SEN and GCSE what to do next

[jeaux90]

DD15 is taking her GCSEs this year.
She has AuDHD and despite all the additional support and tutoring I think she will at best land at grade 4s/3s

I do not know whether to look at getting her into somewhere that will support her re-taking or what the right thing to do is about trying to get her into somewhere that will support her better through BTEC or CTEC.

She is at Headington and quite frankly I think they have been a bit crap with the merger of Rye where she originally was.

Anyone been in a similar situation? What would you do?

Don't be broken, your daughter has a different path to follow than the academic one perhaps. Get proper advice from any SFC (they are way better than schools at predicting outcomes) ... is she likely to pass A levels? If she's not (they will know), either let her go just for the experience or let her do a course she can be accomplished in.

Thank you so much for the recommendations and advice. Really appreciate it at a time I'm feeling so low and frustrated at Headington.

@DoublePeonies she is not mature enough yet for an apprentice situation. She is PDA and needs more time to mature unfortunately in a more nurturing environment. She is bright but just needs time in a productive situation.

@jeaux90 are you any closer to deciding? Your daughter sounds very similar to mine, who has asd and has massively struggled with overwhelm in a large secondary school. She is also on track for about six grade 4s. We have found a small 6th form for A levels, but we're not sure if the expense is worth it. College just looks like another cattle market, and would terrify her. It's hard to choose an apprenticeship when she doesn't know what she wants to do!

I am in exactly the same situation with DS, his latest mocks were worse than his year 10 ones.

He is never going to do well academically, he hates exams and writes as little as possible to get them over with.

We feel he mainly needs to mature so he's going to a state college to do something fun for a year or two , probably dance or acting or similar. After that we'll see what else he could do. The college we've visited seems very supportive and he has an EHCP, I'm told by teacher friends the support usually is better in college.

My main concern is that he may not even get the grades to get into this course, he got 2s in two of his mocks because he was having a bad day and kept going to the loo. I don't know what happens if he has several bad days and fails the lot.

At least you have an ehcp. Still waiting for EP assessment- private waiting list is just as long'- so maybe they'll run down the clock until she's left school. It's all so worrying.

@48wheaties yes, I think we have found a good school which is non selective and offers the choices of more BTEC/diploma or non academic a levels.

It's a real minefield but I think we are getting there. I mean as long as you can get them through the maths and English my view is quickly becoming I don't much care about the other subjects. Otherwise she is going to have to resit those along with the 6th form subjects.

@48wheaties sorry I forgot to say, I think of you can find a private school that has a non selective intake and good support it can be a turning point.

The key is finding what they want to do though then finding the non selective place with the subjects.

I was looking at some a lot further afield as they specialised in the BTECs but this would have meant full term boarding rather than the weekly that DD is ok with.

We found one that does criminology, Leiths, photography etc so now I just need to secure a place.

Yes, we found a non selective small private 6th form @jeaux90 but the subjects are limited. It looks like they are dropping criminology BTEC ,which she really wanted to do. She will have to settle for psychology, sociology (which shes enjoying at gcse) and biology (we know its a high workload subject!). Also keeping fingers crossed she'll get a place and they will take into account her diagnosis/previous EBSA when looking at her grades.

Plus it is a 10 minute walk from our house!

OP - I feel for you. Our DS is similar, but doing better as the year goes on. He is working v hard. Totally agree with your points about intelligence. He is smart and hard working, but has a very poor working memory /recall skills. Traditional exams have always been a slog and he does much better in classroom/prep. I have pm’d you as more chat is v outing!

@48wheaties it sounds pretty ideal apart from the criminology being dropped. Mind you it's really the forensics my DD is interested in and it doesn't have a massive element of that in but at least she is starting to find a path.

@jeaux90 any chance you could DM me with where you’ve found? I’m going to be in a similar position in the future…

@Werecat will do!

T Levels are not a lesser / easier option and are not like BTecs. There is a great deal of self-directed study, placements, in some a considerable amount of academic work. They have also not been run or supported as they should have and many students have struggled. Worth checking out the evaluations and the additional support available, as most colleges are struggling to stretch their funding to their delivery! https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/t-level-thematic-review-final-report/t-level-thematic-review-final-report

What about Kingham Hill for 6th form? It's in Oxfordshire and certainly used to have a reputation for taking pupils with a range of SEND. I think it still does.

