GCSE options School saying DS HAS to take Spanish - he hates it!

[Jungfraujoch]

So DS Yr 9 choosing options. OPTION being the key word here!

Top 2 sets in Spanish have to take it as an option. Sets below can choose whether they do or dont.

He is in the second set, hates it, doesn’t think he should be in that set anyway as he struggles.

He has chosen Product Design, Business and Geography. Instead of Spanish he’d like to do a Level 2 BTECH in Creative Digital Media but has been told not possible alongside Product Design as too much coursework!

My thinking is he will work much harder at Digital Media than Spanish.

We are waiting for the school to respond further but am interested to hear other people’s thoughts and experiences. Thank you

They can’t make him take it, but they can make it very hard not to.

They may suggest you take him elsewhere if you aren’t happy with the school, I’ve seen this happen.

Oliversmumsarmy I think GCSEs in science, history and Spanish will always be worth having! My dd did drama GCSE for the fun, but I would not have been happy with such a lack of academic rigour across her option choices. FWIW neither would any school I know.

clary I know a lot of younger people who have gone to drama school and dance schools who wouldn’t have been capable of doing more academic A levels.

I know a lot who couldn’t even get through the GCSEs. Most seem to have dyslexia.

No point in sticking a child in a class they have zero interest in the subject and even less ability to pass just because you want them to learn French or Biology because it looks good.
More than likely they will fail and end up with nothing.

I would hope that all kids in year 9 have now started the GCSE curriculum for Maths, English and Science. These new GCSE have so much content that they need to in order to get through all the work. Most of the local schools hear are although still starting there other options in year 10.

Are there any GCSE'S with coursework or are they control assessments. I was under the impression they had removed the course work. But I only work with science.

If you look at my earlier post, I don't see any point a student being made to do subjects they hate.

I just wouldn't have wanted my own children to choose only subjects like dance and art. And as I said, I don't know of any school that would allow that - most would encourage some element of academic rigour.

Most young people won't end up at dance or drama school, whether or not they are dyslexic. Not that dyslexia itself is a barrier to getting good GCSE grades. I agree that A levels are not for everyone, but that's not what's being discussed here.

I went to school in the days before Progress 8, ebacc, league tables and ofsted. We were required to do a language, an Art subject and a humanity as they wanted us to have a broad education. (Grammar school)

These sort of discussions must be unique to the UK. I don’t think there is any other education system that would allow DCs to opt out of a core academic education at this age that included a MFL even if they were leaving school age 15/16.

That's another thing that annoys me, most children with dyslexia can get good GCSE'S if given the right support. I could hardly read when I left primary but thanks to great support at high school and I got very good GCSE'S (I'm dyslexic). Although the new curriculum is way harder for children with these problems, the biggest issues is lack of funding for additional support in school.

I also agree that children need to obtain a broad understanding of subjects at this level, even if they don't go on to academic study. A lot of what they learn is needed in every day life even a basic understanding of science these days is actually quit important.

There seems to be some misunderstanding about dyslexia and getting GCSEs

In the past if anyone had a SEN there would be help if your dc was struggling to read/write/add up but now that help in a lot of schools isn’t there any more.

I think my own Ds (and fellow pupils who needed extra help) were one of the first wave to be managed out of the primary school they attended. I ended up having to HE him from year 4.
The school got rid of the SEN dept

We found if you can’t read by the first day of year 3 then any help in school was not there.

At home we would spend hours and many tears trying to do the homework.

If dc didn’t do the homework then they missed out on breaks and could only go and get lunch and then return to a classroom to stare at a blank piece of paper where they were supposed to do their homework.

I was called in several times to answer for ds’s refusal to write anything.

I explained that he couldn’t read and write.

There reply was that was not an excuse and he needed to be taught the NC and with that he needed to do the homework.

At one time I did ask the teacher if she was stupid.

This was 10 years ago and I saw what was going to happen and my forecasts have proven correct as more and more pupils with dyslexia and other SENs are withdrawn from school to be HE because school only works for a few

Oliversmum you have clearly had a very difficult personal experience and I apologise if my comments seemed directed at you personally.

It's important to avoid extrapolating from a few experiences to a general rule. While SEN budgets are bring cut, there IS still support and help in schools. I taught many students with dyslexia and helped them in any way I could. They were of differing abilities but many did well in their exams. A pal of DD's in yr 11 last year who is dyslexic got the best grades in the school.

For a few people school does not work, certainly, but IMO it dies, work fir most.

Does work for most, sorry

Popping back with an update.

So, he has to continue with Spanish. He’s not happy but there we go, I said perhaps we could find a fun Spanish tutor to help him get more excited about the subject!

