I am taking part in Blogtober 2022 and will be writing posts with various themes/prompts throughout October. Today's prompt is: Autumn/Winter roundup!
This week my Word of the Week is:
We are well past the halfway point in October and with doing all of these Blogtober blog posts I haven't written much about my girls so this is a bit of a catch up with them.
Ellie, my 15 year old started year 11 at school, her final year before she goes to college and seems to have been really busy. We had a parents evening a few weeks ago and there's wasn't much for the teachers to say that we don't already know. Ellie is a quiet member of her class, she needs to speak up more, she works hard but needs to revise for her GCSE's. We have been working on the revision, she is doing at least 30 minutes every night and most nights more. Ellie is in the middle of her mock exams at the moment and is enjoying them. She is one of those people who likes doing exams, she said she is trying her best and that is all I can ask! When we get the results for them we can really focus on what subjects need more revision for her real GCSE's. I got a text off her English teacher on Monday saying Ellie had used her extra time, she's been given it because of her hearing loss and did a lot more writing. They write in blue or black pen in the main exam and then green pen for the extra time.
Ellie has also had visits to the local college and one on one talks with people from the college and those chats have been really helpful for her. She has a fair idea of what course that she wants to do when she leaves school next year, it's of course still engineering but she's narrowed it down a little. She also went to a careers fair at school but that was mainly just to get the free pens, food and practice interview techniques.
As well as doing well at school and stepping up there she has really stepped up at home too. Not having to nag her about every little thing is making a happy home life. I am of course still having to nag her to do her homework for school though, She didn't hand in 2 pieces of homework in one day and ended up with 2 detentions over two evenings. She deserved them and I have said if she gets any more detentions for not doing homework she will be serving time without the internet.
Ellie has made the most of being out with her friends after school and on a weekend while the not so dark nights lasted. She has spent her time collecting conkers, going for bike rides or just hanging out at the skatepark. It won't be long until she can't really play out which seems a shame.
Becky my 20 year has settled into full time work fantastically well. She is only doing an extra shift one week and two the next compared to what she was working part time. She is on full time nights now and those shifts work well for her. She has worked out that she has more time for herself than if she was working full time days.
A few weeks ago the care home where she works was over staffed, so much so people were struggling to get shifts and now with people leaving and residents needing extra care they are understaffed again. Part of the night staff's job is to do some of the cleaning and there was one night a few weeks ago when none of it got done as they were all busy with residents. Hopefully they sort the staff situation soon.
Despite working Becky has also finally made time to sort her bedroom out. She bought a new desk and office chair which took almost a month to put together because of the shifts she was working and on her days off she thought it was more important to go out with friends which we had words over. Ugh. Anyway it's done now and it looks fantastic, it has also given me some ideas for things to get her for Christmas.
On Tuesday Becky finally started her driving lessons. Her first was 2 hours long and she said she got on OK but there's a lot to learn. She's booked in for another next week. She was just happy that she didn't crash the car on her first time out, the instructor said she did well and once she gets the hang of the gears she should be well away!
Today is the start of half term for us. It means nothing to Becky, working life still goes on for her it's Ellie and me who can have some sneaky lie in's. hehehe We don't have much planned for the break from school apart from a shopping trip for Christmas presents and a trip to the cinema.
I hope you have all had a good week?
This is a nice round up or catch up post. I know the girls names but struggle with knowing the difference in photos. Silly me! They aren't even twins. Both girls seem to be doing well and I'm sure the family is happy for that. Best of luck to you all.
ReplyDeleteYou are just like me, when they get detensions, I did argue one out when the class were given a detention for not doing their homework, which none of them knew about.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading about how you’re girls are going. I’m happy to hear they are doing well. Best of luck to Ellie on her exams. And I hope that they get more staff at Becky’s work. My son has one more exam to do but it’s not until next Thursday. I’m sure that I’ll be nagging him to study! Haha
ReplyDeleteIt's nice to catch up with how your girls are doing. It sounds like they are both working very hard. I'm in awe of Becky for working nights!
ReplyDeleteThis time of year feels like a lot of catch up! I think your girls are about the same age as my older two :) Its a fun time.
ReplyDeleteGreat catch up Kim, it sounds like your girls are doing well. I know all about the nagging with the homework though, Boo is supposed to be doing an hour and half every day after school but she just doesn't want to. xx
ReplyDeleteEllie sounds like she’s doing really well at school at the moment (having to been nagged about homework aside!). Hope all went well with the mock exams and good luck with choosing a course at college. It’s lovely to be able to go out after school – such a shame when the dark nights limit that. Glad that Becky has settled in well with full-time work and hope the staffing situation improves soon. Good luck to her with her driving lessons. Hope you had a nice half-term x #WotW
ReplyDelete