GCSEs come at such a difficult time. I actually remember writing about this in my own GCSE English exam (the unseen creative writing bit I believe). Surrounded by a hall of 6th formers doing retakes, it was such a distraction. That’s the thing isn’t it – hormones are raging, kids are wanting to be adults – staying up late (drinking), doing their own thing. Not realising about working, earning money, they just want to play computer games and hang out with their friends (or whatever the equivalent is in your house).
Luckily our son has always done well, so there was never ever any doubt as to whether he had got ‘good grades”. But with the introduction of iGCSEs, and talk of Maths and Science exams being made harder, the high standard set by his school to get into 6th form was a bit worrying (he needed an A* in Maths, which he got last year; As in Sciences – and then a further A and B in any subject).
When he insisted that he had done “enough” during the revision period (and to us it felt like 5 minutes a day, it was hard to argue with (as he has always got the grades). That so wanting to help give him that little nudge, to ensure that he got the grades he was capable of, and giving him the best possible start to the future – and balancing it with letting him grow up, to make his own decisions, even if they are mistakes. The mental conflict as to whether this really was the right time to do it.
Clearly he knew what he was capable of (far better than me), and that I need not have worried. As today he collected the rest of his grades. He did Maths, English and Religious Studies last year (Gaining an A*, B and A respectively). This meant that he had to do Additional Maths this year – which also fell on the same day as his Physics GCSE – all sounded like a lot to me (my highest grade was a B).
I’d like to point out that at 5 years old he was continuously excluded from school – he was in his reception year. They could not deal with his behaviour. May be they should have helped him instead. After his diagnosis of Aspergers Syndrome (at aged 10) he has flown by. I want to thank his junior school for all their hep and support, I don’t think he would be where he is today without it. Also that a lot of people would expect him to fail as I was a teenage mother.
I saw, as I impatiently waited in the car, that some mothers DID go in with their sons to collect the results. I wanted to so much. But he’s 17 this year, and at some point I have to let him grow up (and I was only in the car, a perk of the school being 13 miles away!).
Now we are off to celebrate. I hope everyone else got the grades they needed.
Oh wow, amazing!!!! You must be so proud. Congratulations!!!
Awesome stuff! TIme to celebrate!
Those are incredible results. Much better than I did. You must be so proud. xx
Wow! A* in English Lit?! That’s a tough one – what a star x
TBH that is an achievement and a half isn’t it. Thank you x
AWESOME!!!!!!!
Wowee! What fantastic results – so glad you’ve socked it to all the doubters and many, many, heartfelt Congratulations to you son xx
Reading this gives me great hope for my own son as he heads towards secondary school next week. Huge congrats to your boy xx
wow- what fabulous results. Congratulations to you all x
That’s fantastic, how proud you must be to see the progress he’s made and that he knows himself well enough to do the right amount of revision. Congratulations!
Wow, congratulations to him, and to you for helping him get there. That is a fantastic result, I bet you are all really proud! x
Congratulations – so very, very well done – now you can sleep!
Oh my goodness, what awesome grades! Well done him, you must be so proud x
Congrats! You all deserve to celebrate!
Brilliant!!
That is amazing! I hope the celebrating is going well xx
Thank you all so very much 🙂 x
Amazing results you must be ever so proud!! As a kid you never think about the stress your parents go through as you wait for your results… I have it all to come 🙁 Go and celebrate 🙂 xx
Brilliant results. We went through this last year with my son and again last week with his AS results. I know what you mean about nudging to make sure they reach their potential: hard to sit on your hands when they say they’ve done enough!
Absolutely amazing results! I’m sure you are so proud of him, with every reason to be! Lovely that he’s got back into school again for 6th form. It sounds like they do so many more than when I did mine, I did 7 & a welsh board one for French and I thought that was more than enough. x
Wow – congratulations to you and your son!! And good luck with the A-levels!!
Wow, fantastic results! Well done
What fabulous grades! No wonder you’re proud.
Brilliant, you must be so proud and relived!
Those are fantastic results! I can imagine you are so, so proud! Well done him!
what a great set of results! he has done so well and that junior school sounds like it did amazing things for him and helped him to blossom. what an amazing mummy you are – he is a credit to you and your hard work too lovely. enjoy feeling like this – you desere it x x
Well done to both of you – amazing results x
Look at those results! Absolutely fantastic! You must be so proud 🙂
Wow absolutely fabulous results, you must be soo proud
Wow! What a fabulous post! great results!!! You made e teary eyed here 🙂
What a spectacular set of results! I hope he continues to thrive 🙂
WOW his results are amazing, he really did do you proud. Sending him a big congratulations.
Thanks for linking up with Small Steps Amazing Achievements :0)
x
This is fantastic – you must be so proud. I was a high achiever at school too. I think exams and coursework either suit you or they don’t. I hope you got tipsy on champagne and had a thoroughly nice celebration x