Nice People 13: Nice Save

zagubov

LydiaJ wrote: »

Lots going on in my life today.

They are starting to think about next academic year's staffing at work. I have asked to reduce my hours a little. It looks likely that they will be reducing by a bit more than I've asked for. This is a bit of a pity, but not a huge problem. Having got my compensation last summer, I'm in no danger of starving in a gutter.

I got home about 6ish, and was a couple of minutes into a conversation with DS that began "Mum, Mr X is going to phone you" when Mr X phoned. He is the deputy head at DS's school. Not enough people have opted for history in the same block of the options thingy as DS, so they will not be running it in that block and he has to think again.

He will still be doing 2 x Eng, maths, science, additional science as core, and computing, drama & food as options, but we have 2 choices to make about his final 2 subjects, as follows:

1) He can either stick with philosophy & ethics in the block where he chose it, or switch that block to history (although it would be "normal" history rather than the alternative syllabus that he was hoping to do). Given that he is not doing geography or any languages, I feel he probably ought to do history in that block, because of the Ebacc thing, although we'll need to take advice about whether actually phil & eth would do just as well, and he'll need to think hard about which he would prefer.

2) In the block where he was going to do alternative syllabus history, there is nothing he is any good at. There are 3 possible languages (and he is hopeless at languages and would fail a language GCSE if he took one) and business studies, in which he has absolutely no interest. So, he can either plough ahead and do business anyway, or, just to throw in a crazy idea from left field, he could do study support in that block and I could teach him further additional science at home. (Well, I could teach him the phys & chem, and I could pay somebody to teach him the bio if I didn't feel able to mug it up myself sufficiently to be able to teach it to him.) Mr X seemed open to the idea rather than horrified by it and said, when I asked, that he thought that the school would be able to arrange for one of their science teachers to supervise DS doing an assessed practical at some point over the 2 years, and enter him for the exam through their GCSE exam centre system. It would mean that he'd have triple science, just carved up as sci, ad sci & further ad sci rather than bio, chem & phys.

Any thoughts, nice people, please????

If I had the time and was in your situation, I'd go for the extra science.

Have done philosophy and ethics at uni and feel everybody should do a bit of it so if it was acceptable for the ebacc I'd keep it, but not sure it'd count as much for progression in the way that triple science is.

I don't know enough about the two different types of history to know what that's about.

GDB2222

DW has applied for a new job. She just heard that she is being interviewed on Wednesday and has to give a presentation as part of the interview process. So, somehow, she has to prepare that in her spare time tonight and tomorrow night. I'd better go and help!

Really impressed that she's had the courage to go through this whole process.

lostinrates

A cow is giving birth in a very noisy way. If she keeps going I guess I'll pop over with tea later. Least it won't be twins, eh. by heck, she's loud though.

LydiaJ

lostinrates wrote: »

I'm NOT a scientist I'm a natural arts student who read science. I still think for Lydia's ds science is his best option.

Geology as an option? I didn't read that before......that might be a good option, but would it have to be either or. Is it just me or is that a bit of a random, if interesting, GSCE option? Or is it a mistype for geography?

Geology and statistics were both suggested by silvercar, in a post I've quoted in my most recent post before this one. V helpful of her and Nikkster and others to prod me to think outside the box - even though I still think FAS is the way to go, I am feeling more and more confident about it because of having other options suggested. Have also spoken to a teacher friend from my own school who thinks it's a good idea. So feeling quite encouraged.

My entire family of origin are missing any kind of business or entrepreneurial gene. If DS wanted to do business studies, I'd encourage him, but when I talked through with him what it said about it in the options booklet, he looked blankly at me and it seemed to me that the idea was leaving him as uninterested and as uninspired as I would feel at the prospect of studying it myself.

PasturesNew wrote: »

I avoided bio... heard that you had to dissect an eyeball ....

He will be doing practical in the other two thirds of triple science at school, so I'm happy his experimental skills will get developed and it won't matter too much if I teach him FAS with a minimum of practical. I can borrow equipment from school, so physics won't be problem, but chem and bio are trickier - you can't borrow stuff, because at the end of the experiment it's been used up and can't be given back. Maybe I can come to some kind of arrangement with my school about it. Or maybe we will be able to find youtube footage of people doing the experiments.

lostinrates

Do they still have to dissect for gcse? I thought it was sort of semi optional way back when I did it ( wouldn't have missed it for the world though fwiw and wasn't thinking about a science degree then).


