Crap School Options - dd's school's options only JUST been given out and they are rotten

[GetOrfMoiLand]

Really just crap.

Single (single!) science with double as an option.

Loads of crappy BTEC and diploma stuff - Health and Social Care, Child Development, Bricklaying. FINE, but one of her option bands has ALL vocational/BTEC type subjects.

She has just emailed me the options list - there is a meeting Thursday night to discuss. I am pissed off. What a load of crap.

Absolutely go and complain - rally the troops and get them to change the Option boxes - next year's timetables are not done yet so in theory they should be able to do it.
is it an 'academic' school?

No it's a CRAP school.

I moved dd from her very good academic selective school as she was being bullied. This was the only school in Gliuycester that would take her (if you have a spare 47 months I would tell you about the crappy and unfair schooling in Gloucester).

It is obviously very unacademic and is aiming to get a higher place on the league table by offering these shitey subjects.

Single science fgs. What good is that to man or beast.

I feel like crying.

And to add to all of it dd really regrects leaving the old school as well, as she missed all her old friends. She says that she wishes she just could have coped with the name calling (she was being called lesbian, slag, people taking the piss for months. She was scared of going to school and cried every day).

Oh bloody hell I think I have buggered her chances to get good GCSEs. But then what could I have done? She was so scared to go to school and we and the school tried for ages to resolve it.

Am so tempted to try and get her back in the old school. But what chance would I have - it's oversubscribed and MILES away.

One of the options bands is:

Photography
BTEC Music Technology
ICT
Child Development
Art

Crock of shit.

What are the other option blocks?

Presumably she's limited in the number of subjects she can do to something like 8? Art or ICT would be fine if she was being allowed to do plenty of 'proper' subjects but presumably she's not.

I thought single sciences were the way to go - Chemistry, Physics, Biology - I'm sure I saw Chris woodhead in the Times saying that at A level it was the right thing to do - does that not apply to GCSE.

Surely if she's taken 8 or 9 Gcse's it won't matter if ones Photography or art(shows a well-rounded person)
? If she's only taking 4 or 5 then it might be a problem?

Bugger bugger have to go home will be back later.

No Enmglish Lit as well it seems. Just language.

Damn

Double science is not the end of the world. I went to a crappy school and only did double science. I went to a better sixth form and did chemistry and biology A-Levels and got A's in both. If you are not happy is moving her again an option?

Laurie - I think the OP is saying that the Science offered is the basic Science GCSE and to be able to do double Science an option would be needed to be used up. At my DD's school they do triple science, double science, BTEC or a basic science thing I may have got the wrong end of the stick in the OP case.

getorf - I absolutely think you did the right thing in removing her from the bullying.
I know this isn't ideal, but Please remember, there are other options.
She can go to night school and do further options.
She could do additional gsces while studying for a levels at a 6th form college.
She could even do some Open University stuff.

There may even be other things you can do.

Art is a good GCSE but no English Literature at all? Eeeek!

No Eng lit? My DD is younger so I'm not au fait with GCSEs but I'd assumed that lit and lang along with maths were core subjects.

If I have to go on every "options are shite" thread and say this, I will... There is nothing wrong with BTEC as a qualification. I teach BTEC Performing Arts at KS4 and KS5. One of my KS5 girls is currently weighing up her university options, having been accepted to all of her chosen institutions, despite doing 2 BTECs and 2 A Levels. One of her choices is Warwick, which, last time I checked, was Russell Group.

Please don't think that ALL BTECs are pointless, dumbing down and Mickey Mouse. Obviously some of the subject choices in the OP don't suit the OP's DD, but PLEASE don't dismiss options simply because it says BTEC and not GCSE.

BTW, OP, I do sympathise - I teach in Gloucestershire and do not like the system. My DTs are due to start primary this Sept, and I'm already dreading the Secondary circus...

Getorf - I teach English.

English lit is unlikely to be down as an option, they lump both together under English and teach as a single course. If there is genuinely no Eng Lit offered, kick up a stink - see about an after-school class for committed pupils. But I'm sure there will be - there isn't really enough syllabus to keep brighter ones busy for 2 years just in the English course.

ICT is a real, demanding subject (according to my dd's very academic selective school) Ditto Art.

Are you sure there's no English Literature?

Where do History or Geography feature?

