Her 2nd year at college.

I always write a blog post each year about how my girls are getting on with the new school/college year. There's only Ellie in education now and she has not long started her 2nd year at college doing electrical engineering.

To say we were dreading her return to college would be an understatement. A lot happened over the summer that I still can't write about as it's a police matter. Up until a few days before Ellie went back to college a lot of things were still up in the air. We went to collect her bus pass on the Monday and ended up having a chat with one of the safeguarding staff members who said a lot had changed in the week where we hadn't spoken and Ellie would be safe in college as things had been put in place to ensure that! I was so relieved knowing Ellie would be safe at college and of course at home, now it was the inbetween bit which started to worry me. Ellie gets a bus to college and so far I have been taking and picking her up. It's 5 hours out of my day with the trips there and back but I really don't mind, her safety comes first. I did write about my first week taking the bus in one of my Word of the Week posts.

Like I said Ellie has gone into her 2nd year at college so the routine and the way the college works isn't new to her. At the end of the last college year the plan was to take all of the students from two Level 1 classes and put them in one class doing the Level 2 course but of course things never go to plan and Ellie ended up in a class with a few people from last year, some school leavers and some older students. It is a right mix and a good mix. She gets on with everyone in her class and really likes it. 

On the first day back Ellie met a couple of new people. Another girl to join Ellie and the only other girl doing the course. Ellie was a bit wary of her at first as in her words "she looked like a bit of a mean girl" but it turns out she's lovely and Ellie took her under her wing showing her where the loo's and canteen were. The other new friend is a 60 year old man. He retired years ago after running a business and has now become bored so wanted a new challenge and electrical engineering is it. I laughed and said the bigger challenge is going back to education and putting up with a ton of teenagers. hehehe

Ellie is really happy with her tutor and teachers this year, as much as she loved the lady who taught them this year she prefers the male teachers. Personally I think they go easier on the girls and that's why she likes them so much but whatever they're doing they're getting good results from Ellie.

One thing Ellie hated last year was the English GCSE lessons, she had to resit them as she didn't pass them in school and didn't pass over the summer so she's doing the lessons again. She has a different teacher this time around, a smaller class and with people that she knows and gets on with so I think it could be 3rd time lucky.

The social side of college is going well, she is keeping away from the "friends" that she had last year which were not good for her and has a good bunch of people to hang out with now. There's a few who know some of what went on during the summer so they are really looking out for her making sure she is never alone.

The safeguarding staff have been amazing, keeping me informed about things, taking Ellie off to a little room for her own safety when things were going on in the vicinity of the college and being there offering Ellie someone to chat to if she needs it. I cannot thank them enough, they have been so fantastic.

A lot of the work that Ellie is doing on her course is the same as what she did last year but goes into more detail and in the practical lessons she has to figure things out for herself with less input from the teachers. She has found out that the end of year assessment is the same as last years but the students have to do everything themselves without any instructions. They have to make a board with an electrical circuit with plugs, switches, trunking and things like that. I have no idea what I am talking about, thankfully Ellie does.

I know Ellie is going to smash this year at college, she already seems more settled than she did last year and happier.

How are your kids getting on at school and college?