Fwiw, its perfectly easy to dissect at home. We hosted a thing here last year and might do this year where people were dissecting stuff in my first courtyard and my kitchen.


DH popped to a similar course a friend ran to do a hoof capsule dissection on a patio table in a kitchen. An eye could be much more easily done in a kitchen on a chopping board.

Is everyone as enthusiastic as me? No, probably not, but it really is a very good way to understand properly and get the idea of the density of different structures in something like an eyeball.


Edit: getting stuff is quite easy now, now that BSE regs have relaxed. But eyeballs were never a problem. You could probably get them from a decent butcher. Top tip, don't just get one, expect error.......:). Other bits one can get ( depending on what) from other legitimate and legal sources. .

I feel like a dealer......snow in the restrooms, grass in the car park.

LydiaJ

zagubov wrote: »

If I had the time and was in your situation, I'd go for the extra science.

Have done philosophy and ethics at uni and feel everybody should do a bit of it so if it was acceptable for the ebacc I'd keep it, but not sure it'd count as much for progression in the way that triple science is.

I don't know enough about the two different types of history to know what that's about.

The more I think about it, the more I think the ebacc thing doesn't matter. He is not going to get an ebacc because he's not capable of passing a language. Anybody who isn't insisting on an ebacc is unlikely to care whether his humanities subject is history or philosophy and ethics. They will just see that he has a humanities subject there in the list. So I've told him he can do whichever of those two he prefers, and he'd better go and spend some time talking to the appropriate teachers - explain that he has got to change his options and needs more info.

Meanwhile, as regards the other question, home educating him FAS is winning hands down over business studies.

GDB2222 wrote: »

DW has applied for a new job. She just heard that she is being interviewed on Wednesday and has to give a presentation as part of the interview process. So, somehow, she has to prepare that in her spare time tonight and tomorrow night. I'd better go and help!

Really impressed that she's had the courage to go through this whole process.

Please send her best wishes for it from me.

silvercar

I am rather relieved that nobody is telling me to try to make him do business studies.

Anything ending in "studies" sounds dubious.

I would think that you could concentrate on the physics, there may be options where you can pick more of the physics units and minimal bio ones.

zagubov

Did anybody see Horizon tonight, about psychopaths? Fascinating how they're four times as common in big businesses and rise to the top. Very cold manipulative people who can charm their way to power.

Shame they're useless, and just take up good jobs competent people should hold.:mad:

Made me think some posters apparent bad fortune may be the best thing for them, if it gets them away from these ghastly chancers.

And good luck to mrs GDB!

Generali

zagubov wrote: »

Did anybody see Horizon tonight, about psychopaths? Fascinating how they're four times as common in big businesses and rise to the top. Very cold manipulative people who can charm their way to power.

Shame they're useless, and just take up good jobs competent people should hold.:mad:

Made me think some posters apparent bad fortune may be the best thing for them, if it gets them away from these ghastly chancers.

And good luck to mrs GDB!

TBH I've always been a bit dubious about the psychopaths thing. I suspect it's come from studies of the financial world where the ability to maintain froideur whilst markets are moving is important.

lostinrates

zagubov wrote: »

Did anybody see Horizon tonight, about psychopaths? Fascinating how they're four times as common in big businesses and rise to the top. Very cold manipulative people who can charm their way to power.

Shame they're useless, and just take up good jobs competent people should hold.:mad:

Made me think some posters apparent bad fortune may be the best thing for them, if it gets them away from these ghastly chancers.

And good luck to mrs GDB!

I didn't. But it makes sense. Kind of in the way drs have to disassociate often. Shrug. My guess is that if you went through professions you could get similar numbers for different 'personality disorders' or types in different types of career/lack of. I'm sure that many of them are very pleasant psychopaths at home :)and the thing is some do really great things. Just like drs can do sh1tty things to people they treat like meat, but we see them as heroes because we are more able to recognise our needs for them.

No point getting bitter about the old sausages. . Just don't be like 'em. Be fresh new sausages in stead.