Small disaster with GCSE options for next year

[JoanCallamezzo]

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!

Neither History nor Geography A levels require you to have done the GCSE at the 6th form colleges my y11 dd has applied to. I would ask your dd's school to put it in writing that she can choose either without the GCSE if she wants, might make you all feel better about keeping her options open

I was gong to make the same point. (I did RE A level without doing GCSE).

I did both History and Sociology at A Level with no GCSE as my school had a similar issue, I had to take Religious Studies which was rubbish. I also wanted to do both GCSE Art and Textiles which wasn't possible so I did textiles in art class. In your meeting I would insist that the school accommodates, after all they're the ones putting so much pressure on the students to pick the right subjects. Learning outside of school is too stressful. It's up to them to resolve it. Good luck

But she can do History
Yes but if she chooses two core subjects, geography and history, she is no longer able to choose her creative subject and therefore is being penalised.
Nothing wrong with Btecs if they don’t restrict other core choices. Art, geography and history are core subjects IMO and loads of DCs would like to keep their options open by doing all three (or instead of art, continuing with music or drama or sports / PE).

The equivalent here would be a scientist insisting that Art is more important to them than chemistry, and then feeling hard done by because they can't also do chemistry
Secondhand that is nonsensical. These are GCSE students who should be able to keep up a creative subject as well as doing their main academic subjects.

Another vote for Sociology. I think op is catastrophizing, its a great subject and it is not the end of the world to study it. The school is not letting you down, its just not physically able to magic up the combo of subjects you want. Its not just a matter of rejigging the timetables, it might mean hiring new staff or creating a new classroom. Sometimes its just impossible to be all things to all people.

Personally I would tell my DC to drop Art and take Photography. Art is such a time eater and that is something you really need at GCSEs. You can still do Art at A-level and definitely something that can be pursued easily extra-curricular.

Walkingdeadfangirl How is it catastrophising to be surprised and disappointed by a situation that was not forewarned in any sense by the school? And where exactly have I said that I expect them to rejig the timetables?! If you actually read my OP you'll see I was asking if anyone had managed to resolve a situation like this and then requested more info about Sociology! I have repeatedly said throughout the thread that we are trying to focus on the positives in the situation (ie the opposite of catastrophising). DD doesn't want to give up Art and she shouldn't have to. I suggest you read threads a bit more carefully in future before wading in with such useless comments!

sendsummer Agree totally with your posts, especially 'These are GCSE students who should be able to keep up a creative subject as well as doing their main academic subjects.' DD is still only 13 and it seems unfair to have limits of any sort placed on her choices at this stage.

Thanks to all of you who have made Sociology sound so interesting (I'd quite like to study it myself now!) and to those of you who've had similar situations that have all worked out in the end. Feeling a lot more positive and so is DD. I'll let you know how it all works out in the week!

Just to make it clear: my DD went to the LCF with Art and Photography A levels. So yes, they were what she needed and she’s creative.

No academic school would assume a DC couldn’t do these three subjects. Around me, Sociology isn’t available at the grammar schools. Just saying: Faz!

Sociology might be fascinating but it isn’t held in the same regard as History.

Also, just to add, in my OP I said I felt that DD was being let down by the school. This was in response to her being told on Thursday afternoon (pulled out of a class by the deputy head, which was a bit stressful for her!) that the school could not accommodate her combination of options, or give her her reserve subjects and could she immediately commit to a subject she hadn't even considered previously.

This came 8 weeks after she'd chosen her options, following 6 months of build-up to empower the students to choose the right subjects for them, her talking to all her teachers, parent consultations, options evenings, endless mentions of 'limitless aspirations', 'keeping doors open' etc etc – and at NO stage was the possibility of this situation occurring ever mentioned.

It did feel like a let down and I don't feel the school handled the situation, or the communication well. I don't think my reaction was unduly upset or 'catastrophising'. However, (and partly thanks to many of the posters on this thread) I am now feeling prepared for a positive discussion with the school next week, confident that we will find a way for DD to move forward happily, however it works out (and I certainly don't expect them to rejig the timetables just for my child.)

BubblesBuddy Yes, that was my initial worry about Sociology (although I'm feeling a lot better about it).

Oh and just to add, I dropped History at A Level (only got the AS) because I could only do two subjects and so I picked Sociology over History. Bloody love history but I've never needed to use my knowledge of the Russian Revolution in day-to-day life. Sociology is extremely interesting and very relevant. She should be allowed to study whatever she wants but IMO it's a win win either way

Thanks HoneyHarlow

Sorry op if you thought my comment was negative. It was not meant to be. I guess I was responding to the initial post saying its a 'disaster', 'deeply disappointed' etc. Try and look at the big picture, doing sociology rather than history will have zero impact on your DD prospects / life chances long term.

She is not having to give up art. And even if she didn't do a GCSE in art she would still not have to give up art. But as I said, like other posters, sociology is a perfectly good GCSE and if she does well she can still go to a great university and live the life she chooses.

It can make a huge difference if the school will not allow her to do History A level without the GCSE!

