Appeals if year 9 options are refused?

sunnyone

Thank you for your replies.

My son has free choices that will be taken within 6 local schools in a coalition and not the rigid groups that I had, my son is very good with his hands/hes very practical and he only has 4 points that he can choose and the engineering diploma is three, he wants to do the BTEC applied science (as his science choice and not a point) and the ITC resistant materials with photography and another ICT as his two back up choices.

My son has already started his GCSE exams, they start in year 9 at his school and he can resit them twice free of charge in the following two years if he dosnt get A*-C grades alongside his chosen courses and its so diffrent from when I was at school I dont really understand how the time constaints will work.

The core subjects and my sons choices are what his tutors think will work best for him and we agree but its the first year for many of the options and each school is taking part recipricoly and no one can say for sure how many children will be allowed to take part in each subject from each school.

Luckily many children will want to got to his performing arts school which has state of the art media suites etc. but its how many places other schools in the group are offering thats the main variable.

loopydsfan

My son loves music and is doing really well at school at it. He choose it as is first choice. He wants a career doing something musical. They have just told him today that there are not enough students taking it to do it and he is gutted. I am upset about it because there is a music teacher there anyway so I dont understand why its such a problem.

My son will be disadvantaged as it is because his school is merging with another school and he will have to go through all that upheavel all in his final GCSE year as well as not being able to do the subject he loves.

We are making an appointment to see someone at school about it but I would like to know who should we take it further to if we get no joy? If anyone knows of the next step I would be very thankful.

Newly_retired

Try Form Tutor / Head of Year/ Academic Deputy/ Director of Studies/ careers Advisor.

Savvy_Sue

Also ask if the school would be prepared to facilitate offering it as a 'twilight' subject, eg by your son going to local college to do it in the evenings. Whether they would offer any free time during the week to make up for this is another matter ...

sunnyone

loopydsfan wrote: »

My son loves music and is doing really well at school at it. He choose it as is first choice. He wants a career doing something musical. They have just told him today that there are not enough students taking it to do it and he is gutted. I am upset about it because there is a music teacher there anyway so I dont understand why its such a problem.

My son will be disadvantaged as it is because his school is merging with another school and he will have to go through all that upheavel all in his final GCSE year as well as not being able to do the subject he loves.

We are making an appointment to see someone at school about it but I would like to know who should we take it further to if we get no joy? If anyone knows of the next step I would be very thankful.

Same here with the merging schools, Durham are shutting a fair few schools and new acadamies are going to be built to for each pair of schools (depending on the elections, I suppose) and all that upheaval is due in my sons last year.

We still havnt heard anything yet about our sons choices.

loopydsfan

The teacher told my son that the course was not economically viable. This makes me very angry. Its like they are saying as long as we save money, we dont give a stuff about your sons future. What gets me is the music teacher is being paid to teach in school anyway so why should it make a difference how many kids are on the course. It makes my blood boil.

Savvy_Sue

Yes, but many teachers now are on short-term fixed contracts, so it may be that if very few students want to do GCSE music, it's not 'viable' to employ a teacher for that course. Even if the teacher is on a full-time contract, the school could fill their hours with other years or even their second subject.

Not saying it's right, just how it might be.

I'm also going to suggest that not doing music GCSE won't necessarily be a handicap to a career in music. Again, I'm not saying it's right: I know mine would have been gutted if they'd had to do their 'second' choices (eg the one of mine told he couldn't do two languages). And it feels very unfair to them at that age when everyone else is dropping their least favourite subjects and they have to keep one of them on because they can't do their favourite subject.

BUT your son can at least keep up other music activities.

loopydsfan

Savvy_Sue wrote: »

Yes, but many teachers now are on short-term fixed contracts, so it may be that if very few students want to do GCSE music, it's not 'viable' to employ a teacher for that course. Even if the teacher is on a full-time contract, the school could fill their hours with other years or even their second subject.

Not saying it's right, just how it might be.

I'm also going to suggest that not doing music GCSE won't necessarily be a handicap to a career in music. Again, I'm not saying it's right: I know mine would have been gutted if they'd had to do their 'second' choices (eg the one of mine told he couldn't do two languages). And it feels very unfair to them at that age when everyone else is dropping their least favourite subjects and they have to keep one of them on because they can't do their favourite subject.

BUT your son can at least keep up other music activities.

I feel that the school is failing to fulfill my sons needs. He is gutted that he has to do his second reserve subject (which he absolutely hates) because he was also told he couldnt do his first reserve subject as well. I know its going to cause arguments with me pushing him to get the work done which he doesnt want to do. And yes whilst it might not hinder him not have music GCSE i still feel that he will be wasting 2 years when he could be studying it already.

Savvy_Sue

I accept all that. And personally, in that situation, I think I'd be looking into a different school, if your DS agrees. Failing that, I'd be trying to get him on an evening course to do GCSE music, and arguing that he should have study time instead of doing his 2nd reserve subject.

And not that I'd tell your DS this, if they won't agree to study time, there's always just not turning up or not engaging. I think I regret that DS2 didn't more firmly disengage from one of his subjects earlier. His teacher and I both wasted a great deal of time trying to get him to do the work, late on, and he did fail that subject, but so what? He's still going to get a very good degree in his chosen non-fluffy subject from an excellent university, and failing to spend hours colouring and cutting out bits of cardboard for Graphics won't ever limit his future choices.

And I think I might make it plain to the school that if they insist on him doing his second reserve subject, you will be unable to give much encouragement to your son in completing coursework etc, because you will be concentrating your efforts elsewhere.

I know we all have to buckle down and do things we don't want to do, but I also know that 10+ A*s at GCSE are only essential in certain very limited situations, and studying / making a career in music ain't one of them!

But the school WILL argue that not doing GCSE music won't prevent him doing A level music or going on to a career in music. And your argument (out of DS's hearing) is that not doing GCSE music will give them a disaffected young man. Their call.

Cue the "you must support the school at all costs" brigade ...

loopydsfan

Thanks for your thoughts. With him going down the traditional route of GCSE he was already prepared to do a subject that he did not like but now it will be two and I can see him failing both.

I think we are going to make an appointment to see someone at school because my husband, having gone to the two meetings about options and spending hours and hours with him helping him make his choice, feels that the school should have contacted us to talk to us about it in the first place and not just drop on the kids.

I have been on one about it a little bit and I know you probably think its a fluffy subject anyway but when you go to the meetings and they bang on about making the right choice and how its going to affect you later on only to say no sorry your not doing that is a little annoying.

This happening is just one of several things to go wrong for me this week. I will be glad when its over.