How Was Your Day? Numero Four-o

[di marco]

The council They're charging £45 a month for a bus pass and I thought it was ridiculous enough that I had to pay to go and collect it from school. When I got there they didn't make me sign for it or anything and the envelope actually had my address on the front. Then I open it and find that the thing expires on 19th December! Now I'll have to pay to go and pick up a new pass in January, it seems completely stupid to me because I'm paying up until July that I have to have different passes in that time. I bet the driver decides to charge me on the 19th because it says it expires on that day.

i cant believe you have to pay £45 a month for a bus pass, thats well expensive! do you have to use 2 different bus companies or something? and is it just to use to and from school or will you be able to use it at weekends and stuff?

Nope, it's just the one bus which leaves at 7:24. So I get there 35 mins early after paying £45 a month. The company is Faresaver (yeah right!) The thing is had it not been at no extra cost to the council (Wiltshire County) to send me to my school instead of the one closest (I was told I'd never cope with the closest one because of my disability) then it would cost like £1000 a year in fares. They didn't care about that when I applied for a 6th form bus pass as I'm over compulsory school age and will reasses at the end of the year, so I could end up having to pay full fares next year if I can't drive by then. Buses I use at weekends don't care either; not quite disabled enough for a pass on them. My school pass is only valid for the one bus which only has 1 bus in each direction a day. When I have exams I'll have to pay for buses which don't go as far as the one I have a pass for and stop like 3 miles from my house. No student tickets with that company but with valid student ID they let you travel at child fares when you are over 16. Thank goodness for that lol!

I wish I lived up there, Kath. They don't provide passes for free even if someone over 16 goes to a cachment area school. The only way to get a free one is be under leaving age and go to the cachment area school.

£100-£150 a year, that's a bargain! Apparently the £360 a year is supposed to encourage those over 16 to stay on! It was £296 last year which even considering the rise in fuel prices seems steep to me.

where i live, kids cant get free bus passes, they have to buy a weekly pass just like everyone else. and even if theyre under 16, if they get the bus in the morning they have to pay adult fare cos its peak time

do you live quite far away from your school?

[di marco]

Had a rubbish day..
Went sixth form and saw a few people which was nice and there were so many new people (not that good with socialising and didn't feel good with myself so it didn't help)..
Went to form, knew 5 people from my school and the rest are newbies. One girl I used to have English lessons with in Yr10 so she sat next to me and we met our form tutor and he was really funny so you know made me feel at ease a bit.. bearing in my I went to my school's sixth form so I feel bad for the newbies!

Then went to our lessons after break (oh btw did I mention it rained so bad and my hair was straight and I forgot the umbrella.. I don't know what it is about me but I have to feel good about myself or be in a good mood to not care).. But yeah then I had a free period. Now at free periods we have to go to the 'study centre'.. This is where it reallt went wrong.. I knew about 10 people but they are all people I don't talk too! I felt SO OUT OF PLACE.. like where to go and whatever but spoke to this new girl but you know it was just bad Knowing you have to be with them EVERY SINGLE DAY. as well..

Oh and then 30 mins in my contact lenses (disposable but I didn't wear it in 2 months) really got out of control and my eyes were feeling dry and I was blinking like every 2 seconds so I went to the loo to take them off and luckily I took my glasses with me.. So did that but the mirror was a bit high up and I couldn't see what I was doing well but yeah my eyes went a bit red and it was just so irritating! No more contacts for a while for me now!

So then went to Maths.. Knew 4 people, they went of in pairs and I ran to the back and sat there.. By myself.. I have never felt so alone in my life today I think I will sit next to someone new or whatever tomorrow and say hi or something.. Have to get somewhere!

So lunch came and I helped this cute little year 7 to find his way.. Best moment of the day perhaps?! And then went home for lunch with a good mate of mine and had a chat. She had a brilliant day and I had it bad. Just my luck eh!..

Went 5th lesson after, has Business. Had my Yr10 teacher.. Have him 2 times a week. Not happy he didn't reallyhelp me get past a C/D grade at GCSE but we will see. A good mate of mine came and sat next to me and he keeps me going so that's good. And he said he will sit next to me tomorrow so something to look forward too - having familiar faces and a friend next to you .

So yeah that's my day.. Tomorrow I am going to dress up nicely and so on and going to try and feel good about myself! Hope my luck changes man!... x

EDIT: Woooo.. Essay! You guys don't have to read this obv. Sort of just for me to reflect back on! x

awwwww sorry to hear you had a bad first day spicy. im sure itll get better though. from my experience, people will sit with you and talk to you even if you never spoke to them at school before. i know it seems horrible now, but 6th form isnt really any different to school. hopefully today went better for you

[di marco]

I know how you feel about the hair thing, I don't knwo why I bother brushing my hair let alone everything else! By the time I walk to shcool it's curly and messy and I look liek a right tramp! lol Hair up tomrrow I think!

lol i always seem to get that with my hair too! i hate it when ive just straightened it and it rains! my mum doesnt understand why i care so much and moan when my hair gets wet!

