Mainstream secondary gase level SEN

[cantbejustme]

So my son is autistic and dyslexic. He has an ehcp. He is in mainstream year 9. A school where they start gcses Iin year 9.
He's taking equivalent of 9 gcses (2 btecs in there).

His report has come out today and he is working at level 1 for maths and level 3 for English. He is predicted to get 3s for each one.

As I understand it level 4 is needed to go on to anything else.

I asked at the last ehcp meeting whether any of the subjects can be dropped to give him more time on the english/maths. I was told no.

I am actually wondering what benefit there is to him being at this school where it seems he will come out with no useful qualifications. He is happy there and has friends. SEN provision in this area is horrendous and I am thinking that we should have fought a bit harder for him. But also wondering what options there will be for him in/ after school etc

I don't really want a life of U/C and PIP for my son.

Any advice/ personal experience would be great.

Thank you

We are looking at further education right now.

There further education sector has lots of more vocational options at level 2 and 3 (gcse and a level).

We found the level 2 courses want 4 gcses grade 4 in some places or grade 3 in others. They will let you retake maths and english if they arent part of the 4 gcses you have.

The level 3 courses tend to want 5 gcses grade 4 or above but will let retakes of maths and english.

Have a look at some local fe colleges and see if anything interests him to work towards.

My son has an ehcp, primarily for dyslexia. When he went to secondary school we were asked if he wanted to do a modern foreign language or to use that time for extra dyslexia support. We opted out of mfl as access to language learning is relatively easy at any age. In year 9, when choosing his subjects for GCSE he went to learning support (without discussing with parents) and requested to drop an “option “ subject in favour of extra dyslexia support. I was so impressed with his ability to advocate for himself that I agreed immediately 😳

as your son has an ehcp there ARE options but the school are being inflexible

He can absolutely drop subjects. My autistic daughter only took five subjects despite not having an EHCP and being predicted levels 7-9 across the original nine subjects. My youngest is currently only studying towards maths science and English despite not having her diagnosis yet and no EHCP. This is a mainstream school.

Definitely possible to drop subjects. You only need 5 GCSEs including maths and English to do pretty much anything (I even know kids at Oxford with 6 GCSEs in total)

My DD is severely dyslexic and ADHD, and we negotiated a reduced exam burden for her. Some subjects were dropped completely, others she attended class but didn't sit the exams. A lot of the reluctance often stems from what schools will do with students if they are not in timetabled lessons - some options that we used: Extra PE, DD also doubled up on some subjects so was in two separate classes for the same subject (ideal as she needs over-learning and scaffolding), SEND Support (we didn't have this, but you may be able to access with the EHCP).

By dropping subjects she had a lot less to revise for in Y11, and we could prioritise English and Maths. For Maths, definitely sit the Foundation not the Higher paper.

For English, I would try and get a tutor if you can.

DD now blissfully happy at specialist music college (and has degree offers should she decide to take them) - and passed both English exams and maths, and top grades in her options.

ETA: If school are absolutely firm that he can't drop subjects, just let them know that he will not be attending the exams. As a parent, you can't withdraw them from the exams, but if they do not turn up or turn up but do not write anything, then the exams are not even listed on the form. Hopefully you won't have to do this.

GCSE grades 1 and 3 are level 1 qualifications. There are post 16 courses DC with these grades (or no qualifications) can go on to do.

Speak to the school again about dropping subjects. It can be done. If the school isn’t amenable, a more personalised timetable with a reduced academic load can be included in the EHCP. Although this may take an appeal when you next have the right of appeal.

Thank you all. This is really helpful x

If he gets 3s he can do a level 2 qualification at college them move to level 3.

If he gets mainly 1s or 2s he can start at level 1 and work up slowly from there.

With his ehcp he can take a slow route through college.

My DD is on her 5th year post GCSE in college ...

There us a BTEC thread running in Further Education you may find interesting to dip into.

What does his ECHP say. Does he get 1:1 support? How many hours per week? I’ve known a child do 5 GCSE and the rest of the time pre teaching, revision and homework with 1:1 TA.