Help! My non arty dd has been given gcse art!

[Hairyfairy01]

So the last day of term and school have emailed to say my dd is doing art and design gcse. This was not one of her preferred options, even from that 'block'. She has never shown any interest in Art. School are ignoring my emails and calls. I did know this was a possibility a few weeks ago and made my views clear via email then and my dd was under the impression she would be doing food nutrition instead, which at a push is fine. She struggles at school academically and will find it hard to get 5 GCSEs as it is, this now seems like a wasted GCSE to me.

Am I right to be going a bit mad over this? Any advice in the best way to handle it? I do understand that not every child will get what they want and you can't please everyone. But this just seems like madness.

The point of education is to get exams as it stands currently.

Dojng something yoh are good at increases the chances of getting that qualification.

l used to teach art. Its actually a difficult subject. Lots of exploration and requires the ability to be very independent. It’s quite unstructured.

You can't force a kid into art GCSE when they've no interest or talent. They'd be setting her up to fail. I think it's terrible to push any subject on someone at options. Especially something that you can't just suddenly get good at by studying hard. I would be speaking to the school.
Find out why she can't do Food Nutrition? Thats more science and maths based, if she's more into those type subjects.
I hope they see sense and don't force her into doing it.

Is dance available as a team sport at her school, OP? Or is there something that is related to her main sport eg water polo/swimming, squash or badminton doubles/tennis singles? I feel like those might be less cliquey than more common school team sports 😂

I think you are right to make a huge fuss - it's not on to force a kid with no interest/ ability in art to do Art GCSE. (Secondary school teacher here.) it's an absolute joke.

Spend the summer reading carol decks growth mindset. Maybe this will be life-changing for your child. There is no such thing as 'arty'.

OP said she can't do Food and Nutrition because the classes are full.

It doesn’t though.

As a teacher you have to hound kids not pulling their weight. It can make it really hard for them.

What is the point in improving in art if you have no interest in it? It's not like maths or reading where it's necessary in adult life.

I picked Art GCSE and could just about draw a stick man! I was terrible at it. The teacher spent no time in teaching anything as it was assumed that those who chose the subject were already “good” at it. I just about submitted the portfolios by tracing 😂 but couldn’t sit the exam as I was terrible at drawing. It was a wasted GCSE. They also didn’t allow me to change to another subject (even though it was requested a few weeks after starting)! So, I would definitely make a fuss about it.

This^
especially if she struggles academically a free period will do her good. Art and design is a very time consuming subject even for those who are good at it.

Has your dd been diagnosed with any SEN / additional needs? The school shouldn’t be treating her less favourably than children with no diagnosed needs. If she is, I’d ask for an explanation citing the disability clause under the Equality Act 2010.

As for PE. What sport does your dd do op? Could she do fewer hours of this sport and join a team sport out of school? Do be warned if you want to start filming yourself for any sport, it’s a lot of work. My dd did PE. School used their videos of Netball and I can’t remember what else (she had to do 4 sports). They had to film the students doing a range of activities in the sport to hit certain grade. Dd submitted videos of horse riding and dancing. Dancing wasn’t too bad. Dd has a few private lessons then near to submission date, we hired a hall to refilm the dance as she’d progressed from the summer the previous year. Riding was a nightmare. Lots and lots of videoing time for that one and we even filmed in France as the British riding schools are reluctant to jump their horses the required 90cm to get top grades. Plus as I say, the theory isn’t easy.

If she doesn't like art definitely make a fuss. I did food tech because I hated art. I still hate anything arty. It would have been no good for my self esteem or mental health to have had to do art. I understand the need to do core subjects even if you don't like them but not art.

Plus in the end she hated it so much. Her art folder is still at school! If she had brought it home she would have put it in the bin!!

OP, I understand your frustration, especially if you're worried about your DD getting 5 GCSEs to begin with.

But I'm gently going to say that I think the outrage on this thread is a little overblown. The vast majority of schools simply have to set up option blocks. It sounds like yours has three option blocks available, and your DD got her first choices in two of them - history and health and social care. Those are her absolute priorities and she got them, correct? So it's really only the third option block left, and of those course options your DD got her second choice because her first choice is full. No, it's not ideal. But a student getting their first choice in two blocks and their second choice in the third is not egregious, and I can see where the school would not be moving mountains to fix this.

