I can't believe...

[HoneyBee]

It's the 1'st of September already. :searchme: All of the kids are going back to school in the next day or two and before you know it Christmas will be here. Time flys when your having fun eh? :)

[JustJodi]

yup September is our favorite month,cos we fly to the USA for a month:D
Kids have been back to school for a week and half here in Holland ..:cool:

[HoneyBee]

Kids in Holland start school in August, well I never knew that!!! :D

[Abbie]

:( I cant believe it either, I mean I know England never really had a summer, but since people go away and come back and still class the time as summer. Now its just like the end of summer :(
I mean where has all that time gone, Ive been off since the 27th June!! :eek:
Well I have one more week off. But some of my friends have gone back today

[Bryan]

bring on the end of the summer! i've been off since may, and it's been dragging badly! can't wait to get back to uni later this month!!!

[Siobhan]

Kids in Holland start school in August, well I never knew that!!! :D

My daughter only went back today but the younger kids (4 year olds) were in last week.

[Meh]

The older you get, the faster time goes. Mind you, this summer can't go fast enough. Miserable weather.

[DaVeyWaVey]

Can't believe the summer's been and is now going.. it has been horrible weather for the majority of the time of it and I'm back to school on Wednesday...

[Kirsty :]]

I can't wait to go back to Sixth Form on Wednesday. I'm so bored being stuck at home doing nothing. As for summer, I don't think these past few months are worthy enough to even be titled summer :(

[Abbie]

I do want to go back to college, but I dont at the same time :S

[Hollie-x]

Back to school tomorroww (:
Want to go back though - going into year 11 now so just wanna get it done and outta the way. Only there now for like 8 months (:

Oooh and exactly 4months till my birthday today! (:

[HoneyBee]

And just to think there is only 6 days till my birthday :D

[Chloe O'brien]

Did we have a summer when :searchme: The schools up in Edinburgh went back on either 20/21 August depending on the industrial action. Yes it's September and in 11 days times my wee cherub is going to be 10 years old (going on 50). Look on the bright side Autumn means decent telly with the return of SCD and spooks to keep us amused into Christmas. Then we have the return of 24.:cheer: :cheer:

[Kim]

I'm back to school on Friday for lessons, but I have to enrol on Thursday. I'm really looking forward to never having to do any subjects that I don't want to do and there's no uniform, frees and a common room :) And I get to see my friends more than once in a blue moon :D

I guess the novelty will wear off within a week. We don't know who our tutor is or who's in our tutor group yet so we get an hour to get used to that on Friday. I won't get to do all of my subjects on Friday though unless by luck of the draw I miss my free when we have to meet our tutor groups; I don't know why they don't do that on enrolment day to be honest.

[Katy]

Summer finished! I think i must have missed that one. Yeah unfortunatley its back to Uni and back to reality in three weeks and then it will be 2 assignments i'll blink and it';; be christmass. This holiday has gone way to fast especially as i though if i were working it would be really slow.

It is 14 weeks to christmas on thursday! thats a depressing thought. I only know that because we were ordering the christmas trees in our department at work yesterday.

[Bryan]

It is 14 weeks to christmas on thursday! thats a depressing thought. I only know that because we were ordering the christmas trees in our department at work yesterday.

:eek: :eek: :eek: :D :D :D

[sindydoll]

my daughter goes back to school today at 11.30! i think its gone really quick this holiday! just think another 18 weeks and it will be christmas :lol: :lol:

[di marco]

i cant believe how fast this whole year has gone, not just summer!

[HoneyBee]

If you can call it summer, I think it was more like spring because of all the rain.

[sindydoll]

we havnt had 1 day thats been in the 30's

[Kim]

I know, it's gone so fast. I was just saying to my dad's cousin that it only seems like yesterday that it was April. I can't believe it's so close to christmas either, I was in the supermarket with my mum yesterday and the woman at the delicatessen said how many days it was until christmas. My mum didn't much like the reminder :lol:

[pinkles14]

The holidays have gone so fast my daughter goes back to school on monday..
went to the supermarket today and they have started getting christmas stock out it will soon be here........

[HoneyBee]

When I was a kid I used to love seeing all the christmas stuff out in the shops, it always made me feel happy, Isn't it amazing what things you remember from your childhood?

[sindydoll]

well kids who started secondary school this week have to stay until their 17 ......poor kids.. but good because their is nothing for them when they leave

[Abbie]

well kids who started secondary school this week have to stay until their 17 ......poor kids.. but good because their is nothing for them when they leave

I dont even know how thats gonna work? :confused:

[Kim]

They're putting it up for 18 for those a few years younger than that lot. Somehow putting it up to 18 gradually is supposed to minimise the number that rebel against the new law, as loads did when it was first put up to 16, so I read.

