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Original poster

to think my son might be best to sit fewer GCSE s than classmates

29 replies

stapledmythumb · 09/02/2011 12:48

Background - DS is dyslexic and is on the school special needs programme. Notwithstanding his dyslexia I would describe him as reasonably, though not outstandingly, bright. Also he is fairly hard working. In general kids at his school sit 10 GCSE s. The SENCO has explained to me that he may do nine subjects and he will be timetabled for "curriculum support" in place of the tenth subject. If he decides to go ahead and sit 10 then he will lose out on the special help.

So he will do maths, 3 sciences, English, history and geography (his favourite subjects) and I think RE is compulsory. Otherwise he is thinking of ICT and (fine) Art.

DS wants to do 10 as I think he feels that only doing 9 will somehow reflect badly on him - also wants to be the same as his mates. My feeling at the moment is that surely it would be better to concentrate on doing fewer things well.

What to you wise ones think? I'd particularly welcome comments from teachers or anyone involved in university selection. When I was a nipper once you had A levels no-one was very much interested in the number of your GCSE s - but that was a long time ago...

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Ohjustshootmenow · 09/02/2011 12:50

How bad is his Dyslexia? Could he do 10 and get away with 'just' having extra exam time? Art takes up a LOT of time so could he be persuaded into doing a different subject instead and still obtain 10 GCSE's or is his heart set on Art?

Ohjustshootmenow · 09/02/2011 12:51

Also some of my peers only sat 8 GCSE's due to health issues and went onto top flight universities.

FabbyChic · 09/02/2011 12:52

Universities are still only interested in A Levels, albeit the GCSE results have to be put on the application form.

Changeisagoodthing · 09/02/2011 12:56

Hmm

My daughter is dyslexic. Advised to do less as she might not pass. Apparently French was borderline etc

She already has 5 in the bag and is predicted to do well in the other 5 with a b in French.

In the end it was her choice and the school supported it but in think doing 10 was right. They wanted her to do a vocational one instead.

If he needs the help should provident regardless of the options He takes. Can't they provide the support at other times? Also could he do one early and free up time- that's what my daughter did- maths and eng were done last year.

What will the additional support be? By now he will have strategies in place himself.

Changeisagoodthing · 09/02/2011 12:59

Plus I think its really important to do what you enjoy. My daughter loved French

Art is quite hard unless you have talent. Are you sure he would pass? Dds friends are finding art one of the hardest.

fedupofnamechanging · 09/02/2011 13:02

I think it is better to do fewer GCSE's and be able to devote the necessary time to studying for each one, than to overstretch yourself and not be able to do justice to each one.

I think that once your DS is at University selection stage, it will be A level results which really count and the difference between having 9 or 10 GCSE's won't be so significant.

My DS is in year 9 and about to choose his options and I would much rather that he got better grades in fewer subjects than lower grades in more subjects.

Acanthus · 09/02/2011 13:07

Lots of independent schools do nine rather than ten, so it must be acceptable to the universities I think.

butterpieify · 09/02/2011 13:07

I only did 8, due to basically getting in a right state at the time (still not sure if it was mental health or my dyslexia/dyspraxis, or just that I was messing about) and I had "extra support" in the spare time, which consisted of either sitting in a side room with no distractions, doing coursework or helping the special needs kids learn to read. That "extra support" time contains some of my happiest memories of school, and nobody has EVER questioned me having less GCSEs than others.

Lizcat · 09/02/2011 13:19

I was a dyslexic who only took 8 GCSEs (only got 1 A), then did 3 A-levels went to top university and got two degrees whilst there.
My main degree was highly competitive course with 10 applicants for every place all the were concerned about was if I had got at least a C in maths, english, a science and a language (showing broad base) after that they were only interested in predicted and eventual A level grades.

Original poster
stapledmythumb · 09/02/2011 13:40

Thanks for all comments so far.

Regarding Art - he is fairly but not very good at it. Imagine he would pass but not with flying colours.

Re the last post - does anyone know if concessions are made for dyslexics not having studied languages? In general I am of the opinion that a language does show a broad base - but it is too cruel to make DS study one - he cannot get his head round it and performs poorly.

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Original poster
stapledmythumb · 09/02/2011 18:17

Really Art and ICT are not things he particularly wants to do - he just wants to make up the numbers and has not yet hit on any non compulsory subjects other than history or geography that really engage him.

He thinks ICT is something you have to have - but I have heard rumours that it is not very well regrded as a school subject. Is this true? (There was no such thing when I was at school so I can't comment from experience)

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PinkIsMyFavouriteCrayon · 09/02/2011 19:27

Although not an expert at what universities look for, I've got 11 GCSEs and when applying for jobs I can't really be bothered to sit and list them all, so only declare about 6 of them as I assume any future employers are more interested in my A levels/Uni qualification! I've never not been shortlisted for interview yet!

trixie123 · 09/02/2011 19:44

I wouldn't worry about a language - given that it hasn't been compulsory for a while (though I think they are reversing that) there will be lots of kids who don't have it and if it really not his strength there seems little point. I would disagree with fabbychic that unis are only interested in A levels. They are increasingly looking at GCSEs as a way to differentiate between candidates with straight As or A* predicted at A level. On the whole I think 9 very good grades would better than ten ok ones but as others have said it depends on how severe the dyslexia is and how much difference you think the extra help will make.

