Fed up after options evening

There is a place for those whizzy programmes. They do provide really useful information about outcomes across large groups. However, a good school will always just use them as one bit of information in making decisions. Good schools will always ask the teachers what they think and if what a child has done so far supports or contradicts the data. Good schools will be able to assess an individuals skills and weaknesses and build that into the process.

All to do with 'progress and value-added'. Sounds like your school is one of those data-smart schools that have whizzy programmes (eg 4-matrix, 3-matrix) that looks at ks2 reluslts as 'input', measures value-added, projects to what it will mean for the school 'output' and allocates the subjects according to where the school can demonstrate value-added at the end of Ks4. Never mind about the living, breathing child - its all about SLT's and teachers' performance-related pay

My daughter has educational needs and struggles academically she was always disregarded by teachers. I encouraged her to choose all vocational subjects and she is much happier. She starts college this year. She couldn't do photography at school as it went hand in hand with art however she can do just photography at college. She did really well in child development and food tech but couldn't pursue the food tech due to nut allergy. However what I'm trying to say is don't ever let the school/teachers bring you down every child has their own thing which they will just excel in. Regardless of handwriting and maths skills etc. options evenings are horrible in general , stay positive and don't worry 12 years old is very young. There is a whole life of college beyond secondary school these days

"predicted grades were based on where a child lives and what their parents work as. Where exactly did this piece of information come from????"
DH is secondary school governor and I think this type of information is used statistically to assess the performance of individual schools against other schools nationally with a similar pupil profile. I don't think it's used to assess individual pupils though.

Hi Chocolate Wombat

Your explanation sounds feasible. I know that individual targets aren't based on such things. For a start I have never given my job details to my secondary age child's school and also, I work in a school myself so I believe I would have heard this snippet of ground shattering news if it were actually based on their individual levels!!!

Russian, I would be interested to know this too.
I suspect, that this does not apply to individual childrens predicted grades.
There aRe research groups that work on looking at a wide variety of factors which might influence educational outcomes, using huge numbers of pupils, as the basis of their research. It wouldn't be surprising for them to find that as a broad pattern (and of course this does not mean every single individual child) children who live in deprived areas and are from lower socio economic groups tend to achieve less well than those from affluent areas with parents in professional jobs.
So I don't think any school is looking at an individual child and saying they can't take GCSEs or can only achieve X grade, because of where they live or what their parents do. Don't worry about that. In fact schools are under pressure to 'narrow the gap' and ensure children from precisely the backgrounds mentioned have more opportunities to do well.

On page 2 somebody wrote that predicted grades were based on where a child lives and what their parents work as. Where exactly did this piece of information come from????

I echo eviltwins comments. In fact the BTEC in Business covers far more than the GCSE and now also includes an external test for one of the units

Don't write off BTECs out of hand. Which subjects are on offer? I teach Performing Arts and have both GCSE & BTEC groups in Yrs 10 & 11. They do the same work. The only difference is the external assessment. For some subjects, a BTEC is more appropriate. Also, a BTEC L2 is accepted as equivalent of a GCSE almost without exception for entry to L3 courses. A Distinction is an A, Merit is B and so on. Interestingly, my yr 10 BTEC class is far more able than my GCSE class, but I think that's just coincidence

Would it be highly cynical of me to suggest that schools might start offering fewer and fewer GCSEs/options to students with lower levels so the parents of less accademic children in younger years might opt to move schools and as such their average cohort would gain better grades?

Sad to say but the school are thinking about their A*-C grade percentage at GCSE and are pigeonholing students who won't acheive a C in the tougher subjects into the easier ones! A product of our 'rigorous' education system! They start gcses in year 9 so they get an extra shot and more time at achieving their targets!

I teach secondary geography and despite having pressure off slt to achieve over 90% Cs and above we don't turn any pupils away! We have a wide range of pupils who enjoy geography and I teach them and support them to get the best grade they can, if its a D or less then so be it, I have very bright students who struggle with literacy and so dive in exams but their geographical skills and knowledge are brilliant! Unfortunately they are victims of our exam systems and that's why they are offered the btecs which are more assignment based!

I would say for your son to do whatever he enjoys, if its history and geography then do it, yes it's a lot of theory and history is notorious for writing and essays but its the enjoyment that counts! The teacher should support him no matter what grade he is predicted!