Just try and concentrate on getting your ehad around your subjects as they're very different to GCSE. I think I went wrong there thinking it would be a doddle so I was more interesting in making new friends than lessons at first... but you make new friends through your lessons so yeah it'll all be fine

i agree with that. i thought i could carry on talking all the way through lessons and not do much work and id been fine like i was at gcse but for alevels you actually have to work lol otherwise it gets very confusing!

[di marco]

Pretty much the opposite for me, haven't seen any newbies. There's only about 100 less people in my year now than there was in year 11

how many people were in your year in yr11? we only had about 180 people in my year in yr11

I want to wear my new jeans tomorrow but I can't.. the colour comes out of them easily and it's forecast to pour down with rain. I'm going to have to wear not very nice clothes I think, I don't have an umbrella. Just my luck that the first day we have lessons on is going to be full of horrid weather.

Don't you have to wear uniform now?? Thats so unfairrr!
Mind you, we sort of "adapt" our uniform and jsut wear a smart white top and black cardi or whatever.

we had to wear uniform at my school for 6th form and it had to be perfect lol! the amount of times i got told off for wearing earrings or for having my top button underdone or for having my shirt untucked or for wearing a hoodie under my blazer to school (even though i took it off when i got there)! the only good thing was cos it was a boys school there was no length restrictions on skirts, although i mostly wore trousers cos it was easier!

the other schools in my area dont have to wear school uniform but there is a dress code, some you have to wear suits and the others have to be smart clothes (most asking for black trousers/skirt and a suitable top). can you wear what you like at your school kim? none of the schools round here let you wear jeans in 6th form

[di marco]

I'm thinking it's expensive, too. I used to pay £150 a year for my unirider. Which company is it? Are there any student tickets available?

thats why i was thinking it was expensive, i only pay £100 a year (well probably about 9months cos its a uni year) and i can use it on any bus i like of that company in the whole county! i know thats a special discounted student ticket, but even the tickets everyone can by is only £9 a week (thats not the whole county, just the whole town and surrounding area) but thats still less than £45 a month

I was going to get a uni rider but then i just knew i'd lose it so i though id get weekly or monthly in stead. I can never hang on to anything like that. THis year i bought a Bike so cycling should get me about. It will be weird as at home in Manchester public transport pretty decent whereas in Bangor at uni its not as you can really walk to surrounding areas so it will be a weird change.

im surprised that i havent lost mine lol! im the opposite, the public transport is pretty good at uni but at home its awful!

[di marco]

Within the next few days im getting £1,000 from my parents (£500 from mum and £500 from dad)

wow lucky you! how come theyre giving you money (if you dont mind me asking)?

also, ive just remembered, and i keep fogetting to ask you when i talk to you, has your college course finished now?

[Kirsty :]]

Hmmm ok day. School was alright, apart fomr getting soaked walking up! Grr
Had a laugh today really
Everythigns slowly clicking into place and it feels alot better.
Then went to town at dinner with a few girls as we're chipping in for a friend to get her presents for her 18th which is Sunday but her meal is tomorrow so that was good

Jeez 18! I can remember everyone hyping up over being 17... now we're all slowly turning 18!! It's crazy!

[Kim]

Nope we don't have to wear uniform. Jeans are allowed, nail varnish, hoodies. The only things on the dress code are like no beachwear, conventional jewellery only and no revealing or scruffy clothes.

There were about 230-240 in my Year 11 and I live about 8 miles from my school. My school do a good one year course though so they're not all A Level people. Some are doing 3AS combined with a retake and some others do a Business Btec I think it is worth 4 GCSE's with English and/or Maths retake. Some of the people in my classes are on holiday Great start they've made.

Lessons - first I had a free lol after we missed first lesson (Business in my case) and my friend has frees in the same block as me so we just sat in the common room talking. Next thing we know there's a load of Year 13's banging the hot drinks machine around. It's not like you can get anything for free when it's hot drinks! Sometimes it works on snack ones I suppose. It sounded like they were doing building work in the 6th form kitchen or something lol!

Next was Psychology. Was like the second to class and we sat where we liked so I sat somewhere in the middle. Next thing I know 3 people that bullied me including the two worst culprits stroll in and sit on the same row of tables as me. I would change Psychology to a different block but I can't as I have lessons in those, so I spoke to my teacher and am moving seats. Our group's 27 though and we're only supposed to have 25 so they're trying to get people to drop it/change blocks.

