Pinot's Potty debt free journey!!!

hillside777

Pinot,

I'm so sorry to hear about the school teaching. It wasn't like that in my day.

I hope things ease off for you soon.
It's great to see the new percentage from HH and you've passed 20%.
:beer:

BlushingRose

PinotGrigio41 wrote: »

Oh and BR, hello, where have you been hiding ?! Hope you are well. I will check on your diary now before I go back to bed x

Night All x

Long story sweets - also posted in the wannabe thread for support and got roasted by some guy! Not helpful in my mental state.

Hope the cat sorts himself out, the daft thing x

PinotGrigio41

BlushingRose wrote: »

Long story sweets - also posted in the wannabe thread for support and got roasted by some guy! Not helpful in my mental state.

Hope the cat sorts himself out, the daft thing x

BR, I have sent you a PM xx

PinotGrigio41

Thanks all for your messages yesterday.

L, yes I agree about the building people, I was really hopping mad ! :mad:

Piq, the pressie ideas sound wonderful. I wish I could do that, but as Ive said before this is our guilty secret and we are desperately still keeping up appearances. Things will be pared right back as they were last year, while keeping the illusion that all is good and fine with the world !! You are right of course about Quidco. I had renewed the car insurance, bought some GCSE bits for DD1 and Dance things. They were cheaper than jumping in the car and using the fuel and buying them at the nearest shop, so I managed to save money and get the cashback so that pleased me. Thankyou for the top Pet Insurance tip ! I trawled around and More Than were the most competitve for the "Cat That Shall Not Be Named" so he is now insured , hopefully the cashback on that will pay out soon .

EE - I think your pressie ideas were great ! Thankyou for sharing on my diary, I will be checking out the link later hopefully, but would love to see any piccies if you have any please.

BR - Lovely Girl I have sent you a long rambling PM, you know you are welcome over here anytime , all the lovely ladies and men are wonderful and will be happy to listen I'm sure.

HH - Way to go !! 20 % whoop whoop !! Hope you are ok, been missing you !!

Mr B & Granny - I think I am seriously old school on the teaching front. The Head of Dept has called this morning. The worksheet after worksheets were introduced for Sets 1-5 , 6 years ago and are apparently an amazing tool. As I explained, I am sure they are, but whats the point if when they are marked by the children themselves but are not then corrected ? The teacher she has is apparently amazing. The"Motivational" Videos are common practice, she can also download and watch at home !! Whoo De Doo.:j He is very pleased that we are so supportive of DD1's education ! He will have a meeting with DD1 and also the teacher, he feels it is all a big misunderstanding. I am hoping he is saying what he considers to be the right things to me and will give the teacher a right royal rollocking when he sees her. It bugs me. There are some clearly some amazing teachers out there, the girls have had a couple, but there are also some people who I feel went into teaching for all the wrong reasons. Grrrrr ! I wont get on my soapbox though. Anyway we have left it that I am keeping my beady eye on the situation and I can call him at anytime. Something tells me he will get very fed up with me !

Granny - I am going to try and find time today to go over the SOA. I think we have been knocked for six recently with the massive expenditure with the girls for uniforms x 2, GCSE eqipment which were fortunes, buying the winter coats (ebay or not !) Car and Pet Expenses etc etc. I am hoping we can get ourselves back on an even keel but I do need to keep a finer grip on the SOA again I think. It is on this weeks list . This month though we are not expecting any bulk amounts of money, £200 here and there throughout the month which is so hard to juggle. We will though I'm sure and keep plodding away .

Ebay items doing well, only three for sale at the moment. The one I have already mentioned has £40 bid on and 20 watchers, the other had £10 bid and 8 watchers and another no bids but 5 watchers. They finish Friday so it should be interesting.

Oh........... after all of my moaning the girls Dance Show was fab last night ! I had another proud mummy moment. Mr Pinot got a little bored after the first half ( it was 3 hours long ! :eek:) but he patiently sat through it all ! DD1 has some injuries and struggled a little with some of the dances but nonetheless she did really well. As long as they enjoyed and had fun thats all that matters to me really.

