Stephanie has just received her IGCSE exam results and we are celebrating!

She got 4 x A in the subjects that she took in June. These were all with the CIE board.

• English Language (A)
• Geography (A)
• Environmental Management (A)
• Biology (A)

These are added to the 3 she passed in November 2009.

• Chemistry (C)
• Physics (C)
• Maths (B)

This gives her everything she needs to meet the conditions of the offer from the College to study her chosen subjects at A-Level.

We have had some interesting conversations with different people as to the comparison between GCSEs and IGCSEs. When Stephanie first went for an interview at the College, she was told that GCSEs and IGCSEs are exactly the same and count in exactly the same way for points scoring.

Other sources of information would indicate that the IGCSE is counted as a grade higher.

Either way, it does not really matter. She has got what she needs and we are all absolutely delighted.

Should Stephanie ever choose to go and study abroad, her IGCSE English Grade A allows her to bypass the English Language Competency Test that most overseas Universities require for International students.  This would not apply if she had taken English at GCSE.

Well done Stephanie!

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, exams, igcse by Amanda
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It seems that there may be some funding for 14-16 year olds to take GCSE exams in College, in some parts of the country. From what I can gather this seems to be for Maths, English and Science GCSE and the courses generally run over a year.

The Funding is not widely advertised, so you will need get in touch with your own Local Education Authority to see what, if anything, is available for your area. I would also suggest you talk to other home educating families in your local area and find out what others have done.

We know of a few family in at least 3 different LEAs that have obtained funding in some way, shape or form.

There is an interesting discussion on this topic taking place on the HE-Exams-GCSEs-
alternatives-others Yahoo Group.

It seems that one of the most important factor is being able to speak to someone fairly senior at both the College of your choice and also at the LEA.

It appears that there are more schools willing to take home-educated children as private candidates for taking GCSE exams. I am not sure whether that extends to assessing coursework.

This may be a route worth investigating, especially if it extends to subjects such as ICT and Languages.

These can be a little tricky to take as IGCSE exams because there are oral and practical components to them. This, understandably, reduces the number of centres who are willing to take home-educated children as private candidates because it involves a lot more work for them.

It may be worth a couple of phone calls.

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, exams, home education by Amanda
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The summer weeks seem to be flying past.

Jacqueline has already done a Drama week at a local school and is currently away at Guide camp. She has activities most weeks now until the beginning of September, including a week in the Lake District and another Drama week. We have found another riding stables for her, so riding will be re-commencing shortly.

She is moving up to Rangers in September and will be starting her Duke of Edinburgh Award as well

Stephanie is having a well-deserved rest, whilst waiting for her exam results. She is starting college in September, doing A-Levels.

The girls took some more Speech and Drama exams a couple of weeks ago. Stephanie has now completed her Grade 6 Bronze level, apart from Musical Theatre, which she is taking in November. Without the results of these last exams, Stephanie already has 135 UCAS points towards her University application.

Jacqueline has completed all her Grade 5 sections and is now working towards her Grade 6, Bronze levels.

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, home education by Amanda
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During half term week, Jacqueline did her regular holiday Drama Week.

It always amazes me how much children can accomplish in a week. This is a group of 8-12 students who only see each other for Drama in the school holidays and each time there are different students, yet they put on an entire production from start to finish in under a week.

They script their own production, create costumes and props, learn all their lines and put dance in there as well!

It was a very enjoyable performance to watch.

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, drama by Amanda
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We have just had Jacqueline’s 14th Birthday Party. We went to the West Midlands Safari Park and had an absolutely brilliant day.

Jacqueline’s friends were from several different groups, including Home Education, Guides, Drama and her cousins. It was really lovely to see how well everyone got along. Most people did not know each other at the beginning of the day, yet by the end of the day everyone had made new friends.

The Safari Park is home to a terrific collection of animals, including some very rare white lions.

After a tour of the safari park, we had lunch and then Jacqueline was the star of the sea-lion show and got as kiss from a sea-lion!

The children spent the afternoon on the rides in the theme park. When we got  home, we set up the chocolate fountain and that seemed to be greatly appreciated by all.

It was a terrific day with a lovely bunch of kids!

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, fun, home education by Amanda
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We went to Creswell Crags in Derbyshire, which is a valley that dates back to the Ice Age. It has Limestone cliffs, which originally were the cliffs on a shallow sea.

Our ancestors apparently used ot walk from what is now France to Creswell Crags each Spring and then spent the Summer there.

It is a really fascinating site. They have found bones of Hyenas, Bears and Woolly Mammoths in the caves.

There is some very fascinating rock art, which appears to date from at least 12,000 – 15,000 years ago. The drawings are carvings, rather than coloured, so this is the reason why they were unnoticed until 2003.

There is a very interesting exhibition there, as well as plenty of walks thorugh the valley.

It was a great day out.

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, fun by Amanda
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We are now entering exam season and Stephanie is busy preparing for her IGCSE exams in the next few weeks.

There are some very helpful sites with past papers of all different subjects and exam boards. These are very useful for revision, as most of them have a marking scheme with them, as well as examiner’s comments.

Some  of the sites we have used are http://www.freeexampapers.com and http://www.xtremepapers.net - both sites are free.

Curious Experience

I had  a rather curious experience at the doctor’s surgery today. I have pulled a muscle in my stomach and was concerned I had damaged old scar tissue.

In the middle of telling me I had to do gentle exercise such as walking or swimming, the doctor (who I have never met before) suddenly asked me if I was still home educating my children and how it was going?

Somehow I don’t quite see the connection!!

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, exams by Amanda
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We had another excursion to Blackwell Court. This time, the children went on the zip wire, which is supposed to be one of the longest in Europe.  They had a great time. It was just a shame there was not time to have more attempts at it.

Next month is Grass Sledging.

Apparently the sledge things have wheels on them, so that should be interesting to watch.

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, fun by Amanda
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The Pottery classes seem to have now expanded into other Arts as well. At the last pottery class, Jacqueline made a mug, which I am looking forward to seeing and to testing out the firmness of it, as I drink my tea out of it!

She recently did some glass painting and the result was absolutley stunning!

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, fun by Amanda
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Today we received a book in the post called “Forward Press Poets 2009 – The North and Midlands” and on page 200 is a poem written  by Jacqueline to celebrate 100 years of Girl Guiding.

This is a collection that was put together by Forward Press to celebrate their 21st birthday.

Here is Jacqueline’s poem that was published.

Guides

100 years on

and still going strong.

Can you guess what it is?

It’s Girl Guiding of course!

It was 1909 when everything began,

with a man called Robert Baden-Powell,

He started the scouts for boys only,

which made the girls very angry!

They thought they should be included too,

so they went up to him

and demanded something for girls.

He thought over this for a while,

And he thought and thought and eventually,

the idea of Guides came to his mind

And the Girl Guiding organization was born!

And in 2010 girl guiding will be 100 years old!

I have been involved with guiding since I was seven years old,

from when I first joined Brownies

And since then

I have learned lots of different things,

Such as cooking, teamwork and more,

I have also made some great friends through Girl Guiding

And I love Guiding-

So much!!

Well done, Jacqueline, we are really proud of you.

Amanda Goldston

Tags: children, english by Amanda
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