I think you're going to have to take a deep breath, settle yourself and DD down, and review options for that third block. If food & nutrition stays full, is art the best of the rest? Find out what will be covered in art, D&T, and PE and what her medium/sport/project options within the course would be. If art is still her #2 then I'd just tell her it's ok for that to be a course that she doesn't worry about the exam grade on. Art (and D&T) can be a massive time suck but it could also be a pretty relaxing break in the day if you and she are able to frame it as just that and she doesn't invest time on it outside of lesson time. After that, stress to the school that your DD would really like to be on the waiting list to be moved into food & nutrition. And as courses progress, you can ask about dropping art for some sort of additional study period (schools call them different things) if your DD is really struggling with her more academic GCSEs.

That was me…… I got a C and As in everything else

doesnt matter a jot - so don’t stress over it

tbf tho some specs only ask for three sports (DS2 did PE GCSE) and I did film some athletics but in the end was never asked for it. Tho I agree - if sport is riding or skiing then you will need to film.

I agree - doubles tennis or badminton (for example) counts as a team sport - any mileage in something like that?

What?!

So you think anyone who is good at art can't learn any more?
Pardon my daughter's degree then!

What school won't allow is a child to not be in a lesson BUT could you ask if she could self learn GCSE Sociology in the Art slot? If there's a learning area for SEND children for example she could use, do supervised but not tutored. And sign up for something like home made education (assuming you could afford to fund this yourself, which I appreciate is a big assumption as you said you can't afford tutors). Or ask if school will provide the learning materials, but my concern there would be she wouldn't get any feedback on her work.

As long as it's the same exam board, school could enter her for that exam. And if she really enjoys it, she's more likely to be engaged.

It could be an error. She may not be able to.do her first voice in that option block due yo numbers. Have a second choice available. E mail whoever is in charge of options with the more suitable choices as well as Head of year. U could also back this up with a letter when ur child returns to school . Doubt u will hear anything now if school broken up

Thank you. I think this is good advice. Hopefully a space for nutrition will become available but if not then maybe there will be some advantages to her doing art. She's very happy with her other 2 options so will concentrate on that.

When l was teaching groups often got full. It was a first come first served basis.

But with the ones who didn’t get in there was often discussion with the teachers who would be taking them on. I wonder if her art teachers think she is is more capable than she herself thinks.

Maybe! I'll report back in just over 2 years if it turns out she has some amazing talent

Some schools do offer bespoke timetables - I know that because my DD has one at her school.

However, there are over 430 kids in her year alone which makes bespoke timetables rather easier. Most of the kids on them are either SEN or are doing incredibly large numbers of GCSEs.

So not quite 'supervised self study' but in some cases almost exactly that. It's not advertised and is on a case by case basis, but has been a massive positive for us.

OP will send you a DM

Have you asked why those who got Food & Nutrition, were given it above your daughter? I’d be interested to know how they allocate places where demand outstrips space.

Personally I would pick free periods rather than an unwilling Art gcse, especially if she would benefit from extra work on other subjects.

Like a PP I’m from an era when you got to choose your gsces and timetable issues were rare - BUT the range of subjects was much narrower then, a lot of the options mentioned in the OP didn’t exist or weren’t offered in many schools. With a wider range of subjects clearly there will be more problems with clashes, over/undersubscription or finding a teacher.

I can understand why this is so disappointing - I'm old enough to have been one of the last few years to take O levels and the option blocks and curriculum design - I assume to ensure balance - involved having to do a creative or practical subject - I chose Domestic Science reluctantly. Typing didn't count (it presumably wasn't an O level - not sure if it was a CSE course or another qualification. There were only 4 of us in Domestic Science and we had a change of teacher in the 5th year (equiv to year 11) who gave us a test on the written paper. No one did well but I did so badly I was advised to drop it...

Is there still a place available in Digital Technology? What's the syllabus for it? Hopefully someone will drop/switch out of Food Nutrition. It might not be of much interest/what DD wants to do, but if there's less of a workload than in Art and she doesn't have to worry about a portfolio, it might be better as a reluctant option.