Ok Im going now.

Happy Monday everyone x

poohbear59

I am horrified about the terrible teaching (or lack of teaching) at your DD's school. As a retired teacher I can admit that huge numbers of teachers go for the easy option. Some still make youngsters copy notes from a board and make no effort whatsoever to explain things.

My own son went from an A* at GCSE to ungraded at AS level for exactly the same reason you are stating.

If you can't get hold of the HOD or Headteacher try asking for a deputy or assistant head. There will probably be one in charge of curriculum that might be more helpful. Another way to get help may be by asking your DD if she has a friend who is good at maths who might be able to come and do homework together with her. This is not instead of classroom teaching but as well as. Youngsters can learn a lot from each other and can explore questions/possible answers together.
My own family learnt by the SMA system where they worked through books and self marked. It felt like the Maths teacher was doing nothing, she had an easy life. I was a teacher in the school at the time Not resentful at all

PinotGrigio41

poohbear59 wrote: »

I am horrified about the terrible teaching (or lack of teaching) at your DD's school. As a retired teacher I can admit that huge numbers of teachers go for the easy option. Some still make youngsters copy notes from a board and make no effort whatsoever to explain things.

My own son went from an A* at GCSE to ungraded at AS level for exactly the same reason you are stating.

If you can't get hold of the HOD or Headteacher try asking for a deputy or assistant head. There will probably be one in charge of curriculum that might be more helpful. Another way to get help may be by asking your DD if she has a friend who is good at maths who might be able to come and do homework together with her. This is not instead of classroom teaching but as well as. Youngsters can learn a lot from each other and can explore questions/possible answers together.
My own family learnt by the SMA system where they worked through books and self marked. It felt like the Maths teacher was doing nothing, she had an easy life. I was a teacher in the school at the time Not resentful at all

Thankyou Pooh, I am horrified too. The more I think about it the more Im not happy with the way the conversation went. I feel very fobbed off, but I will give it a few mroe days and see how the next couple of lessons go and if there is an improvement. As you say with your son, that is my worry for DD1. She knows ( or thinks she does for now ) what she would liek to do when she leaves school and has already looked at what grades and subkects that she needs to get a place onthe college cours that she wants. I am cocnerned that if the teachign continues in this manner she wont get the necessary grades. She is very able, but not confirdent in her abilities with Numeracy. Sorry if I am repeating myself here. I tried to speak with the head last week but he had gone home. The school is one of the best in the county, behind the Grammar schools . We have a new head due to start in January and I am hoping there will be soem improvements.

We were paying for a Tutor for DD@ until November last year and I have considered using her for DD1, but she has now put her fees upt o £40 per session which will be a struggle, although she is worth it and if need be I will do it. DD2 has the same teacher although only once a week so I am keeping my eye out with her also , which I told the school today. Your comment re the friend is interesting, I have a friend whose son has just gained an A in his Numeracy GCSE and I have considered asking him if he will help her out. I havent discussed it with her or Mr Pinot yet, but the idea is hovering in the back of my mind.

DD1 was privately educated for a year or so at the beginning of her schooling. When we moved and transferred her to a state school we paid for the Student Support system Video tutorials and books incase they were needed. We didnt ever use them but they are in the loft. I have considered dusting them own and taking a look at that system with her. What is the SMA system that you mention though please ?

poohbear59

I have looked but cant find the Maths scheme that my kids used at school. It must have been discontinued, unless I have forgotten the correct title. I will ask my son when he gets home from work.

£40 an hour is a lot to pay for private tuition. I do believe a lot in peer learning, doesn't work so well if you have a class of 30 but for homework etc. it can be very productive. I hope your friend's son will help out. It will be good revision for him and help him to cement his knowledge while helping your daughter at the same time. You could sell it to them by saying it is to help him revise too. By using his knowledge he benefits too.HTH

PinotGrigio41

poohbear59 wrote: »

I have looked but cant find the Maths scheme that my kids used at school. It must have been discontinued, unless I have forgotten the correct title. I will ask my son when he gets home from work.

