Advice on DD dropping GCSE?

I'm 99.9% certain that the DC wouldn't be allowed to drop at our school.
DD1 did drop a subject after y11 mocks because she was failing both it and English Language by a long way, and we had only just got a diagnosis of dyspraxia through, which explained why she was struggling so much. She needed massive work and intervention to scrape her English lang pass.
Even then it needed quite a lot of persuasion and the SENCO on our side, and she had to 'keep it quiet' so as not to encourage further requests.
I really can't see them allowing someone to drop a subject they are working at 8/9 level in because they can't do time management. They would support time management instead.

The new GCSEs are really challenging though & it's not just a case of these kids not managing their time well enough. It is bascially AS level content and a shift up in skills needed. No wonder they are stressed.
This is the 2nd or 3rd year through the new GCSEs. There was another year before that when we knew what the changes were like.
Every school I know has changed ks3 to reflect the changes at GCSE.

The first year through was a bit bumpy but nowhere near as bad as I'd have thought (they only had part of y9 to prep them for the new course). If I look at my GCSE classes they are actually much not relaxed since the change in spec. With it all linear theres more teaching time available to cover content in detail, do intervention and get them prepared.

When someone choose to do extra curricular activities they have to accept that one of the reasons sports, drama, music etc are valued isn't just for tjeir intrinsic worth, but all the other skills it demonstrates to so them on top of school. If someone is spending 80% of their time on one subject then that is a time management issue.

How would she spend an hour doing something else? All her other subject teachers will be teaching other classes. I am shocked that you are expecting her art teacher to supervise her whilst she does another subject, or expect her other teachers to supervise.

Sit down with her and organise her time with her. Dropping the subject is not a viable solution. I am sure school will agree.

I think most of the advice here was not tell your DD to talk to her teachers. But you need to go and talk to her teachers. This is something where you need to step in. If she is getting that little sleep and stressing so much about her subjects then she is in real danger of having panic attacks and some kind of breakdown - quitely possibly meaning she doesn't sit any exams.
She is only 15/16 - you need to be there to support her and step in. The school might want her to keep "doing stuff" but if it is affecting her this much then they need to be forced to realise this and to work a way forward that is best for her (and them long term).

Lots of girls are so conditioned that they won't speak up when becoming overwhelmed but just "try harder" - this is not healthy.
And does her Art teacher think she is only going to get a 6? My DD did Photography, ended up leaving one whole area out of her portfolio (a stop motion piece) but she still got an A in the end.

You could also consider getting her some counselling to help her deal with her stress.

I think if she's head girl they won't be keen as she is probably supposed to set some sort of example to the others & it might prompt others to ask to drop things.
I would speak to the teacher - they may be able to work a plan out. It is ridiculous if she is spending such a disproportionate amount of time on one subject. It would be a shame to drop now though after doing so much work.
The new GCSEs are really challenging though & it's not just a case of these kids not managing their time well enough. It is bascially AS level content and a shift up in skills needed. No wonder they are stressed.

Schools can't just have students dropping courses because the student hasn't managed their time properly.

Maybe I'm being a little heartless but learning to manage time is a life skill and something that is developed through GCSEs and a levels. If the message becomes 'don't worry about prioritising and time management because someone will always off you an easy route out' then I'm not sure that's really the sort of path tjat is going to build resilience and self regulation.
(Sometimes i wonder if tjis culture od wrapping in cotton wool, no responsibilkty is why I've had trainee teachers come up at 22/23 claiming they couldn't do x y z because they 'didn't have time' and were so overwhelmed. Reality is they had 3 hours in school that day. They simply chose not to take responsibility for their time management.)

On the school front, why should an art teacher have to supervise kids who have dropped their subject? Who should supervise kids who drop subjects? Should every child get to drop subjects on demand on y11? Or just good kids? What s the chance of any gained time being used effectively to revise vs sitting there highlighting everything in sight?
It's an unreasomable request to drop it.

It all depends what she wants to do next. If she school does let her drop a subject could she drop something that won't make much of a difference to what she wants to do in the next stage of her life/education. Like for example Geography or French. I was made to drop my art subject because I didn't do enough work. Looking back now it annoys me. There were other subjects that I had zero interest in but were compulsary. Art was an option. I would of much prefered to not bother with Science and French. They were compulsary. I got a very low grade on both subjects. I wasn't interested in them at all. Waste of my time. Waste of the teachers time. How many subjects is she doing?