People who rate Sociology as identical to History are just wrong. Especially at A level. Definitely at degree level. These degrees are not about using what you learn, they are about using the way you think and your research ability. Plus History degrees usually require better A levels to access them. History degree holders from top universities have a wide choice of careers and do not expect to use what they learn in their jobs.

Sociology A level is useful for Sociology. History A level is favoured by top universities for many courses and there is a reason for this. (Point this out to the school!)

As DD will have Geography it is not a total disaster but it is for someone who wants to study History and the school has been poor in the way your DD was approached regarding changing subjects. It’s saying the right things in terms of making choices but not carrying them out because they have not timetabled for the choices offered.

I think it’s bad of the school to have presented options without making it clear. I’ve never heard of having to have backup options. With mine, the options were in blocks from the outset and there were no changes. You could pick what you wanted from each block. I’d go for sociology. Geography and history and sociology are very top heavy on the humanities front. She doesn’t need three of them. Any of them should be good enough to pick any of the others at A level with a good result at gcse. One of mine chose photography and sociology as some of her subjects at A level and hadn’t done either at gcse. Hadn’t even done art At gcse. Geography and re were good enough to get on sociology A level. Now at a top university, so it really doesn’t matter what is picked at gcse.

History and sociology are definitely not in the same category at a level but at GCSE it REALLY doesn’t matter.
I loved History GCSE though so I’d say drop geography

It does matter if DD wants History A level and the school want candidates to have dime the GCSE - as most schools do!

True Bubbles I just got the impression that OPs DD wouldn’t be overly inclined to do the A Level.

At my school you could do History a level without the GCSE (this would have been 3 years ago) but only if you had good GCSE grades.

I had this decades ago and did sociology as my last choice GCSE. It was better than feared and we did some survey work that was fun. My parents were really annoyed I had to do it. I thought who cares, it is not going to be on my A level choices and it’s way better than RE or PE. By the way, is triple science a way out?

ahem.

Sociology is not way better than RE or PE.

Well, obviously it is if you are more interested in it. But all three are perfeclty fine GCSES (although I've never been involved with a school who did Sociology GCSE so not sure how respected it is). RE and PE A levels are decent also.

As I said earlier Faz: my local grammar schools don’t offer it. It’s a subject that compliments History but doesn’t replace it. It’s a bit like comparing Economics and Business Studies. DD did BS but could not have done Economics. Her maths was not good enough. It’s also why Law A level isn’t good for a Law degree but History is.

Do let us know what the school says OP.

My dd did photography, media studies and sociology at A level and had done none of those subjects at GCSE level. Got an A and two Bs at A level - so not the top notch grades some seem to think you need- and got into a top ten Russell Group university, if that bothers you. It just doesn’t matter greatly and definitely not at GCSE.

It’s a subject that compliments History but doesn’t replace it. It’s a bit like comparing Economics and Business Studies. DD did BS but could not have done Economics. Her maths was not good enough.

I'm trying to think of a polite way to say that you have no idea what you're talking about, but I'm struggling.

my local grammar schools don’t offer it more than likely they don't have the staff to deliver it as there aren't a lot of suitably qualified teachers available rather than anything else

It’s a subject that compliments History but doesn’t replace it. It’s a bit like comparing Economics and Business Studies even the current DoE realise that these are 2 very different subjects (they removed anything remotely clise to another subject i.e. apparently IT is far to similar to Computer Science so its gone)

Schools would generally expect History to have been studied at GCSE for it to be taken at A Level but it isn't a specific requirement. In the academic and selective schools I have worked in, every three or four years someone would come along (usually new entrant) who hadn't done it but did it for A Level, being allowed onto the course because their general academic profile was strong and they had strong GCSEs in essay based subjects. It is possible, but a key question which is always asked is why they didn't take GCSE. It is unusual to want to do A Level and to have not chosen GCSE .....and in this scenario GCSE History is available not totally unavailable.

In all liklihood if she doesn't choose it for GCSE she won't actually choose it for A Level. It is an option for her now, but if she doesn't love it enough to pick it now, she probably won't later.....but the door is not totally closed in most places. It would be worth checking with the individual school though because when some schools struggle for cash and numbers and can't give everyone what they want, they might prioritise those with GCSE History.

The other thing is, if you don't do it at GCSE how can you be sure that A Level History is what you really want to do...it's a bigger gamble.

I agree it is shocking that a school is unable to offer a full academic curriculum to its academic students. Yes, not everyone might get exactly what they want but they should be offered an appropriate level of course and it is simply not true to say all courses are equally valuable. Vocational courses might be exactly right for lots of students, but if those who should be pursuing academic courses get channel led into them because if timetabling restrains, something is going wrong and the needs of the students not met. An a academic student should be able to take a good range of academic subjects if they wish.

To be honest, the thing with this which I'd be picking up with the school - their failure to provide a suitable level curriculum for that child. People would complain if those struggling were all pushed onto hard academic courses - a lack of academic courses for the academic is also a failure to provide.