Dd crippling anxiety languages oral exam

[ArseInTheCoOpWindow]

What do l do?

She won’t go to school because of fear of this. She has bad anxiety, is often mute in presence of adults, but has told me she just can’t do this.

I’ve contacted school, have tried encouraging her, offering hypnosis, everything, but she is just too scared.

What happens in these situations? She’s worked hard on all the other areas, but this is one step too far for her. She had to choose a language in Y9.

Part of me thinks just ditch the language GCSE- who even uses it anyway?

But then there is another part of me thinking maybe she needs therapy to help her with anxiety. In jobs in the future she is going to have to speak. So maybe it's a good thing for her to tackle it head on?

Not sure... what are you thinking OP?

Which language is it?

My son is dyslexic and has the same problem with oral language exams. I spoke to the school and they've agreed he can either do it one on one with the teacher if he feels comfortable or just not do them anymore.

She’s having therapy. I’ve emailed the school and told them she can’t do it.

Just waiting for their response.

It’s Spanish. They were forced to do a language. She didn’t want to.

I was like this at GCSE. I was able to do one of the mocks but not the real exam and the school was somehow able to use the mock grade towards my GCSE result. I was also generally anxious and school refusing though.

(If it helps, as an adult I'm fine and have given talks to about a hundred people at a time for work reasons - more pressure as a teenager wouldn't have made things better, I just needed time and space.)

See if the GP to will prescribe propranolol - it’s a life saver.

School need to understand her anxiety and help her to do the exam in a way she finds comfortable. She's probably not the only one who struggles in these situations.

If they refuse then tell them she'll be dropping Spanish. Her mental health and the ability to attend school in a good frame of mind to achieve good grades in the rest of her GCSE's is more important.

How much of the total result is the oral? Can she miss it and still get a pass if she does ok on the written papers? Is that likely?

I’m going to contact GP about Propanalol. I’m not sure how much of the course it’s worth. She’s worked so hard on the rest though.

It’s the mock exam I’m talking about. We have t even got to GCSE yet.

Sack off Spanish GCSE. Not worth it - who honestly uses GCSE level language?

Your poor daughter OP I hope she gets better xx

If she is otherwise good at the reading, writing and listening, it may be worth getting the exam officer at your school to speak to the exam board or JCQ (covers all boards I think). If she has medical back up for mutism or crippling anxiety you might be able to get this component removed.
If not, bin the Spanish off. Nobody will care how many GCSEs she has.

don't get scared, but do point the school to this article about how universities should make allowances for students with anxiety about oral assessments.

www.theguardian.com/education/2022/mar/01/university-of-bristol-student-severe-anxiety-court-natasha-abrahart

Languages teacher here- it is worth 25% of her GCSE. The exam will always be just 1:1 with her class teacher.

Have you spoken to her Spanish teacher? They could talk her through the process and give her extra support, if she is willing. They may also be able to apply for special access arrangements, if they can prove that it is her normal way of working, such as extra time to formulate her answers, or possibly writing down her answers rather than saying them. But the school needs to apply for this in advance and agree it with the exam board.

Anxiety is a disability and even if suspected, not yet diagnosed, the school is required to accommodate your daughter. Go to GP and get referral for assessment for anxiety disorder, then get a letter from GP to school stating this. Talk to the school SENCO. The school can then write to exam board and have the oral part of the GCSE waived and her graded only on the remaining work. She has a disability and shouldn’t be forced to attempt and then fail or be penalised for something her disability prevents her from doing- as in losing 25% of her grade automatically for not doing the oral portion.

I'm not sure how finances are but is there any way she could speak to an online tutor? With covid there are now SOOOOO many online tutors and some are quite reasonably priced. If she got used to speaking to a stranger over the GCSE topic areas then the oral might be a little less intimidating.

Also, as someone who had to do many language orals, the fear is very very real. But the examiners know that everybody is afraid. It's the scariest exam for most people. They ask you questions and if you get stuck they often ask you extra prompt questions. They have to be official, but they absolutely are on the examinee's side. So they can't speak for her, but they would be highly unlikely to sit in silence for the 5 minutes or so if the exam.

Another option, rather than ask for her not to do it, could be to ask that because of her stress over this if there's any way the teacher (assuming s/he's the examiner) could do a pre-prelim with your daughter. It may be possible, it may not, but no harm in asking.

I would look at ways to find a way for it to work, because by not sitting it, it reinforces her idea that she can't do it. Yet she hasn't even tried yet. She may sit it and it goes badly, but then she's got one bad one under her belt and the next may not be quite as bad, even if not great.

I'm not downplaying in any way how scary they are. I have a language oral myself in two weeks, and I really don't like them. One advantage of them though is that they're short: it's not as long as sitting a paper that you freeze in!

Which board is it? AQA gives 25% marks to speaking for example, so plenty left for written, reading and listening components. www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/languages/gcse/spanish-8698/scheme-of-assessment

The school know, there’s loads of medical back up. I’m just waiting for school to phone me now.

I didn’t know they could waive the speaking part. Yes it’s AQA.

I raised another teacher doing it, have a friend sat with her. She couldn’t cope with any of those options.

She’s waiting for an ASD referral

When I did my French and German oral exams at GCSE I had to take rescue remedy. My nerves were crippling. It worked really well for me - calmed me down and made me almost “floaty” headed. I ended up getting a merit for both and I couldn’t stop talking in the end.

At my children's school there is an inclusion room that they can go to at any time they are struggling if needed. My son was told he could go when he was anxious about doing drama.
They just go there instead of their timetabled class, work independently while in there or read, and then rejoin lessons when they feel able. If children are in there a lot then school offer further help, but an odd visit here and there is not commented on.
Is there anything like this at your daughters school?

I don’t think there’s anything like that. It would be useful for her though.

I might try rescue remedy.

I wonder if it might be possible over a video-link although she would still need invigilating?

I don’t think that would work. She’s still in the same situation.