Get to English and we're told we're not even doing the syllabus that is in the prospectus. My teacher wants money for books next week and I haven't even had an EMA notification yet, never mind any money. It will get replaced eventually but I now have to get the bus into town tomorrow to get the money out. Could do with an umbrella after today too. The cheaper of the two doesn't run on Saturdays. The one that does is an absolute rip off! I would walk it because I think the fare's way over the top even considering the price of petrol rising this year but I can't walk that far She made us write our GCSE results down for every subject so I spoke to her after the lesson about my only B being in Lit. She looked it up and it was almost an A. She marked for other schools this year and said it was quite harsh compared to other years. I told her that one of my conclusions was rushed too and that the other essay didn't have one because I ran out of time and she said I'd probably have got an A if it wasn't for that. So yeah happy that she thinks I'll do well in it and not much worse than my other subjects or anything.

For Economics I have the teacher for some of the lessons that I had for Business at GCSE and they put us in a disused room with no teacher's desk because we were supposed to be a small group. Teacher was late then sat by me and said, "What happened to your A* in Business Kim?" I didn't need reminding She's the one with a breakdown of the marks, my results sheet didn't even give me a total mark for the course. It seems most people did worse in Business than what they were predicted this year - a boy predicted an A got a C. She was telling me about him saying he wanted a remark so she said to go in on a certain day to arrange it and he didn't show!

We didn't have any work today! We only had to write about what sort of stuff we like reading and which parts of the English GCSEs we enjoyed for some reason, and some sheets in tutor so she could get to know us. In Economics we had to do this game we did in Maths in Year 9! There's no text books for that yet as they haven't arrived and there won't be enough as more people are taking it than expected as they opted in at the last minute.

Friends didn't want to go to town today so we stayed in the common room. Everyone takes pot noodles in! Essay lol

[di marco]

Nope we don't have to wear uniform. Jeans are allowed, nail varnish, hoodies. The only things on the dress code are like no beachwear, conventional jewellery only and no revealing or scruffy clothes.

There were about 230-240 in my Year 11 and I live about 8 miles from my school. My school do a good one year course though so they're not all A Level people. Some are doing 3AS combined with a retake and some others do a Business Btec I think it is worth GCSE's with English and/or Maths retake. Some of the people in my classes are on holiday Great start they've made.

sounds like your school is quite relaxed about clothing then! is the reason your bus pass is so expensive cos you live so far away from the school? or is it a standard price which would have been the same even if you lived nearer? someone in my form was away on hols for the first 2weeks of yr7 lol!

[.:SpIcYsPy:.]

Went to form and it was alright. First lesson was Business, met my new teacher she seems nice. I wanted my mate to sit next to me but he came in late and this girl who was following me (skip to the last paragraph if you want too lol) half the day yesterday followed me all day today and I got seriously p'eed off. Like a flippin' shadow! So she came and sat next to me so the whole lesson was pretty much made of nothing.
Library 2nd and yup she followed me again. I got my Maths textbook out and looked over yesterday's work which helped me a bit.

3rd lesson was Maths and I met my new teacher, sat next to this new girl and made a run from the girl who was following me but she sat on the desk next to me! Not to keen on the teacher, bit wierd but let's see.

4th was ICT.. The only lesson the girl didn't have with me and I have my Yr9 teacher who I wasn't too happy with but she seems more lively and she spoke really nice and remembered me so I think we will get along! Half of the (small) class was people from my school so it was nice to feel 'back at home' again. Going to like her lessons. Have another teacher for ICT 3 times a week, haven't met her but heard she's not that good but let's see.
5th lesson, had Sociology and it was alright but seems a bit hard.

I got 3 pieces of homwork Already.. Did ICT and Sociology and Maths I will do tomorrow.. Going to try and keep as organised as I can with all these different teachers!

Oh & today I curled my hair and so I wasn't that worried about it and it went wavy after a while but I wasn't bothered, think I will do that from now on!

Ahh and you might be wondering who this girl is.. I feel like such an evil child for saying this but she's new but she's got 4/5 lessons with me and she just kept following me around. And the first lesson (Business) I was really looking forward to sitting with my mate but then she came and sat next to me. I know she's only trying to make friends and I am trying too but she's just been like shadowing me and not giving me ANY space! There are PLENTY of other students but she keeps following me..
I know it sounds rude of me but it's just really annoying and it's been getting me down. I just don't want to keep it locked up and suddenly blurt it out or whatever you know I feel so bad for posting this but I am going to do it anyways because I have to tell someone!