Abbie - the kids can go to college when they've done there GCSE's if they like, they just have to stay in some form of education until they are 17. Some/all might not even do GCSE's; there's a new type of diploma going in.

[sindydoll]

well i think it wil do the kids good to stay longer at school

[di marco]

i think in a way it will be good, but i think it will only work if every area brings in different courses/qualifications people can do, i dont think it will work if some areas force the kids to do gcses and then alevels etc

[HoneyBee]

It was all much simplier when I was at school.

[di marco]

tbh i dont really think it was simpler when i was at school (which i know wasnt that long ago!) with just being allowed to do gcses etc. i think if it is organised properly and everyone gets the choice of doing gcses/diplomas etc and can choose what sort of qualifications they can do then itll be better than when i was at school cos you will have more of a choice and do exactly the sort of things you want to do

[Kim]

Yeah I don't think the less able kids should be forced to do GCSE's. If they don't get 5C's then it doesn't help them cos everyone says they need a C in this and a C in that, and they then have to take really low courses in college to get onto ones that they really want to do.

Forcing them to do A Levels definitely won't work. You need 40% to pass one and the work is obviously harder at GCSE so they're hardly going to pass if they don't pass GCSE because you don't even need 40% to pass a GCSE. You probably do in higher so if it's not thought that they could pass that then they won't pass an A Level.

[Abbie]

Abbie - the kids can go to college when they've done there GCSE's if they like, they just have to stay in some form of education until they are 17. Some/all might not even do GCSE's; there's a new type of diploma going in.

Okay... makes more sense, but I still dont really get it

[Chloe O'brien]

I think it should be mandatory that all kids across the whole of the UK should stay in full-time education until they are 18. I work at a further education college and it horrifies me the amount of young people just out of school and don't even have basic reading and writing skills. How can a young person in today's society leave education after 11 years and not be able to read or write. It they raised the age for leaving school to 18 it would give the less academic students an extra chance of learning basic skills.

[di marco]

I think it should be mandatory that all kids across the whole of the UK should stay in full-time education until they are 18. I work at a further education college and it horrifies me the amount of young people just out of school and don't even have basic reading and writing skills. How can a young person in today's society leave education after 11 years and not be able to read or write. It they raised the age for leaving school to 18 it would give the less academic students an extra chance of learning basic skills.

i agree with you that so many kids now dont know how to read and write properly. my mum works at a junior school and one of the kids shes working with this year is in yr6 (so 10/11yrs old) and i couldnt even manage to copy off of the board when she met him yesterday! although, keeping kids in education til theyre 18 isnt going to help them unless they are properly taught the basics. i think the reason so many kids cant read and write properly is cos lessons move on so fast, teachers have to teach all this more difficult stuff to the kids, even if they cant read or count up to 10 cos thats what the government say they have to do. it doesnt help the kids cos if they cant read how are they meant to do a comprehension passage, or if they cant count how are they meant to work out the area of a shape?

[Perdita]

Another factor for poor educational skills could be the amount of foreign born pupils, they might just not understand properly and be too shy to ask for help. One thing that could be a downer on school leaving age being raised to 18 is that some families find it financially difficult, they might need another wage packet to pay their bills and can't afford another year or two paying for uniforms and school books etc.

[di marco]

One thing that could be a downer on school leaving age being raised to 18 is that some families find it financially difficult, they might need another wage packet to pay their bills and can't afford another year or two paying for uniforms and school books etc.

but im guessing students would still be given ema for the last 2yrs of school? or would that be scrapped if schooling was compulsory?

[Xx-Vicky-xX]

One thing that could be a downer on school leaving age being raised to 18 is that some families find it financially difficult, they might need another wage packet to pay their bills and can't afford another year or two paying for uniforms and school books etc.

but im guessing students would still be given ema for the last 2yrs of school? or would that be scrapped if schooling was compulsory?

It would probably be scrapped i would imagine...but even then not everyone is entitled to it

[Perdita]

Is EMA enough though? Don't get it over here, no idea how much it is.

[Xx-Vicky-xX]

Is EMA enough though? Don't get it over here, no idea how much it is.

£30 a week is the max, but it is based on how much parents earn...least i believe you get is £10 a week

[di marco]

One thing that could be a downer on school leaving age being raised to 18 is that some families find it financially difficult, they might need another wage packet to pay their bills and can't afford another year or two paying for uniforms and school books etc.

but im guessing students would still be given ema for the last 2yrs of school? or would that be scrapped if schooling was compulsory?

It would probably be scrapped i would imagine...but even then not everyone is entitled to it

i know not everyones entitled to it but you also still get family allowance if youre in education. which i know isnt as much as if you were working full time but its not like the kids are gonna be forced to spend an extra 2yrs at school yet have all money coming in for them stopped i wouldnt have thought

[di marco]

Is EMA enough though? Don't get it over here, no idea how much it is.

