AQA 'fast track' triple science mistake. How to salvage this!

[Erebus]

DS, Y10 is in a high performing state comp. The science option was either 'normal' double or 'fast-track' triple (same lesson time given over for 3 as for 2 sciences). His end-of-Y9 science teacher suggested he'd be 'in the top double science set', which he was unhappy about. To be fair, this school does have a bit of a reputation for not 'allowing' DC to take subjects they might not get at least an 'A' in; and DS's stronger subjects are science and maths as opposed to arts or humanities- and DS wanted to do triple science. DH and I went in to see the Head of Science who assured us DS would be capable of triple science but should be prepared to 'work hard' to keep up not so much with the level but with the pace of it.

Here we are, 2 terms in, and yes, DS is struggling to effectively self-teach a third of the science curriculum, that being the third there's no time to cover in class. I'd be happy if they sent home work sheets to guide him about what he's supposed to be covering out-of-hours but he appears to be just getting ordinary science homework, which isn't always done to the highest level. I can't help much because I wasn't sitting in the lesson!

He's very much '14' and not yet mature enough to see the implications of not doing as well as he might in his Science.

There don't appear to be many, if any, science GCSE tutors locally; we have the recommended AQA revision guides but I wonder if there's more he could be doing? An on-line course?

I am hoping to be able to persuade the school to allow him to drop one (tech) GCSE in Y11 in order to free up some time in order to do some extra science but he'd still need to know what to study! The school know (as do we following a bit of a lack-lustre report) that DS isn't doing as well as he's capable of but I get that they have 279 other DC to worry about as well.

His fear is that he might not get a good enough mark to be able to do an A level in a science, and he wanted to do 'triple' anyway to lessen that gap between GCSE and A level we're constantly being told about. But 3 low grade science GCSEs will be less use in the long term than 2 better double science- and, bio is his weakest subject so he didn't want a 'lesser grade' in bio to haul down his physics and chem, which theoretically it wouldn't if they were quarantined from each other as in triple, iyswim.

Any thoughts?

We've spoken about this before haven't we?!

Please just talk to the teacher. You are missing the point.

OP I have two year 10s at different schools both taking the compressed triple. The fact is the pace is fast. There's a lot to cover, particularly in biology. DD's school seem especially keen to plough through the content to ensure all is covered early in year 11 to leave time for revision. DD has a hell of a lot of science homework.

I think in your place I would ask the school if they have any plans to give after school/lunchtime/holiday intervention lessons for children not reaching their targets. Many schools hold catch-ups and revisions in the Feb half term and Easter holidays of Y11 so make sure you don't book to go away then.

I think oddboots makes a good point.

Students at DD's school can recieve 1-2-1 tutorials at any time if they ask. Very useful if a student isn't feeling confident, or they've missed a lesson or two for whatever reason.

FWIW, I think the current year 10s may be feeling their teachers' nervousness, given the change in GCSE structure.

Teachers who have been very successful in modular GCSEs, may be worrying about the outcomnes for their students now things are changed. I certainly think at DD's school this has resulted in an acceleration of pace.

DS school has always done iGCSEs so nothing has changed there (they were always linear) for the teachers, so less uncertainty IYSWIM.

Folks, I know which school.
DD has friends there in year 10 and 11 - she checked with them on Facebook.
DH does work there.
OP has the wrong end of the stick.
End of.

talkin why are you trying to shut down the OP's conversation?

I don't think it's unusual for a parent to not quite get what the school's approach is, especially if it's a disgruntled or stressed child or teen relaying the info. It might seem like the school is expecting him to self-teach, and if he's seeing stuff for the very first time as homework I can see how the OP might think that, but really the best advice has already been given repeatedly. Talk to the school!

This kind of preparation is really valuable for later education IMO. My DB struggled hugely at university at first because he had no concept of pre-reading/getting to grips with basic concepts and then just floundered in lectures and seminars.

I contributed under another user name to the OPs thread about choosing double/triple at about this time last year and I also remember which school is in question. I'm not stalking you OP, I know children who went to that school, I can assure you I haven't got a spreadsheet cross-referencing every thread I've ever contributed to! Your defensiveness over this subject and refusal to consider that perhaps your son should have taken double instead of triple is fairly easy to remember as well.

As others have pointed out, pre-reading does not constitute students teaching themselves a third of the course.

I have to ask, if you are only going to consider advice from people who know you/your ds/your school, what is the point of posting on here? People can only contribute from their own perspective.

Last year, you said your son was young for his age and didn't understand the implications of not keeping on top of the work, you are saying the same thing this year, despite the fact that GCSE work has now started. Are you prepared to consider at all that this is the WRONG course for him and that he should in fact be doing double? Your are not cutting off future A levels or career paths for him because the brutal truth is that if he can't cope with a particular subject level of work at this stage of the academic game, he is unlikely to be able to continue along that career path anyway.

I haven't read another thread and only read through this one quickly.

