Fabulous parents evening, followed by a row about options and a lets slag mum off session

[TheOriginalNutcracker]

Just been to dd1's yr 9 paents evening. She is doing great in everything and all of her teachers love her. All were also confused as to why such an able student is aiming so low in life.

Her curent plan for when she leaves school is to be a holiday rep, and then well, whatever ARGH

She just cannot see that she is worth so much more then a low paid job doing whatever.

Her current choice for options is..

Btec Dance
Travel and Tourism
Geography

She has to pick one more, but said she's not really bothered.

Her language teachers are gobsmacked that she isn't thinking of doing a language, as she is in top set for german and french and very able. Plus obviously, if she wants to work in travel then it would be useful.

I know she doesn't really know what she wants to do and i know what that feels like, but i never had her brains and I just don't want her to waste it.

I would like her to do

Btec dance
Geography
French or German
Triple science

I know it's not my choice but fgs. I really feel like shaking her.

Oh but aparently I am not allowed an opinion because I don't even have a job, let alone a career. I just sit on my fat arse all day.

a bit

Thank's all. She seems to think that not many people will do German and so the course might not run. I think it will, but if it doesn't I will be insisting she does French or I will have to reconsider her doing Dance.

She will have interviews for all chosen subjects, but from what her tutors have already said, they will have no doubts about her doing any of the courses.

Wrt her friends, no she hasn't chosen her sunjects based on what they are doing. Alot seem to be doing childcare and the rest business and law.

I have sent for some uni books for her to have a flick through, in the hope that something inspires her.

what does she hope to study at AS/A level ?

My dd has just started yr 10 and at the end of year 9 students were given options based on two pathways - the more academic were given mainly academic subjects to choose from and students with a more vocational bent were given other options. The English Bacc. starts with this year 10 students and from what I understand will be a requirement for getting into a 'good' university. I am surprised your school haven't given you information about this regardless of any political view point.

Cat64 - but shouldn't they just be telling all students that if they want to go on to higher education then they shouldn't choose Btecs (if Btecs are going to restrict them in that choice). At parent's evening, subject tutors usually advise which route they consider would give the best results for the individual anyway.

So, overall, school(s) are not really being open and honest:(

We did have an options open evening, but never was anything mentioned about the Ebacc or Btecs not being greatly recieved by universities.

I am quite annoyed about that as I'd never have know if i'd not posted it on here.

Liz - She's still unsure about a levels, although she did mention she'd like to do a level art.

The bottom line is very simple whether we like it or not and regardless of what educationalists and Govt say.

Unless you are going to go into a very specific industry, where you need a specific vocational qualification (ie NVQ, HND), then having a good number of GCSEs in old fashioned traditional academic subjects with A - C grades will make any employer or university view you more favourably than another candidate with a BTEC or other qualification.

Our children need to be told this simple truth and not led to believe that all qualifications are equivalent. They are not.

It might be that your school has opted out, either because they don't want to pander to the new measurement and it's a political gesture, or because they don't have the resources to offer the Ebacc. It has massive resource implications for schools; more MFL and Humanities teachers will be needed and fewer teachers in other subjects. In the short-term (and because schools weren't given much notice) lots of teachers are 'doubling or tripling' up to teach the Ebacc subjects, even though they would normally be found teaching other subjects. In the longer term, schools realise that they will have to discontinue some subjects, offer redundancies and recruit more MFL and Humanities teachers. Teachers in 'vulnerable' subjects can see the writing on the wall and are selling their wares for all they are worth, but this is extremely unethical practice.

Your DD has chosen Ebacc subjects by default therefore. Fight for her to get her choices, because schools that have opted out and worse still, aren't telling parents about that decision, don't have the students' best interests at heart. While I have sympathy with schools' irritation with yet another knee-jerk measurement coming out of the coalition government, they are selling their students short by not doing everything they can to offer the Ebacc subjects to their brighter pupils.

my ds is primary age and it's nearly 5yrs since i've taught in secondary schools. a lot of this is therefore news to me. i really hope things have settled down one way or the other by the time ds gets to secondary level.

my instinct looking forward has always been to consider tutoring and entering my son (if he remains very able) in some gcse's before the usual age of doing them at school. getting some of them done and out of the way early on and using them as a way of keeping him motivated and forward moving and practising and developing skills throughout secondary (it hasn't been my experience in work places or in what i hear from others that this is done particularly well and i suspect it's part of how they lose some able students to boredom, cruising, getting into trouble etc.).

i was a humanities teacher specialising in religious studies and philosophy and ethics for gcse and a level so i'd probably do his Re short gcse with him in late ks3/early ks4 and another humanity alongside. getting gcse's under their belt is the main thing and getting them still able to learn at an academic pace (if you think academic stuff is where their strength lies and the route they'll be taking capability wise) - secondary schools are pretty shit places for that. in the same way that children with learning difficulties need extra help and their parents need to be on the ball and tailoring things i think parents of more able students need to be doing that now too. it's only really the average/medium levels that school is really ok for as in they will probably reach their potential without extra support.

it is definitely true that btecs, nvq's etc have always been and still are looked down upon by universities, many employers etc. outside of those who are not able to achieve standard quals or those who are on a totally vocational path (and older people coming back into education/training without formal q's) they are really not advisable. whatever equivalency they try to prove or declare people don't buy it because it's a very different way of learning that doesn't make the same demands on ability.

SaF - in the summer I did an NVQ 1 course as a (very) mature student with a bunch of 18 - 20 yr olds. The practical work was very demanding in a physical sense and to some extent in an intellectual sense.

However, you are right. The work was nowhere as academically demanding in the same way as doing a GCSE. It is a different thing and I do think it is wrong to say they are the same. I still found it demanding, worthwhile and a very rewarding thing to do though even though I have higher degrees.

I just think school children need to be given very clear and fair advice about what kinds of careers and higher education places a particular subject and qualification will lead to and what it won't.