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Original poster

<sigh> GCSE Options - dd's school are oversubscribed with Art, so she now has to choose other options and hates all on offer

31 replies

GetOrfMoiLand · 01/07/2010 12:37

You may remember my long and boring thread on this subject some months back. Sorry - I am back again!

DD is lucky in that she is sorted with the main subjects she wants - she has been given Geography, history, triple science (she had to opt for double as an option, because she is in top set they are doing Biol, Chem and Phys GCSE which I am delighetd about).

She is dyslexic so wanted to do a very non academic subject for a fourth option. She chose art (great), however the school has had to withdraw this option. So - she has the choice of the following:

Business studies (she would hate it)
Health & social care (ditto)
Music technology BTEC (says it is all divvy boys being DJs)
Music (she can't read music, can only play guitar self taught)

As she is dyslexic I have asked if she can just NOT bother doing a GCSE in this block, and just go to teh study support area to work on her other subjects. This has been refused as the school says that she would not be adequately supervised/registered for this lesson. Fair enough I suppose. But has anyone requested this in a similar situation and had it granted?

I think it's a shame that dd has to spend x hours a week studying something which she patently will not enjoy, but ho hum.

Anyway which of the above lessons do you reckon will be the easiest, and the least rigorous. If she has to choose one of them I want it to at least be easy!

Thanks

OP posts:
GypsyMoth · 01/07/2010 12:39

dd2 is doing business studies,says it counts as 2 gcse's .....but i realise i'm NO help with that!!

the dj'ing with the boys sounds fun!

Decorhate · 01/07/2010 12:42

Why has your dd been one of the ones chosen to not do art? Was it done randomly or methodically? Could you not argue that a special case should be made for her because of the dyslexia (I have no in-depth knowledge of dyslexia but as a lay person would think that using a pictorial method to communicate ideas would be good for someone with dyslexia).

I have all this to look forward to next year! My dd used to love art but doesn't seem to get very high grades now so probably won't keep it on for GCSEs....

Dumbledoresgirl · 01/07/2010 12:45

How does she get to choose 4 options? My son, also year 9, only had 3 choices. English Lit and Lang, Maths, Double Science, Modern Language and RE being all obligatory (well, the RE one I think is obligatory to study but they also make the brighter children do it for GCSE).

Re her remaining choices, I don't think Music is an easy option. Has she any idea what area of work she wants to do? If it is vaguely businessy, I guess BS would be best, if vaguely to do with working with people, H&S care.

I agree with you though, bum choices all of them if they are not her thing.

GrungeBlobPrimpants · 01/07/2010 12:47

I remember your thread GetOrf, so sorry your dd didn't get art.

Don't have any experience but I'd certainly query it on grounds of dyslexia and it is fairly pointless expecting anyone to do an option in something they're just not interested in.

Music - v hard, pointless if can't read music
Music tech is 'easy' I have been told but not sure what it actually involves. Again pretty pointless if she doesn't like music I'd have thought. The other two - arrrghhh! The subejct matter either grabs you or it doesn't, really!

Original poster
GetOrfMoiLand · 01/07/2010 12:52

They have withdrawn art completely - are only doing it in one option block now instead of two (dd doesn't want to take it in the other option block as she would have to drop geography).

I also think mucking around with DJing boys sounds fun as well, but for some reason dd is dead against it. personally i think that would be her best option - sounds a bit of a doss really compared to the others (apols to music tech teachers if this is not the case). Plus, exasperatingly, dd has spoken to someone who says that BTECs are not looked upon favourably at the uni she wants to go to (Bristol). I told her that I am sure that they won't care of she has got one solitary BTEC amongst 9 other GCSEs, but she won't listen

DG - she wants to join the RAF so don't think business or health would help her there!

Thanks everyone

OP posts:
RobynLou · 01/07/2010 12:52

look again at the music, I did GCSE music years ago and i can't be sure but I don't think being able to read music is entirely compulsory for a pass...
you have to compose music, but there are all sorts of types of notation aside from the traditional notes on staves. As with anything it depends on the teacher I suppose, but I found GCSE music a wonderfully creative subject, with lots of room for expression and very few 'academic' intrusions into the fun!

Original poster
GetOrfMoiLand · 01/07/2010 12:54

Sorry, other subjects she is taking are Eng lang, eng lit, maths, biology, chemistry, physics, RE, food and catering, plus geography and history.

Christ that looks quite daunting set down like that. Food and catering looks like the only bit of light relief there!

OP posts:
Sidge · 01/07/2010 12:56

If she wants to join the military Health and Social Care might be worth considering.

It would link loosely to humanitarian work I suppose.

My DD1 is only in Year 6 but I find it baffling how schools can limit their GCSE options so much. How on earth can they say "oh we know you want to do Art but can't because we can't organise it."

Missus84 · 01/07/2010 12:58

Music is undoubtedly the toughest of those, and business studies probably relatively difficult and dull if you're not interested in it.

Out of the other two I'd go for the BTEC if she has no particular interest in a caring job in the future, as it sounds more interesting. Why not call the dept she's interested in at Bristol and ask how they'd view a BTEC in combination with gcses?

RobynLou · 01/07/2010 12:59

When I did GCSE music you had to do 3 'performances' on two different 'instruments' your voice can be one of those, so playing 2 things on the guitar and singing something would suffice. I played 2 pieces on my trumpet and sang a song.

Thinking more about the compositions, I think I only had to notate them because other people were performing them for me, if your daughter composed pieces on her guitar and performed them then I'm not sure whether there would be any need for notation at all.

