to the present, he has his GCSEs looming in front of him and the difficult question of finding a suitable place for Sixth Form. The school he is at is very good in terms of the results it achieves and there are some very good teachers but it is very rigid and oppressive. I want him to do well beyond Sixth Form and that involves becoming more self reliant and taking responsibility for his own learning. He also felt that he needed a different learning environment for Sixth Form and he was very keen to go to the school that his sisters attended. There was just one problem, they only take up to 20 external students for post 16 education and everyone wants to go there.


Having attended the open evening and chatted to the teachers about the courses available he was more keen than ever and he eagerly filled in his application form. After that there was a long and anxious wait, then when we had almost given up hope there was a telephone message inviting him for an interview, he was so excited. The interview went well and on Friday the long awaited letter arrived, he has a firm offer of a place. He will be one of only a handful of boys at a girls school! He had a huge grin on his face and he sat in the lounge with his hat on (the hat is similar to the type worn by Olly Murs). I asked why the hat had put in an appearance after an absence of several weeks and he said that it is his happy hat. He took it off and allowed me a brief glimpse inside. Inside he has tucked several photos and notes into the lining band. He carries his most precious memories with him - in his hat! He has always had a unique approach to life. 


I like the idea of a happy hat, if I thought it would work I would make one for Robbie, but maybe Robbie wasn't built for hats! 


Photo by t-florie

Choices

I have such a bad back, I can hardly sit down to write this because it hurts so much. I don't know how I hurt it. Anyway on to more cheerful subjects, Sam has been notified of the subjects he will be able to study next year. He expressed his preferences a couple of months ago and he has been waiting anxiously to find out if he got his chosen subjects - he did! He was very lucky and he got everything he asked for, triple science, history, French and photography. He loves photography and he really wanted to study it so he is very happy that he can do photography GCSE. He already takes nice photos and he edits them in interesting way, here are two recent pictures that he took.

Changes

Sam has to select his GCSE options and he has very clear ideas about what he wants to do. He is not a great one for taking advice (its a man thing) and his form was completed before I even got to see it. At first I was anxious, but he is taking a broad range of subjects and it is better that he take subjects that motivate him to work hard. It is a difficult adjustment for me to find my youngest child suddenly very grown up and sensible, but I expect I will get used to it. Anyway the sensible bit doesn't last long, we just get fleeting glimpses of the sensible side and then we are back to the old familiar totally unique Sam.

On the subject of not taking advice, Laura is getting ready to take her driving test and is determined to get a car as soon as she can drive. I must admit that it will be a relief to have a second driver in the family, but I worry about the expense of Laura running and insuring a car, and of course I worry about her staying safe. I think this is just another case of mum needing to adjust!

Who was William Shakespeare? 01.09.07

I am not impressed by the annual chatter in the media and politics about GCSE and A Level examinations getting easier, it is a lot of nonsense used to score political points or in the case of the media, used to fill in when there is no real news to discuss. It is impossible to compare the exam results today with those 25 or 30 years ago. The word has changed beyond recognition, the slide rule has given way to the calculator, the computer has conquered the world and the internet has largely replaced the reference library. We now (allegedly) have equality and the expectations and attitudes of pupils and parents have changed beyond recognition.

My daughters claim that they would have hated sitting O levels in the 'olden days' as I did because they were entirely exam based and everything depended on your performance on the exam day. It suited me fairly well, I was content to drift along doing the minimum necessary to be average, then I revised hard and churned it all out on the day. Having a fairly good memory, common sense and being able to manage my nerves helped. However my girls put in endless hours of work and research to ensure their course work got a decent grade and knowing that they had made a good start gave them the confidence and background knowledge to cope with their exams. I suspect the way they learned may lead to more lasting knowledge than my cramming, but that would be hard to prove.

Having said all that a couple of things recently have made me wonder what the modern over regulated education actually teaches - certainly not general knowledge! The children and I watched the final of Big Brother on Friday, the winner seemed to be a lovely chap and he was a popular winner. At 19 he surely couldn't have forgotten his education completely, yet during a quiz he revealed that William Shakespeare was a film producer who made the film Titanic! Oh well, I always thought Shakespeare was overrated anyway!

Laura has just achieved an A in her GCSE in RE, that led me to assume that she must possess a certain level of knowledge about the beliefs and traditions of the various major faiths. Having been brought up in a Christian family and attended church I was astounded when she took out her Bible last week and asked me which bit Jesus was in! I wonder what they learn in RE these days!

More noticeable than the lack of general knowledge was the departure from recognisable English. I watched the Big Brother winner and the twins who came second being interviewed and it seemed to me that they were speaking a foreign language - I must be getting old! I struggle with Robbie's accent occasionally because he speaks too fast and has some very odd regional words (he grew up in South Staffordshire). The oddest thing is that he uses the word 'just' at the end of a sentence eg 'I fed the dog just'. On the other hand he thinks my accent is posh because I say words like bath and grass with a longer middle sound. I get really cross when he teases me about my accent, I guess it is quite a personal thing.