All three of my older children have been taking some exams/courses this summer and we now have all the results. Here goes…
Thomas has completed his diploma in Music Production and received a merit (the equivalent of 60 UCAS points). Although he wasn’t over the moon with his grade, he has enjoyed every single aspect of college, and has his fingers in every available pot! He is continuing into a second year to achieve his BTEC Level Three extended diploma in Music Production, roughly equivalent to three A Levels or up to 168 UCAS points).
Lillie has completed her Level 3 Diploma in Photography and received the equivalent of an A grade A Level and a total of 48 UCAS Points. She also received her level two in Art and Design (this is just pass/fail – she passed! and is the equivalent of a GCSE is Art and Design). Lillie will be continuing on with her GCSEs this year in order to obtain a further four which she needs as the first step towards becoming a children’s nurse, and also the first year of a GCSE equivalent in British Sign Language. She has a year of hard work ahead of her but I know she can do it, and I look forward to thinking up creative ways to make this last year at home extra special for her (and me!).
Charlotte, who you might remember was ill for almost the entirety of 2018, meaning for most of that year she did very little schooling. We are blessed to be able to take exams whenever we want and so made the decision together that she would take her GCSEs in 2020 rather than 2019. At the beginning of this year she began to feel better and announced to all that she would be taking her GCSEs this summer after all, and she wanted to study A levels at school in September! So for six months, Charlotte and I worked our little socks off! She needed six GCSE or equivalents to go to her chosen school. She already had three (English Language (A*) English Literature (A*) and Law (C)) This meant she needed to pass Classics, Latin and Màths.
A couple of weeks ago, we heard that she had passed her màths (by three marks!) – we were over the moon! Seriously, the fact that she no longer has to ever do another màths lesson made Charlotte a very, very happy girl!! Today we got her final two results back. I had to go to the school and get them as Charlotte is still in Northern Ireland. I hated that I couldn’t share this moment with her face to face, because no-one really understands just how well Charlotte did to complete two GCSEs in four months after being so ill for the year before. I wanted to give her an enormous hug and tell her how proud I was of her. The grades have changed to numbers, but she received an A for her Classics (new grade 7) and a B for her Latin (new grade 6).
Right now I have tears in my eyes because I know how much sweat and tears went into those two grades. She worked even when she was tired. She worked even when she was in pain. She worked even when she was terrified that the ME would returned. She chose to work instead of going out with friends. I could not be prouder of her. We all have a great work ethic in our house, and I am proud of every single one of my children and their achievements. But I know just how much dedication and self control it took for Charlotte to work through all the obstacles she has faced over the past couple of years. And because she did, she can now attend the school of her dreams and study Drama, English Literature and History A Levels.
I don’t know how this next year will go for her. I don’t know whether her body and mind will cope with the work load (she had another ME wobble on holiday and so obviously still needs to look after herself). I don’t know how well she will settle into the very foreign environment of school. But I do know that all the lessons she has learnt over the past couple of years will be invaluable to her. Sweetheart, Daddy and I could not be prouder of you!
Well done to all my friend’s children who have done an amazing job in their GCSEs, I hope all your wishes and dreams come true over the next few years!