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😞

With your DS that was not late to read, did he learn to read fine, and does he continue to read fine? If so, please can you tell me what symptoms he had/has? What made you suspect Dyslexia if he learnt to read fine? Asking to gain better understanding about it. Thanks!

@Needlenardlenoo I agree about A levels. We did see them as academic back in the day. We don’t seem to be able to make alternative qualifications stick as well as we should and use them as a passport to a degree! We are besotted with degrees. Many are not really needed and we should have HE routes that aren’t degrees.

No advice to add to the excellent advice already given, but just wanted to say you sound like a fab mum, OP. Your DS is lucky to have you.

This was my dd, diagnosed late, she could read the words and initally was fine, as things got more complex yr 9 and above it took her longer to understand whst was written and she would need to read many times. So if she had question "explain where eggs have a role in the lifcycle of a flea", she would really need to read that several times to undersstand what it said. She may also see it as explain the life cyle if a flea and miss the egg bit. Her dyslexia is predominalty visual processing, but she also had dreadfull spelling. She now uses a text reader for accademic papaers at uni, its a game changer thanks to DSA. Wont use in exams though! We suspected as she started tinsay she could finish paper, and the word just didnt make sence under pressure

That's really interesting to read about. Thank you for sharing. I hope your DD is getting on well.
Why won't she be able to use a text reader in her exams?

That's a lovely thing to say, thank you!

@Arizona29 I hope.it helped, she cpuld.use a reader but refuses tonin exams, takes.alot.of highlighters and has 25% extra time. As its shorter questions she finds that best. We have discussed this alot! She is doing well with a foundation year which is what she needed at a top 10 uni. Half her course have SPLD and just needed a little longer to adjust. Its been very good for her.

One of my DC has a very spiky profile, OP. They were hyperlexic (self taught to read at 2) but later diagnosed as dyslexic as a teenager. That may seem contradictory but I believe some studies suggest people who are hyperlexic or dyslexic may use a different part of their brain to read.

This is really frustrating and I completely understand why you're upset about the lack of communication. On the maths side specifically, being moved to bottom set doesn't mean he can't improve significantly, it just means he needs a different approach. Our DS is 15 and went through a rough patch with maths where his confidence hit the floor and everything felt impossible. The thing that turned it around was finding something with a gamification element, making practice feel like a game rather than more of the school experience that was already making him miserable. Points, progress tracking, beating his own score, that sort of thing. It completely changed his willingness to engage with maths outside of school. Whatever pathway the school puts him on, building that confidence back up is the most important thing right now because a kid who believes they can improve will put the work in. The subject reduction conversation is a separate battle but don't let it distract from just getting his maths confidence back.

Absolutely agree with this. You sound wonderful.