Urgent: GCSE v BTEC

[LookingThroughTheLookingGlass]

Help

DD choosing options
Deadline is tomorrow so quick answers needed!!

Wants to drop German and take up BTEC hospitality (food tech)

I didn’t do German so am no use when it comes to helping her if she needs it- she’s really not confident speaking (sounds ok to me though) and listening....

I can’t cook, can’t help her with hospitality either
Also I think I’ve just discovered I’m a qualification snob...its a BTEC not a GCSE and that worries me

She doesn’t want to do a job with either of these but is very interested in hospitality

What should we do??!

My DDs went to boarding school and I didn’t help them with anything! You don’t have to help your DD! Let her do her own work.

Why are people saying she should do German as "she may like it" - presumably she has done it for two-three years and wants to drop it because she doesn't like it? I would not want to reach GCSE to a student who didn't want to study it.

I do think German is possibly one of the most difficult GCSEs to do well in. If she doesn’t want to do it now, I would let her swap to BTEC hospitality.

Might be too late, but definitely check what the BTEC covers because as Bert says it won't just be cooking. I would expect it to cover front of house / waiter / bar work too.

Spoken to (fantastic) head of sixth form about the English baccalaureate and their take in it was that it’s a flagging govist throwback that no one really ever valued anyway and is increasingly going out of fashion

Further googling has shown that this seems to be a common thought and few if any sixth forms/colleges and only one uni ever look for. So I’m glad I did some research.

Interesting the crappy tories seem trying to force languages and drive for a higher standard at gcse/a level etc as they fear that after the Brexit shambles we are going to need all the (help) linguists we can get as a matter of urgency
Sod the fact that not every one likes/wants to study them
I truly think that learning languages is an extremely great skill, but at the same time, boring to many and in my daughters case, a source of stress and a confidence shatterer.
We are lucky/lazy as English is prevalent and we shouldn’t force kids to study stuff they really don’t have an interest in.... Don’t get me started on some of the algebra they have to do and chemistry equations!

Conclusion: I’m going with my heart over my head, my mum opinion over my teacher one and letting her choose. After all we have to do so much rubbish as adults that we don’t have a choice in, she might as well make the most of not being in that position as a teen.

Yes, the EB is a serious red herring. If you're looking down a list of schools it could, I suppose, be used as a very broad indicator of the School's approach to traditional academic subjects, but I have never heard of it being used to assess students, only schools. One very well regarded school near me has incredibly low EB rates because it has an excellent RE department and many scientists in particular choose RE as their humanities option and it doesn't count for the EB.

Forget the label of EB, the mixture of subjects it contains is good for most DCs aiming at academic degrees.
I don’t really get a feel from your posts whether your DD truly is considering a future for hospitality or is just saying that to get out of doing German. Languages are really important (nothing to do with politics) especially for hospitality but GCSE German is not for her. I would suggest that she does speaking classes in a language if she seriously wants to do hospitality. The British come across as rather uneducated to other nationalities for their inability to even try with other languages.

I also would be concerned about course work for doing both art and hospitality. However again the art might be helpful if she is thinking of the more creative side of hospitality (the design and fittings). I take it there was no other attractive choice in the art group (and this post is too late).