Uncertain times ahead for my son and many other teenagers getting there GCSE results tomorrow, I thought I would share an emotional post I wrote about my son’s last day at school.
At the end of July I was invited to my son’s graduation ceremony at his high school.
I took along with me my mum and husband and all took our seats, whilst pictures of all the year 11 children, no young adults were displayed on the largest screen imaginable above the stage.
You could hear the groans and laughter when the pictures of the students flashed up on the screen, so embarrassing for them all.
During the ceremony teachers came on to the stage to share with us there personal experiences of being their class teachers.
A couple of the teachers told such touching memories of their time with the pupils, some actually got me pretty choked up, yes teachers are human too!
My mum and I in unison started filling up whilst my husband sat listening with his emotions totally intact.
I knew when it came to my son leaving school I would be emotional, my little boy is now a young man, ready to venture into the big wide world.
I could tell with his behaviour in the days leading up to the graduation and especially afterwards that he was feeling a little lost.
I mean who wouldn’t, the children are guided through life and school by the help of parents and teachers.
Their paths totally mapped out for them, routines set in place at school and at home with home-work and bedtime, then bang one day that’s it everything is up in the air.
All these teens are now set to embark on a journey either through employment or further education.All these teens have one thing in common fear, fear of what jobs are out their or should I say lack of jobs. Fear of what grades they will achieve and will it be enough to get them into their chosen college.
As I sat I shed a happy tear for how far they had come and how proud I was of my son, standing with confidence shaking the headteacher’s hand, just like a man.
I also had a sad tear that my little boy was not so little anymore.
Thank you for reading and if anyone else is in the same position please feel free to comment, I would love to hear and talk about this with you.
Follow Me on, BlogLovin’ ♥ ,Facebook ♥,Twitter ♥ ,Google+ ♥Pinterest ♥Instagram ♥
Emma Day says
i didnt feel any fear when i left school. just relief. i no longer had to conform to someone elses rules. i no longer needed a parents signature to go out for lunch. i could go to college and be treated like an adult. it was brilliant!
anita says
lovely post, I got my results this time last year, and although at the age of 16 we were treated as young adults.. sadly my school [I continued on to Sixth Form] doesn’t. Nevertheless, it’s great guidance they give towards Uni life and independency.
Bourjois Magic Nail Polish Remover DUPE + cheapest available?
The Best Lipstick for A/W 2013!
Sue Tyler says
I can remember both my boys at this stage. You do worry that they will get the success they worked so hard for.
I hope he got the results he wanted and enjoys the next path of his life.
He’ll always know Mum and Dad will be there. 🙂
Marissa Coltman (Little Rascal Reviews) says
My little ones are 2 and a half and 5 months so it will be a while before I have to deal with all this and my little babies turn into young men. I really enjoyed reading though and hope he got the results he was aiming for 🙂
Rachel Hirst says
Thank you for reading my post, It will all come so soon, today he went to meet his first girlfriend for the first time, quite an emotional month for me.
He did so well in his exams, 9 A to C GCSE pases including 4 A’s, he needed five including English to get on the Graphics course he wanted to go on.
So so proud and shocked, he is a dark horse!
Verily Victoria Vocalises says
What a lovely post – and how wonderful that the school did this ceremony. I would have cried too. I haven’t visited your blog before and I love your theme – it’s fab. How did your son do? Thank you for linking to PoCoLo x
Sara @ A Frugal Wife says
I was going to wish your son well for his results but I see by the comments he did very well – you must be proud!
My eldest has only just started nursery, so I have a way to go before we start thinking about exams (although I’m sure that day will arrive much sooner than I expect!) – good luck to your son on his next chapter in life.
Rachel Hirst says
I remember my boys starting nursery, It doesn’t seem 2 minutes ago since I was standing at the window of the nursery waving goodbye. It’s so funny how quick time passes and I am sure your eldest will be absolutely fine. Lewis goes tomorrow to go to college to enrol on his chosen course. Thank you, we are very proud.