DD has many other obligations as a member of various clubs and as head girl

These other obligations would be first to go in my book if only to free up head space and feel less burdened by commitments. Could she possibly use this time at school to work on art or to spend on other subjects. The school should be in a position to help her manage her time better. Do they run study groups before or after school in the subjects she needs to improve in? Lots of kids have extra curricular stuff to juggle as well as GCSEs. It’s about prioritising and time management.

It would be such a shame to drop something if she is good and has already worked so hard at it.

Thinking about it I definitely didn’t have to put that much effort in at gcse!

I did art at gcse and a level. Got a* in both and screwed over my other subjects. It’s all well and good saying “time management!” but sometimes it’s just not psychologically viable. I will always be shit with time.
She shouldn’t drop it now though. If she’s staying up all night and it’s only gcse she will probably do very well even if she starts slacking now.

Op basically the 70% is wrong from what everyone is saying. She is spending too much time on it. A timetable would be useful speak to the school for guidance on balance.

Op you're really not getting it, are you?
We are all telling you the same thing, but you just can't see it.

You need to address her time management and her perfectionism. Because both have got totally out of hand. I'm puzzled as to how you can't grasp this? 

Its common for perfectionism to end in giving up/downing tools.

I understand you wanting to back her and listen to her, and ultimately if she doesn’t want to continue then that is her decision. However, it seems odd to drop the thing she is excelling at and currently prioritising? And will have banked some coursework for. Suggest she gives it a few weeks thought, and uses those few weeks to work in a more strategic way, balancing the subjects.

cantkeepawayforever
Oops.
As an off duty English teacher I couldn't care less about rogue SPaG on forums and find it awful when people resort to spag policing anyway

70% Art: 30% everything else is utterly ridiculous! You know this is not a good use of time. I would see her art teacher and sort out what she needs to do and what isn’t necessary. Then map a pathway of work and stick to it.

Maisy, please don't quote my missing apostrophe ! I stand by the principle, just not the grammar!

Arts endlessness is horrible for perfectionist people. Setting strict 'good enough' time limits becomes really crucial for them
I agree.
And it's also a useful life lesson.

I wouldn't be asking go drop a subject when the obvious solution is to manage time effectively.

DD WAS an utter perfectionist. Working on 'good enough within the time allowed', and discovering that there was no catastrophe, has been an excellent life lesson and critical to her mental health.

Arts endlessness is horrible for perfectionist people. Setting strict 'good enough' time limits becomes really crucial for them.

DD does art, a coursework-heavy DT subject and 10 hours of extracurricular dancve per week. Yes, Art takes longer than her other homework BUT she is utterly disciplined about it - X needs to be done by time Y, mounted, annotated, done.

Sort her time management. Sort out a daily timetable - an hour of art, then an hour of other things. Also encourage her to swap to something else as soon as she is not producing art - so get as far as she can, stop, do something else, come back to it. DD used to spend time staring at her art work in despair - now she goes and does 30 mins of something else, and comes back again to her art if needed.

Also get everything together, take it to her art teacher and, if needed with you, go through and decide what MUST be done, what COULD be done, and what ISN'T going to be done and it's fine. DD has swapped several pieces beteen e.g, work she did over the summer and preparation for her GCSE mock - not what they were 'intended' for, buuit she has too much in some areas and not enough in another, so a little readjusting worked well and meant that art she had done wasn't wasted, and time was saved..

I can't believe I'm reading this. Shocked at OP's attitude. Why would you even entertain this idea or indulge her for a second, with the idea of dropping art.

She needs to take a close look at herself, her time management and generally.

Has she has been winging it for awhile? She just needs to knuckle down and get on with it.

Agree with pp that the idea Of her getting 6's or 7's, or 8/9's if she drops it is just ridiculous, did a teacher actually say that?

I agree with the others. This seems to be more about sensible time management than needing to drop a subject.

• pull back on extra curricular
• portion up the time better between art and other subjects