Who pays for transport cost when son attending college one day a week (age 14-16)?

claire16c

ANNIEHAHA wrote: »

Just like to say thank you for your advice and comments and for pointing out how people can be so rude when all I asked was a perfectly reasonable question.

This course is offered by the school as 2 GCSEs and are on the leaque table as 2 passes for the school when students complete the course. So it is in the schools interest as well as my sons. Rather than 2 fails in 'regular' GCSE multiplied by the amount of students taking the courses, thats a lot of fails and a bad reflection on the school, this is how it works in schools now.

Also when they ran the course previously a mini bus and staff were laid on for the students, I just wondered if there was help, obviously I do not expect it!

Sorry but that makes no sense.

If your son passes the course the school would have 2 passes in their table. If he fails it will show as 2 fails then.

Same if he does 2 separate GCSEs - 2 passes or 2 fails.

So how is this benefiting the school?

And you dont know yet if your son is more likely to pass this than 2 other GCSEs.

Shelldean

Ok I maybe reading this wrong BUT I think OP means that there is a much hgher % of her child obtaining the 2 GCSE's on the vocational course than the academic. So if OP decides she cant afford the fares to college, then the school will have more chance of 2 fails????


One of my twins was the same,
As a general rule all Students sit Maths English Science Citizenship and Additional Science.
Now this school LOVES to boast ALL their student got 5 A- C grades mimimum.
This twin was going to struggle with academic stuff, so instead of sitting him for Additional Science he was removed from that class and he spent those lessons during extra English and Science ( his weaker subjects plus extra time on his PE course - where he had a good chance of obtaining the C the school wanted him to obtain so they could continue their boast.


the school placed him where he would obtain better grades (which in some ways I agree with them) In our case neither he nor us was asked which option we preferred, at least OP has been asked.


However they came unstuck as he never got his C in English, despite sitting it at least four times before he left 3/4 of the way through lower sixth.

Spendless

jellyhead wrote: »

After a few weeks the school decided to lay on a minibus, but the reason was purely because students had to get up and leave halfway through their science lessons in order to walk to the nearest bus stop, etc. whereas a minibus could take them door to door in a faster time without their having to miss any of their other lessons.

I do think this is a valid point. You need to ask the school how this construction course works out with their timetable and his other lessons. Living in a rural area it may take some time to get to his destination via public transport. Is the course timetabled to take this into account and he's only expected to be at college on those days and not in any other lessons.

littlerat

At our school a minibus took children from I think ours and another school en-route, but that was only due to fundings to help children who weren't academically gifted into other routes of education. It may be worth contacting your local council.

It wasn't always easy though for them to not miss important subjects, which is a consideration, he still really needs his maths and english GCSEs. Our school did have some caring teachers but if he's not going to be able to grab the odd bit of help in breaks, it could be hard.


But, the couple I knew were pretty much able to get onto any NVQ or similar directly as they'd already had hands on experience, even if it wasn't related to the course they studied. So if your son is likely to be going into a trade, it may be worth it. to pay the costs.


Local council grants aside, also check on the grant checker somewhere on MSE, I know some help with educational costs, maybe they'd still help his age group, of course you'd likely only get that if on a lower income.



As for the people moaning - they may be earning 50k a year and just begrudge spending out, they may be on low wage or struggling for 101 other reasons which is why they're looking for help with costs. Stop judging.

FatVonD

My son did a vocational course and for a while we shared the travel with one of his friend's parents, they would take them both and DH would pick them both up. It was only after a few weeks that DH noticed he was following a school minibus that the boys told us there was a bus laid on by the school to get them there but they didn't want to get it(!) but by then they wanted to take the train which gave them some valuable experience of travelling sans parents.

FatVonD

littlerat wrote: »

It wasn't always easy though for them to not miss important subjects, which is a consideration, he still really needs his maths and english GCSEs. Our school did have some caring teachers but if he's not going to be able to grab the odd bit of help in breaks, it could be hard.

They don't need to grab people on breaks! The timetable for the kids doing vocational courses will be different to those that aren't, they still have the same number of lessons in the core subjects over the course of a week, just crammed into 4 days instead of 5 and in the spaces where the more academic-minded kids will be doing languages/extra sciences etc.

silvercar

Shelldean wrote: »

Ok I maybe reading this wrong BUT I think OP means that there is a much hgher % of her child obtaining the 2 GCSE's on the vocational course than the academic. So if OP decides she cant afford the fares to college, then the school will have more chance of 2 fails????


One of my twins was the same,
As a general rule all Students sit Maths English Science Citizenship and Additional Science.
Now this school LOVES to boast ALL their student got 5 A- C grades mimimum.
This twin was going to struggle with academic stuff, so instead of sitting him for Additional Science he was removed from that class and he spent those lessons during extra English and Science ( his weaker subjects plus extra time on his PE course - where he had a good chance of obtaining the C the school wanted him to obtain so they could continue their boast.


the school placed him where he would obtain better grades (which in some ways I agree with them) In our case neither he nor us was asked which option we preferred, at least OP has been asked.


However they came unstuck as he never got his C in English, despite sitting it at least four times before he left 3/4 of the way through lower sixth.

The aim of the school is to get the best for its pupils. Which is the same aim that the parents have as well as the pupil.

To say that these choices are only, or mainly, for the benefit of the school is nonsense.

I'm sure one pupil not gaining the 5 A*-C grades effects the pupil far more than the school statistics.

shop-to-drop

silvercar wrote: »

The aim of the school is to get the best for its pupils. Which is the same aim that the parents have as well as the pupil.

To say that these choices are only, or mainly, for the benefit of the school is nonsense.

I'm sure one pupil not gaining the 5 A*-C grades effects the pupil far more than the school statistics.

This is true the attitude of certain parents that the qualifications are for the benefit of the school rather than the pupil may be part of the problem why some children are not achieving/motivated.

mrcow

maman wrote: »

I'm afraid you're wrong there. Pupils' GCSE passes contribute to the school's place in the league tables and if they drop down too low they'll be suffering for years to come from Ofsted and the like.

No they won't. Ofsted will just want to see the data on progress made and what provisions and support are put in for those pupils. If a pupil chooses not to opt for a particular vocational course, that's their lookout, the school will try just as hard with that pupil with the in house qualifications that they are taking (including English and Mathematics which are arguably far more important).

As for the league tables, by the time the OPs son takes his GCSEs, schools aren't going to be measured on 5 x A*-C grades anymore, so the point is irrelevant.

This qualification is more important to the pupil than the school in every way, shape and form. In the years to come, the school will have moved on to the next batch of pupils. The pupil in question will have to reap the consequences in a much more direct way.

littlerat

FatVonD wrote: »

They don't need to grab people on breaks! The timetable for the kids doing vocational courses will be different to those that aren't, they still have the same number of lessons in the core subjects over the course of a week, just crammed into 4 days instead of 5 and in the spaces where the more academic-minded kids will be doing languages/extra sciences etc.

Actually, as it's usually only a few students, they just have to miss whatever lessons clash, that's standard in most schools down here anyway. There just isn't spare teachers to do a whole different timetable for a few students who may be taking different voluntary subjects (the ones you choose I mean) and be at different levels for different subjects.