GCSE reduced subjects advice needed

[Arizona29]

I started a different thread about this yesterday but am starting a new one here because I've got a new question and I know many readers never read OP updates on a thread!
DS year 9 had been put onto a GCSE pathway for additional support.
He has no SEN diagnosed.
He has never had any intervention classes at school.
School have never made me aware at any point since year 7 that they feel DS needs additional support.
I have not received any communication whatsoever about him being put on to an additional support GCSE pathway. It has been like a bolt out of the blue and I only found out on Monday.
Parents evening last week made no mention of it.
So I spoke to a member of staff about it today.
It is not a mistake, as suggested by posters on my other thread.
The member of staff has told me the following:
That DS has been put on a pathway for year 10 & 11 where he will study
Maths
English
Science
1 humanity OR 1 language (his choice but only 1 of these)
2 practical based subjects of his choice such as DT, art, music, cookery, dance, photography, etc.
3 extra Maths intervention sessions a fortnight
3 extra English intervention sessions a fortnight
He cannot choose 2 humanities.
He cannot choose 1 humanity & 1 language.
He cannot choose 2 humanities & 1 language.
it is 1 humanity only.
He is only 1 of 16 students who has been put on this pathway out of the whole of year 9.
The 'standard' Ebacc pathway is
English, maths, science, 1 humanity, 1 language, then 2 further options which can include a second humanity, even a third one, but DS had not been given this pathway as an option.
I was confused when I posted on my other thread yesterday, and I remain confused.
I still don't understand how DS has been put on this additional support pathway with no communication whatsoever about any learning delay or concerns whatsoever from school in the 2.5 years he's been there.
I asked this question directly today, and it wasn't answered. It was glossed over.
DS is really upset.
A. He doesn't want to do only 1 humanity and no language. He feels he's had all his choices removed from him.
B. He says nobody at school has talked to him about this.
C. He feels excluded from the standard pathway that all his friends are doing.
D. He is asking me do his school think he's stupid and incapable
E. He fears stigma about this amongst his peers, and feels he is going to get comments and 'jokes' about not being able to do what everyone else is doing.
He has never had a conversation with, or any input from, the SenCo.
I have never had a conversation with the SenCo about DS.
The SenCo has never contacted me about DS to discuss him.
Again, he has no SEN.
So.
My questions to people here who have knowledge and experience:

1. What the hell is going on here?
2. Can they enforce this? Does DS have any choice or any say in the matter??
3. What right do school have to remove his choice to do 2 humanities, or 1 humanity + 1 language? Without any prior conversation with him or with me?
4. AIBU to feel they are 'dumbing down' his options?
5. Why does DS have to choose 2 options from a list of practical subjects? This isn't the pathway he wants to follow - cookery, or DT, or dance, or drama, etc. But he's now got to pick 2 of these subjects.

The list of the 2 extra choices on the standard Ebacc pathway contains additional academic choices.
Whereas the list of 2 extra choices on the additional support pathway DS has been placed on contains no academic choice whatsoever.
If he only does Maths, English, Science + 1 humanity, plus 2 practical non academic subjects, is this going to exclude him from doing A levels and a degree??
DS most definitely wants a career that will require A levels and degree. Will this additional needs pathway block him from going on to do A levels & degree because he won't have enough GCSE subjects?
DS is an intelligent boy. I can't believe the school are restricting his GCSE choices like this and putting him on this pathway, having never once put him into any additional intervention measures since starting in year 7.
His year 9 assessment scores were all below the year group average. Not way below. But they were below. His results do not reflect his intelligence or capability. He said he knew all the answers but didn't get to complete the assessments as ran out of time. So the unanswered questions that he hadn't got to pulled his total score down, even though all the questions he did answer were correct.
Basically I feel like I've got an intelligent boy who hasn't performed well in the year 9 assessments and as a result has been placed on an intervention GCSE pathway that enforces a reduced number of GCSEs and being forced to take 2 practical subjects instead, yet with no consent from or discussion with DS or myself about this.
I have tried really hard to speak to the SenCo since Monday when I found this out, but I am not receiving any replies to the emails I have sent her requesting for her to contact me to discuss this. I've been told this has all been based on her recommendation, yet she's never even had a conversation with me or with DS.
I am really worried aboug the impact this will have on DS's options, choices, future success and I'm worried about this affecting his self esteem.
Only 16 kids out of an entire huge year 9 cohort have been assessed as unable to do the Ebacc route and my intelligent DS is one of them? He's in the bottom 10% of kids who isn't allowed to do the standard Ebacc pathway that the other 90% of kids are following and yet he has no SEN and has never been given additional interventions at school and who is really bright?
From what I know of his blunt and highly insensitive and never-endingly mocking peers, he is not wrong when he says he is going to get put downs and negative comments from peers about this.
He has such hopes for his future career and these restricted and limited GCSEs are going to block that, because his career hopes require A levels & degree.
Help😞

Forget trying to get hold of the senco now. Have you spoken to anyone else?