A lot of people see those as the "easier" of the academic GCSE options, and most people recommend at least ONE Humanity subject. Are they offerred?

They created an option group like that at the last school I taught at and I thought it was rubbish then. All the more vocational subjects are really valuable but not for everyone. You wouldn't expect someone on the special needs register to choose from an option block which included Latin, Physics, Chemistry, Biology or Mandarin so we shouldn't expect highly academic children to choose from an options block that is made up of BTECs. GCSE Art would be fine if your DD has an artistic leaning.

''One of the options bands is:

Photography
BTEC Music Technology
ICT
Child Development
Art

Crock of shit. ''

In my fairly traditional comp. (very academic for the top sets) this would have been an option block.

However, single science GCSE isn't good enough for a bright child although suitable for a less academic child. (And much better than the old fashioned approach of not doing any science.

Saying all that, when I was at Cambridge (studying engineerning, a very maths/science based subject), very few people had done three sciences; most had done double science GCSEs.

In terms of A-levels, if you do science A-levels it's always an advantage to do more science at GCSE. When it comes to university admissions, even the elite universities accept that GCSEs are more to do with the school than the applicant. So, don't worry on that score.

GetOrfMoiLand, Please don't feel you've damaged her chances by moving her to a different school!

I remember your posts about the bullying she experienced last year and felt truly gutted for both of you. Her mental health was the most important factor in your decision and you did exactly the right thing.

If your DD is bright enough to get into an academically selective school, then I'm sure she will do just fine!

There are many teachers posting on MN who spend a lot of time trying to convince parents here that even crap schools are streamed at GCSE and the brightest kids should do just as well there as anywhere else. They get the chance to be a big fish in a small pond and are often given a lot of extra support by teachers who are only too DELIGHTED to teach academically able and well-motivated pupils .

Is your DD a science/ maths lass, or more interested in humanities/languages? Can you go down the private tutor route? If DD is an enthusiastic reader, then a good tutor once a week will get her through English Lit GSCE (via private entry) with no probs. Ditto foreign languages.

ICT GCSE is a perfectly respectable academic subject. If she can take double science as an option and gets good grades, she will be able to study sciences at AS/A level. What other choices does she have? Does the school offer History, Geography, a foreign language, Music or Religious Studies? These are all solid academic options.

And EvilTwins is quite right - BTEC subjects are increasingly viewed in a favourable light by Unis, especially when the pupil is obviously a high achiever in more "traditional" subjects.

Don't panic!

Firstly, what GCSE options does DS want to do? My DD's FIRST choices were Art and ICT and she works very hard at them, is loving them, and is set to get excellent results. I think it is important for children to have a creative option, and universities like well-rounded students.

Having Single Science as core (ie the minimum science students must take) is absolutely standard, as is offering Double Science as an option - I think it is a question of time in the day.

As for the English - the exam specifications change for the current year 9, going from 2 exam options to 3, and introducing a modular course; English Language, English Literature, and a kind of hybrid called simply English, which combines a study of both. Every school I know is going to start by teaching the first unit/module (which is common to all three qualifications) and then guide the students towards the specification that is most suited to them.

ICT skills are absolutely vital for students and I'm sure there's a language there somewhere.

I don't think offering a range of students a range of options is 'a crock of shit' at all, frankly. What was a 'crock of shit' was an entire curriculum geared to the needs of the minority who were headed for university, as was the case a couple of decades ago.

Thanks everyone - I will read posts.

I am sat here in tears because I think I have buggered up everything for dd. Her old school was such a good one. Did Baccalaureate in 6th form etc.

Yes, no English lit, just offers the new English course.

1 single (combined) Science, she has to use an option to do double.

Options A
Drama, Art, Geography, History, Hospitality & Catering, Media Studies

Option B
Geography, History, ICT AIDA, Music, PE, Photography

Option C
Business Studies, ICT AIDA, Music Technology, Child Development, Photography, Spanish

Option D
Art, Drama, Doiuble Science, Child Development, French, Manufacturing

Am I overreacting in a big way? This is lame isn't it?

DD would do History, Geography for A&B. No interest in any of Option C. If she choses double science she has to drop a language.

Just feel I have really let her down.

HATE the school system in Gloucester. Friend's son is at one of the selective schools andhe is doing 13 GCSE - science triple is complulsory.

Sorry going nuts and can't read straight- French & Spanish in block D, Art in bloick C.