Number of GCSE - Urgent Advice Please.

[GrumpyMuleFan]

My son is in y10 and first year of GCSE. He is very dyslexic and not strong academically. He is studying seven gcse, with the idea that he focuses on quality, not quantity. He works very hard and is on course to pass everything, with low to solid grades. All good. Apart from art, where he is really struggling.

This has been a real curve ball for us as up until now it's been his favourite subject. He's had a teacher change, doesn't seem to gel with the new one and in a set with all girls. He feels wrong footed with various assignments and has spent many, many hours on it. Over Christmas he had two preps - one was 5 hours, the other was 15. We stopped counting hours at 18 on the first one. The second one we all helped with.

He's at boarding school, so it is difficult for us to help him. We've done a couple of zooms where we've researched the artists and the mind maps and his response. We worked together for most of Sunday and I thought we were back on track.

He's been upset about this since Christmas and feels that he can't put more into it. I've been in touch with the teacher several times and she is nice and makes helpful noises, but isn't really helpful. I asked for more info on the project - the brief and mark scheme. She sent me a link to the exam board specification. We have a list of questions to answer, but so far have got all our information from You Tube. I am feeling overwhelmed and can see why my son is.

This morning he has been put on report that he is likely to fail the first coursework project, deadline 19th March.

Sorry to ramble, but wanted to give the whole picture ...

I'm wondering if he should drop art and focus on the other six? Would that be a really bad idea? He wants to go onto sixth form and possibly further education.

I think that learning to draw is a useful skill to have as an adult, and he should carry on, and improve his skills, but not stress too much about the actual grade he gets.

Art GCSE is known to be a time killer and it's also not necessarily aimed at those who are good at art - as your son has discovered there is a large "creation of portfolio" element - it's not just about learning to draw

I'm not sure how you can "fail" a project, other than by not submitting it- so the school are clearly not being very helpful here.

5 GSCEs will generally get you onto Level 3 vocational qualifications, so in terms of number (assuming English and Maths are in the mix) he would be ok to drop art.

It sounds like you need a proper conversation with the school about how best to support your DS.

Art GCSE is well known for being an absolute time thief. You can take as long as you allow yourself to on it. It’s actually a great subject for learning the discipline of when to stop!

It’s a great subject for checking what you need to do because there are LOADS of real example online. In lots of school websites, with photos and grades, and TikTok is awash with funny (but also useful) teens declaring that if you still have your mental health intact at the end, you’re doing it wrong 😉

Are you paying for the school? (looks like possible as boarding). In that case, I’d be more - politely - demanding of specific feedback on what he’s going to fail.

He won’t fail btw because that’s an internal deadline.

I’d speak to whoever manages his pastoral care -form tutor, boarding house lead?

If you had the whole family working on this then it sounds like you’re doing too much of something and not enough of another.

Have you looked at portfolios on line and see how the compare for quantity?

“We have a list of questions to answer, but so far have got all our information from You Tube.”

What’s the issue with that?

Thank you for all the replies. Lots to think about!
@Testina I've asked his tutor if we can have a chat. We feel very torn between learning to manage time and focusing on what he needs to do on his other subjects. We've spent a lot of time looking at portfolios and I think it's down to his organisation and feeling overwhelmed.

@Stonehill that is a very nice perspective and idea. I'm going to talk to him about that. It would def take heat out of the situation.
@Testina thank you - that's really helpful. We have been so amazed at what we've found online. I wish we had more direction from the art teacher. Then I could help him break down what he needs to do. He said that most of it is verbal and he has typed some notes of what she has asked for. I am sure there is an assignment somewhere.. We've done that ourselves from You Tube, but still missing the mark somewhere. She hasn't been very responsive, but I am hoping his tutor can help get things going.

You state that your son is dyslexic and it sounds like his new art teacher is giving instruction verbally but not following this up with written details about assignments. Therefore having to rely on his own notes, maybe that is the source of the reason for him struggling with the subject that he previously enjoyed?

I'd raise that with the teacher.

Also, having dyslexia as I am sure you know does mean that homework can take longer to do than for a child without it. Is the new teacher aware of his condition? Maybe you can agree for extra time for project work for him?

Art is notorious for taking a massive amount of time outside the classroom.

He will need to be doing a massive amount of independent work - the actual lessons are more opportunities to check in with the teacher and get feedback.

Guidance at my school is about 3-4 hours a week outside the classroom. They open the studios every lunch time and most days after school for the gcse kids to work.

Is the school opening the studios for him? The exam board will limit the extent to which the teacher can spoon feed him what he needs to do,

Thank you everyone. We had a session with his tutor on Friday and they have put various things in place to help DS. The main one being written information on the task which is very specific. Thank you @Pr1mr0se as soon as I read your comment, I realised that was a big block for him. Also, @Octavia64 I asked and he's only doing 2 hours per week outside of lessons. He's done that for all his subjects, but we've now realised that he's got to do more. I really wish he'd go to the art room at lunch break as that would really help. They also gave the whole class an extension until after the Easter holidays, which helps.

Mumsnet really is wonderful - thanks for all your input. I've learnt more and it helped me have an informed chat with school. 🙏🙏

It's not essential. You need 6 to do a levels, or go to college. If he's struggling that much give up.

Thanks @Jandob that is good to know too. I asked if he wanted to stop and he assures me he's going to crack it. We'll see....

I would dump it and, if possible, replace it with something else. But just dump it anyways. GCSE Art is time consuming, difficult, stressful and does nothing to teach you to draw. Honestly, if he doesn't love it, dump it.