£30 a week is the max, but it is based on how much parents earn...least i believe you get is £10 a week

i think you can get ema if your parents earn less than £30,000 (thats what it was when i was in 6th form i think). you can also get a few £100 bonuses throughout the year

[Xx-Vicky-xX]

Is EMA enough though? Don't get it over here, no idea how much it is.

£30 a week is the max, but it is based on how much parents earn...least i believe you get is £10 a week

i think you can get ema if your parents earn less than £30,000 (thats what it was when i was in 6th form i think). you can also get a few £100 bonuses throughout the year

Yeah that is still right i think you get £100 bonuses twice a year :confused: it's daft i aint long left and i cant remember how the system worked :lol:

[Abbie]

I think EMA is good, my friend said the other day if it wasnt for her EMA she wouldnt have went to her Dance lessosns.
But still she finds eventhough she gets the max she doesnt think sometmes its enough

[di marco]

I think EMA is good, my friend said the other day if it wasnt for her EMA she wouldnt have went to her Dance lessosns.
But still she finds eventhough she gets the max she doesnt think sometmes its enough

i think ema is a good idea but some people abuse the fact they get it i think. i mean i know most people use it to help their parents out or to buy their school clothes/books etc but i know a lot of people who got the full amount and then just spent it down the pub, which in my view if thats all theyre going to do with it then they shouldnt be allowed to get it

[Kirsty :]]

I think EMA is good, my friend said the other day if it wasnt for her EMA she wouldnt have went to her Dance lessosns.
But still she finds eventhough she gets the max she doesnt think sometmes its enough

i think ema is a good idea but some people abuse the fact they get it i think. i mean i know most people use it to help their parents out or to buy their school clothes/books etc but i know a lot of people who got the full amount and then just spent it down the pub, which in my view if thats all theyre going to do with it then they shouldnt be allowed to get it


Completely agree with you. That's why I think they should give EMA to everyone with the consistent attendance and not so much is doing well... but I think the effort shoudl be looked at then I think peolpe deserve EMA. It really annoyed me last year when em adn all my firends were turning up to our elssons and trying our best but couldn't get EMA, yet there were "the bums" in school who would ask the etacher to mark them in and would do nothing all lesson or jsut leave the classroom. I think the basis on whcih they give out EMA is wrong really:searchme:

EDIT: Btw, I couldn't get EMA last year but I qualify for ti this year... btu I'm not sure if I can apply for ti this year if I didn't get it last year?? Could anyone enlighten me on that?? Thanks :)

[di marco]

;596620']

I think EMA is good, my friend said the other day if it wasnt for her EMA she wouldnt have went to her Dance lessosns.
But still she finds eventhough she gets the max she doesnt think sometmes its enough

i think ema is a good idea but some people abuse the fact they get it i think. i mean i know most people use it to help their parents out or to buy their school clothes/books etc but i know a lot of people who got the full amount and then just spent it down the pub, which in my view if thats all theyre going to do with it then they shouldnt be allowed to get it


Completely agree with you. That's why I think they should give EMA to everyone with the consistent attendance and not so much is doing well... but I think the effort shoudl be looked at then I think peolpe deserve EMA. It really annoyed me last year when em adn all my firends were turning up to our elssons and trying our best but couldn't get EMA, yet there were "the bums" in school who would ask the etacher to mark them in and would do nothing all lesson or jsut leave the classroom. I think the basis on whcih they give out EMA is wrong really:searchme:

EDIT: Btw, I couldn't get EMA last year but I qualify for ti this year... btu I'm not sure if I can apply for ti this year if I didn't get it last year?? Could anyone enlighten me on that?? Thanks :)

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

[Abbie]

The other why I dont think the EMA system isnt very good, I mean yes its good but I dont think they take into account, enough, like the amount of kids you have and just different situations

[Abbie]

Anyway I just cant believe Im going back to college on monday!!!

[Kirsty :]]

I can't believe the cinema STILL haven't got back to me! It's been a week nowwwwww :(
I'm not their friends!!!

[di marco]

The other why I dont think the EMA system isnt very good, I mean yes its good but I dont think they take into account, enough, like the amount of kids you have and just different situations

yeh ive always thought that too. how is it fair that an only child gets ema when their parents earn just less than £30,000 when someone who is 1 of 4 children and their parents earn just more than £30,000 doesnt get ema, surely the 1 who is getting ema is more well off to start with?

[Chris_2k11]

I think Ema is nothing, £30 a week doesnt exactly go far

[Abi]

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

At my school, you had to go to all your lessons in the week, and if you missed any, you didn't get it. You couldn't go home in free lessons either, and had to be in the study room working. So if you are ill and have the day off, you won't get it, the same if you skip. It's the same in a lot of schools.