I'd go straight to the head tbh. This sounds so off and needs sorting.

Is he is bottom sets for English and maths?

I would go direct and ask for an in person meeting with the head. If your DS does have some previously undiscussed additional needs that require a different approach this should have been discussed with you and him to agree the best approach. It should never have come out of the blue, that is appalling.

In the meeting you need to ensure they give a detailed account (backed up with evidence) of why this is in your son’s best interest (not the school’s).

I f you have difficulty getting a meeting with the head make sure the school knows you will have a very low threshold for making a formal complaint. If you do make a formal complaint then send it to the head first, then if you don’t get a suitable response you can escalate to the governors.

I would also be inclined to begin look at other schools in the area that might be a suitable alternative. (Edited for spelling)

How have you been unaware of how he's performing? This won't be a blip, it'll be a decision based on long term capability and performance.

To have supposedly got the answers right but not been able to finish the tests he must have missed an awful lot of questions to then score below average in all subjects as a result, no?

You aren't being unreasonable to feel upset. But yes the school can do what they're doing, and its often the right thing to do in cases where a child is going to struggle to pass in core subjects.

Because school have not once made me aware! As I have explained.

Can you say no, he’ll take his chance doing his exams with his peers? That’s awful this was dumped on you and DS without any prior intervention.

English is not streamed. At parents evening last week his English teacher said he's doing well just needs to gain confidence to answer a bit more in class. Teacher did not express any concerns to me about his ability.
Maths is streamed. He has just been moved to bottom set last month, after previously having been in middle set through years 7 and 8, and first 2 terms of year 9.

I would also request a meeting with the head.

Does he have any idea what he hopes to do next? Will extra intervention in maths or English help him to achieve his grade 4, which he may need to get onto his next course?
Have the school targeted those kids who will be sitting at a grade 3/4 in maths & English and they are hoping that reducing his options and focussing on these subjects they will achieve 4+ therefore improving the schools grade statistics? (Not saying I agree with this approach!)

He doesn't sound like the brightest button but it's unfair to have have had no warning or communication up until this point. At the parents evening did you ever ask how he was doing compared to his peers or ask how he could improve his grades (it sounds like he was slipping down sets). Will the school arrange a face to face meeting to discuss this ?

His year 9 assessment scores were all below the year group average. Not way below. But they were below. His results do not reflect his intelligence or capability. He said he knew all the answers but didn't get to complete the assessments as ran out of time

This jumped out at me.
Why didn’t he complete the papers in time? And was this across all subjects?
How far below average is he?
He may not have a SEN diagnosis but does he need an assessment?

It’s not necessarily a bad thing to focus on a more narrow range of subjects and do them very well.

I assume they'll have done assessments throughout year 9, even if it's just the fact he's really bad in exams that's probably reason enough to restrict the timetable so he's not put under unnecessary stress.

This is how I've been left feeling, like it's awful how this has been done.
I mean I'm at home trying to explain to DS that he's been put on this pathway of limited academic GCSE choices and forced to choose 2 subjects in drama/dance/cookery/DT etc., none of which he's interested in.
Even DS is completely confused.
He had attended talks at school discussing the standard pathway. He assumed that's what he'd be following.
We honestly knew nothing of this.
We got an email on Monday to say here's your form to complete for your GCSE options, DS was chatting about which 2 humanities he was going to choose and saying how much he's enjoying MFL, and then we opened it up to complete the options only to see he'd been sent this alternative reduced options additional support pathway.
I'm honestly dumbfounded.
So is DS.

If he wants to do A levels, he will get better GCSE results if he does the streamlined option they’re offering. But agree lack of communication was bad.

First of all I’d grab the extra sessions offered and be very grateful for them - that they’re willing to give extra time & effort to make sure your dc does the best they can that’s great!! Re choices - what does your dc actually want to do? Figure that out & go from there. You can fight that battle separately IF it’s necessary!

Can you say no
I don't know - can I? I don't know what his/my rights are here?

He doesn't sound like the brightest button
God that's so rude of you.
DS is incredibly bright and intelligent.

