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Original poster

Small disaster with GCSE options for next year

171 replies

JoanCallamezzo · 03/05/2019 15:53

DD (yr 9) was told yesterday that school can’t accommodate her GCSE options now that they have worked out the timetable – she can’t do Geography, History and Art together and has to drop one. She loves (and is pretty good at) all 3 but is most committed to Art and Geography, so it looks like she’ll have to drop History. However, the only alternatives she’s been offered are Music (she doesn’t even play an instrument), Photography (not allowed in combination with Art), 3 vocational non-GCSE courses (Hospitality, Child Development, Health - none of which are right for DD) and Sociology (which is the only viable option but DD has zero interest in it and I feel it is quite limiting as a subject compared to the breadth and scope offered by History).

We are deeply disappointed and feel that DD, who works hard, and was on track for good grades in all three of her choices, is being let down quite badly by the school. She's really upset and stressed. It is being presented as a fait accompli and DD was told she had to decide by today (we have asked for more time and for a meeting to discuss.)

Has anybody managed to resolve a situation like this or do we just have to suck it up and find a way to help DD feel happy about Sociology and less sad about dropping History?! Any ammunition for our meeting next week would be great, as would opinions on Sociology over History at GCSE!

OP posts:
TeenTimesTwo · 03/05/2019 18:37

To be fair to the school, she can do Geography and History together, but not Art as well as both of those.
The school will (probably) have worked out its timetable in a way to meet the choices of as many pupils as possible. The OP's DD has been unlucky.

PerspicaciaTick · 03/05/2019 18:41

I did Sociology and then studied it in combination with Economics at university. It is a very flexible and interesting subject.

bookmum08 · 03/05/2019 18:53

I did Sociology as an extra gcse in 6th form. Looking back of all my subjects I did I think it was probably my favourite and the most interesting and some of the topics we studied made me think about certain things in life that I still believe or am interested in now (I took the gcse 27 years ago). Does she not really unders what the subject is? As she is interested in History then I would of thought she would find this interesting too.

Bimkom · 03/05/2019 19:48

Are there any options for moving school? Is it worth phoning around local schools (if any) to find out if these options are a possibility there? In London I think there might be some sorts of FE colleges that also do GCSEs. There are online alternatives as well (although you have to pay). Most won't do Art, but probably most would do History - Interhigh or the like. Might be worth having a look through those and see if they are a possibility. School might not be receptive to her doing one subject separately, and having her sit in the library during the one block, but you never know.

TeenTimesTwo · 03/05/2019 20:14

I really wouldn't move school over having to do one less-than-ideal GCSE. The disruption could impact across the board.
I also wouldn't try to 'self study' - GCSEs are hard enough even when being taught.
She/you need to decide which subject is most expendable and which of the exchange options are least bad.

AppleKatie · 03/05/2019 20:21

Have a look at your local colleges. Often they do evening gcse courses she could do history that way.

Figure8 · 03/05/2019 20:25

Go for sociology. It's probably broader than history anyways.

PS I love history, but the curriculum is so narrow.

Original poster
JoanCallamezzo · 03/05/2019 20:29

Thanks so much to all of you who offered such kind and constructive advice (ie everyone apart from SaltSpoon Smile). Obviously we understand that shit happens and that it is a massive logistical nightmare for the school to sort out, but it doesn't mean that we should just accept it without pushing back a bit and seeing if anything can be done to get around this unfortunate situation when our daughter is so upset. Ihatemyself your post sums up exactly why I am so cross about it all!

Moving schools is definitely not an option – it's a great school and this is literally the first time anything unfortunate has happened. DD is thriving there.

I guess we'll just have to see what they say in the meeting next week and hope that a solution can somehow be worked out - and if not focus on the positives in the situation. It's good to read some positive comments about Sociology and we will definitely try to find out more about the subject and encourage DD to feel more positively about it, especially if it really is the only option for her.

OP posts:
Doyoumind · 03/05/2019 20:32

How much does she know about the sociology curriculum? I don't know her, of course, but I think she might actually find it interesting. Could it be is scary because it's new to her?

Hellohah · 03/05/2019 20:43

Will they do one as an extra period lesson?
At DS's school they do a couple of subjects as period 6 (normally 5 lessons a day). Art is one of them. Guess it's the willingness of the teachers?

shouldwestayorshouldwego · 03/05/2019 21:02

We were told that not doing GCSE History would not be a barrier to doing A level History. As pp said the History curriculum is fairly narrow so A level won't necessarily directly build on GCSE. Possibly the analytical skills in sociology would help her if she decided to do A level History. I would though be proposing that as the situation is of their creation that they might be flexible if she wanted to go for history A level.

mummymayhem18 · 03/05/2019 23:01

My daughter has chosen her options now in Year 8 and at her school they start there options timetable in Year 9. Is it the same for all of you?>A year earlier than when I was at school years ago 🤣

PerspicaciaTick · 03/05/2019 23:21

My DD chose her options in y9 and started GCSE courses in y10.