Firstly, I am almlst 100% confident that the HOY has it wrong. It's the kind of thing I can jear one of out HOYs saying. Why are you not speaking to the HOD or ks4 coordinator in Science? The HOY doesn't5 know the ins and outs of a subject's course.

Is your DS taking an exam this summer? In our scjool, the triple group take biology in yr10 (by the way, you have missed the point about the A gtade thing for triple science. The school say that pupils who are A grade students can take triple because it requires such a fast pace. A B or C grade student would not cope with the skimming over the basics and the pace-as you now lnow. It is not about it looking good. The school doesn't get marked on number of A grades in a set-and neither does the teacher in our school. It is compared to their target etc).
If your ds is taking an exam, then yes it is probably too late to change.
But. If all of his exams are next year, then I don't see the technical reason why he can't drop down to double. He will have probably covered most of the modules needed for double and would almlst certainly have cove re d what is needed for Core science. He will have done extra iyswim. He can then go into the double set and probably have to recover things but at a more appropriate pace. The only issue I can see is the he may be required to do another controlled assessment. Annoying for the teacher-but not the end of the world.

If he has got an exam, you realise you only have about 3 weeks? Our 'double' yr 10s have core this summer too, so your ds would have to either be entered late (at cost) or be entered next year.

I am so sorry about all those typos . Btw, I am a science teacher.

If he is 'teaching himself' 1/3 of the syllabus then he would be able to drop to double.

If you are right then this is the only school in the country that does this and it is a crazy idea and no one would come out with AAA.

If he is not completing homework to a good standard why not?

These are HIS GCSEs. He should take some responsibility.

Look, chaps.

Start by re-reading the thread title:

Triple Science MISTAKE. At the time of DS's options, a decision was taken based on a) his interests, b) his aptitudes, c) his abilities. Whilst a young NQT teacher who had known DS for all of 6 weeks thought he should go into a 'top' double award class for GCSE, the highly experienced Head of Science (note, not Head of Year in this instance) whom we met with personally; me, DH and DS, agreed that on balance DS would be able to achieve well in Triple Science. I should add, for fairness- though maybe I don't need to as half of you seem to be following me closely thus can probably quote me!- that I discovered between DS being suggested double and us seeing the HoS, that the school don't offer normal paced triple. Which would have been ideal for DS. But he wanted to do Triple, the HoS who is in charge of a very successful Science GCSE programme at the school, felt he was able, though cautioning there'd be no swapping to double. So, I think I can fairly say that it wasn't necessarily my mistake, we went to the experts and sought advice. I don't think it was the school's mistake, as such either. DS was achieving well in science and meeting all his quite high targets and wants/wanted to do 'science' as a career but is weaker and less interested in Biology, and here the HoS agreed with us; that a poorer performance in biology double science would bring his overall mark down; doing less well in stand-along Biology still left Physics and Chemistry safely 'ring-fenced'. As it is he'll need 'B's for the A levels he wants to take -anyone here like to start quoting me what grades their local 6th form require to prove I must be lying?... currently though although he'll very likely pass his triple subjects, he may well not get that B. All his exams are to be taken at the end of Y11 to whoever asked.

So, anyway, he was put in a Triple class. Which he's struggling to keep up in due to the sheer volume of work and having to cover stuff at home that he could use the teacher's input into.

I'm sure Talkin can fill you all in on this via asking her DD's 14 year old friends who are actually at the school in question, via FB, how it all works. Though why those 14 year olds can be relied upon to know whereas mine can't eludes me. You have always come across as a bit of an expert about this school despite having no DC there, and a family member who drops in a couple of times a year. TBH, I do sense some jealously from time to time even though your DC are at a nearby, excellent school ('gerrymandered catchments...').

How did it go.. 'End of'?

Yes, a year ago when GCSE decisions were made DS, like an awful lot of 13 year old boys, wasn't seeing 'the big picture' about his education. Do people really think that we should have made him choose the soft, easy options at GCSE just in case he never matured enough to knuckle down of his own accord? I guess some do: I recall talking on here about DS's needing help to get stuck in with homework and revision and being soundly told that I was wrong and that I wouldn't be there to chide him onwards at university thus shouldn't, now ...

But we are where we are, now.

DH and I went in and saw the HoY last week due to a lacklustre report (where the info about self-teaching came from, the HoY, not DS) so we are 'talking to the school'! Some general strategies have been put in place but any work DS was planning on doing over these hols has been 'back-burnered' by his impending (Y10) Business/IT GCSE.

Telling me how your school does it, unexpected, is all very interesting but does not constitute help or advice, does it?

Coconutty- you may be confusing me with someone else: DS always wanted Triple, it was a NQT who suggested DS (and several others now also in Triple) did Double. But sadly, and oddly, tutors seem to be in short supply around here!