kensworth · 09/02/2011 20:08

Unless you are very dedicated art is a hard GCSE And A Level. Knave one daughter with a fine art degree a son middle of an art degree daughter just starting fine art degree and final son starting a level art.!!!!!!!! Yes it's popular in our house. Means lots of extra hours work at home ect think carefully people think it's easy but it's not and there is a load of work . But if ds loves art go for it very rewarding

kensworth · 09/02/2011 20:08

Have one daughter even!!!!!!

ddubsgirl · 09/02/2011 20:14

we have the same thing with my son,they want him to do fewer and do them well than do loads and do badly

vj32 · 09/02/2011 20:30

Many schools only do 9 GCSEs - so it will not look odd if he does nine.

ICT and RE - these may be compulsory but if he just does the compulsory element you don't normally do a qualification - or you will do a short course in RE worth half a GCSE and one of the many mysterious ICT qualifications. Unless he enjoys ICT I would not waste an option on it - my whole family works in ICT and the qualifications they do at school are not worth anything to employers. The ICT HOD at school also says that the ICT course they offer has nothing to do with any job in ICT as well so personally I don't think its worth it!

If your son does not have a language he will not have the English Bacc when he leaves. But if he has triple science, history and geography then he has good traditional academic subjects so I would not expect it to hinder him in the future - after all not all schools have been able to alter their timetables to allow all pupils to take a language at KS4 this year anyway - so colleges and unis are going to have to make allowances for that.

Do not let the school insist he take a language or any other subject if you think he will struggle - there is loads of second guessing going on at the moment about what schools are going to be judged on next. I think the ones to suffer are going to be the kids.

breatheslowly · 09/02/2011 20:41

Art is so much work at GCSE - either do 9 including art to give him time to get the art work done or drop the art. ICT seems often to be badly taught/run and I think that sometimes poor grades reflect this so check out the ICT department and grades over the past few years.

Arneb · 09/02/2011 20:56

I did 9 G.C.S.E - was what everyone at my school did. Though I took one early - maths- despite being dyslexic.

What help are they actually going to provide? i.e is it going to useful and worth while for him?

Does he have to decide now - could he start 10 G.C.S.E and see if they can provide the support round his timetable? Or could he start 10 see how he goes and then drop one later?

With regards to language - I had the option of German and found it much much easier then French. A language was compulsory else I probably would have dropped it but I did get a good grade and did end up enjoying it.

Original poster
stapledmythumb · 09/02/2011 21:29

My understanding is that the support consists of small tutorial groups with coaching in core subjects - in his case particular emphasis on English.
He has to decide fairly soon. Apparently they cannot timetable the support if he does 10. I think he could however start 10 and drop one.
He did find German marginally easier than French but battled with both.
He tried Latin which is supposed to be good for dyslexics - but although he likes the fact that that there is not much oral work and he loves the classical history - he feels he would struggle to take it any further.

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homeboys · 09/02/2011 21:43

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn

dementedma · 09/02/2011 21:48

If the school will let him drop a subject, then do nine. it's only GCSE's not A-levels.
I'm struggling to get DDs school to allow her to drop a higher subject, even though she clearly can't cope with the workload and is being set up to fail, when with a little more study time she could pass fewer subjects

Arneb · 09/02/2011 21:51

Lack of languages is not currently a barrier to getting into universities and the G.C.S.E listed do look like a very good mix.

If the support on offer looks like a good idea - having one less G.C.S.E really is not going to matter - a lot of schools like my old one only have their students take 9 any way.

So he can either manage with out the support and take 10 and drop one if necessary later on but can not access additional support at that point.

Or have the support and choose between ICT and Art. Perhaps a word with the ICT department and the current Art teacher would help the choice there?

If it was me I think less stress with one less subject especially if the subject has a lot of course work, more support that would help bring grades up in other areas would be better idea. I did get very good G.C.S.E grades but I did probably put a lot more work in than my contemporaries and dropped hobbies and a lot of social activities and focused on work - perhaps with one less subject that might have been different experience - who knows.

Has he spoken to SENCO himself? Does he understand the support on offer and think it worth while? Is he worried about how his year group will view his choice?

Arneb · 09/02/2011 21:57

stapledmythumb
DS wants to do 10 as I think he feels that only doing 9 will somehow reflect badly on him - also wants to be the same as his mates.

Re-read the OP - hmm no-one like to feel different but the implications of too much work can be hard to understand - slowly stopping doing other activities not having the time to get the work done as you would like and that it can make you different in the amount of free time you have compared to others.

I can only suggest that reassuring him and getting someone at the school to do the same - that it is not a bad reflection on him if you decide that 9 is a better idea.

Good luck.

Original poster
stapledmythumb · 19/03/2011 19:38

Thanks to all that helped with this. Am bumping this as he has to choose fairly soon.
Two new compilcations - have been approached by the drama department who think he should do their subject as GCSE. He likes the subject but does not seem totally convinced - no reallly good reason given - perhaps secretly thinks it would be girly? Anyone else have a not very outgoing son who has done this?
Also have found out that he has to do Citizenship and RE - but they are speaking in terms of half GCSE s (whatever that means) I would think that together they add up to one choice - is that right?

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