EatsFartsAndLeaves · 03/05/2019 23:42

Sociology is great, do see if she can have a look at the main text book to get a better idea of what's covered. It goes very well with the other subjects and would be perfect for A level Politics, Geography, History, Art and many others.

Scabetty · 03/05/2019 23:47

Sociology is a good subject to do.

SecondHandTicking · 03/05/2019 23:55

My best friend ended up "lumped" with sociology because of timetabling and she ended up finding it one of her favourite subjects. On the BBC Back in Time for School programme they said something along the lines of sociology having come from wanting to teach secondary modern students a social science that was directly relevant to today's (back then) world.

I understand your worry about losing the opportunity to do History A level, but I think if this were a strong possibility she'd be picking it over Art now.

gleegeek · 04/05/2019 00:19

The history syllabus is narrow but HUGE! My dd who loves history, has hated the GCSE Sad She's going to do a-level history though because she's been told it's nothing like gcse... We were also told by the 6th form that you definitely don't need gcse history to do the a-level. The people who did art and history this year have really struggled with the quantity of work required to keep your head above water. I'd encourage the sociology!

SecondHandTicking · 04/05/2019 00:30

mummymayhem no ours are choosing in Y9 for Y10, but the other 2 schools we looked at were doing options in Y8.

Really glad now that DD had an extra year before having to choose, as she is loving the breadth of KS3. However it may come back to bite us!

rosablue · 04/05/2019 01:19

If there's overlap between art and photography, could she do photography in lessons but self study - with a bit of guidance from her nice teacher - in art = to end up with both of them? If lots of it is done by spending time on drawing out of class anyway, something that she would like to do for enjoyment, it might be one fo the few that are do-able without too much teacher guidance, especially if she is good.

Someoneonlyyouknow · 04/05/2019 01:56

I'm sure you will have looked carefully but there isn't an option to do any of History, Geography or Art in place of one of her other choices?

Failing that, swop Sociology for History - it will feel like studying modern social history and use a lot of the same skills. It may also open up more possibilities at A level and beyond.

If the school are unable to change what they have offered then try to be positive going forward and make the best of it for your DD's sake. Don't dwell on what might have been.

Meredith12 · 04/05/2019 05:40

Sociology is my dd's favourite subject. She finds it so interesting. It's a very broad subject and helps with research skills and essay writing.

mummymayhem18 · 04/05/2019 07:50

Sociology has been a popular choice especially for my daughters friendship group. My daughter has chosen her top 5 as Art,Geography,History,Sociology and Spanish to get the Ebac part of it. The 3 reserves were RE, Media Studies, and Food & Nutrition. I'm really hoping she does get Sociology as I think it would be a very good and interesting subject to do. I'm worried as she only put it down as her 4th choice and a lot of people have also picked it that she won't get it. I'm keeping my fingers crossed 🤞. I'm 99% sure she will get Art and Geography as her teachers had said at parents evening that they think she should choose it and hope she does. So a tense few months wait until she finds out in the Summer Holidays.

soccerbabe · 04/05/2019 07:58

IME sociology is interesting and surprisingly rigorous as a GCSE option. As pp have suggested I would try and get school to agree that she can take History at A level without the GCSE, given the circumstances.

Original poster
JoanCallamezzo · 04/05/2019 09:53

Thanks SO much everyone, I can't tell you how much your posts have helped me to get my thoughts in order about this and be ready to talk through the options with the school - and probably more importantly to feel more positive about the option of DD doing Sociology instead of History, which does sound like it could be a good thing for her.

I had totally assumed that she wouldn't be able to do History A level if she hadn't done it at GCSE so it's really encouraging to hear that's not necessarily the case - will definitely raise this with the deputy head.

DD is on a sleepover with her best friend so we haven't really talked about it since the immediate upset on Thursday. I'll make sure we have some calm time to talk it over this weekend and all the advice you've given will really help. I feel much more confident now that we will find a solution she is happy with, even if it is a compromise, so thank you all! Flowers

OP posts:
Mistigri · 04/05/2019 10:07

Just a few thoughts from a pragmatic point of view.

Geography once you get to degree level is a more "science-y" subject than history. For a humanities buff who is not so great at maths, I think it would be a mistake to prioritise geography over history.

Art is a time-eater and results seem weirdly uncorrelated with actual artistic ability. I have a friend whose daughter is predicted to get one below the top grade. She has professional level drawing/illustration skills and her painting is pretty impressive too (I have a degree in fine art myself and she's better than I ever was).