Taking GCSEs early

mark61120

My son took his French GCSE 2 years early. We wanted him to then progress onto his A level French. However, he was not allowed to take his A level early because, we were told, the subject matter would be to adult for him to deal with!
We enquired at the local college, but were told that no way would they take anyone under 16 on a course.

The upshot of this is, he is taking Spanish GCSE, timetabled when he used to do French, and is now starting to lose some of his French vocabulary. I am worried that at the point where he will be allowed to commence his A level French, he will be behind his peers as they have been using their french and he won't.

Maybe a waste of time taking it early?
Mark

Mado

mark61120 wrote: »

My son took his French GCSE 2 years early. We wanted him to then progress onto his A level French. However, he was not allowed to take his A level early because, we were told, the subject matter would be to adult for him to deal with!
We enquired at the local college, but were told that no way would they take anyone under 16 on a course.

The upshot of this is, he is taking Spanish GCSE, timetabled when he used to do French, and is now starting to lose some of his French vocabulary. I am worried that at the point where he will be allowed to commence his A level French, he will be behind his peers as they have been using their french and he won't.

Maybe a waste of time taking it early?
Mark

I had a chat with her tutor who also happens to be her french teacher this year.
The school policy is against early GSCEs but pushing for double languages within the same block as those doing a single language. They also raised the issue of maturity, but I am slightly skeptical about it.

minimoneysaver

Word of warning. I was near enough fluent in French as a youngster after spending much of my childhood in France, but after studying a couple of years of Spanish and not talking any French, I found the two languages were easily mixed in my mind.... it's now one big old mess!!! I regret the day I ever studied Spanish. I strongly believe that the two do not mix.

littlepinkstars44

I can't say anything about the gcse exams, as i'm in scotland and we sat standard grades which in theory are meant to be similar, but i think they are quite different.
Just wanted to comment on the people saying Spanish and French should not mix. I started doing French in primary 7, and all the way through secondary school, I picked Spanish in 3rd year, and done both Spanish and French together for 3 years, as well as taking a crash higher in Italian in 6th year.

Now at uni, i only have the option of one language, so have picked Spanish which i have been doing solely for 3 years now. There is a french girl, and an italian girl in my class, and when we go out (there is only 5 of us in the class) i find that i can talk away fine in french from what i learned in school, and have not forgotten it, and i don't mix up the three languages. They are similar, but very different when it comes to spelling and pronunciation.

student_84

Hi Mado just wondering how you got on.

I come at this from a different perspective as a History teacher where I would strongly recommend not taking a History GCSE early as in all but a few exceptional cases as the language and analytical abilities of students are not developed enough to complete the course and achieve a good grade.

In the case of a fluent speaker taking a GCSE I believe that some teaching is still required to be able to fulfil the nuances of the GCSE, this is because I feel, and this is my opinion and may not be fact, that they don't reflect 'real life'.

There are a few people who have commented on their experiences of taking subjects early and I find them horrifying. The government, and schools for that matter, been moving their focus towards a tailored education for pupils, therefore how can denying a pupil who has passed a GCSE progression onto A Levels or equivalent qualifications fulfil this desire. How is this fair on the pupil? In these cases I would get the teacher onside then work on the hierarchy of the school/LA/MP to get what is best for my child.

Sorry this turned a little ranty, getting frustrated with a book I need to read and saw something that I have a great deal of understanding in.

amiehall

When I was at school, my then boyfriend went to a posh school that encouraged people to take things early and then do AS when it should be GCSE time. He ended up with much worse grades than me and the worst thing was his extra A Levels weren't even considered by his choices of university as they wanted them in "one sitting"

If people don't find schoolwork stimulating then I think the teachers should be setting more advanced exercises within the class. Why give up the opportunity to excel in an exam by taking it too early?

student_84

amiehall wrote: »

If people don't find schoolwork stimulating then I think the teachers should be setting more advanced exercises within the class. Why give up the opportunity to excel in an exam by taking it too early?

This I think is a great point, however there is a line between someone being allowed to excel in an exam and someone being held back, ultimately this judgement should be made by an experienced teacher. In the case of your boyfriend I expect that there was pressure from the head downwards to introduce exams earlier to 'give the parents more value for money' an excuse I have heard a lot recently.