[Perdita]

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

At my school, you had to go to all your lessons in the week, and if you missed any, you didn't get it. You couldn't go home in free lessons either, and had to be in the study room working. So if you are ill and have the day off, you won't get it, the same if you skip. It's the same in a lot of schools.

That is unfair, if you are ill, you can't attend lessons, surely you could get a note from your parents or the doctor to prove genuine illness to claim the money.

[di marco]

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

At my school, you had to go to all your lessons in the week, and if you missed any, you didn't get it. You couldn't go home in free lessons either, and had to be in the study room working. So if you are ill and have the day off, you won't get it, the same if you skip. It's the same in a lot of schools.

loads of schools though dont do registers for each lesson so as long as you turn up to registration youre ok. also i knew someone in my performing arts lesson who was never there but she was really pally with the teacher so he just marked her in so she could get her ema

[di marco]

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

At my school, you had to go to all your lessons in the week, and if you missed any, you didn't get it. You couldn't go home in free lessons either, and had to be in the study room working. So if you are ill and have the day off, you won't get it, the same if you skip. It's the same in a lot of schools.

That is unfair, if you are ill, you can't attend lessons, surely you could get a note from your parents or the doctor to prove genuine illness to claim the money.

i agree, if you are genuinely ill its unfair, but how could that be proved? your parents could write a note for you if you wanted to skive off, and you have to pay for doctors notes so no ones likely to do that!

[Perdita]

Do you have to pay for sick notes from a doctor now? :eek:

[Abbie]

Do you have to pay for sick notes from a doctor now? :eek:

:eek: What!!!!

[Kim]

One thing that could be a downer on school leaving age being raised to 18 is that some families find it financially difficult, they might need another wage packet to pay their bills and can't afford another year or two paying for uniforms and school books etc.

but im guessing students would still be given ema for the last 2yrs of school? or would that be scrapped if schooling was compulsory?

It would probably be scrapped i would imagine...but even then not everyone is entitled to it

Yeah you only get it when you're in education of your own choice. The whole point of it being brought in was that it would help those from less well off backgrounds to stay in education. If the leaving age was 18 then there would only be 1 year that you could get it; they do give it to 19 year olds if they are on an appropriate course.

[Abi]

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

At my school, you had to go to all your lessons in the week, and if you missed any, you didn't get it. You couldn't go home in free lessons either, and had to be in the study room working. So if you are ill and have the day off, you won't get it, the same if you skip. It's the same in a lot of schools.

That is unfair, if you are ill, you can't attend lessons, surely you could get a note from your parents or the doctor to prove genuine illness to claim the money.

i agree, if you are genuinely ill its unfair, but how could that be proved? your parents could write a note for you if you wanted to skive off, and you have to pay for doctors notes so no ones likely to do that!

I think they did it because EMA is for you going to school. So if you don't, for whatever reason, then you don't get it. I didn't get it when i had trips either, cause i wasn't in lessons. And with the bonuses, you would only get them if you acheived or bettered your predicted grades in all your subjects.

My school might have just been strict, but it was a good motivator!

[Kim]

;596620']

I think EMA is good, my friend said the other day if it wasnt for her EMA she wouldnt have went to her Dance lessosns.
But still she finds eventhough she gets the max she doesnt think sometmes its enough

i think ema is a good idea but some people abuse the fact they get it i think. i mean i know most people use it to help their parents out or to buy their school clothes/books etc but i know a lot of people who got the full amount and then just spent it down the pub, which in my view if thats all theyre going to do with it then they shouldnt be allowed to get it


Completely agree with you. That's why I think they should give EMA to everyone with the consistent attendance and not so much is doing well... but I think the effort shoudl be looked at then I think peolpe deserve EMA. It really annoyed me last year when em adn all my firends were turning up to our elssons and trying our best but couldn't get EMA, yet there were "the bums" in school who would ask the etacher to mark them in and would do nothing all lesson or jsut leave the classroom. I think the basis on whcih they give out EMA is wrong really:searchme:

EDIT: Btw, I couldn't get EMA last year but I qualify for ti this year... btu I'm not sure if I can apply for ti this year if I didn't get it last year?? Could anyone enlighten me on that?? Thanks :)

When I applied for this year it said you could apply if you were born between September 1 1989 and August 31 1992, so you'll be fine. Obviously they know that changes can happen from year to year otherwise surely they'd give the one amount weekly for the duration of the course rather than having people reapply after each year. There's a section on the form about previous EMA payments and if you had them you had to some number to do with your previous application or something, so you just leave that block blank.

Expect it to be slow though Kirsty. I applied a while back now and I haven't heard anything. I'm having to pay for a bus pass and my English teacher wants money for some of the set texts next week. My mum's unemployed and my dad won't pay for it. Good job I have disability living allowance or I wouldn't have the money. It shouldn't be spent school stuff but if they'd hurry up then it wouldn't be.

