September is always a super busy month as we venture back out into the world again once the schools are back, and I also have two weeks of exam marking to juggle alongside it all. We had one trip down south and one even more up north, and new courses were started too. It’s been a fun month!
What we've been up to
- GCSE subjects – highlights
- Non-GCSE learning
- Extra-curricular activities
- Day Trips and One-off activities
- Trips Away
GCSE subjects – highlights
English – Aggie started her two-year English Lit/Lang GCSE course with Jenny at Arts Discovery this month. We were all set to go it alone with English but I then had a massive wobble. Set texts need to be discussed and enjoyed with others; you need to hear other peoples’ views and interpretations. I was worried that literature studying would become dull with just me and CGP books. Peggy wasn’t quite ready for GCSE English yet either so I didn’t want each daughter to be studying alone on this plus I really didn’t want to have to do it all twice!
We’re delighted so far with Jenny’s course. They’ve started off looking at the poetry anthology and Jenny has so many techniques up her sleeve which Aggie is already using so effectively. I’m definitely glad we’ve delegated on this one!
German – Peggy and Dom started off working through the National Oak Academy GCSE lessons but found they didn’t know some of the basics well enough. They’ve therefore moved to working through the KS3 CGP books alongside Duolingo and resources from Kate Languages and they’re flying through them. Peggy is aiming to be at GCSE foundation level by Christmas and then she’ll move onto higher material in the new year. It was always a very ambitious task to learn a language GCSE in one year from scratch but Peggy is determined to do it!
Sciences – Aggie is comfortably keeping up with the timetable for all three sciences on the SouthWest Science courses but Peggy is struggling; she’d much rather spend her time on other subjects. We’ve therefore decided that she will drop down to double science (2 GCSEs) rather than doing the three separate sciences (3 GCSEs). I’ve contacted our local colleges and they have all said they’ll accept double science as entry into their A level science courses. I think it highly unlikely Peggy will go down the science route but I just wanted to check we weren’t closing any doors so early.
Non-GCSE learning
Anatomy course
Aggie has finally started her Anatomy course run by Dreaming Spires and it’s already a highlight of her week. We haven’t done a live online course with homework since KS2, which Aggie doesn’t really remember much of, so this format feels entirely new for her.
We’re really impressed with the course so far and she’s really enjoying it. There is quite a lot of homework to do each week but she’s keeping on top of it and getting it all done. She’s doing narrations for the first time which has been hard to get used to, but she’s definitely getting better (and quicker) at it.
Law course
This month Aggie has done a four-week course all about the law around war crimes. Aggie’s done several courses with Kate before and she absolutely loves them. Aggie is still considering a career in law and these courses offer her a great insight into the different aspects of law.
Although potentially a very dark topic, Kate handled discussing war crimes with her usual sensitivity and Aggie found the course fascinating.
KS3/Pre-GCSE English course
Peggy started her new online English course with Jenny Arts Discovery this month too. She’s kicked off the two-year course with looking at short stories. Peggy has really enjoyed the lessons (she happily sits still for one hour!) and particularly enjoys the group discussions. She’s independently cracking on with the weekly homework with no nagging from me at all. Thank you Jenny!
Forest School
It was fantastic to be back in the forest again this month but it felt very weird going without Aggie who now stays at home for her anatomy class. Peggy enjoyed being back round the fire circle cooking and has really enjoyed taking the younger children on adventures around the forest she now knows so well.
Extra-curricular activities
Crafts
This month saw Peggy become an exhibited artist! Our local art gallery was on the lookout for artists living, working or studying in the area who could contribute to an exhibition running for two months. Peggy submitted one of her favourite crochet pieces, Victor the Frog, and he got selected from many hundreds of entries! We went down to the exhibition’s opening night for the artists and their family/friends and were so proud to see Victor on display. We lingered around that area so Peggy could hear peoples’ comments as they saw him; he was much loved! He’s now there until the end of November after which he’ll come back home to us as Peggy chose not to sell him.
Music
We’ve added another musical group to our weeks from this month: Peggy and I now play in a local orchestra. Peggy loves playing in a brass band but she wanted to also play in an orchestra as the repertoire is so different. The orchestra we’ve gone for is an all-age group so I’ve decided to join Peggy rather than sit out in the car waiting for her. She plays the biggest and lowest instrument in the orchestra (tuba) and I play the smallest and highest (flute and piccolo). We’ve both really enjoyed our first month and we’ve been made to feel so welcome.
Volunteering
We’ve done our usual twice-monthly volunteer sessions at “Monday Club” this month where we’ve done a lot of hard grafting as so many of the regular volunteers were away on holiday (the joys of being retired!). For the all-day session which takes place once a month, the theme was the circus. We had some visiting circus performers teaching us some moves and we also helped to cook and wash up a full two-course meal. Aggie particularly loved having a go with the performers but I don’t think she’ll be running off to join the circus any time soon!
Peggy enjoyed some quieter time out in the garden collecting lavender for the guests to go home with and harvesting potatoes to eat for lunch. She really enjoys spending time out in the community garden and hanging out with Holly Dog. She’s taking charge of a border in our garden next year as she’s become so inspired by her time in the community garden with Mandy.
Day Trips and One-off activities
We celebrated everyone returning to school with a trip to Alton Towers using our Merlin Annual Passes. It was great to be back at one of our favourite places. Dom and the girls go off on all the rides and I sit and read my book whilst they queue; the perfect day all round!
Whilst I was marking, Dom took both girls to Harewood House near Leeds to attend a home ed workshop all about deer on the estate and birds of prey. They learned so much about these beautiful animals and bombarded me with facts once they got home.
Trips Away
We had two four-day breaks this month; we always like to make the most of the schools returning and prices being lower!
Chessington, Thorpe Park and home via Oxford
We ventured down to Chertsey in Surrey for our bi-annual rollercoaster fix. We went to both Chessington and Thorpe Park using our Merlin Annual Passes. Dom and Aggie (Peggy and I hit the doughnut stand instead) finally got to go on Hyperia, the UK’s tallest and fastest rollercoaster. They absolutely loved it and were buzzing for a long time afterwards.
On the way back home, we went to Oxford for the first time with the girls. Dom and I had both visited friends at the uni there back in the 90s but funnily enough that involved nothing cultural! This time, we went to both the Ashmolean Museum and the Natural History Museum there. We couldn’t do both of them justice in one day so we’ll definitely be returning on another occasion as they were such fascinating places.
Hadrian’s Wall
For this adventure we were joined by Grandma for a four-day stay up near Hadrian’s Wall. We visited all the usual sites: Magna, Housesteads Roman Fort, Vindolanda and Carlisle Castle and Cathedral. The unexpected highlight though was probably the biggest second-hand book shop, called Bookcase, we’ve ever been to! There were just rooms and rooms (and a cafe) of books on every wall. We managed to fill a bag (or two) with some great books which will keep us going for quite some time.
So that was September!
A month of trying to balance enough time at home to do some of the GCSE learning we have to do but also spend enough time venturing out and about to have plenty of fun. I reckon we hit the sweet spot this month!
