Pastoral Care in school Sixth Form

[knittingwithnettles]

ds2 is struggling in A2. He is doing three A levels and finding all difficult (think D standard atm)

He has dyspraxia (diagnosis from age 13) and finds it difficult organising his thoughts on paper and crucially finds himself easily distracted from actual work. His sleep patterns are not particularily good. His attendance and punctuality are excellent. He hands in work, but it is always of a mediocre/poor standard, although always on time.

The school when contacted about his efforts and what we should jointly do to help him (ie school and parents) said he was 17 and it was time for him to take responsibility and they could not differentiate coursework deadlines etc. Am I right in thinking that they should in fact address this as a pastoral issue/and or educational issue related to his dyspraxia and low self-awareness not be telling him to pull his socks up. Which is essentially what they have suggested for last 7 years?

He does school related extra-curricular stuff which is to do with his A level but otherwise nothing sociable. He is in all weekend, he never goes out with mates, unless to the cinema by himself or with a cousin, or his siblings at a pinch. He is very shy.

I am feeling a bit frustrated by school's approach. They give him TA help but the whole mentoring side...there seems to be no way of monitoring his progress or flagging up academic issues to us - he is supposed to be "independent". Tbh he will always say he is fine if asked... The latest straw is the coursework, which will probably be a D and needs to be in two weeks. He has done it himself and it is terrible. Surely they should have mentioned (the department concerned) that this was of some concern??? earlier??? Not to dictate it but just so we could remind ds to look over criteria etc ask him what he had planned? If he had planned anything at all?

of course I understand that the coursework is meant to be entirely independent. It is just that he does not seem to have understood how to go about producing it - the skills I mean rather than the content...

If he was at university he would have been given an academic mentor of some kind to help him with organisation/confidence - with a diagnosis of dyspraxia that seems to be the norm

I've rung the SEN department to ask for their input - just feel exhausted having to constantly chase people when I assumed by now the teachers and pastoral side were working together.

Sixth form funding has been slashed massively, schools can't really afford pastoral care in sixth form any more.

what makes me so cross (and is exacerbating my present rage) is that in order to get extra funding they insisted all students started with 4 A levels for a term and a half. This was completely unsuitable for ds1, he is struggling with 3 now, and in the process of not coping with 4, he managed to ditch the 3rd subject as well as the 4th last year (now on a completely new subject subsidiary diploma) They have ample proof that he was not coping particularily well last year; they wasted so much time dealing with the academic fallout of that, why not put a tiny bit of effort communicating with us regularily now before things start going pearshaped?

And as far as funds go, they must have spent plenty of money using a TA to support him in class in one subject, I would have rather that money went on pastoral support so that he had the confidence to go out and do sport, go to the theatre, go to museums all the things you do in sixth form which keeps you sane, engage with the world...and motivated to do your academic subjects.

Feel better now for ranting. There is nothing to be done, just have to stay calm and accept the inevitable D's..[sigh] probably encourage him to try retaking some next year..at a new school

If it makes you any less ragey, the school won't have received any extra funding for making them start 4 A-levels. Money won't have been the reason as students are only funded for 3.

SEN money would probably be a different pot and a different department to sixth form - there probably isn't the capacity to offer the pastoral support that you want. There's no money for sixth forms, the situation is dire. On that note, if you're considering a Y14, he is unlikely to be accepted into a new school, I'm afraid - funding again.

There is still time to help him improve his coursework?

They get an uplift for teaching a certain number of hours per student. Ds was encouraged to stay in lessons when he had already decided to leave that A level - they said if he just attended and did no homework that was fine. It was about hours of "study" that the school recorded as offering. This was in January Feb March in A1. I begged them to let him drop an A level in November, they refused, why would they refuse unless it was a funding issue?

this is Nov 2016

There's an uplift for students who take and do well in 4 A-levels. No idea what the school was up to, unless their teaching hours are very low and they needed to bump them?

Does he have extra time in exams and use a laptop?

I think he has extra time in exams, but I will have to make sure of that too. He certainly didn't have extra time at GSCE, which was a big mistake. He doesn't use a laptop in exams but his writing is fine, it is just the processing and organising of ideas which is slower.

What would be "low" teaching hours noble?