I think the whole system is silly too. It's not our fault how much our parents earn. Even if they do have a load of money then there's no saying they have to hand it over in order to help with their child's education. My friends won't get any EMA; I think a set amount per week should just be given to all students who stay on; no student's effort to carry on learning after 16 is less valid than that of another.

[Kim]

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

At my school, you had to go to all your lessons in the week, and if you missed any, you didn't get it. You couldn't go home in free lessons either, and had to be in the study room working. So if you are ill and have the day off, you won't get it, the same if you skip. It's the same in a lot of schools.

That is unfair, if you are ill, you can't attend lessons, surely you could get a note from your parents or the doctor to prove genuine illness to claim the money.

i agree, if you are genuinely ill its unfair, but how could that be proved? your parents could write a note for you if you wanted to skive off, and you have to pay for doctors notes so no ones likely to do that!

I think they did it because EMA is for you going to school. So if you don't, for whatever reason, then you don't get it. I didn't get it when i had trips either, cause i wasn't in lessons. And with the bonuses, you would only get them if you acheived or bettered your predicted grades in all your subjects.

My school might have just been strict, but it was a good motivator!

I thought it depended on whether your teachers thought you had worked hard enough for the bonus or not. Predicted grades is another silly system, mine changed so much during GCSE. I don't think it's fair to do it on those if that's what they do; I underachieved in 2 subjects at GCSE and they were the ones I did the most work for. I'm sure a lot of people have some modules worse than others, it doesn't necessarily mean that they haven't been putting enough work and effort in.

[Abigail]

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

At my school, you had to go to all your lessons in the week, and if you missed any, you didn't get it. You couldn't go home in free lessons either, and had to be in the study room working. So if you are ill and have the day off, you won't get it, the same if you skip. It's the same in a lot of schools.

That is unfair, if you are ill, you can't attend lessons, surely you could get a note from your parents or the doctor to prove genuine illness to claim the money.

i agree, if you are genuinely ill its unfair, but how could that be proved? your parents could write a note for you if you wanted to skive off, and you have to pay for doctors notes so no ones likely to do that!

We were allowed three self certifiable absences per term or 10 per year (don't know how they figured that out). After that we had to have a parents' letter or a sick note (which, btw, you don't have to pay for). We only had to attend for timetabled lessons (15 hrs + 1hr key skills in yr12, 12hrs + 1hr gen studies in yr 13) and could go home during frees.

Our bonuses were assessed on different things like attendance, punctuality, quality of work, on target, making an effort etc.

My mum would never write me a note if I was skiving.

[Kim]

My tutor was talking to us about self certificating absences on Friday. When my EMA comes through I will have to ask her if we are allowed so many before we lose the money. We're only allowed home for Period 1 or Period 5 frees in Year 13, providing the school are satisfied that we did our best in Year 12. They withdraw that though if it doesn't lead to improved performance. Don't have to worry about that just yet. I won't be able to go home if they'll allow me anyway unless I can drive by then.

[Perdita]

Attendance is the only criteria that should count for getting the bonus or not, if you don't get on with a teacher and he/she says that you have not worked hard enough, you could be out of pocket, although you might have worked as hard as you can. Everybody can just do their best which the teacher might not see the same :(

[di marco]

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

At my school, you had to go to all your lessons in the week, and if you missed any, you didn't get it. You couldn't go home in free lessons either, and had to be in the study room working. So if you are ill and have the day off, you won't get it, the same if you skip. It's the same in a lot of schools.

That is unfair, if you are ill, you can't attend lessons, surely you could get a note from your parents or the doctor to prove genuine illness to claim the money.

i agree, if you are genuinely ill its unfair, but how could that be proved? your parents could write a note for you if you wanted to skive off, and you have to pay for doctors notes so no ones likely to do that!

I think they did it because EMA is for you going to school. So if you don't, for whatever reason, then you don't get it. I didn't get it when i had trips either, cause i wasn't in lessons. And with the bonuses, you would only get them if you acheived or bettered your predicted grades in all your subjects.

My school might have just been strict, but it was a good motivator!

yeh it sounds like your school were doing it how it was meant to be done. so many schools dont though which is unfair on students who go to the ones that do!

