Dd doesn't want to do her GCSEs

[timothytoeseatenbyaghoul]

Can anyone help please?

Dd is home educated, she has a tutor that gives her work weekly. Dd has decided she will not be doing her GCSEs so why am I bothering to pay for a maths and English tutor.

She's just turned 16 in oct. What should she be learning if there's no goal in sight?

If your teen doesn't follow the national curriculum what do they do?

Thanks

Why has she decided she isn't doing them?

Why did you home Ed?

Not having them will severely limit her options in life

She's not interested in doing them. Tbf I didn't do mine and I'm ok. My other two kids did theirs and done well but both dropped out of college after a year and have gone into work. Construction and retail.

So what should she be learning?

Will she be able to get a job?

Seayork2020

Yes

It reads like you don’t think they are that important either.

It will clearly limit her options going forward.

I told mine bluntly he has no choice but to do the exams, even if was the main three. Without those he chance of getting a job would be vastly reduced and there's no way is he living off me for the rest of my life.

Typical teen didn't believe. So I told him to go and look at jobs, and that if he wasn't in education he would have to get work.

This gave him that kick up his arse eventually and is now back studying for them.

We're travellers so don't need them.

Why does the fact that you are Travellers mean you don’t need GCSEs?
What if she decides she wants a different life that does need GCSEs? I imagine there are Travellers with GCSEs, Alevels, degrees and beyond
Having said that if she is surrounded by people telling her that formal qualifications aren’t important then of course she doesn’t want to take them

I didn't do them either when I was in school.
This did hold me back and I ended up just doing the equivalents as an adult.
Because they are deemed a less worthy option, I have also experienced snobbery in the workplace and in one place discrimination for promotion as a result despite holding experience and qualifications for the role.

What does she want to do career wise? Maybe you could look up the requirements together, and plan what she will need to do to get were she wants to go. Most carriers will require GCSE's, but if she can see how they fit into her long term goals, she might be more willing. Or you might be able to find alternative training routes depending what she wants to do.

What has she been doing for the last 4 years? Surely more than just English and Maths? Home ed requires an education. It seems a surprise to you now at 16 there might be other things?

Have you got a liason worker you can speak to? Or the tutor? Do they think she will pass?

It sounds like she's been/being really let down education wise.

I would highly encourage her to do English and Maths at least as this is what employers tend to look for. It just sets her up for the future as she might end up deciding to do something in the future that will require these GCSEs .

Without having any GCSEs it will be hard to get a job in something like retail. If she goes into construction it won’t be an issue.
What sort of job is she planning on getting?

Nobody's told her it isn't important? If that was the case then her siblings wouldn't of bothered with theres.
I mentioned we are travellers because 99% of us don't need them or have any use for them.
She doesn't want to do anything career wise so doesn't want to waste her time doing them.

Now. Can anyone help with what I have asked?
And stop de-railing this thread please.

So if you say she doesn’t need them then what’s your issue?
You asked for help, with what?
I think you are really limiting her options but that’s up to you and her

Do you think this is a reaction to the uncertainty over exams or has she felt this way for a while?

I am not sure everyone on this thread has experience of home ed. Does she have any idea what she might want to do - identifying possible future jobs/courses and then working backwards might convince her she does need them. Or indeed it might not!

In answer to your question about what children not following formal education paths do, the answer is usually whatever interests them! There are plenty of self-learn opportunities out there and examples of young people who have turned their interests into careers and businesses.

Yep. I've experience of home ed which is why I asked whatelse they had been doing for the last however many years...

Unless the home ed thing is new surely they'd be aware of the vast array of activities and learning opportunities available rather than just english and maths as that wouldnt be all they'd beenndoing for the last 4 years.

Asking what else there is to do apart from english and maths gcse at 16 is an odd question from a home edder.

Okay. Let me start again. What is your daughters plan work wise if she doesn’t have her GCSEs? I think you said it won’t affect her ability to find work, so what career is she thinking of?

Just out of curiosity how come travellers don't need them? Culturally do you not tend to go to university and do more manual jobs like retail and construction (like DC) I don't mean to sound rude, I just didn't know this!

My daughter isn't doing hers. She's Yr 11 but home educated and doing work experience two days a week in her chosen career (where she also has a Saturday job). She's set up ready to start an apprenticeship when she's 16 with her current employer. She won't need GCSEs for this career but she has the option to do them later if she wants.
She is no where near ready to take GCSEs due to MH issues the last two years.
I think it depends on your DDs aims / choices for what she plans to do after school life...

I don't have any qualifications and left school at 11 and have been a postie with royal mail for 12 years. So yeah you can work with nothing.

She won't be working, unless she is self employed.

And will be married by 18.

So again I will ask. What does she need to be learning if she has no plans to sit her GCSEs? Does she still need to learn maths and English even though it's pointless?

What she should be learning are subjects relating to real life.

So, maths - money stuff: the basics to ensure she doesn't get ripped off, mental maths to do that quickly. Plus foreign exchange, percentages, basic algebra (useful for all kinds of real life things, cooking, decorating etc). Can't think of others right now, but you get the idea.

With English, simply a love of reading and encouraging read a variety of books will be enough.

I think quite a few Traveller girls don’t work at all and if that’s the case here then she probably won’t need her GCSEs, but if the OPs daughter ever changes her mind she will be a bit stuck