Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. A phone that grows with your child.

Meet the Other Phone.
A phone that grows with your child.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Dd wants to drop a gcse

19 replies

Megan2412 · 27/11/2019 06:16

My dd is in yr 9 just started gcses in september she realised after a few weeks 1 of her options wasnt for her and requested to change school refused. She is now refusing to join in with the lesson as is struggling to cope or keep up with it. I have a meeting with the school as we requested a change of lesson or to drop.
Can they force her to carry on with it?

OP posts:
Teachermaths · 27/11/2019 06:30

Yes they can. She signed up for it and has to be doing something in that time. It's late to change options now as they will have covered a lot of content.

They will follow the behaviour policy if she refuses to participate.

Punxsutawney · 27/11/2019 07:01

Ds dropped a gcse in year 10 but he does have an sen. He used to self study in learning support in those lessons and this year he has intervention instead.

He was actually doing okay in the subject that he dropped but he hated it and has poor coping mechanisms so we wanted him to have less pressure. He is still doing 10 gcses so I was not worried at all.

00100001 · 27/11/2019 07:02

What subject does she want to drop?

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about these subjects:

General education Secondary education
Vixen2019 · 27/11/2019 07:18

She wants to drop music she does have sen needs, with asd and adhd and is struggling to cope in that subject. She requested a change to dt after 3 weeks but school refused this is now massively effect her mental health. If they cant accommodate this change then would be best just to drop the subject but again school are refusing and forcing her to continue.

Punxsutawney · 27/11/2019 07:28

Vixen when ds dropped his he was being assessed for ASD. He now has a diagnosis. I think the fact she has additional needs means that they need to think about how she will cope as time goes on. Could she go to learning support for those lessons? Ds also has mental health issues and to me getting him through the next year being able to cope is my only concern, his grades are less important.

averythinline · 27/11/2019 07:40

Ask for a meeting with her form/head of year and SENCo- ASD is a disablity - the school HAS to make reasonable adjustments - they cannot blanket apply school policies to a child with a disability - irrespective of what they are...

talk to the national autistic society .... on tehir webiste is a guide which I cant find at the moment ....but the link to teh section/helpline is here..
www.autism.org.uk/services/helplines/education-rights.aspx

Its a shame they didnt move her when she asked - and they probably should of....

contact your local indpendent support service - google IASS 'local area' or look on Local Offer 'area' ... they can be very helpful in advising schools they are potentially breaking the law......
HTH

Lovemenorca · 27/11/2019 07:42

The bigger issue here is your daughter’s defiance and attitude

Bronzegate · 27/11/2019 07:42

this is now massively effect her mental health

If her psychiatrist (or whoever she sees at CAMHS) writes a letter to the school to explain this, the school might be able to provide a modified timetable as reasonable adjustments for her mental health.

Lovemenorca · 27/11/2019 07:42

Ah just seen diagnosis

Vixen2019 · 27/11/2019 07:57

I have a meeting at school tomorrow to discuss this with the head of yr but he has already approached my daughter and said they will not be changing her so get on with it. Which is not a helpful response from them.
I have also contacted the sen partnership team (iass)

Quartz2208 · 27/11/2019 08:02

this I think is the problem with choosing in year 9 it’s when it starts to get tough and less room to see if it suits

Music is tough but given in year 9 how much of the content could she have actually missed

Yes I think you need to push this. It’s clear they don’t want to do it in case others but with your dd and her diagnosis they can without setting a precedent

EvaHarknessRose · 27/11/2019 08:19

Some schools resist this strongly, even with metal health and Sen. I guess from their point of view it would present a problem if this becomes more common, as they are not equipped to have lots of kids off timetable. I have also wondered if it affects their league tables but not really sure. But kids seem to be voting with their feet, there's a huge amount of school refusal and coming off roll happening ime.

Punxsutawney · 27/11/2019 08:25

Vixen we had numerous issues with Ds's head of year. He doesn't seem to have any understanding of autism and ignored all contact with us. Back in the summer we made a huge complaint to the school about how they were dealing with ds. We now no longer have to have any dealings with him.

If he is not helpful then take your concern further. It was a member of the senior leadership team who finally started to sort things out for Ds.

averythinline · 27/11/2019 17:02

If they are not helpful - sometimes CAMHS can help but you may need to raise a formal complaint through the governors as it is disability discrimination... my Bf ended up witha formal apology from the School head and school trust - and written recognition that they had f'd up on very similar issue.... all well and good but dc in a state and very poor mental health - started school refusing she was so stressed... so they lost a grade 8 student for a whole term in all subjects... and she lost all that work ... (so still stressed and having to have a manged return)... but hey they stuck to their rules .... really pisses me off

even without a diagnosis it is generally poor student management to not allow any changes before Oct half term and be so rigid......these are teenagers with rapidy developing brains who will not really understand what will be expected in gcse of subjects...

humans not robots should be education mantra

(hers was a church school as well... very christian....not! just slogans on websites...)

hopefully your DD's will be more responsive

PennyGold · 27/11/2019 17:09

It's a real shame that they wouldn't let her drop it a few weeks in, did they give a reason why?
I don't think there's a lot you can do until you speak to the school, but 12 weeks in it's unlikely she'll be able to change to anything else because they'll be so much work to catch up on.
I'd ask to see what other options she could take (timetable wise) and maybe offer to get her a tutor to help catch up on what she's missed?
I can't imagine them wanting her to keep that option if she isn't trying, but is trying with all other subjects.

Vixen2019 · 27/11/2019 18:17

3 weeks in she spoke to a few different teachers expressing her wish to change i spoke to the deputy as head of yr never returned my call after a week by this time they told me we d missed the deadline by 3 days which is there fault, he said he d see what he could do. Surprisingly never got back to me my daughter has since tried to get on with and make the best of it but as the weeks have gone on she us struggling even more with music and cant keep up she is upset, anxious and worried to the point shes sat crying in the lesson before music as she cant handle going into it. They are saying that the deadline has gone and there is no room to change. And no facilities to accommodate dropping it.

Teachermaths · 27/11/2019 19:03

It's a shame but you should have been more proactive 3 weeks in. If she swaps options she's missed almost a term of work, and who will supervise her when she's dropped an option? Schools don't have this capacity.

I think it's a case of she has to suck it up now.

Hovverry · 27/11/2019 19:21

So she’s 13, possibly won’t be14 until next summer. I had no idea kids had to choose gcse subjects so early. Too young to make important decisions.

Vixen2019 · 27/11/2019 19:30

Hovvery - It is too young/early to make that decision at year 8, aged 12 and 13 yrs then start gcse in yr 9.

New posts on this thread. Refresh page