[di marco]

I think the whole system is silly too. It's not our fault how much our parents earn. Even if they do have a load of money then there's no saying they have to hand it over in order to help with their child's education. My friends won't get any EMA; I think a set amount per week should just be given to all students who stay on; no student's effort to carry on learning after 16 is less valid than that of another.

i agree with that. i didnt get ema and i dont begrudge people that did, but what annoys me is the only thing my mum paid for for me was my uniform (cos i went to a new school and had to wear a uniform) and my retakes. any new clothes i wanted for outside of school or anywhere i wanted to go i had to pay for myself, so it really annoyed me when people i know got the full £30 and just spent it on going down the pub or buying loads of new clothes, while their parents still gave them money and paid for anything school related. i know not everyone does this but it annoys me the people that did cos obviously their family didnt need the money if all it was being spent on was alcohol! one day last year when my sis was having an argument with my mum about lending her some money she told my mum that "technically you should be giving me £30 a week as i dont get ema so the government obviously think you should be giving that amount of money to me!" needless to say my mum told her off and said she didnt think she needed £30 a week to just go out with! tbh i dont think theres ever going to be a completely fair system, even if everyone got money then people would probably moan or if they made the guidelines stricter people would still moan. on the whole, i think its quite fair atm but its just the minority of people who take advantage of it

[di marco]

i agree, its unfair when people get it if they dont do any work or skip lessons

i think you can apply for it this year even though you didnt get it last year, as youre told to notify them if theres a change in circumstance which means you dont qualify for ema anymore so im sure it would work the same the other way round. the best thing to do is ask at your school, theres no harm in trying, and im sure youll be able to apply for it

At my school, you had to go to all your lessons in the week, and if you missed any, you didn't get it. You couldn't go home in free lessons either, and had to be in the study room working. So if you are ill and have the day off, you won't get it, the same if you skip. It's the same in a lot of schools.

That is unfair, if you are ill, you can't attend lessons, surely you could get a note from your parents or the doctor to prove genuine illness to claim the money.

i agree, if you are genuinely ill its unfair, but how could that be proved? your parents could write a note for you if you wanted to skive off, and you have to pay for doctors notes so no ones likely to do that!

We were allowed three self certifiable absences per term or 10 per year (don't know how they figured that out). After that we had to have a parents' letter or a sick note (which, btw, you don't have to pay for). We only had to attend for timetabled lessons (15 hrs + 1hr key skills in yr12, 12hrs + 1hr gen studies in yr 13) and could go home during frees.

Our bonuses were assessed on different things like attendance, punctuality, quality of work, on target, making an effort etc.

My mum would never write me a note if I was skiving.

oh ok, maybe if youre in fulltime education and 18 or under you can get them for free. i just assumed everyone had to pay for them cos i know of people who have had to pay for their doctors notes (and i think its quite expensive too!). though i wouldnt have thought doctors write notes for just anytime you were sick, if you always needed a doctors note for when you were off school youre not just gonna go down there if youre just off for the day with a migraine or something, i think the doctors would get fed up of having to do it lol! (i dont think i explained that very well but oh well i know what i meant! :rolleyes: ). and i wasnt saying every parent would pretend their kids were sick when they were skiving (cos mine wouldnt either) but can you honestly say that no parent would do that? i was just saying that how is it proof you were actually sick just cos your parents have written a note?

[di marco]

And with the bonuses, you would only get them if you acheived or bettered your predicted grades in all your subjects.

I thought it depended on whether your teachers thought you had worked hard enough for the bonus or not. Predicted grades is another silly system, mine changed so much during GCSE. I don't think it's fair to do it on those if that's what they do; I underachieved in 2 subjects at GCSE and they were the ones I did the most work for. I'm sure a lot of people have some modules worse than others, it doesn't necessarily mean that they haven't been putting enough work and effort in.


Our bonuses were assessed on different things like attendance, punctuality, quality of work, on target, making an effort etc.


Attendance is the only criteria that should count for getting the bonus or not, if you don't get on with a teacher and he/she says that you have not worked hard enough, you could be out of pocket, although you might have worked as hard as you can. Everybody can just do their best which the teacher might not see the same :(

im not sure what the official guidelines are for people to receive bonuses but obviously each school seems to decide differently. again though, i think it would be very hard to determine what criteria should be used. if, say, it only went by attendance then surely people could just turn up for school and not do any work or distract the class, but they would still get the bonus cos they turned up yet they didnt do any work. or if it goes by predicted grades, if you work your hardest, turn up to every lesson, do all the work, yet for some reason get lower than your predicted grade how is it fair that you wouldnt get the bonus? or if it was judged by effort, then one teacher could be more strict than another or favour different students. so im not sure how the bonuses could be decided on fairly but i do think that every school should have to decide using the same criteria

[di marco]

We're only allowed home for Period 1 or Period 5 frees in Year 13, providing the school are satisfied that we did our best in Year 12. They withdraw that though if it doesn't lead to improved performance.

we were only ever allowed home in our frees if we didnt have any more lessons that day, we had to come in first thing in the morning even if our first lesson was a free cos they wanted to make sure we were in school for the rest of our lessons and didnt turn up late etc. we were allowed to do that in both yr12 and 13 but they did sometimes not let you if you were consistently not doing hw/cw etc. the form tutor just used to ask you the next day why you werent in registration in the afternoon and if you said you had a free then it wasnt marked as an absence or anything

