I have this completely unrealistic view/wish that the head of PE is going to sort out all my problems

[KatyMac]

He can't of course; I know this really

But I keep hoping/wishing he can

Poor bugger; imagine being the receptacle of all that anxiety

What problems do you want him to sort out?

Oh DD is having problems at school about how many GCSEs she is doing and how much work she has and how seriously they are taking her ambition

The lack of detail here ain't particularly helpful.

I'm thinking - she wants to be an Olympic champion but - to do that - needs to train 24/7 and school is getting in the way, so you want Head of PE to tell the school how hard it is to be an Olympic Champion and have them allow her to drop some GCSEs? But all this is in my imagination!

If I am right, I would say, look at Tom Daley's attitude. He has managed to fit everything is because he knows, one day, he may well need his qualifications to provide him with a real career. However, his school have adjusted certain things so he can meet deadlines at the right time and so they don't clash with major events and he may, possibly, have done a few less GCSEs but I don't know that he did - and he aced them all!

But they want her to do 14 GCSEs; which is just too much even if she wasn't doing 20 hours a week outside of school.

But it's the whole picture that's a problem really; she has just 'won' a place on the gifted & talented programme & the leader has said she cannot do it because she doesn't have time & he will talk to the head about cutting her GCSEs down to about 9 plus 2 Btecs

I'm not being intentionally obtuse just assuming everyone knows, remembers & cares about my DD

She's a dancer, isn't she? (See, we do remember you.) I agree that 14 GCSEs is just loopy. Very bright DS1 is doing 9, less-bright but performance mad DS2, 10 or maybe 11, and I'm fretting about how he'll fit in extracurric drama with those!

Go Mr PE teacher, go!

I'll remember her if you promise to remember my daughter

14 is loopy. It's loopy for ANY child.

My friend's son has just won a place at Medical School and he did 10.

How on earth do they manage it? Are some not really proper GCSE credits - for example my daughter has one course 'worth' 3 GCSEs but in reality she did it all in the classroom lesson time with no homework at all and found it the equivilent in work of about 1/3 of her History GCSE! If they turn out to be not proper GCSE credits then she might not find the work as bad as she thought.

It's over 3 years

This year BTEC Dance & Science
Next Year GCSE Eng Lang, Music (opt), Spanish & Geography
Year 11 GCSE Eng Lit, Maths, RE, 3 Science & 2 options

I'd like

This year BTEC Dance & Science
Next Year GCSE Eng Lang, Spanish & Geography
Year 11 GCSE Eng Lit, Maths, 2 Science & Music (opt)

So 8 plus 2 Btechs

I am demanding aren't I

I can understand where you are coming from to free up homework time but from the schools perspective - what will she be doing in school when not studying for the things you would like her to drop?

In pure GCSEs she will still do 8, which I assume you have checked will fit nicely with her specific career plans.

I have to say Spanish in one year seems silly. What if someone wants to do it for A level and has had no Spanish teaching at all for 15 months! That's another thing and probably not relevant, I know.

Hopefully the homework for the other subjects/revision and maybe rest, eating & stretching.

If she wants to go into teaching (a possibility) then she has the right subjects (5 including English, maths, a language & a science) But is more likely to do her DDI/DDE at vocational college

Not knowing your daughter, that sounds like an arrangement most children would like! There are often options they pick because they have too, and would prefer not to, get their homework out of the way, and spend their time after school doing things they enjoy - sports, drama, whatever.

No reason not to ask though. Especially if your daughters situation is particularly unusual.

She has a full scholarship to one school & a half scholarship to another & works really hard at it all.

She does 4hrs on a Monday, Tuesday & Thursday, an hour or so on Wednesday (all 45 minutes drive) Saturday is 7.5 (starting 45 minutes away, then getting the train - by herself - another 45 minutes away; she is out for 12 hours on Saturday)

Never mind all the events - she has 4 things to do on Fri 6th July I got to choose which happened

I still think 14 is ridiculous & to lose 2 options, RE & a science is a good move (they can only say no). She would like to do the options (Drama & Business) but I just don't think she has time/energy - burn out is a worry

Irrespective of what she does out of school, I would also agree its too much.
If you forget the BTecs which are essentially year 9, she has 12 GCSEs and most do about 10.

Is this a price she pays though for have 1.5 scholarships? It's all very well having them but don't you have to meet certain expectations from the schools that provide them?

No the scholarships are with Ballet schools, school is a normal comp

Do all the children do 12? Is it really a normal, non selective, comp?

I've just added up ours and they do 9.5 or 10 actual GCSE depending on whether they do full or short course RE.

Yep the only ones that don't are children who only manage 1 or 2 science - even the children with additional needs have that number of subjects timetabled (although they often replace them with additional English/Maths & life skills courses)

DD's year is the first year to do it & tbh if I had known this before she started she wouldn't have gone there - she is average academically

Katy the statistics say (I can't remember where but I'll get them if you like) that children who sit GCSEs early achieve lower outcomes than children who sit them when age appropriate - was a recent report.

Dd is at a high performing selective grammar, no-one sits exams early, they all do max 10 and then go on to achieve A*, A or B in every subject. They don't need to do more than that, what is the school trying to prove?

Doing so many courses is bizarre, your dd needs to have the time to study appropriate courses to the proper length.

Hope you manage to sort this out.

I sent you a PM

Sorry that was to Kez

Well she is doing 2 Btec at the end of yr 9 & 4 GCSEs at the end of yr 10

GCSEs are designed to be taken at the end of Y11, what on earth do they gain by sitting a load early? Really feel for you and your dd :(

Here you go :(

Thanks

I don't think we can get out of doing them early; but I do want to reduce the number of them

Spanish & Geog were started this year & will be finished next year

I read the OP to mean he could sort YOU out.

I would drop the BTECS as they are a complete distraction. Focus on 9 or maybe 10 GCSES.

REally silly doing them early.