Sashh -I can only tell you what the HoS told me: that 'dropping back' wasn't an option beyond the first 6 weeks as the syllabi diverged, or maybe 'the way it's taught' diverges. As it is, his timetable says 'Science', not P1, C2, B1, P3 etc.

I genuinely want to thank all those who have offered practical suggestions, support and solutions to this dilemma; but yes, I am defensive because I have effectively been attacked and gloatingly mocked by several on here who are delighted that my son is struggling as it will serve me right for being so full of myself that I overrode everyone to insist DS did Triple, against all advice.

Which is not the case at all.

But again, thanks for the support and useful suggestions.

Op - look at the mygcsescience.com videos - they effectively teach each topic. Get your DS to do them before they do the topic in lesson. He does need to put the time and effort in. Triple science isn't any harder than double science according to my DDs, it is just more work. The third module is actually smaller than the first two modules.
Fortunately at my DDs' school, triple science uses up an extra option so they get more lesson time but they do still struggle to cover the syllabus in time.

Erebus,
I'm certainly not mocking you. I'm trying to help.

I don't think we are talking about my school (all though some of this rings true) but my own HOD (sci) has made decisions like your ds's that the rest of the department are screaming "wtf?". He also agrees that most of his pupils can cope with triple and puts them in (class of 33 anyone?) and then the weaker ones struggle and some have to drop down after a while.

Your HOY is correct when she says the teaching 'diverges'. But what the HOY doesnt maybe understand, is that it is an extra 6 modules to do triple compared to double. Those 6 modules wont all have been taught yet. Even if your ds' s school teach them so that they cover all of one subject first for example.

It is entirely possible for him to drop down to double. He will have to recover a lot of work this last term and next year. But it spunds like this will be of benefit?

You haven't said about any exams this summer? Do his school take all exams in yr11? Or are core sci and one sepearte gcse taken now? This will have a massive impact on whether he can drop down.

If the school said he could, would he want to?

Hi Party - AQA is 3 extra modules - 1 in each science. AQA sciences only have 3 modules each. I think it may be OCR that have 6 modules per science. Its very confusing that all the boards differ!

yes, you're right. They are all the same prinicple though? I'd assume that a triple group would still cover the core modules first as these are what the later modules build on.

I think DD's school has organised it so that the extra stuff for triple has been covered as and when it's come up, rather than leaving it to the end IYSWIM.

This means that no girl will have the option to drop down to double, but it seems to make more sense for the extra to be in context.

Erebus I'm sure you're lovely in RL but on here you do sound a bit bonkers! I'm amazed that you are able to see and recall just what you want and to miss the bleeding obvious.

Your OP asked how to rescue the situation that your DS is now in and how your DS can self-teach the missing topics. The replies are telling you that there isn't a missing 1/3 of the curriculm and that it's all covered in class. That it's taught using flipped learning so that the condensed timetable can be spent on teacher-led activies to consolidate the pre-learning which has taken place at home. In your previous thread you were concerned that the double didn't prepare your DS enough for A level, which is why you wanted him to do triple. The flipped learning approach they are taking in the triple does as it teaches the DS to use a studying approach used in HE/FE.

Yet you are still harbouring the notion the HOY (who isn't part of the science department) told you which is that your DS will only be taught 2/3 of the curriculum and that he has to teach himself the rest. You seem unwilling to accept that you/ your DS have possibly misunderstood the situation. You have science teachers on this thread talking about how they teach the triple curriculum in a double timetable and Talkinpeace who has categorically told you based on her DH's professional involvement with the science department in question that your understanding of the situation is wrong. I can only echo Talkinpeace.

Then you have been advised to contact the teacher and speak to him directly about your concerns and how your DS is struggling to keep up with the pace. Open a dialogue with him instead of on mn. Discuss with him what you can do to help your DS cope and acheive his potential. This will save you tying yourself in knots and arguing on here with people who are trying to help but you are telling they're wrong because they don't know the school or your DS. Speak to someone (in RL) who does.

OK so dropping back isn't an option.

I'll ask again, why isn't he completing homework to a high standard? Surely that is the thing you, as a parent, can control?

What and when is he studying / teaching himself? Why do you think dropping a subject and allowing him more time would be effective if it is not effective if he is at home.

Are any other students in the same situation?

If it is 'teach yourself' the 1/3 that makes it triple why can't he attend normally and then just sit the double exams?

Get a tutor.
Else, It won't be the end of the world if he only gets Cs or maybe a D or 2. He can do some different A-levels from what he planned. Life is full of unexpected turns. That's what makes it fun.

sashh / holiday
this is not a big tutoring part of the country : OPs school is one of the highest performing "comps" in the country
they have the answers
she just needs to talk to them

DH often gets asked by parents to do tutoring but he turns them down because a) he doesn't have any time and b) they already pay a premium to live in catchment so shouldn't be having to pay extra to tutors. He tells the parents that the school will give more help to the student if they need it. Which is what will happen in this case if OP gets around to contacting them.