[Abigail]

oh ok, maybe if youre in fulltime education and 18 or under you can get them for free. i just assumed everyone had to pay for them cos i know of people who have had to pay for their doctors notes (and i think its quite expensive too!). though i wouldnt have thought doctors write notes for just anytime you were sick, if you always needed a doctors note for when you were off school youre not just gonna go down there if youre just off for the day with a migraine or something, i think the doctors would get fed up of having to do it lol! (i dont think i explained that very well but oh well i know what i meant! :rolleyes: ). and i wasnt saying every parent would pretend their kids were sick when they were skiving (cos mine wouldnt either) but can you honestly say that no parent would do that? i was just saying that how is it proof you were actually sick just cos your parents have written a note?

A doctor's note is different from a sick note. The pink sick notes are free. Asking a doctor to write a letter on headed paper is what you have to pay for.

[di marco]

oh ok, maybe if youre in fulltime education and 18 or under you can get them for free. i just assumed everyone had to pay for them cos i know of people who have had to pay for their doctors notes (and i think its quite expensive too!). though i wouldnt have thought doctors write notes for just anytime you were sick, if you always needed a doctors note for when you were off school youre not just gonna go down there if youre just off for the day with a migraine or something, i think the doctors would get fed up of having to do it lol! (i dont think i explained that very well but oh well i know what i meant! :rolleyes: ). and i wasnt saying every parent would pretend their kids were sick when they were skiving (cos mine wouldnt either) but can you honestly say that no parent would do that? i was just saying that how is it proof you were actually sick just cos your parents have written a note?

A doctor's note is different from a sick note. The pink sick notes are free. Asking a doctor to write a letter on headed paper is what you have to pay for.

so whats the difference then? why would you bother paying for one if you can get them for free?

[Abigail]

oh ok, maybe if youre in fulltime education and 18 or under you can get them for free. i just assumed everyone had to pay for them cos i know of people who have had to pay for their doctors notes (and i think its quite expensive too!). though i wouldnt have thought doctors write notes for just anytime you were sick, if you always needed a doctors note for when you were off school youre not just gonna go down there if youre just off for the day with a migraine or something, i think the doctors would get fed up of having to do it lol! (i dont think i explained that very well but oh well i know what i meant! :rolleyes: ). and i wasnt saying every parent would pretend their kids were sick when they were skiving (cos mine wouldnt either) but can you honestly say that no parent would do that? i was just saying that how is it proof you were actually sick just cos your parents have written a note?

A doctor's note is different from a sick note. The pink sick notes are free. Asking a doctor to write a letter on headed paper is what you have to pay for.

so whats the difference then? why would you bother paying for one if you can get them for free?

You need a pink sick note to give to an employer when you are ill so that you can claim sick pay if you are off for more than three days (I think).

I got a doctors' letter to give to my school about my medical details as they required an official version. I think it cost £14 but I know people who have paid up to £40 for a letter. I also got a letter to take on holiday with me because America are really strict about controlled drugs. Nobody ever asked for it though. My sister walked through with 400 morphine tablets in her bag and they didn't even ask why.

I need to get another doctors letter this week to take with me when I register at a new GP on Saturday. Short notice will probably bump up the price :rolleyes:

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

I think the whole system is silly too. It's not our fault how much our parents earn. Even if they do have a load of money then there's no saying they have to hand it over in order to help with their child's education.
I am not qualified for the EMA but my parents are not going to give me money! Fair enough I haven't got far to travel (1 min walk from the school LOL).. But they make a big deal about how they pay to learn but then you find out there's a catch. I think people without EMA should get a small bonus if they work hard to, just to motivate them to keep on learning as well IMO.
I am not going to get any bonuses or anything from my parents. Yeah they will provide me with clothes and food or whatever needed but nothing I can treat myself for. I never got pocket money when I was little so I doubt they will do that now either lol! :) x

[di marco]

But they make a big deal about how they pay to learn but then you find out there's a catch. I think people without EMA should get a small bonus if they work hard to, just to motivate them to keep on learning as well IMO.
I am not going to get any bonuses or anything from my parents. Yeah they will provide me with clothes and food or whatever needed but nothing I can treat myself for. I never got pocket money when I was little so I doubt they will do that now either lol! :) x

i think thats a good idea about the bonuses. keep the weekly ema how it is but giving everyone the chance to the bonuses if they work hard, even only a £20 bonus for achieveing your best

[di marco]

oh ok, maybe if youre in fulltime education and 18 or under you can get them for free. i just assumed everyone had to pay for them cos i know of people who have had to pay for their doctors notes (and i think its quite expensive too!). though i wouldnt have thought doctors write notes for just anytime you were sick, if you always needed a doctors note for when you were off school youre not just gonna go down there if youre just off for the day with a migraine or something, i think the doctors would get fed up of having to do it lol! (i dont think i explained that very well but oh well i know what i meant! :rolleyes: ). and i wasnt saying every parent would pretend their kids were sick when they were skiving (cos mine wouldnt either) but can you honestly say that no parent would do that? i was just saying that how is it proof you were actually sick just cos your parents have written a note?

