I’m a long term follower and have rejoined MN within the last year but this is my first post with my new account. Sorry, it might be a long read!
My DD is 15 and in year 11, due to sit GCSEs next summer. Her school want initial A Level choices from her by 20th November (with final choices being set in February). We are somewhat at loggerheads over this, because I think she could be about to (potentially) make a big mistake! And yes, ultimately, I know it’s her choice, and she would have to live with the mistake.
Some background: Currently DD is taking Art, Drama, Spanish and PRE (philosophy, religion and ethics) as her options at GCSE. She is tracking at a 6-7/8 for most subjects. However currently working at a 5 in Maths, but has just had a change of teacher and is not happy with the teaching style of new teacher, having previously been tracking at a 6/7. (But that’s a different story!) She just got a 9 in her first piece of Drama coursework and her ultimate goal is to go to drama school after sixth form/gap year.
A Level choices that she is completely set on are Theatre Studies and Photography. However, they had a sixth form taster day at the end of year 10 and most of her friends did Psychology, so naturally she went with them. She is now adamant that this will be her 3rd choice A Level. She is absolutely not paying any attention to teachers who say that it is very science based. She thinks it will give her a ‘psychological edge’ when acting. (Despite advice saying that that’s unlikely!) She needs a level 6 in maths to do it, and that isn’t impossible for her but she does hate maths with a passion and swears under her breath every time the government mention carrying on with maths post GCSE! Her drama teacher and form tutor and the deputy head all feel that English Lit would be a better choice for her (Currently on track for a high 7 or 8 at GCSE.) BUT, and here’s the sticking point, she won’t consider it because she cannot stand her English teacher and they would potentially be one of 3 teachers to teach her at A Level and she can’t see past that. This teacher has really destroyed her love of a subject that she’s actually quite good at…and she’s still doing well at despite the personality clash with them.
So what can I do? (Her other potential choice is PRE but she wasn’t keen on how academic the philosophy portion seemed to be when she spoke to sixth formers who are taking the course.)
Should I flag the English issue with the school and see if I could get reassurances that she would be placed in the group for English that has the other teacher? I have encouraged DD to discuss options further with teachers and to express her concerns.
If she did Psychology and hated it (as we all very much suspect that she would) she may not be able to switch as it would depend on timetabling. But should I just give in and let her do the course despite all of the advice and my own personal opinion?
We have looked at alternative options for sixth form/college but of course there is no guarantee that she would get on with any teachers she had if she moved, and is it a ‘better the devil you know’ kind of situation? She is at a good school, the sixth form have very small class sizes and she is generally very happy there.
I’m at a bit of a loss because it’s very out of character for her to be quite this stubborn about something! Any advice would be really helpful, because we are going round in circles! (Thank you if you have read all of that!)