I could read music, but didn't understand musical keys, or any other music 'theory' and was by no means any kind of musical whizz - my daughter asks me to stop singing if I start these days - and I got an A!

Paul McCartney couldn't read music when he was beatle, I can't imagine they'd fail him at GCSE music!

Dumbledoresgirl · 01/07/2010 12:59

At least she is getting some light relief somewhere! Ds's choices on top of those listed below are Triple Science (so same as your dd: biol, chem and phys), Geography and DT Systems and Control (whatever that might be!)

I am edging towards the music tech now too, though for my ds that would be sheer hell and he can read music and plays an instrument too. But he would hate all that expressionism.

Is she not doing a modern language? Is that because of her dyslexia?

CMOTdibbler · 01/07/2010 13:01

I'd do health and social care - hopefully she'd get first aid training in that, and it would be a much more interesting addition (if she is concerned about how things look in the future) than music tech.

I did music GCSE, and it was really hard work. There was a significant performance element too.

Dumbledoresgirl · 01/07/2010 13:02

If she is that bothered by the presence of a BTEC, she could just miss it off her list of qualifications. She would still have 10 GCSEs (maybe 11 if she does Additional Maths?)

RobynLou · 01/07/2010 13:06

just looked up the edexcel student guide to music GCSE and it makes no mention of having to read music -

www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/GCSE%20New%20GCSE/GCSE09-Music.pdf

Sorry to go on and on about the music gcse, but I got so much from music at school, would hate to think of someone missing out because they thought they needed to be able to do something they didn't

sharbiebowtiesarecool · 01/07/2010 13:10

Robyn is right - you don't need to be able to read music but it is a tough choice with quite a lot of work.

Our school is similar to OP in that as it is a specialist college you have to take a tech subject - all of the tech options were of absolutely zero interest to my DD and there were loads of other subjects she would rather have studied.Hey ho.

RobynLou · 01/07/2010 13:22

I guess the others are probably right about the amount of work involved in music, but I did music, drama and art alongside all the sciences/history/german etc and I found the amount of time I spent on Art far outweighed any of the other subjects. that's just the way it goes with creative subjects I guess - everything's more open ended so can eat all your time.

SoupDragon · 01/07/2010 13:30

Don't you think she might learn to rad music whist studying it?

Original poster
GetOrfMoiLand · 01/07/2010 13:32

Thanks everyone!

Dd does love music - she plays her guitar all the time (reads tabs, whatever those may be). She also sings constantly (much to my deep and hidden horror). Thanks Robyn very much for looking that up - i will speak to dd, if she fancies the performance element of it it may be worth considering. However it does seem very hard doesn't it. I know it sounds strange but i just want something where she can just coast a bit.

DG - yes she can just do the BETC and not put it on any uni application forms. She is doing so many GCSEs anyway. Also, she doesn't have to do a language (is a tech school she goes to hence the catering, she actually loves cooking and food so she will enjoy that) - she is terrible at French, she can speak with some confidence, however her read and written French are awful. Think it may well be to do with her dyslexia, she was only diagnosed a couple of months ago, if tney had picked it up at her old school perhaps they could have helped her with languages from the start. As it is I think it's waste of time!

I have looked at the edexcel syllabus for business studies - god how dull.

Health or music tech may be the best bet I reckon.

OP posts:
Bonsoir · 01/07/2010 13:32

I am very sorry for your DD, GetOrf, that she cannot do Art. However, I would encourage her to do Business Studies rather than nothing at all.

Original poster
GetOrfMoiLand · 01/07/2010 13:40

yes, Bonsoir, it is a shame that she can't do Art, she was really looking forward to it. I remember doing Art GCSE - i was so lazy in the lessons and viewed it as one great big skive, with the result my portfolio was awful and I had to spend weeks crammed at the end of Year 11 filling it up with stuff to impress the examiners. Didn't work, I got a C.

I think dd would be horrified at the thought of studying business as 'it sounds like the kind of boring crap you do at work, mum'

OP posts:
RobynLou · 01/07/2010 13:40

things aren't as hard if you love them though and tabs are a very valid form of notation
good luck to your daughter whatever she chooses, I remember GCSE choices being so hard to figure out, it feels like your whole future depends on making the right choices, I dread my DD getting to that stage (she's not 3 yet though so there's a while to go!)

Bonsoir · 01/07/2010 14:03

I don't really agree with the "negative attitude" to Business Studies. We all need to understand the commercial world, whatever field we end up in, and the sooner we start understanding it, the easier it is to read and understand the newspapers and get a grip on how the world works.

Missus84 · 01/07/2010 14:08

GCSEs do become pretty irrelevant pretty quickly, especially once you've done A Levels. A cousin of mine ended up doing 13 of them, but really all that any job application will ever want to know is if you have English and Maths (and possibly Science).

Original poster
GetOrfMoiLand · 01/07/2010 14:09

true - I agree with that Bonsoir, but it seems the syllabus covers assorted stuff as marketing strategies and other assorted stuff. Plus it is a heck of a lot of written coursework required - one of the things I wanted to avoid as loads of dd's other subjects have a heavy written requirement as well.

That's why art would have been perfect. Oh well.

OP posts:
RobynLou · 01/07/2010 14:10

I agree in the importance of business bonsoir - I went to art school, where we were forced to do a form of 'business studies' - almost all artists are self employed, so that stuff is really important, however at this stage I do believe that if you encourage a child to study what they love they'll fly, if you encourage them to study subjects which their heart isn't in you're setting them up to fail. If OPs DD is really against business studies then its best to let it go imo.