compulsory GCSEs- what if you can't?

[cory]

Dd (Yr 8) came back from school yesterday a bit flummoxed having found out that the school has a list of 9 compulsory GCSEs and that one of them is PE. Dd has a chronic joint condition and spends part of her time in a wheelchair, so there is no way we would allow her to be entered for an exam in PE or indeed agree to any situation where she has to do PE lessons during a flare-up.

Do you reckon they'll let her do something else instead?- seems a shame if she were to end up with one GCSE less than her friends, seeing that she is actually quite gifted.

Also, another compulsory GCSE is tech- in her case, that may mean food tech, which should be ok unless she is unable to cut or knead things on the day (her wrists sometimes give).

How much of a fuss should we make? PE is obviously impossible; should we settle for the tech and just accept that she may fail if she has a flare-up?

(And before you say we should have chosen a school that offered more options: this is the only school in the neighbourhood with disabled access).

How soon do you reckon I should start talking to teachers? She doesn't need to choose her options until Yr 9.

i'm probably not going to be that helpful, but does your daughter/school have a special needs teacher you could speak to? I think i would ask now as that gives you more time to discuss/argue your case. i've heard of children who've broken arms having help on exam days - maybe with tech they could do this. I think you need to check whats involved in PE - GCSE is a lot more theory than BTEC - which is more practical. would seem very unfair (possibly against law/gov policy) if shes disadvantaged. i would also do some investigation online on gov websites and see what your rights are. My son didn't get the spanish option he wanted intially and i learnt that gov says school has to offer them a language

Is she certain that these are compulsory GCSEs rather than compulsory subjects? My son thought RE was compulsory, but it turns out that although everyone has to do one lesson of RE and PE each week, the GCSE is different. Doing 9 compulsory GCSEs wouldn't leave much timetable space for any chosen options.

Yes, talk to teachers NOW -- surely it comes under reasonable adjustment in any case?

I would talk to them now best to explore options as early as possible.

It seems to be coming more common for schools to make PE as a compulsory option. I can understand making it a compulsory subject but why you need to have a GCSE in it is beyond me. I should think that under the disability discrimination act the school will have to make allowances for your daughter.

I would never suggest that you should have chosen a school that offers more options, they often change from year to year anyway. I can understand why you felt the need to state that in your post though. It sometimes seems that you can't say anything on here about a school without people saying "Well you signed up for it". The reality is that we have little choice in the school we send our children to.

I'd be really surprised if they didn't offer any flexibility on their compulsory GCSEs. At DD1s school there is a list of compulsory subjects. One of them is a modern foreign language because they want the vast majority of pupils to take one, but they will, after consultation with parents allow a different subject to be taken if they feel the student won't be able to achieve a grade at all.

I always understood PE GCSE was compulsory at DDs school (a specialist sports college) until it came time to choose options. Although PE lessons are compulsory she is not doing a GCSE.

Could you email the head of year and explain that your DD is worried already and ask him/her to clarify?

I wouldn't overly worry if it turns out your DD takes or passes fewer GCSEs than her friends anyway. She should still have a good core of subjects from which she can choose 3 to 5 to continue with for A level.

AFAIK PE is a compulsory subject but not a compulsory GCSE.
dd's school list it as one of the core subjects they have to do but at the end column it says its non-examinable.

AFAIK core subjects at GCSE are:

Maths
English
Sciences
RE (catholic school)
Welsh (in wales obv)

PE must be done but has to be taken as an option for it to be examinable

HTH

Ah, that makes sense: I don't think dd had got the difference between compulsory subjects and compulsory GCSEs.

I don't think she'll mind doing PE (=sitting on the sidelines doing her maths revision ).

Another thing that worried her is that it seems that you're not allowed to do both History and Geography; dd would like to go on to read some form of Humanities.

Thank you very much for clearing things up.

Not wanting to add any confusion but if her school has specialist sports status then it is likely that GCSE PE is compulsory. It could be short course though(1/2 a GCSE). It is always possible she can be taken out if you request it.
If she is worried I would contact the school and ask

mnistoo - its not compulsory at my son's school and thats a sports one. they do have to do pe but not gcse

cory - yuo might need to be quite firm. my son's school had this wonderful way of choosing gcse's which meant you had to pick ones from columns - this meant that my son woudl have had to pick ones that he didn't want to do/need and not be able to do ones he did - the aim that they had a good spread - when i pointed this out they did cave in - though other parents just accepted it.

We have three different secondaries under our belt, and all have made them choose between history and geography.

I suspect it's because they cover similar skills, ie using source materials, drawing conclusions etc. And as GSCEs are really a test of how well you learn rather than of subject knowledge it seems fair enough.

Both have chosen history.

Thanks, that's good to know, Pixie.

She may have got hold of wrong end of stick - dd had all sorts of preconceptions about what was/wasnt compulsory and reality is different.

PE usually compuls subject but not a comp GCSE

Tech - could mean a 'block' of subjects including D&T, ICT, art ... depends on how school divides up subjects. Apparently this year's blocking is quite different to last years for some reason.

Tech we have been told by teachers is compulsory: you choose one of the tech subjects (they are a technology college, so fair enough).

Had a quick scan - this may help ?