Is it too late to start cramming for GCSES in May?

Thanks also for the B12 info. DD has ME, not chronic fatigue, and over the last 2 years of constant searching for answers, B12 deficiency, along with many other conditions, has been ruled out. But it's always worth mentioning, so thanks.

Do look at the website I linked to. I was also diagnosed with M.E. amongst other things. B12 deficiency/PA was supposedly ruled out many times over, same with my daughter. Only it wasn't because they were too fixated on figures, without fully understanding test results. Out B12 injections make a huge difference. I'm not saying my daughter is better, but after 2 years of no school, she went from unable to sit up most days, to up, walking & mostly able to cope with full time school within a few weeks & doing well with lessons. It's been life changing.

I wish you all the best,

I would definitely focus on (in order) maths, English, science. It depends on her health though, and she would need tutoring. Also bare in mind (if you aren't bothered about grades) that maths and science still have foundation tiers that she could sit.

The alternative though, is that as she is doing 3 years at college she may be better off just starting the studying now then taking GCSEs next year and getting good grades. It takes the pressure off a bit and allows her time to get back in to the swing of studying.

I'd love to think the school weren't ignoring their obligations in the hope she wouldn't sit any exams, but given how some terrified HTs are of poor results I wouldn't be surprised.

Oh & EOTAS provide home tutoring for Science, Maths & English, I'm really cross for you that hasn't been done yet. DDs school set it up after 6 months away from school

Can I butt in with another suggestion.

Your post caught my attention at I was pretty much where you are a year ago, though thankfully not yet at GCSE stage (DD now yr 10 now) DD did miss 2 years of school ahead of making her GCSE choices & at that stage we just weren't sure if she would manage anything at all. We looked at dropping several subjects to help her cope where she could. Turned out not to be necessary

She did have a different diagnosis, but CFS is a symptom. I was originally diagnosed with fibromyalgia & M.E, but actually turned out to have EDS the same as DD.

When her health nose dived & she ended up in a wheelchair I started looking for answers my self as her doctors seemed content to write her off.

Roll forward a bit & turns out we also have an inborn inability to metabolise vitamin B12 properly. I would suggest getting your daughter tested as CFS/M.E. Is a very common misdiagnosis for B12 deficiency & it isn't a standard blood test. Even when they do test for it, they don't always understand the results properly, so a deficiency can be missed. Add to that, the fact that tests are unreliable anyway & you can see why it's often missed diagnosed as something else. (Mine turned out to be low for years, but nobody picked up on that as the cause of my symptoms)

There's several medical articles showing the success of treating CFS & Fibromyalgia with B12 injections

We eventually persuaded our GP to give DD a therapeutic trial of B12 injections - GP wasn't convinced, but admitted afterwards that the effects were "nothing short of miraculous"

Your DD sounds a lot like mine in her school reports. Mine caught up within a few months & is now doing really well in school. She was on her feet & like a new DD after only 6 every other day injections

My DD is younger, so self treating her isn't an easy option for us, but as your DD is 16 & time is short, I would ask for the tests, then I would suggest looking into self injecting B12. It's really cheap, though your first one needs to be medically supervised due to a slight risk of allergic reaction. You pay about £30 & clinics such as Reviv, or can even be found even in Harvey Nicks etc

There is a Facebook that we're a huge help to us in getting treatment & supplies for myself in the links section of this link below. This is all of the info you need in one place...

http://www.b12deficiency.info/

I'm horrified the lea hasn't been teaching her.

I doubt very much the school have refused to help because they think she won't get high grades!!

I don't believe you can be at gcse pass standard at the end of year 9 can you? She won't have studied any of the content?

I'm sorry I am another who doesn't think it's possible, particularly as she's been ill.

I thought the lea was supposed to sort and supervise home tuition in the case of being out of school long term sick? It really does look like they've failed you.

If you could get support for English nd maths and are careful to pace and work in small chunks I would go for that.

Rs is onot an easy option with a good teacher- there's 2 religions and quotes and approaches to learn.

I really wouldn't bother if going for a bare minimum. If really focus on maths and English and aim for a c grade so you have those for the future. Maybe science as well if doable.

What have school done to help? They can't just do nothing as she will impact on their exam results. Have you contacted the LEA about their lack of help?

Surely if she has not been able to do any work for two years, she is going to need a really phased entry back into learning, and not a packed, pressurised timetable though. This isn't someon who has done no work because they were o a round the world trip or something, it is someone who has been too ill to do anything. She isn't going to just be able to pick up to full on revision from now.
Have you looked into dropping down a year, and spending the next 6 months with tutors catching up in some areas, then starting Yr11 in Sept 18 ?

If she would be year 11 is there no way she can just go back a year and restart at year 10?

Alternatively if you can afford private places such as MPW link here www.mpw.ac.uk quite often can do 5 gcses in a year if that will be all you want her to do.

The deadline for applying for access arrangements is 21st February, I'm not sure how it will work in terms of collecting evidence when she hasn't been in school. You should contact the SENCo as soon as you can to find out what documentation you might need to provide.

Sorry to hear about your daughter OP.
My son attended school throughout his GCSE courses but in some subjects he'd not taken much in (paid enough attention).
I'm not a teacher, but I bought all of the CGP revision guides and worked with him on a strict revision timetable.
Based on what I learned I think English, Maths and dual science at foundation level could be achievable, provided she has support from you or a tutor and of course assuming she is well enough to put in the hours.
I wish her well and hope her health improves.

Or just do English and maths so she has those under her belt and see if she can get into college with circumstances taken into account.

In the 2 years have you had any help from the lea tutoring service? I really think you'll need help with this.

Has she literally done no work in 2 years? I have me/cfs (and was a teacher) and think to expect her to go from nothing to hours and hours every day will be hard.

What does she need for a level/whatever she wants to do. If it's it gcses including gcse english and maths id focus on that.
If you can afford a lot of tutor hours you could find a tutor who could work with her but it's not a lot of time and I know with a muddy head it's so hard to do a lot of concebtrating at once.

Is there someone senior at school who will help or have they washed their hands of her?

It could be worth getting in with local homeschooling network - maybe even leaving it a year and sitting next year?

Op actually most of her teachers are still getting to grips with the new spec.

Dual award science might be a possibility if she spent at least 15 hours a week on it? I'd steal clear of triple. It's very content based/ fact driven. So if she's good at memorising... I'd highly recommend you getting her a tutor....