£40 an hour is a lot to pay for private tuition. I do believe a lot in peer learning, doesn't work so well if you have a class of 30 but for homework etc. it can be very productive. I hope your friend's son will help out. It will be good revision for him and help him to cement his knowledge while helping your daughter at the same time. You could sell it to them by saying it is to help him revise too. By using his knowledge he benefits too.HTH

Thankyou Pooh !

She is a great tutor, but when I found out she had put the rates up to £40 it was a definite no go , although a friend has told me that she will stick at the £30 for past clients. Still not really an option at the moment , too much else to pay for.

I know my friends son will be more than happy to help out, not only to help him with his revision, but I think he may have a bit of a "thing" for DD1 . On that basis I am sure he would love to come round, but its for that very same reason that I am hesitating !! :eek:

PinotGrigio41

Check up last night at the Vets for "The Cat That Shall Not Be Named ", he is healing fine, but we have another 10 days of keeping him indoors and him wearing the cone ! He still hasnt figured out how to eat with it on, so we are still spoon feeding him !

DD1 had to pull out of the Course at school for medical reasons, I thought we had lost the money but the school has emailed this morning to say they will refund all but £25 of it

Last night spent up to my neck in Glue, cardboard and Ordanance Survey maps helping DD2 build a 3D model of a hill for Geography! It only took us 2 hours which is better than I had anticipated !

DD1 has appointment with the Head of Maths at Lunchtime, she has taken her books in to show him what she isnt learning and also the homework she cant do. I have told her to stand her ground ! Poor Girl, it can be scary seeing teachers cant it ?!

Had a quick squizz around the house this morning, I am finding it tough to keep on top of it all as the cat is terrified of the hoover , the broom, the polish and the floor steamer, so I am finding it a bit stressful that the house isnt as clean as I would like it to be . The sooner he can go out into the big wide world again,the better I think !

Working now, but I am hoping to finish early and visit parents for a while, as I havent made it over there since last week.

Both animals completely out of food ,so I need to nip out and buy that for them and scrabble around for something for dinner. Think it might be quick Spag Bol tonight as I am in and out all evening with the girls. .

Loads of washing and ironing to be done as usual .:(

Oh and I really need to look at my SOA if I can concentrate enough.

Thats my lot then I think for today , other than ferrying the girls around this evening and looking after a friends daughter. Looks like another pretty busy day really.

Slowly making my way around the diaires, apologies if I havent got to you recently !

Have a good day x

fallenwiccan

PinotGrigio41 wrote: »

Thankyou Pooh !

She is a great tutor, but when I found out she had put the rates up to £40 it was a definite no go , although a friend has told me that she will stick at the £30 for past clients. Still not really an option at the moment , too much else to pay for.

I know my friends son will be more than happy to help out, not only to help him with his revision, but I think he may have a bit of a "thing" for DD1 . On that basis I am sure he would love to come round, but its for that very same reason that I am hesitating !! :eek:

Haha oh dear, tell him mentoring looks VERY good on a CV I mentored through my GCSEs (reading skills with year 7 poor starters) and through college for GCSE level Maths whilst I studied a-level (and got paid by my college for it too) but the fact that I put it on my CV got me definitely one job (when I was a civil servant in college) and definitely helped get me my current job via the internship. Actually thinking now, I mentored one of my friend through the first year of her degree, she studied forensics but didn't have a chemistry background so I taught her a lot of a level theory.

My Mam used to get me to revise by trying to teach her it, she was a primary school teacher who couldn't really remember GCSE level maths too well so we did that but it was my favourite subject so I think that helped. My school was small and old, only 6 classes of 24ish in my year. There was only 8 of us did higher maths and we had to do after school lesson for it.