And will be even more pissed off if when he gets to Yr 11 they say he can drop it because he’s doing so badly and concentrate on his other GCSEs - which is what happened to DS1!

That’s a shame OP. DD has just dropped Spanish at her options and is so much happier and relaxed knowing she won’t have to take it to GCSE. She loathes it. I’d hoped your DS’s school would allow some flexibility for you.

DD’s school tried to encourage everyone to take at least one vocational qualification this year. They put it across as a good idea to balance their options and on the options form it read as if one option had to be from the vocational list. DD didn’t want to do one and was getting upset until a teacher advised us that you could cross out the vocational option and write in any subject you wanted. Seems the school inferred it was compulsory but it actually wasn’t. Naughty and misleading imo.

I’d hoped your school was doing something similar and that they’d allow flexibility.

Sorry to hear this OP, I am only 19 ( So was only about five years ago for me). Thankfully all my choices were in the right boxes.

As someone who took drama, music, media studies and religion, it’s saddens me how many people think that young people should be allowed to study A subject that belongs to an industry that is worth up to £92 billion!! You do not know where the next Ken Loach will make his first film, you don’t know where the next Adele will write her first song or what the next Ildris Elbaa first school play will be!! I’m not saying it will be easy but as parents you should be encouraging your own children not putting limits on them, as all these actors, directors, musicians etc have to all come from somewhere.

So-called traditional subjects are not for everyone. I believe that it Is a complete misconception that coursework is easier than exams. I myself have ASD, so actually really struggled with coursework as I had bad concentration and I tricked myself into thinking that I had plenty of time and before I knew it the deadline would hit me meaning I would have to do it practically in one day. Where as in exams, I knew I had two hours ( had extra time) and was able to spend the whole day mentally preparing myself!!

I am currently studying the UAL level three extended diploma in acting. Why? Because although I was academically able to study A-levels, this course had a higher drama school/dance school acceptance rate, then the local sixth form. BY A LOT!

OP, it sounds as though you really care about your sons interest and I’m sorry he has to go through this. Wishing you well

Me again - just for clarity his other subjects are Geography, Product Design, Business and of course Maths, 2 English and Sciences.

The more I think about it the more cross I am at him being forced to take Spanish. Will chat some more with him and may go back all guns blazing after half term.

@Jungfraujoch I would definitely take this higher up the school. No student should be forced to take up one of their choices with a subject they actively dislike. The compulsory options like maths etc can’t be changed but the school should have flexibility to allow what’s best for the student, not the school. Perhaps a face to face meeting with senior leadership might help.

Thank you Shaggy. We got the usual talk about how unis look for a mfl, will give him better choices etc. He has no clue if he’d want to go to uni and personally I don’t think it’s a barrier. His school is known for pushing a levels and uni so I know their motives!

This myth that top uni’s demand a MFL is utter rubbish. Maybe if he wanted to study a language at degree level but given he hates it that’s unlikely I’m sure. Stand your ground with the school and insist that they concentrate on what’s good for your soon and not what looks good on their performance tables. It appears to be that they want him in the MFL for the EBacc stats which is very wrong if then if it’s not right for your son. I honestly think in your position I’d be taking it as high as I could. Good luck.

*son not soon

What is timetabled against Spanish? While the DC's school is VERY flexible (5 options, many subjects offered in several option blocks for maximum flexibility), the option blocks do correspond to timetable slots, so if e.g. not choosing to do a language at all, then the other subject chosen MUST be one that is in that option block; it can't be a random one from elsewhere.

If the school is refusing to allow your child to do an option that is timetabled against Spanish, just for EBacc stats, that is absolutely unreasonable. However, if the school is saying 'you can't do X instead of Spanish because it is timetabled in a different slot, when your DC is doing one of their other subjects', that is probably reasonable.

Having had more chats with DS2 we are definitely going to fight the school’s decision. He is not happy at all.

Good luck OP. I’m sure if only the top 2 sets are forced into Spanish then there clearly has to be some flexibility in it. Let us know how you get on.

We got the usual talk about how unis look for a mfl, will give him better choices etc. He has no clue if he’d want to go to uni and personally I don’t think it’s a barrier. His school is known for pushing a levels and uni so I know their motives!
So sad to hear that some schools are still pedaling this nonsense. No universities insist on a MFL these days. Times have moved on, unlike the advice some schools are giving ... sigh ...

Ofsted have confirmed they will be looking very closely to ensure that the majority of students are entered for the Ebacc and this means a language. Schools are under therefore a lot of pressure to ensure that the maximum number of students possible take a language to gcse.

"This myth that top uni’s demand a MFL is utter rubbish."

This ^^