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

jellyhead

Luckily for my son the timetable was arranged to allow for the vocational courses to be taken in one part of the timetable where other students were taking other options, so those pupils didn't miss out on anything at all and could go into their different ability groups for everything else.

The vocational courses lasted for a whole afternoon which meant getting home late on one day, but that also meant they could either have Friday afternoons off, or spend them doing other work

I'm so glad that my son took that course, and that the school offered it. It made so much difference to his motivation and confidence during those years. I'm not sure that he'd have got enough GCSE passes to go on to level 3 study otherwise.

claire16c

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.

I can see what you're saying but getting a C in English is really important lots of jobs will require it, so it's pretty essential. I don't think my 6th form even let you in unless you had it or how would you cope with A levels?

conradmum

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.

These days schools care a lot more about the overall passing rates for each year because parents look closely at league table results when picking a school. One pupil won't make a huge amount of difference but each pupil's results add up to the whole. Schools want to encourage parents who care about their children's education to apply to their school because those children tend to get better results, and so the cycle goes on. League tables have been responsible for the constantly widening gap between good and poor schools for decades now.

Of course schools make decisions on what pupils study according to how their outcomes will affect the school's statistics. Decisions such as entering children for Foundation Tier papers instead of Higher Tier because it's easier to pass at grade C on a Foundation Tier, or entering students for Double Science instead of the individual sciences. This kind of thing goes on all the time. I think the OP is probably correct in her assessment of the school encouraging her child to do this course because it's to their benefit, as well as possibly his.

Seanymph

You need to ask the school.

claire16c

If the OP does think her son is more likely to pass this than doing something else then surely she should be glad to pay a couple of quid or whatever it is each week!

Shelldean

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.

Maybe you're right, but due to a conversation held with his tutor I believe in my sons case, the choice was made purely for benefit of the school and their claim of improving how many pupils got A -C grades
Luckily failing to get his grades hasn't affected my son, except to prove to him academic studies wasn't his forte - hence reason he dropped out 3/4 of the way through lower sixth.


My boys school resits the boys until they get the grade required, surely this makes a mockery of the whole exam system. The other twin still hasn't achieved his C in GCSE English so will be resitting this yr, I believe this is his 6th attempt? All this is doing is making him feel defeated as he feels he has failed yet again. I personally feel he has reached his level and wont get the C. Not that I tell him that1!!




Any way I digress, I only made the first post to try and mayben explain where the OP was coming from.

Shelldean

claire16c wrote: »

I can see what you're saying but getting a C in English is really important lots of jobs will require it, so it's pretty essential. I don't think my 6th form even let you in unless you had it or how would you cope with A levels?

Agreed, it is needed to go on to do lots of things.


But what if the child has sat the exam 5 times? and only ever achieved a D? Do you not feel he has reached his level and might never obtain the C?
Do you keep pushing and pushing and pushing or accept in this case it wont happen?


The other twin as I mentioned in previous post still hasn't got his GCSE English. His best result is a D. He has had extra help at school, we've sat and helped at home, his sister who is at Uni training to be a teacher has helped. So far all to no avail.
I know this twin feels awful, he feels a failure.
He is currently doing his A levels (2nd yr), and is achieving well in them, his AS level were both great results, and his predicted grades for A2 are also great, despite the lack of C in English. Although I believe both the twins only got into 6th form if they agreed to resit English.

Nadstar

As frustrating as may be to pupil and parent, getting the C+ in English and Maths is key - You could be degree holding in an appropriate subject matter and yet my employer (4000+ employees) would not even let you get to interview without that basic. So yes, it is completely worth doing - The school would be but a distant memory by this point...

Shelldean

Nadstar wrote: »

As frustrating as may be to pupil and parent, getting the C+ in English and Maths is key - You could be degree holding in an appropriate subject matter and yet my employer (4000+ employees) would not even let you get to interview without that basic. So yes, it is completely worth doing - The school would be but a distant memory by this point...

The only snag is having sat with and helped Twin1 I truly don't think he will get the grade. Not sure what will happen as he is now yr 13 so no more years at school for more resits?
It is frustrating yes, but partially because I think he has reached his level and partially as I have no idea what to do to help him futher. He has had conditional offers for Uni, but is unsure if he wants to go.
So how this affects him in the future is currently unknown :(


Twin2 has left school, (left 3/4 of the way throught yr 12) w/o the grade so is doubtful he will ever get it now. Hopefully as he is in employment he will remain that way, and the lack of the grade wont affect him.


edited to add, all other subjects are fine and all C or above, it's just English he is struggling with.




BUT ENOUGH ABOUT MY TWINS, this doenst answer OP. I only posted to try and say where I felt the OP was coming from

jellyhead

Whether it's to school's benefit or not I wanted to give my boy the best chance of passing 5+ at GCSE grade C+ because it would give HIM options. The course gave him the best chance of doing that because in his case he lost out on none of the other lessons and could take english and maths at his own level, which was flexible so that he could go into other ability streams. He took maths 3 times before settling for what he'd got. His school seems set up to do what's best for each pupil, although no doubt they have their eye on the league tables too.

What about adult versions of literacy tests, would they be acceptable to an employer?