Anyone else have a 16 year old not gain any GCSE 'C' grades this year?

FatVonD

I can't find the posts now about childcare and hairdressing being an option for the less academic girls. I agree that is often the case but, as someone pointed out on here a while ago (hairdresser wanting to work on a cruise ship thread) 'hairdressing is not a Mickey Mouse career choice'. Hairdressing apparently has the largest % of net profit of any high street shop and it's one of those industries that can never be wiped out by the internet because you physically have to 'be' there. If they have any business acumen then there's good money to be made.

I've always worked in publishing which has been great but magazines are dying, I have 12 years until I retire and I'm not confident there will be enough work around to keep me gainfully employed for that long. I think anyone joining the workplace nowadays really needs to think about doing something that the customer can't possibly get from the internet.

Spendless

FatVonD wrote: »

I can't find the posts now about childcare and hairdressing being an option for the less academic girls. I agree that is often the case but, as someone pointed out on here a while ago (hairdresser wanting to work on a cruise ship thread) 'hairdressing is not a Mickey Mouse career choice'. Hairdressing apparently has the largest net profit of any high street shop and it's one of those industries that can never be wiped out by the internet because you physically have to 'be' there. If they have any business acumen then there's good money to be made.

I agree with this. My mother has been a hairdresser for over 50 years. To learn her trade my Grandparents had to pay her apprenticeship costs up front £50 back in 1960. They could only afford it as both of them worked f-time. My mum then received £2 wages for her first year. This trade though has meant she could be flexible round me and my sister when we were younger. Could find employment when she was a single unmarried mother at a time when one was considered 'not respectable' and enables her to carry on with working now she's past retirement age.

Well done to your son too. x

I feel for you OP. I have a son who though naturally capable applies little effort and could well be writing a similar thread in a few years time. We are working on addressing it this year hoping it'll work.

supersaver2

pollypenny wrote: »

Fair point. However, I don't imagine that bottom set would be C/D borderline either.

Back to OP. give the lad some time. He will find his niche.

In the school I teach and others where I've taught in the past the bottom sets are never C/D borderline, these children are often placed in the middle level set (set 3 in my current school).

Dunroamin

NervousHomeowner wrote: »

No but he can get a part time job while retaking his maths & English or while he's looking for an apprenticeship. If he hasn't got the grades to go back to school or pursue an apprenticeship, I don't really see what else he can do but get a job and look for other options?

As has been previously suggested, he can go to college and do the level 2 course that's already been suggested and then progress to the level 3 course the following year, working part time alongside this.

An advantage of this route (which may be relevant to the OP) is that she'll be able to carry on receiving child related benefits for him, which she won't be able to do if he isn't in FT education.

ViolaLass

supersaver2 wrote: »

In the school I teach and others where I've taught in the past the bottom sets are never C/D borderline, these children are often placed in the middle level set (set 3 in my current school).

It's really going to depend on the school, though, isn't it?

the_pink_panther_2

ViolaLass wrote: »

It's really going to depend on the school, though, isn't it?

Yes, to some extent, but in my experience bottom set C/D borderline either means great catchment area or selective school.

TopQuark

spacey2012 wrote: »

Listen, practical advice.
We have a generation of parents who think their kids are geniuses who can work and never get their hands dirty.
We also have an abundance of unemployed graduates and many of those with a job are flipping burgers and waiting tables.

Low academic marks does not mean failure, it means some people are better at using their hands than writing down what they read in a 30 year old book.

Someone has to do the work, someone has to get their hands dirty, the whole countries youth can not be brain surgeons.
We have a million young people unemployed and it has to be connected to the mentality that everyone kids are too clever to work syndrome that New labour sold us.

Start looking for a trade apprenticeship for the lad and forget academic trinkets.
He will be earning a living wage whilst the other kids are in 23, in 40k of debt with a cornflakes box degree and unemployed.

The only difference will be he will have one of the few remaining manual jobs, for sooner or later the unemployed million youth are going to have to get of their backsides, stop kidding themselves they are brain surgeons or rocket scientist and go get a manual job.

Now get behind the lad and find him an apprenticeship in a real trade such as building trades, mechanical or engineering.

Trust me this kidding ourselves bubble is going to burst and anyone who has a trade will be the ones who survive.

So chin up, the lad has a bright future and his lack of academic qualifications may be just what saves him from washing up with the other million who think they don't have to graft.

LOL:rotfl::rotfl::rotfl:

I agree that university is not for everyone (and the proliferation of quirky subjects from quirky institutions has been unhelpful), but your post is borderline rude and also misleading. There is employment out there for graduates with good degrees in the right subjects. We should not discourage bright, able kids just because the jobs market is tough at the current time.

I'm a scientist (BSc & PhD degrees) and work for the most prestigious scientific research organisation in the world. Thus, my academic qualifications are did not come 'off the back of a cornflake box'.

To the OP, I'd advise you and your son to think about what line of work he would like to go into, hard as it is at 16. You say he likes motorsport, but what exactly? Top raceteam engineers have PhDs in subjects like automotive/aeronautical/mechanical engineering, so excellence in maths and physics is important. At the other end of the scale, mechanics perhaps need more vocational qualifications, although I'm guessing that the field is very competitive, so someone lacking basic high school qualifications would be at a disadvantage.

Most people would like a job/career related to their interests/passions/hobbies, but sadly in the real world, this is rarely achievable. Maybe he should broaden his options...what else would he consider?

I would say that at some point, he will need to re-sit GCSEs in maths and english, whatever else he goes on to do. This is the absolute minimum that most employers would require to demonstrate that someone is acceptably literate and numerate enough to cope with basic workplace tasks. Possesing C+ grade GCSEs in fundamental subjects like this is NOT being academic, its simply having the bare minimum to get you off the starting blocks, whatever the job.

Dunroamin

ViolaLass wrote: »

It's really going to depend on the school, though, isn't it?

Unless the school is selective, it's always going to have students way below the C/D borderline.

ViolaLass

Dunroamin wrote: »

Unless the school is selective, it's always going to have students way below the C/D borderline.

I agree. I thought the poster who raised the point was saying that you wouldn't get C/D borderline kids in bottom set (presumably only lower). I think we have a few in our school but I haven't taught that set so I'm not certain.

angelil

the_pink_panther wrote: »

Yes, to some extent, but in my experience bottom set C/D borderline either means great catchment area or selective school.

Or, as in my experience of the school that I attended as a pupil, that the school doesn't bother setting students at all for English (never something I thought made sense as we were in sets for Maths and languages)...meaning that an NQT could well be in charge of C/D borderline students, as well as having to deal with the needs of others of multiple abilities.