I think the OP is right to go in for a meeting to get more information about what the decision is based upon. It may well be that BTECs are still the right option for him, but a meeting will give a better chance to explore what all the options are and to find a combination that can work for him. If there really is nothing, then perhaps it is time to look elsewhere.

The point was made upthread that GCSEs are becoming more exam and less coursework focused. Whether that is right or not, is not the issue here....but it does affect whether the courses are suitable for some children.

More information is definitely needed. I don't accept the view held by some on here, that regardless of circumstances the OP should fight for him to do GCSEs. She should fight to find what is right for him, which could be a different thing entirely.

This same kind of thing comes up when people want to move into the 6th Form. Increasingly schools set a requirement such as an A or perhaps a B in the subject to be studied at A level. Some parents don't like it.....but statistically people starting subjects with less than a B at GCSE in that subject have a high chance of failing the course. Who does that benefit. I know some of you don't like the idea of statistical evidence and want every child treated as an individual. I agree that they should be treated as an individual, but statistics need to used as part of the information. It does sound like the OPs sons school have made a lot of use of a computer programme to generate what is suitable for everyone. In most schools, there would certainly be a big element of teacher judgement too. teachers know things which statistics cannot tell.
Having a meeting will allow the OP to get more information and also make the school think carefully about her son as an individual. The end result maybe a change or it maybe what the school said originally.
I hope the OP and son find a meeting helpful and that the next stage of education is a success.

My suggestion would be to fight for a 5th gcse subject. If he achieves 5 grade Cs then he can go onto level 3 quals at a college.

Cory

My daughter is dyspraxic, and one of the frustrating things about it is that it involves not just a learning difficulty, but a developmental delay. If she could have started school a year or two later than she did, she would have struggled so much less, not just academically but emotionally. She had a gap year after secondary which I'm sure helped her be more ready for university. She has finished university now and has 'caught up' at age 23, although she will never be exceptional academically.

Toomanyoptions

I recently found out that predicted GCSE grades are based in part on factors like parental occupation and where the child lives. You might want to enquire about that. Also, if you could talk directly to some of his current teachers about how they see his work, that might give you a clearer picture.

Cory, our very best local carpenter/builder originally took a degree in architecture and structural engineering. He builds house extensions that blend beautifully, stand up to anything, stay warm, and come in on time and budget -- which takes a huge range of skills. (Your nephew's name doesn't start with M, does it?)

But Chocolate, if he is bad at the BTEC subjects he is going to be spending a lot of time trying to complete those tasks, thus taking time and energy away from his English and Maths.

How is it kind to put him on vocational subjects if he has no talent for those and hates doing them? Or doesn't it matter if you fail in motor mechanics? I can't imagine anything crueller than being the one boy in the class on motor mechanics who has no interest and doesn't understand what is going on.

And what kind of a life would it be, fixing other people's cars up and getting it wrong? He could do a lot more damage there than in your average pen pushing job.

Why this attitude of "all you can aspire to" connected to the practical jobs that we all rely on to keep us safe?

I'm beginning to see why so many installations in our house over the last 20 years haven't seemed to work very well. If being an electrician or a plumber is a default position for somebody who isn't particularly good at anything, rather than a job for somebody who is clever with their hands, then I'm not surprised that the chandelier blew the moment we plugged it in. It explains some of the haircuts I've had over the years, too

For the record, my academically brilliant nephew chose to become a carpenter. He is a very good carpenter who has done some high quality work and runs his own firm (started at the age of 20) with great success. That is the kind of man who should be a carpenter. Somebody like ds should not. Not in a world where I might need my house fixed.

The thing is, the school do know what the likely outcomes are for different students who enter GCSEs from different starting points. These are different to what they were in our day.
It isn't being kind or 'giving a chance' to children very unlikely to succeed, to put them onto those courses. 3 years of slogging away to then fail does not benefit anyone. No one likes to think their child isn't suited to certain courses, but not all children are.
By doing the BTEcs etc there is probably a better chance of doing well in the core subject GCSEs so English and Maths and achieving passes in those is what is the absolutely key thing.

Go in for a further chat if you want to. You dont need to fight, but just ask for clarification of exactly why he has been put on this option. But be willing to accept this might be the best option for your son.

Our dcs school start options from yr 9. I was worried at first, but dd is now in yr10 and seems to be doing fine. With regard to Science, she sat core in yr9, is doing double this year, and triple in yr 11. I think that they only do triple if they think they are capable, so if not would just do double next year.