To be proud and not really care about 2 subjects??

[theladyevenstar]

got DS1's interim report from school and he has done really well in all subjects except French and P.E. my friend thinks i should be making him work harder in these 2 subjects whereas i think he should be focusing on his strengths.

so aibu?

I think that you should do both. Praise him a LOT for his achievements, let him know how well he has done and how proud you are.

But be aware yourself that you need to give him extra support on his french and find ways to help him develop in this area. Books maybe? Learning together?

Personally, I wouldn't give a flying fuck about the PE.

You can't just focus on strengths, you have to address weaknesses too. But you do that bit sort of behind the scenes, iyswim.

Is this him working towards GCSEs? It can be good to have a MFL GCSE for university applications, if he's possibly going to be considering that.

I'd encourage him to do enough extra to make a pass reasonably likely. Unless he's just not going to manage a pass whatever he does, in which case save the energy!

And PE - yes well, I'm sure it's good for you, but hardly a big deal if he doesn't do too great at it. Again, maybe encourage him to do enough more to get the teacher off his back.

But mostly, praise all the good work - it's easy to end up sounding like you only notice the occasional bad mark, so focus on the fact that he's done well and you're proud of him.

AMS, these are his yr7 results. he is only 11yrs old.
the results are

Interim Report for yr7
level 1c - 3c below average
level 3b - 4a - average
level 5c+ -above average

here are DS1's results
English - 5a
Maths 5c
Science 5a
Music 5c
Art 4a
ICT -4b
P.E - 3a
French 2b

I am so proud of him.

Depends why he's not doing well in those subjects.

Will it cause too much grief to make an issue of it and have him devote a lot of energy towards improving, for not much return?

My DH failed his French GCSE but played to his natural mathematical strengths, got a good degree, and has had a high-flying career.

(He also had a period working abroad having to learn a new European language on the ground and he got by okay!)

You want him to enjoy PE so that he'll be inclined to carry on exercising as an adult.

If there's pressure and a sense of trying to improve but failing to, that might be counter productive in the long run.

Polly, he has only been at the school 3 months, he started mid term. He has never been a sporty child always more academic. He tries his best but sports just isnt him iyswim?
As for French, who knows maybe he will get a better grasp of it as time goes by

we've been told that french is normally one to two levels below other subjects as they've only just started learning it

so I really woudln't worry too much about French

presumbaley the french level is to be expected, has he just started french in year 7??

what is his expected grade?

does he not do geography and history?

anyway, that is what they do at my dc's senior shcool.

oops, cross posts with bumpy

btw your friend is a meany.
well done your ds

I think you're right to be proud of him - he's doing very well in most subjects. The reality is we all have some subjects we don't do so well at. As adults we can mostly just avoid them!

I'd probably ask him if there's anything particular about those subjects which he thinks makes them a problem, but if he's just not that good at them then fair enough really.

Doing badly at PE would only worry me if he wasn't getting enough exercise in general - organised team sports aren't everyones cup of tea.

Bumpy yes he has just started to learn French in yr7.

Slarty, I don't know what his expected grade is, just what grade he got.

There is no history or geography listed on this so i would assume it is within a lesson???

Ah, well, then relax about the PE!! I just say to dd "Do and your best and enjoy yourself.. Hopefully that's motivating with pressurising.

Early days for French. I'm sure he'll be getting plenty of encouragement at school and hopefully he'll get more confident as he gets more familiar with it.

TBH how many of us are good all-rounders - good at everything? I think we're allowed our weak spots. We have to be careful about not making our children feel inadequate or failures because they are not achieving highly at everything.

Sorry, without pressurising.

does he ahve a grade he is working towards?

Polly, i always just remind him to do the best he can and that has worked so far.
The most sporty thing he does and loves with a passion is the after school lessons of Fencing

2C is very acceptable for French at this stage - there are several threads on Secondary Board at the moment, thats the level my DD was on in her interim report. She hadn't even done tests for level 3 until the last few weeks.

I always believe something has got to give and they can't be brilliant at every subject. I do believe they need a release valve in one subject as long as it is not the main ones.

well done your DS. Starting year 7 midway through a term is tough, and he is obviously doing really well.

I wouldn't worry about the PE. He may just not be that sporty, and there probably isn't much you can do. He may come to it a bit later when there is less emphasis on team sports.

I'd have a chat with the teacher about the French though, because he may have missed stuff at the beginning and be floundering a bit. If they are using a different method to the one he started in his previous school, the vocab may be different, or the grammar introduced in a different order. A little extra work at home with you may really help him grasp the basics.

Of course, as other posters have said, his level may be what is expected at this stage, in which case there is no need to worry.

Slarty, I will find all that out when i have a parent/teacher meeting formerly known as parents evening lol

Great that he's found a sport he's passionate about.

I think we have to let our children develop their own interests and not expect them to flourish in every dept. I've seen too many children suffer low self-esteem because their parents have unrealistic expectations about them being good at everything and then concentrating too much on their weaknesses. I wouldn't want someone to treat me that way as an adult.

Anyway, who knows what the future holds? It's early days and he may yet make really good progress in French. Or not. If he struggles, there's a life lesson there about not getting miserable about not being good at everything. Exams aren't everything.

I'm a French teacher.....if he hasn't done any/much French in his previous school, then his result is completely in line wih what it should be.

I always try to explain to every parent that as it's a new subject, we start from scratch, ie. Level 0, aim for them to get to Level 2b (roughly) by end of Year 7 and Level 5 at least by end of Year 9 - so really, no worries at all. Congratulations to your son, that is an excellent report, cook him his favourite tea tonight!

Some people just aren't good at PE. Is there a grade for effort on the report? If he is making an effort and behaving well in PE I wouldn't worry too much about his level.

MFL levels thread