Jaime Oliver says
Rachel this is beautiful, i think we will always worry wont we. I dont know about you it seems that the time since they were little flies 🙂
Thanks for linking up with #MagicMoments xx
Rachel Hirst says
Thank you, I got really choked up writing this piece, my next one will have to be more lighthearted. I don’t know if this will be possible as my other son starts high school next week, I got really upset buying big boy school shoes so I don’t know what I will be like next Tuesday.I love the school holiday’s when we get them all to ourselves!
Really enjoyed reading other blogs when I linked up to #MagicMoments
Colette says
I hope his results have been what he was looking for and that he is able to find the right path as he moves forward 🙂 I remember that summer myself like it was yesterday – I spent it doing voluntary work which set me up nicely for my future career but I was lucky that I always knew I wanted to teach!
Rachel Hirst says
I think it’s fantastic when you have a chosen career and you manage to achieve it.Lewis want’s to be a Graphic designer and already has made some great logo’s ect for companies to go in his future portfolio, he has even been paid for some which has given him some pocket money.This summer has been really long for him and the summer he will always remember when he met his first young love, so sweet.
Thanks for the lovely comment.
Sadie Quinton says
Just read this and thought I really don’t remember waiting for exam results, but then for me it was a long time ago and I left school at 16 and 3 days after finishing school I went to my first job as a live in mothers help.
My oldest son is 9yrs old, so a few mores years to go yet.
I think your son has done himself and you wonderfully proud the results look great, well done for all his hard work and to you for your encouragement & support of him.
I wish him well with his future and it sounds like he will enjoy what he does.
Sarah Bailey says
I never really graduated from school – ended up in hospital school / home school for the last couple of years and although my GCSEs were done through my high school I sent my Mum to pick up my grades for me. As I was home schooled I had been working afternoons so I just slipped for part time to full time easily it must be very odd though to just suddenly have nothing anymore.
Good luck to your son in whatever he does next.
Sarah
Life in a Break Down
xx
Sophie says
I wanted to leave school as I knew what I wanted to do with my life but then no long after being in the real world and finding a job I wanted to go back to school days.
Sophie
x
MrsShilts says
As a wife of a Teacher, it’s lovely to hear stories like this. There are too many parents who don’t care about their children growing up and moving on. I wish your son all the very best for the future x
Tracy Nixon says
Mine are still very young and I hate to even see them sit SATs tests! I am going to be a mess with worry when it comes to GCSE’s and A levels!
Cathie B says
What a lovely post – I can only imagine how emotional it was. I wish your son all the very best wishes with his next journey 😉
Astrid says
I can’t relate, but I do understand how you felt. My Mom had this experience both at my high school graduation and at my wedding.
mellissa williams says
Hi Rachel
My son had his GCSE results too and I had tears streaming down my face as he passed them all and had better results than expected. Wasn’t it yesterday they were born?
Thank you for your post from a mum in the same situation as you!
Top Style Advice says
aww… such a nice post! I’m 25 now and I always remember my mum getting emontional when getting my results and when she flew me over to Leeds from Ireland to start uni, she got extremely emotional.
Great post!
Simon Bowers says
I do love this; I didn’t have any real good times at school and pretty much hated the whole time there. My final day couldn’t come quick enough and my GCSE’s were horrendous. But it’s never the end of the world and I’m more than happy with the way my life panned out.
It’s so good to see that children these days are enjoying school as well as actually growing up to be respectable people, not easy nowadays, certainly don’t see much of that on the streets of Manchester at times!
Carly says
Hi Rachel, great post, mine are far from this stage, yet i can only imagine what it must feel like…even at the end of year perfomances through-out school are emotional!
Michelle Reeves (bodfortea) says
What a lovely heartfelt post Rachel! It will be a while until I have to deal with this – and I know I will need a whole box of tissues! I can imagine the pride that you feel but at the same time the concern x #retroblogpostlinky
rachelhirst says
Thank you Michelle, the worrying never stops does it ha!