To do my daughters GCSE course work?

[LolaLouise]

My daughter is adhd diagnosed, probable autism which she is still on a waiting list for years after the referral was submitted, she gets frustrated and gives up quickly, she tries, she really does, but sometimes gets overwhelmed and cant continue a task.

Her art GCSE course work is due in this week, she was very behind. I have spent all last weekend and this weekend helping her get it done. Up until now its been sitting and encouraging her, ive done some of the research whilst shes been doing the sketches needed, and then shes re-written it out, suggestions of sketches she could do, and cutting it all out so she can place everything into her book, helping her with layouts and ordering, but mostly just keeping her on track and focussed in 2 hour windows. There was one piece of art required for it to be done, she tried, for hours, yesterday to do it, but she got so frustrated and couldnt do it, its a portrait of a person. She ended up getting quite upset with the drawing and the looming deadline. This isnt the first time she has attempted it, shes been trying to draw it for weeks, but i put it to one side as she was hyperfixated on it, and in order to get everything else done, i took it off the table and said we would do that last. The sketch is needed as her final piece was based around this portrait, though her final piece was just shapes no details. The teacher has told her she absolutly must include this portrait in her project. Her final exam has already been sat so she cant just change the direction of the project now.

So ive drawn it, its not great, i can draw a bit but not even close to being skilled, but its better than what she was able to produce. She doesnt know ive drawn it last night. Ive started the shading to block out the main shadows, but it needs finishing, which she can do in the same way she has shaded all her other work, it looks vaguely like the person its supposed to be if you squint a little bit. We are going to try again today, ive even suggested to her tracing the facial structure today if we can figure a way to do it as we have no thin paper left to trace with, just really thick watercolour paper and card left. But it needs finishing today to hand in tomorrow. Then we can focus on her other much needed revision.

Her college plans do not include something even close to art related, its one drawing in amongst probably 100 others over the 2 years of project work, in the grand scheme of things i dont think it will make a difference to her grade, but her teacher has said it has to be included, so she is building it up to be the most important thing ever. I just want to help her, and ease some of her stress. Would you give her the drawing and help her finish it? Or is it too much help? Ive convinced myself if she does the shading then its no different to having traced the initial drawing, which is perfectly acceptable in her work, we just dont have the access to do that easily today. Do we try the tracing first and it that goes wrong then i just give her this one to shade over? theres a chance she has tried tracing in school on the lightboxes and they have been discarded already, as i know she traced other images.

How much help is too much, considering her SEN, but also that this is GCSE work?

GCSEs are NOTHING like the exams I sat.

we had to study. Nowadays the kids are told exactly how to answer the questions as the markers/board want them to and if they deviate, they get the answer wrong.

@LolaLouise your dd isn’t doing anything with this art qualification, but if she passes it’s just a tick in the box to the next step.

my ds is 20-‘ and we’re on the other side of GCSEs and A levels, as long as your dd is ok with finishing this off, then go for it.

GCSEs are only important in that they pave the way to higher education.

we help our kids.

OP you are just trying to support your daughter with one thing in one subject. If it means your dd can get this project done and then focus on the rest of her GCSE’s then let her use your drawing. You are not teaching her to cheat and you are not teaching her to give up - you are supporting her through a very stressful time with one small thing.
Schools across the country are meant to follow exam board guidelines on the administration and teaching of coursework. Some schools are really strict on this others are more flexible. I know from experience that some teachers go above and beyond to help their students secure a good grade.

If i hadnt sat down with her to get it finished, it would still be unfinished now. She is ND, diagnosed, she needs additional support. And as her parent i will give her 100% of that support until she no longer needs it. Its not micromanaging an adult, its parenting a child with additional needs.

I also think with the current attitudes towards anyone with any kind of SEN/disability and work/benefits that you should do as much as you can to help your dd long term. Help her get the gcses because she needs to be in the best position with as many qualifications as possible for a potential future without the benefits safety net.

This might not be helpful at all for GCSE level art, but if my non-artistic children ever needed to draw a copy of a picture or a photograph I used to get them to turn the original image upside down and just copy the lines/shading in the upside down image. When they turned their work the right way up they were often amazed that they’d managed to capture the shape of the dinosaur/tree/building so well. I think it’s something to do with the way your brain interprets known images versus abstract images. Anyway, if your daughter has a mental block about not being able to capture the image the way she wants, then maybe getting the outline in by using the upside down technique might help her.

Do you have ADHD yourself? I do, and this isn’t how to support someone with ADHD. Unless you want to completely overwhelm them.

Don’t feel you need to justify yourself OP. I totally understand what you are doing and why. You have good intentions and it’s admirable .

Because you know every teenager with ADHD and exactly how each and every one of them responds to help and the type of help they need? Because ADHD displays itself the exact same way in everyone and they should all be treated identically?

Yes of course.

But with all your “help” your daughter is still in the same place… it’s still undone right?

So maybe time to change methods. Has she genuinely failed to hand in a gcse coursework to date (even at the very last minute)? Why are you so convinced she wouldn’t get it done? She’s still 5 days out from the deadline- to most ADHD minds that plenty of time!

