School refused selected GCSE options

thegreatwhiteduck

Does anyone have any advice, especially borne from experience, on how to deal with a school refusing their child's selected GCSE options?

My son selected French, Computer Science, History and Geography.
He has been allocated French, Business Studies, "Triple" Science and BTEC Phys Ed. One out of four!

I am shocked, amazed and depressed for him. Where is the choice? He has little interest in Phys Ed, having recently given up extra-curricular football. It feels like he has been dumped by his school, at 14 years old.

74jax

Is it due to the time table? Maybe two are on at the same time?

Have you spoken to the school to find out why?

thegreatwhiteduck

I contacted the school immediately, by phone and e-mail, to raise my concerns. Reportedly the Head of Year 9 has been informed but there has been no substantial response as yet. While I am waiting, I thought I'd seek advice from others who've had a similar experience.

We followed the school's directions in selecting the options, so I am confident that a timetable clash is not the reason.

Spendless

That's a lot to not get and not something I've come across before.

What I have come across is certain subjects require a certain level in another subject.

eg at my child/rens school

To study psychology you needed to be at a certain level of English.

To study computing you needed to be at a certain level of Maths

You can only take Triple science if selected to do so.

When my eldest (now 18)took his options he chose four subjects and had triple science timetabled on separately.

When my youngest (15) took hers, 3 years later at the same school, there were 4 different 'pathways'. Depending on which pathway you were on, you had to do a foreign language and history/geography and then got 2 options of anything, those selected to do triple science, that took up an option choice and they only got one free choice.

Is any of the above a possibility about what has happened? Another thought that has come to me, have the muddled the names of your child with another?

thegreatwhiteduck

Thanks for your thoughts. I am indeed hoping that this is an administrative error, but until I speak to the school I won't know. There was no indication in the school's guidelines that selection for any of my son's preferences depended upon achievement in those or other subjects.

According to my son's latest report (February 2018) the teachers' "Professional Predictions" (i.e. the GCSE grades that his teachers expect my son to achieve at examination in Year 11) for his preferred options are as follows.
French 7+, Geography 5/6, History 6/7, Computer Studies 6/7

The corresponding predictions for Phys Ed is 2/3 and that for Science is 4/5, while he doesn't study Business Studies.

So they've allocated him to the subjects at which his performance and expectations are the lowest!

CRANKY40

As Spendless says, your child appears to have been given the English Baccalaureate choices then allocated some subjects from the other pathway though not all. The E Bacc has a choice of a language, history or Geography, compulsory maths and a couple of choices one of which is computer science. Google it for a full list, there's plenty of stuff online.

At my son's school the children following the E Bacc pathway were given yellow options forms, the children not following this were given blue forms. Unless you knew there was a difference you wouldn't have been aware of the different pathways because your child would only have one or the other.

74jax

thegreatwhiteduck wrote: »

I contacted the school immediately, by phone and e-mail, to raise my concerns. Reportedly the Head of Year 9 has been informed but there has been no substantial response as yet. While I am waiting, I thought I'd seek advice from others who've had a similar experience.

We followed the school's directions in selecting the options, so I am confident that a timetable clash is not the reason.

Ok. That was the reason my dd didn't get her options. Thought it was worth asking.

pinkshoes

Someone with a 4/5 prediction should not be allocated triple science!!

Hopefully this is an administration error, but make sure you put your complain in writing (email) to get it sorted, as phone calls to teachers are never a great option!

Spendless

thegreatwhiteduck wrote: »

Thanks for your thoughts. I am indeed hoping that this is an administrative error, but until I speak to the school I won't know. There was no indication in the school's guidelines that selection for any of my son's preferences depended upon achievement in those or other subjects.

According to my son's latest report (February 2018) the teachers' "Professional Predictions" (i.e. the GCSE grades that his teachers expect my son to achieve at examination in Year 11) for his preferred options are as follows.
French 7+, Geography 5/6, History 6/7, Computer Studies 6/7

The corresponding predictions for Phys Ed is 2/3 and that for Science is 4/5, while he doesn't study Business Studies.

So they've allocated him to the subjects at which his performance and expectations are the lowest!

Isn't business studies a brand new subject that would only be studied after options have been chosen? It is at my DC school. Their school also had that children could only study Spanish at GCSE level, if they'd been selected to do it in year 8 (and that selection was based on how well the children had done in French, at the end of yr7 - all children being taught French as they went to Secondary school). Is there some sort of similar process going off at your child's school with business studies?

I'm still leaning towards they've muddled your child's up with another somehow. If you could clarify how the options are selected, eg did they fetch home a booklet with choices, or do you do it on-line, it might help people shed more light on it for you.

Savvy_Sue

Another possibility is that not enough children have selected the same options as the OP's son, so they're not now offering eg computer science.

Worth jumping up and down a bit. With my boys, it was a case of 'cross out all the things you're NEVER going to do (art, music, drama, PE) and choose the least bad options from what's left'. DS2 had to do French and wanted to do German as one of his four 'choices'. First the school said they didn't have enough pupils who'd chosen that so they wouldn't offer German after all, and DS2 was offered PE. I think other parents jumped up and down before I managed it, and they back-tracked. They said they would use some of the school's Gifted and Talented budget to accommodate the smaller German class.

thegreatwhiteduck

All resolved. Teacher phoned this morning to confirm that it was an admin error. My son will study his four preferred GCSE options. He has a big grin on his face!

Thanks to all for your advice.