Year 11 GCSE support thread 6 - exams and proms

DD went to a Taster Day yesterday with her friend and liked it, and she also managed to find someone to talk to about the Pastoral Support and found that it sounds good, so that's great. She has a Taster Day for her first choice in 10 days - hope it goes as well!

SugarPlum, DD wants to try two new subjects at A'level - Economics (DH's subject and Psychology. She and I have talked to loads of students doing/who have done Psychology and all have loved it, so I am hoping she will!

DS has induction day on Monday , he's already decided not to do physics, thinks it will be too much.

Currently he has graphic design, product design, maths and physics. He wants to do quantity surveying , construction mgt sort of thing.

Hes thinking of changingphysics to geography or business.... and dithering over graphic design as it might be too wordy for him with his dyslexia.

Well I'm childless this morning! It feels very odd, particularly as the aliens have been around so much on study leave etc since Easter.

I'm going to drop off the dog at kennels then we're off to Sussex. And it's not raining.

Lynette, I would ring ahead of Monday to smooth the way.

Sparkling I agree with Errol, maybe a sciemce or Maths? Someone I know struggled with the jump between GCSE and A level Spanish. She worked so hard at Spanish last year for AS that it dragged the rest of her grades down and she has to drop it and had loads of resits this summer.

I always give a bit of a warning about Psychology, it's not what some people think. Friends son is doing Spirts Science BTEC amd wants to be a personal trainer. His patents announced he'd be doing Psychology A level as he 'will need to know how people think' I said to both separately that've won't learn that doing Psychology A level . They ignored me. Asking how it was going further down the line reply was 'he hates it, not what he thought', which was sadly a bit predictable.

DD has been firmly warned off it as it is too structured for her and I know she will hate it and the statistics in it . It's fine in my opinion if they have two subjects on the Facilitating subjects lists and want something a bit different. Does teach useful skills in writing up experiments and studies and develops essay writing.

I'm not sure that those statistics are very meaningful without knowing the calibre of the students taking each subject. 'Harder' subjects tend to have higher proportions of A* - they're hard but less likely to be taken by weaker students presumably.

The grades by subject are here

Actually looking at that nationally ICT isn't that different to computing, that must be a local thing.

DS is another one wavering. He was going to do English, but a. he probably won't get his amazing teacher, and b. he's seen who else would be in his set, so he's changed his mind. I think it's for the best as he doesn't read novels: he prefers facts, hard facts. His wonderful teacher brought out his understanding of literature and poetry, but didn't manage to inspire him with a real love of reading the things for pleasure - so I had been thinking he might struggle with all the reading. So he's now thinking of an EPQ involving computing in some way.

And probably German not Chemistry, which I am pleased about as he's good at German and it's more unusual to do a language these days. He'd be one of only 3 in a (large) selective school compared with 6 in my year at my middling comprehensive.

I am quite open to having my mind changed about the Psychology if you will pardon the pun. i just wish he had 4 definites and wasn't doing all this pondering/dithering. His mates seem to be all Maths/Science.

Hadn't thought of them picking DS because he would be mature enough to get on with it. Could be I suppose...

I laughed because he will be the scary 6th former that he was worried about in Year 8 now.

Sparkling, if your DS is interested in Journalism, then maybe doing a science would be quite a good idea - specialist science writers aside, too many journalists seem woefully illiterate. Or maths (Journalist who Understands Statistics would be a headline of itself ).

Oddboots, what's this about computing grades? Not that I want to put my DD off it now that she's decided that she does want to do it (with the maths/fm and physics too) - the one statistic I do know about it is that girls doing it are ridiculously rare.

Anyway - we're up at the crack of dawn tomorrow to take DD to a couple of open days -B'ham tomorrow and Loughborough on Saturday. I wasn't supposed to be going but DH isn't sure he can walk (certainly not at DD's speed) very far at the moment (hernia, poor man) and parking at B'ham is bad, so I may have to drop them and park some distance away.

Sparkling I am giving you a Paddington hard stare DD is planning to do History and Eng Lit with Economics and Psychology! But agree with Woolly about why he's been asked to move.

Horse that's intestine re the footy at A level. DS is 2 years off GCSES but it's worth thinking about - he is a footballer, just wavering on Academy standard *has been scouted for 3 or 4 U14s but not signed. DH says BTEC Sports Science (I think!) has a good reputation.

This is giving me flashbacks to DD1 she stumbled round the sixth form fair trying to find 4 subjects that she wanted to do - AND still changed her mind two weeks in. She ended up enjoying History so much that she did a degree in it, despite it being one of her "what else can I do" subjects.

Sparkling perhaps your DS was asked to move tutor groups because the school knew he was mature enough to cope with moving and be a good role model to the lower years.

DS thinks it will be hard to achieve an A in PE because footballers score notoriously badly on the practical part, especially if they don't play for an Academy or the County team. This would mean he'd have to work flat out on the theory to improve his grade and it's very sciencey - not a fave of his.
He's just about to Google entry reqs for Sports Science/PE teacher courses at uni.

LynetteScavo - I'd call.

I went with my ds to see the sendco at the college yesterday, he has hypermobility as well as 'ASD traits' (he didn't want a diagnosis, getting a letter from the ED Psyc about his traits was our compromise) and the college have put things in place for both things including lunch and study groups for children who identify on the spectrum, extra transition and tours between now and starting and later on specialist help in terms of university and career planning.

I did wonder if colleges would be at all interested in his additional needs but they couldn't be more helpful, hopefully that is normal these days (it certainly wan't in my day).

Horse he sounds like DS1. I think he will change his mind again on results day then again when he starts 6th Form. The staff doing the timetables will be thrilled.

I was a bit sad because he has been asked to move Tutor groups. They do vertical tutoring and in one tutor group there were no Year 12s so DS1 and another girl have been moved into it. He has been in his since he moved to the school at the end of Year 8.

Blimey, DS has just this minute said he's sticking with History AND doing F Maths but now contemplating dropping PE

It changes in the blink of an eye.

On Monday DS is going to sixth form induction at a school which has no point asked about SN. DH didn't think to say anything when he took DS for the "interview".

Not sure whether to phone tomorrow and point out DS is on the autistic spectrum.

And no idea whatsoever what to do post A Level the only thing he has ever mentioned is Journalism (boooo).

he didn't do GCSE geography so has ruled it out Horse. I think IT/Business would be good and YY Economics or Politics Woolly, he should think about that.

Chemistry is on his list because he loves it and he's good at it but it doesn't fit at all.

he did mention Psychology and I may have winced.

He's not sure Horsemad, he likes numbers, he is looking at engineering, finance and surveying. He's taking Maths, Further Maths and Physics A Levels too and a C&G in computer aided design.

What about Geog Sparkling?

*OddBoots, what does your DS want to do and what else is he taking?

Does the school offer Politics, Sparkling? I think that would be a good combination. what do I know, I did sciences Economics? Business Studies?

One of the sciences Sparkling, or PE maybe? Does he have an idea of what he's like to do after A levels?

DS is wondering about his choices too, specifically Computing because of the statistically low grades both nationally and at the college he's going to. ICT is less interesting to him but has much better results.