I wanted to put this in AIBU but didn't. What subject do you think my Year 9 daughter is NOT studying this year?

[NotanOtterOHappyDay]

sod discipline and learning

we want GCSE;s and lots of them

Yup - about 14 is the standard when all the GNVQ and BTEC thingymabobs are added to the mix for many many GS schools that i know of

Am i silly to wish that they all took 8 or 9 and concentrated on them properly instead of skimming over the surface and actually had within GCSE time to begin to prepare for A level as the gap is HUUUUUGE

well ds is at the school next door

did 9

got top marks

learned A LOT

did sciences maths languages and - a little bizarre i know but - two english gcses!

how do they manage to keep their value added scores high tho with only 9 GCSE's? this is the reason i am sure why many GS's are doing soooo many.... i can't think of any other reason

the girls school shit hot on gcse league tables
the boys school pip them at a level

ds did 9 this year and 1 last year making his total 10 A*

one boy did a 0.5 in RS and beat ds by 0.5 of an A*

so the most done was 10.5

They only do 10 GCSEs at my DCs 'top' grammar school, but can do some extras if they are inclined (Latin, Mandarin, that sort of thing). They all do separate sciences, two Englishes, and can do two languages if they want. The most non academic subject they do is Art or DT!

At the also 'top' comp they do about 13/14 GCSES. So they all come out with strings of As in more 'fun' subjects.

Quality not quantity I think is the mantra here

well we have been in to school and met with a 'well that is the way it is ( sorry about upcoming americanism) period'

so that is it

am now considering paying to enter her for english language gcse this year...

thoughts anyone

might be too late

could starrt a thread in home ed..

NaO, The main trouble with entering her for Eng Lang. a year early is what will she then do in English lessons the following two years when her friends are doing it? It will also cost you in terms of exam entry fees and maybe some tutoring. If I were you instead I'd spend the money on regular trips to the theatre to see quality stuff (Shakespeare etc) and maybe investigate if there's a reading book club she could join to go & discuss good books with likeminded people to keep her interest and enjoyment of the subject going (exams imo are an unnecessary waste of time & more likely to put her off than anything else).

How weird to live in england and than not having english as a subject in school....why would they do that than?

You would take this higher - to your mp, the education authority, the press - a school not doing english shouldn't be allowed to operate.

I did my English Lit & Lang O levels a year early and then spent the next year's 'English' lessons doing what was essentially Media Studies- only they didn't call it that in 1971!

i would let her do it again to improve on her garde hopefully

That might work if she didn't get a top grade first time round! If the school won't support you, you'd need to find a syllabus that doesn't need coursework - IGCSE could be possible? You'd also need to check the school would be prepared to enter her and invigilate the extra exams or you'd have to go elsewhere to sit it. I think it's a tall order to ask a child to sit a GCSE next May/June at this point though - there'd be a lot of work to get through in not much more than a term and a half. Would your dd really benefit or are you just trying to make a point to the school?

dd needs to learn to focus

ds did a gcse after only one years lessons of one hour after week

did not find the work load heavy in the least

dd does little or no homework

Your dd has significantly less than a year left now though. Does she want to do it? Are the logistical issues surmountable? I know children who've done extra curricular GCSEs & in a short time too, but they've generally either been brilliant, bilingual (& sitting their second language), or both and always very highly motivated. They've sat them with the expectation of achieving A* (& I think they all have) and no plans to re-take. It has given them confidence, but I'm not so sure about focus as they've tended to have that already.

Do you think your plan will give your dd any more focus than sitting her media studies and ICT GCSEs early with her peers? I'd be wary of sitting any GCSE early unless there is an expectation of achieving a top grade myself.

I think Snorkle's idea about theatre trips and a teenage reading group is excellent. She wouldn't gain anything by doing GCSE in year 9 and I still feel that the work she's doing in Media Studues (however much it feels like a waste of time to you) will ultimately help her in the English GCSE.

Ah but NotanOtterOHapppyDay, I'm shocked you don't recognise personalised learning when you see it . A lot of grammars collapse the KS into 2yrs and have to fill the remaining 3yr ks4 with something. It means pupils sit media gcse, film studies etc, without the necessary maturity needed, and can come out with mediocre grades.

Why education can't do something truly radical and step away from the exam factory mentality and really enrich year 9 I don't know. I want to order SMT to stop scouring the Initiatives DFEE site in the mistaken belief that is the holy grail towards progress. There is a competitive SMT culture of publish your radical initiative in the educational press or die. The fact the staff think it's a pile of pants is immaterial. And yes my school is high up on that list

snorkle why wold you be wary?

TBH this very old for her year very idle dd could do with a kick up the arse academically speaking! I feel that by not achieving a top grade this may shock her into realising A* are not handed out like candy

I find it most odd that a school stops teaching English for a year. You'd have thought they'd have started the GSCE course work in Yr 9 with most if not all sitting the exams in yr10 leaving yr11 for either taking another gsce or beginning A level work.

I don't mean to sound rude but you seem a little harsh on your DD and TBH I'd consider other options, other then setting her up to fail/scrape a pass in an English GSCE to give her the kick up the arse academically. Hopefully she will follow in her older brothers footsteps and come out with 10 A*

Well, several things could happen...

You say she's good at English and able (and a girl) - she might well get a top grade without putting much effort in & then assume A's are* given out like candy & so coast for everything else. So your objective isn't achieved and she gets an out for English lessons for the next two years, thus resulting in her doing even less English overall than she otherwise would have.

She's an able child & at a grammar school, so I assume she's capable of A*s and As for GCSE & should be aiming for that. If though she gets a lower grade, either with or without effort being put in, it might instead of making her pull her socks up make her feel that lower grades are acceptable after all. Once you've got one, then a few more won't matter type attitude - after all the world didn't just end. So it could easily not have the desired effect (as well as spoiling a potentially clean sheet of higher grades).

It might give her the kick up the arse that she needs - though why moreso than the media studies and ICT that she's already doing early? (ICT is supposed to be the hardest GCSE), but it could so easily backfire. It's probably just her age & hormones making her unsettled at the moment - if the school is league table conscious (which from what you've said it is) then I'd trust them to give her the pep-talks she needs to get the good grades.

That's my thinking anyway.

i hope so snorkle

her sweet (nature) has carried her so far but i hope my nagging has opened their eyes

i am tired of trying.....

She's a difficult age though - she'll hopefully grow into a more hardworking nature. It's also very hard for second children with high achieving older siblings. They almost need to cultivate a 'don't care, slightly lazy attitude' to protect themselves from the expectations of mathching their siblings performance. By that I mean, it feels more acceptable for them to achieve lower grades if it appears they don't mind and haven't worked so hard; whereas if they've bust a gut & still not matched it they feel they will look like they've failed.

yes snorkle very astute

we have only just ourselves realise that the dont care attitude is a front

dont try and you can use that as your excuse for lower achievement...

trying to take a step back

thanks for all your help - it has really clarified a few things