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

There are some apprenticeships that do not require GCSEs. Your DD could explore the options.
successatschool.org/advicedetails/1011/can-i-do-an-apprenticeship-without-qualifications

“There are intermediate apprenticeships schemes in more than 1,200 jobs. Many of these are apprenticeships without GCSEs, so you don’t need qualifications to apply. Here are a handful of the industries and job roles you could apply for:

Construction.
Retail.
Hospitality (chef, waitress etc).
Beauty (hairdresser).
You can apply for construction apprenticeships with no
qualifications.
Business administration.
Animal care.
Carpentry and joinery.
Mechanic.”

@PineappleUpsideDownCake I didn't say that no-one had experience, just wasn't sure given the tone of some responses that everyone did.

I read the OP as saying how will her teen fill her time if she decides not to continue with her studies. Which, given current restrictions, is a fair question I think, especially if she had been giving a lot of time to them. OP, there are a number of Facebook groups for home education which have ideas of alternative activities and qualifications for your daughter but it depends on her interests.

Thank you platinumbrunette. At last someone who can understand the question

The girls don't work unless it's self employed beauty-cleaning so no need for them. They're husbands keep them.

Thank you adultcat

So I ask again - if she is never going to need these qualifications what’s the issue?
Just let her follow the path you have mapped out for her and hope she never wonders what else she could have done

If she’s anything like my DD, she might like the animal care one where you can become a veterinary nurse. Or work in animal hospitak caring for horses/dogs/cats or even wild animals like a hedgehog hospital. Only need basic English and maths (not all require gcse).
successatschool.org/advicedetails/897/animal-care-apprenticeships

OP, I think if nothing else, I’d make her do them so at least if anything happens she has options.

You say you didn’t need any qualifications way back when, I’d say the reverse is true now. You do need some basic stuff to prove literacy and math skills.

Also, the world is an ever changing place. Just because at this point her plans are xyz, doesn’t mean that something won’t happen to derail those plans. She may be getting married, but ill health, death of a spouse can affect anyone and she may need to go and earn a wage.

Yes, she probably doesn’t have to do them, but in your position I’d probably make her take them so they’re at least there in the background. Once they’re done, she never has to think on them again.

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

I hate to say this @AdultCat but if it's a legitimate apprenticeship she will be required to take GCSE Maths and English as part of the apprenticeship.

My husband 'keeps' me too but I still have qualifications so I am free to embrace any opportunities that take my fancy. Spelling and grammar is very important to how someone is perceived by others, maths and science and English contribute to general knowledge which informs someone's world view. It's not all about getting a job, it's just something that will make her life richer overall.

@BlueCookieMonster

OP, I think if nothing else, I’d make her do them so at least if anything happens she has options.

You say you didn’t need any qualifications way back when, I’d say the reverse is true now. You do need some basic stuff to prove literacy and math skills.

Also, the world is an ever changing place. Just because at this point her plans are xyz, doesn’t mean that something won’t happen to derail those plans. She may be getting married, but ill health, death of a spouse can affect anyone and she may need to go and earn a wage.

Yes, she probably doesn’t have to do them, but in your position I’d probably make her take them so they’re at least there in the background. Once they’re done, she never has to think on them again.

I agree with this - there's no harm at all in having these and they'll be helpful if she does ever want, or need, to get employment.

Even if she probably won’t need to work, she should still pursue something she is interested in for herself. And also as a safety net, what happens if her husband becomes disabled? Or dies? Too if she has children young, they will be grown and gone by her forties, she will be very bored then and the ability to have a job doing something you are interested in is good for the mind and mental health.

She's 'not interested'? Show me a 16yo who would do them by choice!
It's too young an age to realise how much it might limit your options in the future, therefore, as the parent, you need to push for her to do at least English and maths. Remember that most kids do at least 9, so 2 should be a walk in the park!!!!

