MFLs when bilingual - Help please

[tapestryontheceiling]

DS1 is about to start high school (he got ill late august and has been in hospital and recovering at home but he starts after the half term)
Anyway school have been great about it, had regular contact he is going in in the mornings for this week. Except he is doing German as his language.
On all the forms I wrote that he is bilingual in German (and actually that is what we speak at home solely now all kids are getting older) and we where even sent MFL letters about languages they studied. I emailed and then phoned the head of MFL to ask her if DS could do french instead as doing german as a 2nd language would be slightly pointless and defy the point of MFL in school. She agreed and said no problem.

but he is doing french.

I've phoned her again but she says that she tried but classes had already been sorted and he couldn't move. I poined out that he already knows German. And she said that this will help with reading and writting, fair point but he has read books in german (as they all have) included harry potter and he writes letters in german to my family back home. She said that it can't be changed.

Really? They are being ridiculous aren't they? Any ideas ?

[seeker]

Sounds odd. But if your ds is starting late, then maybe q subject he can do with no effort at all might be a good thing? Presumably he'll start a second language next year?. My niece would be very jealous- she's bilingual and her school wouldn't let her do Spanish and insisted she did French. She was hoping to be the star of the class!

[TeamDamon]

I am a little confused - you say he is doing German 'but he is doing French' - is he doing both?

We have a lot of international students in our school and what many of them do is to take the equivalent in their language of our English GCSE in order to challenge them appropriately. Would that be possible?

[kritur]

Languages are quite often banded with half the year group starting with german and the other with french. It could be that he is timetabled in the 'wrong' half of the year group. We have always had swaps though. Perhaps she is thinking that her GCSE results will be very good when he goes through with German!?

[tapestryontheceiling]

Sorry - Team typo. we speak German at home, they have him doing German, I would rather him do French. - sorry. I don't know about that - but he wouldn't be doing the sylabus (sp) would he?

seeker It is one language only they do (if you are very good at one you get the option to do the other - not timetabled lesson - and then can pick at GCSE)

And they don't have to do a langaue at GCSE (they have to do Welsh anyway to GCSE so they don't make them choose another one to do as well)

[TalkinPeace2]

In DDs class is a kid who is bilingual French.
He took his GCSE at the end of year 7 and then has gone on to do other languages
panic not until he's had a couple of lessons and you both know what's actually going on

[troisgarcons]

No. any school worth it's salt will put him into a GCSE for his German ASAP - and then set him for a further language for KS4

I have one little angel who has A Spanish in Y7, A Italian in Y8, fingers crossed whe will get a good French in Y9

[GnomeDePlume]

Our experience was that we needed to make contact with the exams tutor directly. She then booked DD1 into her bilingual MFL GCSE in year 7. DD1 has since gone onto do AS & A2 and the MFL department still dont really know that DD1 has done this.

Every now and then Head of MFL looks at DD1 and says 'you're the linguist arent you?' in a slightly bemused tone!

Funnily enough DD1 isnt planning to stay at this school for her proper A levels.