failing at school 14 ,advice please,

bamberbamboo

Afternoon all, my lovely 14 year old daughter is not doing well at school, we live in North Wales and her school is a welsh speaking school she is welsh speaking but as a second language, she seems to be falling behind in school she is in the lower sets with a bunch of other kids that don't take school serious and even though shes no problem out of school I know shes a minx in school, my son said he'd heard her swearing a lot and being tough !? or maybe it was rough ?! anyway shes starting her last year in September and I really need her to buckle down with school I'm looking for advice on how to do this or how I can find a tutor to help I don't mind paying for a tutor if this will help her, any ideas would be great I don't want her to throw away this last year, I've got her into kick boxing 2 nights a week to try and keep her motivated and out of mischief in the evenings, the children tend to hang around a lot where I live and I am wondering if this is wehre this "gangsta" attitude in school is coming from.

nats3006

maybe if you had a word with her teacher ask how she goes on and if there is anything they can do to help??

not much advice really but i was the same at school and now wish i hadnt been like that, sometimes you can only learn from your mistakes

good luck
x

going2die_rich

If you can afford it, do financial incentives. Such as an A* gets you £50, A get you £40, and B gets you £30 and C gets you £20. D or below, nothing, as thats below average. This would mount up over 12 or so subjects. Obviously working out amounts that you can afford.

Another idea would be saying if you get so many C or above grades you'll pay for her driving lessons when she turns 17. Which you probably would have done anyway so technically it won't be an additional cost to you. Also it's a bigger incentive of the thought of driving and being free than a few hundred a year down the line.

If you pay her pocket money, change it from being the usual of these are your jobs each week, to her having to spend so many hours each weekend doing school work. If she has no homework she can revise. Obvsiouly do it as in revision guide work which you check as if you leave her to it she could be playing on the computer or just sitting around in her room while you think she is working away.

Before school breaks up, ask for a meeting with her teachers or just ring her head of year saying you'd like her to be given some extra work to be done during the holidays as you believe she isn't doing her best and you want her to improve over the summer. The summer holidays would be a good time to catch up the past year so that she doesn't struggle in the coming school year. Also having 6 whole weeks off means spending a day doing school work won't be as much of a big deal and if you can enforce a routine now, it wont be as painful come September when she returns to school.

louidog

Poor you bamberbamoo, our off spring are such a worry eh!
Your first port of call must be with her Form Tutor or Year Head. They will be aware of any problems any of her teachers may have raised if any at all. Sometimes the stress of exams or course work can bring out the worst in children. Remember too that your daughter probably has every hormone known to man charging about her body. I remember that age so well and not knowing what the heck was going on within my own skin and feeling very confused and lonely.
Please don't rush out and get a tutor until you have discussed this with the school first. I am sure you will get a meeting with soemone at the school within a week, if not, demand one!
Good luck