Ok.

so more generally:

you should have had reports from his school all through his time at school. At primary these will have said whether he was meeting age related expectations or not.

i’ve been out of teaching for a few years now - did his year group do sats or were they cancelled due to covid? Again, sats should have given you some ideas of his ability.

re the gcse options, most schools now do this process of recommending pathway. Usually this is open to discussion with parents and the student but it also prevents situations where students want to choose GCSEs that bluntly they clearly do not have a hope in hell of ever even grading on. I’ve been in on conversations with parents where they wanted their child to do the additional maths gcse and their child was actually on track to fail the main maths GCSE unless they did a shedload of work.

so some GCSEs a school will generally be very firm about - triple science, additional maths, that sort of thing.

the pathway they are offering to me says that they think this child is on track to fail his basic GCSEs (English, maths) unless they put in a shedload of intervention.

it’s not the case that all students who need intervention have a diagnosable SEN - certainly at this age and at secondary school a fair number of them simply do not work, either in class or at home and so the school has to make them.

in some cases this is by compulsory lunchtime classes or compulsory after school classes, some schools take kids out of PE for extra maths and English, tutor time is also used.

to me this says not that your child has learning need but that he doesn’t work in lessons and so they are going to put him in a small group to make him work.

it’s not a Senco issue. It’s a behaviour issue.

No, they haven't done assessments throughout year 9.
They have done one round of assessments in year 9, all conducted after Christmas. One assessment per subject.

This is really bad, how stressful.

Straight to head of year. Then head if needed. Doing this with no comms is ridiculous. One good thing is it is February and he is not starting any pathway until September? If you can pin down which subjects they are concerned about and help him improve.

I’m sure you can fight this.

Why didn’t he finish the exam papers? Was it poor exam technique or something else. Does he usually need extra time to complete class work in school. That seems to be the important question to answer first.

Maths, English, Science a humanity/language + 2 practical subjects won’t stop him going on to do A levels or a degree if he has good results in them. Getting lower results in GCSEs will.

@Arizona29
Is he articulate, and when you talk to him about the subjects can he answer?

If he was running out of time that sounds like a processing speed issue. (Processing speed and working memory are the two facets affected by dyslexia). Do you have the resources / funds available to get him a private dyslexia assessment ASAP? I mentioned in the other thread that my dc’s had always been underestimated (even through secondary school), and they have dyslexia - which isn’t always massively obvious, the student may be reading and writing okay, but much slower than their peers. They may struggle to produce much written work, and can be conversely very articulate about it when you speak to them.

If you can, try to approach the matter with an open mind. Ask the school why they feel that is the right pathway for your son and try to listen to their reasons. I don't know your son but perhaps his prior attainment is indicative of needing a more vocational route. If you still feel it is wrong, absolutely fair to make that clear but ideally you'll have some good concrete evidence to back you up such as SATs/ CATs scores, prior attainment in previous years etc.
It is also not unreasonable to explain the impact this decision has had on your son and to suggest they reflect on their communications and take a more sensitive approach in the future.

If he is in the bottom maths set and he will get extra tuition time for English and maths, he should achieve his potential in these core subjects. He is studying science and a humanity/MFL. No doors are closing. Pupils have different pathways to success. It may be he needs to secure the most essential subjects first and do an extra year-in the school or at a further education college-before progressing to ‘A’ levels- to study other GCSEs. As he’s in a low set for Maths, has been given advice to improve in English and didn’t score highly in his year 9 exams, this seems a sound approach to get him the best results possible. Students achieve at different rates. I have seen this over decades of teaching years 10 to 13.

It's not a behaviour issue.
All his teachers report that his behaviour and attitude to learning is 'good'. They can say 'good' or 'variable' or 'poor' on their reports for attitude to learning and behaviour. Every subject teacher put 'good' on his report which I received last week.
Each teacher at parents evening last week told me they had no concerns about his behaviour. They praised him for his good behaviour.
Every single report through primary school years 1 to 6 stated 'on target' for his learning in reading, spelling, maths. It always said 'highly evolved' for his behaviour and attitude to learning.

1. I know you said it’s not a mistake, but it also sounds like you haven’t been able to speak to someone in person. Are you sure there’s not another child with a similar/the same name? It seems weird this is SenCo advised when your son has never had SenCo involvement?
2. You absolutely need a meeting with head, year head, form tutor and SenCo.
3. Was there any discussion when he was moved down maths sets?

I think you can argue for him to do the regular pathway. Make clear that doing the subjects he is not interested in will demotivate him, make clear his high aspirations, ask to see the year 9 assessments. If he has 100% of the marks he answered, you and the school need to look at speeding him up. However, I am wondering about being in the bottom maths set? Usually this is a pretty strong indicator that a child needs greater support. Is there something specific about maths?