I understand that you're travellers, but do you not want to give your daughter more options for what she might be able to do in her life? If she chooses to stick with the family then fine, but giving her the tools to make that decision for herself would be the most responsible thing to do as a parent. You know this - as you've got her a tutor. Don't let her give up.

@titchy

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

I hate to say this @AdultCat but if it's a legitimate apprenticeship she will be required to take GCSE Maths and English as part of the apprenticeship.

Yes but the employer would pay for it, the OP wouldn’t need to pay for a tutor.

Look, simple fact is, as a 16 year old if she's refusing to do them, she's not going to do them.

I'm not sure this is the place to argue about what's deemed important to other people; if this is what she, her family and people of her culture and race are happy with, then that's what's going to happen!

What has she said she'd like to spend her time doing, OP?

Why are you asking I am really confused. She’s not going to work, you’re not worried, you think it’s ok, she thinks it’s ok, you don’t care what others think. How could anyone answer your “question” to your satisfaction?

Poor girl. Sounds like the life she has planned out (expected of her! ) is a bit sad.

The job market has changed a lot, yes you can work your way up, but life is so much easier with basic qualifications. I only have GSCEs, my plan in later life is to retrain, I had no interest in further education at 16 and its taken me a long time to work out what I want to do.

She won't realise how important a safety net is and how much freedom it offers. But I suppose all she's seeing is becoming a young kept woman that's all she can aspire to...

I would try to encourage her to do them. It’s better to have them and not need them than need them and not have them.

I did mine as an adult and it’s all so much harder then. I must have said to DH a million times that I wished I’d been able to do them as a teen.

@timothytoeseatenbyaghoul

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.

Your initial post was very general, seeking help. If you are part of a community that doesn't value formal qualifications then don't force her to do them but know that you are limiting her options for the future. You are presumably at least 16 years older than her and therefore don't really know what her future will hold. She needs to learn how to learn which GSCES do help with. She will need passes in maths and English to do most jobs as an employee even low paid I would imagine.

Well if she doesn't care about learning academic stuff then maybe practical stuff; budgeting, cooking etc. Although maybe she already knows how to do that. The maths and english will come in handy throughout her life even if she doesn't want to finish off her learning with an exam. So she can maybe stick with those and not bother with the exam. However if she's been learning and doing well and if the GCSE doesn't matter to her then why not just sit the exam anyway? That way she'll have them if she ever needs them in future and if they don't matter to her then she can just bin the certificate.

I'd try and persuade her to take GCSES.

Even if she plans to marry and live a traditional life now, it's nice to have the option to change your mind later. (As a side note, I studied with a traveller who went back to study access courses as an adult in order to attend university so it does happen).

Of course there are jobs you can do without qualifications... but they are getting progressively harder to get and frankly not having GCSES will make her life harder if she ever needs/wants to work.

However, if you and your daughter are happy for her to leave education without official qualifications, I would still try to persuade her to continue studying English and Maths. Both are useful in everyday life and reading can be really enriching. Plus this will help her when her own children are in education.

Good luck.

Another option is if she’s any good at art? She could paint greeting cards and gift tags and then sell them in markets. If you know a stall holder, they might let her display her stuff in return for a small fee or for her assisting them selling their items.

Or another craft? Baskets? Knit woolly hats and gloves? Handmade soaps?

If someone’s not academic then they usually gravitate towards an apprenticeship or want to be an entrepreneur and make and sell their own products.

Why would she need to have learnt anything from the age of 11 if she doesn't want a career and is getting married off at 18? Of course she doesn't need to learn anything more, she's not going to do anything that uses English or maths.

Wow, high hopes and plans for your DD there OP.

Just teach her how to cook, bake, clean and change nappies OP.

As long as she is literate enough to manage in the world, she doesn't need to learn anything else (in the circumstances you outline). If she wants to go into cleaning or beauty then the community is likely to sort her with a job, is that right? So she doesn't even need to do training-- although if that is not the case she could do a beauty apprenticeship

If she won't do GCSEs then she wont do them. If she needs them down the line, she can do them as an adult.