@miniaturepixieonacid love your username

Thanks for the recommendation. I did look but it comes across as selective as they do an assessment but maybe I need to take another look. I think I have found somewhere but I'd would love a backup plan.

Headington are a machine, DD is currently lost in it, they are a business and seem to only care about revenue and results. Absolutely regret not pulling her out as soon as the merger was talked about.

Is fallout management at the moment.

But most private schools are asking for 5 GCSE at level 5 for entry at sixth form so I feel so broken by this. I don't know what to do.

Please look at the state system - it is not all bad.

Your DD does not need 6th form - she needs a technical college with a wide range of options on offer. Often these young people who struggle with school begin to blossom at college where they can be themselves. You owe it to your DD to have an open mind about all this. She is not going to fit the mould that you maybe started out with - she has her own needs.

I speak as someone whose DDs went to a variety of schools and colleges, both state and private, and who had educational special needs and not. Our aim was to provide the education that suited each best in whatever sector we could find it.

Agree that t-level courses want 5s particularly in English I'm afraid. I would look for her to do BTEC or Cambridge national in whatever she's interested in. Have a look at state colleges, some of them can be really nurturing. It's worth speaking with the pastoral and sen team at a few of your local ones You would want her on a course where they are in college a lot, where there is a predictable routine, where the transport is predictable and easy. One issue I find with audhd young people is the amount of change and self directed time in colleges, but that can be very different on different courses. If needed she could start on a lowered level btec (same as GCSE) then stay at same college to do the level 3 btec in the same subject, that can be a real confidence builder.

Sorry for the drip feed.

I can't use the state system, I need her to be in Private because I have to use flexi boarding.

I am a lone parent and have to travel for my job occasionally (Tech Industry) and this won't change.

This is the only reason I need to stay in the Private system.

And I've moved on from T levels, as per my PP we are looking at the BTECs have selected subjects for the place we have chosen as option A

@jeaux90 haha, thanks - that was how a friend described me once and it stuck!

Definitely worth asking Kingham (and any school) about assessments. I'm at an almost completely non selective prep but we still do intake assessments. They're just to make sure that a child could cope with the curriculum. The children don't have to score highly at all. For children who it seems wouldn't cope independently, there's then a conversation to be had about whether or not we can offer enough support to take them. From the children we've sent on to Kingham in the past, I think they're quite similar. Assessment sounds scary but doesn't always mean academic.

Yes, Headington are an academic hothouse. I'm shocked that they haven't adapted for pupils taken on through a merger though - very poor.

@48wheaties not to put you off, but Psychology is also a high workload subject with loads of learning (my dd did it) and Sociology isn't easy either. My ds has different issues (slow processing, ADHD, non-conformity!) and basically barely went to any lessons, or did any work until the March of year 13. He's bright (GCSEs all 6-8) and taught himself all three of his subjects in the last three months (Business, Criminology and Sociology) and Sociology came out as his lowest grade. Hopefully your dd will adapt, but just wanted to make you aware that her combination sounds quite difficult. My dd also did Religion, Philosophy and Ethics and found this had a much smaller syllabus/amount to learn, in case it's of interest. But good luck to her and all the other young people on this thread!

Are state boarding schools an option? You might find more choice of course there than in private schools.

I would suggest you look at Frewen College near Rye. It is a specialist dyslexia school but I believe it takes yp with a variety of sen. My friend's son went there for 6th form and went to a nearby college 3 days a week, with support from Frewen.

That's helpful @crazycrofter . She doesn't know what to choose, and we haven't signed on the dotted line in terms of subjects yet. The current school have left parents evening v late (23 Jan) in order to discuss mocks and 6th form ideas.

If it wasn't for compulsory school until age 18 we wouldn't even be considering 6th form. She just needs some maturity time before embarking on work, and doesn't want to do an apprenticeship . But the 6th form we're looking at has very limited subject options ...😕