A doctor's note is different from a sick note. The pink sick notes are free. Asking a doctor to write a letter on headed paper is what you have to pay for.

so whats the difference then? why would you bother paying for one if you can get them for free?

You need a pink sick note to give to an employer when you are ill so that you can claim sick pay if you are off for more than three days (I think).

I got a doctors' letter to give to my school about my medical details as they required an official version. I think it cost £14 but I know people who have paid up to £40 for a letter. I also got a letter to take on holiday with me because America are really strict about controlled drugs. Nobody ever asked for it though. My sister walked through with 400 morphine tablets in her bag and they didn't even ask why.

i didnt realise you could get sick notes for free, as 2 people my mum worked with had to pay for theirs to get sick pay, the school must have wanted an official one or something instead. yours would have cost less cos children and oaps etc get them cheaper. i think my sis said when she last went to the doctors there was a sign saying the price was going up to about £60! :eek:

[Abigail]

i didnt realise you could get sick notes for free, as 2 people my mum worked with had to pay for theirs to get sick pay, the school must have wanted an official one or something instead. yours would have cost less cos children and oaps etc get them cheaper. i think my sis said when she last went to the doctors there was a sign saying the price was going up to about £60! :eek:

My parents have never paid for a pink sick note. Each practice might have a different policy on them.

Mum has got my letter sorted, it's going to cost me £14 for the doctor to list my medical conditions and medications :eek: I suppose it's going to be all medical jargon because it's to a doctor at another practice.

[di marco]

i didnt realise you could get sick notes for free, as 2 people my mum worked with had to pay for theirs to get sick pay, the school must have wanted an official one or something instead. yours would have cost less cos children and oaps etc get them cheaper. i think my sis said when she last went to the doctors there was a sign saying the price was going up to about £60! :eek:

My parents have never paid for a pink sick note. Each practice might have a different policy on them.

Mum has got my letter sorted, it's going to cost me £14 for the doctor to list my medical conditions and medications :eek: I suppose it's going to be all medical jargon because it's to a doctor at another practice.

has the new doctor asked for a note from your current doctor? cos wont all your medical history and notes and stuff be transfered anyway so everything will be in there that he/she needs to know? i really cant believe theyre so expensive though, at least you probably got to pay the student price for it

[Abigail]

Apparantly it can take a while for notes to be transferred to another practice, I also have neurology and cardiology notes floating around different hospitals too. If I become ill before they get my notes it could be a problem because of all the meds I take. I have a big problem with my memory and I can't remember the majority of my medical history so its important that the doctor knows about it when I get there.

[Kim]

And with the bonuses, you would only get them if you acheived or bettered your predicted grades in all your subjects.

I thought it depended on whether your teachers thought you had worked hard enough for the bonus or not. Predicted grades is another silly system, mine changed so much during GCSE. I don't think it's fair to do it on those if that's what they do; I underachieved in 2 subjects at GCSE and they were the ones I did the most work for. I'm sure a lot of people have some modules worse than others, it doesn't necessarily mean that they haven't been putting enough work and effort in.


Our bonuses were assessed on different things like attendance, punctuality, quality of work, on target, making an effort etc.


Attendance is the only criteria that should count for getting the bonus or not, if you don't get on with a teacher and he/she says that you have not worked hard enough, you could be out of pocket, although you might have worked as hard as you can. Everybody can just do their best which the teacher might not see the same :(

im not sure what the official guidelines are for people to receive bonuses but obviously each school seems to decide differently. again though, i think it would be very hard to determine what criteria should be used. if, say, it only went by attendance then surely people could just turn up for school and not do any work or distract the class, but they would still get the bonus cos they turned up yet they didnt do any work. or if it goes by predicted grades, if you work your hardest, turn up to every lesson, do all the work, yet for some reason get lower than your predicted grade how is it fair that you wouldnt get the bonus? or if it was judged by effort, then one teacher could be more strict than another or favour different students. so im not sure how the bonuses could be decided on fairly but i do think that every school should have to decide using the same criteria


I agree. It is very hard to get a fair system to do it with though - our grades for homework were supposed to be set in accordance to how much of the homework we completed and whether it was handed in on time. I did all the homework on time but my Maths teacher gave me a B for homework because I got quite a bit of it wrong. (The grades were A - Very good, B - Acceptable and C - Cause for Concern.) It's usually the case that the teachers like whoever are good at their subjects, so it'll be hard for those achieving their potential at lower grades to get a bonus if the teachers influence who gets it.