Life is so incredibly hard as a parent of a child with ADHD and autism. Don’t be too hard on yourself. Remember, people with no experience of your life will not understand and will make judgments.
Id try my very best to use the sketch you’ve done as a launching pad to your daughter producing something of her own. Having the sketch there as a safety net in case she can’t do it may well be what she needs to be able to produce something herself with less pressure.
If you need to use the sketch though, just quietly use it and be kind to yourself about it.
your daughter has so many barriers to overcome to even get to the same starting point as the others. Giving her one bit of help here will just remove one of those barriers, not put her ahead.
as a fellow mum of a daughter with ADHD and autism, I see you. You are doing your best in a hard situation. You are a good Mum x

lovewinr123 Why don’t you get a picture of the person you are trying to draw. Do a grid of squares over it then do a similar grid on blank paper and draw what is in each square onto the paper. Hope that explains what I mean. A lot,of artists so that watch this video

This.
You are just trying to help your child get through this extremely stressful time. In my view it’s not cheating, it’s not teaching your dd to give up on stuff and there’s def no need to report the teacher/school to JCQ.
It’s one drawing out of the very very many your dd did on her own for one subject out of the 10 she is doing.

No, her project is completed bar one drawing. And the deadline is tuesday as thats their last lesson, so the teacher wants all their completed work taking in tomorrow, for submission on friday.

No, don’t do this. If she gets a decent grade, it will undermine the grade in her eyes which is a bit sad as she has done most of the work. She should have one more go and submit her drawing, whatever it is like.

What you’re doing isn’t giving her support.

I’m with @ocelot3on this.
But do try the graphite transfer - a way of tracing without tracing paper. My DD did art GCSE. I didn’t do any of hers for her but my goodness I remember the stress. She’s autistic. If she had let me help her I would have. This final piece is just a small part of her submission but she’s catastrophising. Good luck! I still feel relieved we’re through with art GCSE!

She needs to just include the attempted portrait she has been working on. If there are several versions, then even better. It doesn’t matter if they’re not perfect. The coursework marks aren’t based on how good individual pieces are, they’re based on the process and evidence that is shown in order to get to her final outcome. There will be a separate mark for her actual final outcome. The whole point in the planning and preparation is to experiment and have things go wrong and right so that it can be built on and refined. What would be even better is for to annotate the piece in question and say what she’s finding hard about it and what could be done to improve. Is it based on an actual artwork by another artist? If so, do a print out and include that too. There is no wrong/ right/ bad/good in art - it’s all individual and unique. As long as the process is shown and a final outcome for each project. I’m an ex art teacher by the way - taught gcse art for years.

That isn’t the official deadline. That’s the teachers one. You’re better off stepping back and getting her to tell the teacher here’s everything bat final drawing which I’m going to start oin my lesson today because it went wrong. Get out sketches from bin and take with to school so she can show teachers. And you step out.

@LolaLouise you sound like a lovely mum who was just trying to help her child to get something done. It’s not life changing from what you’ve said and will have no real impact on her future academic plans other than getting this subject done and dusted.

Do whatever you need to do to make both of your lives easier and just get this done! That can then give your daughter the headspace to focus on the more important subjects.

Please don’t put more pressure on yourself if you have health issues, along with your daughter already stressing over it.

Just get this finished with her this morning and literally draw a line under it so she can focus on other exams.

Forget the negative posts on this thread and just keep being the lovely mum helping her child in best way possible right now for both of you.

Don’t overthink, and Good luck!

So let her use your drawing or she may be able to do it herself today. Get it done and out of way. GCSE exams start this week don’t waste anymore time on this drawing. You are a good mum trying to what you can to support your child. I would do the same esp as it seems like something pretty inconsequential
Have you tried tracing the drawing off an iPad on full brightness?

Exactly so she’s independently done most of it already as you’ve said in previous posts, abd done it quite well. I’m not sure why you’re getting so invested in this one? She’s shown time and time again her ability to get things done in her own way.

@LolaLouise Learning that you aren’t great at something is still learning. My DDs had no help from me with any school exams or course work. It’s a case of learning to do what you can. No one is perfect. You should advise but not do anything. Where does it stop?

I agree - good admirable intentions @LolaLouise
if she was going on to do an art based subject I’d say it was not so good, but as she isn’t and it’s one piece amongst a few and unlikely to affect her grade other than stop her from failing completely - I’d say it’s fine. I’d get her to put her stamp on it through colour today and then move on.

its very difficult managing a child who isn’t totally typical - and not worth causing either of you a lot of stress over one piece.

i think the help you’ve given her leading up to today, in both in structuring and presenting her other her course work may rub off and she may have learned a bit how to plan and prep for the future. My DD always says that the micromanaging she received at her private secondary school really helped her at her sixth form college and uni to plan, revise and prep.

Good luck to your DD in her exams - it’s a stressful time xx

This is the exam, not coursework

Pick the ones out of the bin and iron them (cool iron on the back with carbon paper on the front so it doesn't mark the ironing board).

I have never taught art but I do know that for some pieces of coursework there are tick boxes and a mark can only be given if that item is in the course work.

It doesn't matter at this stage whether it is good, bad, indifferent or bloody awful.

Think of it like a marathon, the time you finish is the time you finish even if you crawled over the finishing line.