• Replies 3 replies
  • Subscribers 83 subscribers
  • Views 164 views
  • Users 0 members are here
Options
Related
Hints and tips
  • To quote someone's message, first select/highlight the relevant text, and then use the Quote button that appears
  • To "mention" someone, type @ followed by the start of the forum name, and choose from the list; that person will get a notification of being mentioned

GCSE Subjects

Daddy

Dear all, 

My son, aged 14 years,  who has ASD will be starting GCSE's next academic year. He is in mainstream secondary education, has a Education & Health Care Plan, with school receiving funding for additional support.  This year, he had to make his selections for topics. We had requested additional time for the school so we can work with our son to make the right selection, so he is not set to fail. It is very difficult to work with him, as he says "yes" to everything when asked what subjects he enjoys most. We had parents meetings, and discussed suitable subjects (lots of teachers after giving positive feedback about his progress, were saying he is not suitable for this or that subject e.g. Geography, History etc). We submitted the subject selections (it had preference 1, preference 2), after working hard with our son, playing youtube videos of subjects, to really get to understand his passions.  I had discussed all of this with the SENCo Lead at the school. We were advised that he should drop one subject option, so he has additional support for English, which we agreed to. We want our son to progress to further education, like T-levels or BTEC, once we understand what he wants to do in the future. 

Now about the concerns: 

1. I had requested careers adviser, to help understand his aspirations, and to help set a goal for his future - I was told that priority is GCSE students towards the end of their academic year, and would be offered once priority children completed. None was offered. 

2. On his last day at school, my son showed us the letter from the school on subjects allocated to him. To our absolute shock, most of the subjects allocated when none we had selected e.g. Health & Social Care and Citizenship, he did not select these. I am so angry and frustrated with the school, and it feels like they just allocated subjects based on spaces, rather than his subject selection.  It really does feel that he will be set for failure if he does subjects he did not select. 

I sent school an e-mail, and there was an out of office reply, saying they broke up for summer holidays. It is appalling they landed this on us on the last day of school, not allowing any consultation, and us being worried about him throughout the summer holidays. 

Any advice please on how else I should proceed, other than the e-mail I have already sent to the school.

Thank you and much appreciated. 

Regards

Wajid

  • How really frustrating for you to have worked so hard with your son - to then find apparently more arbitrary subjects were allocated to him for September (without more sensitive and consultative communication with your Family).

    That said, unfortunately, I believe both of those subject areas are mandatory national curriculum at age 14 plus.  So, maybe the next line of enquiry with the School might be to gain assurance that the materials and resources will be suitably SEN appropriate to your son's support and communication needs.

    Health & Social Care is a mandatory subject at secondary school age.  I don't know that there is a GCSE in this subject.  Some Exam Boards do offer a Level 1 and Level 2 Award / Certificate in the subjects (worth checking with your son's school).  In similar context you may hear people refer to the compulsory Relationships and Sex Education (RSE) curriculum.  There is extra guidance available to Schools to ensure their RSE materials and resources are suited to SEN pupils: "For pupils who already have an EHC plan, specific consideration of their RSE needs may helpfully be provided at annual review.".

    Citizenship is also a statutory subject.  Citizenship is a required subject in the National Curriculum at key stage 3 (age 11-14) and 4 (age 11-16), so must be taught in all maintained schools in England.  There is a GCSE in Citizenship Studies available "to recognise pupil achievement" (but I don't think it is mandatory to sit that GCSE exam - so that might also be worth checking with your son's School).

  • Hi Wajid

    That sounds like a really frustratin and disapointin situation and I can understand why your so angry about it. You clearly put a lot of time and care into helpin your son make the right choices, and it must feel like all that effort has been ignored.

    Here are a few things you might want to do next:

    Keep a written record of everything Since you've already sent a email, keep that and any replies as part of a paper trail. You might also want to write a short timeline of events – when you asked for advice, when you met with teachers, what was said, what you agreed with the SENCo, etc. This can help later on if you need to raise a formal complaint.

    Write to the headteacher Even if the school is on break, you can send a formal letter or email to the headteacher. Keep it calm but clear. Say that your son has a EHCP and that the decisions made go against what was discussed and agreed with you and the SENCo. Ask for a urgent meeting in the first week back in September to review his subject allocations and make changes.

    Contact the SENCo again in September he SENCo is ment to be the main point of contact for pupils with a EHCP. Remind them of what was discussed and agreed, and that your son's needs and preferences seem to have been ignored. Ask to see a copy of the school's reasoning for the change in subjects, and ask what support will be in place for subjects your son did not choose.

    Reach out to SENDIASS Every local authority has a SENDIASS service (Special Educational Needs and Disabilities Information Advice and Support Service). They are free and independent and can help you understand your rights, support you with meetings, or help with making a formal complaint if needed.

    Think about asking for a early annual review If this situation is not fixed quickly in September, you could ask for a early annual review of the EHCP. This would let you go over what's gone wrong and what changes need to be made to support your son properly.

    Raise a formal complaint if needed If after talkin with the school nothing is fixed, you can use the school’s complaints procedure to raise a formal complaint. You could also raise it with the local authority if you feel the EHCP is not being followed.

    It’s not right for this kind of thing to be dumped on you on the last day of school, with no chance to talk or fix it before summer. Your son has the right to a education that suits his needs, and that includes subjects he has interest in and can succeed at.

    You’ve done everything right by being involved, asking for support, and working with your son. Don’t let this slide – chase it up in September, and get support if you need to.

  • I cannot suggest a remedy, but can suggest a possible motivation on the part of the school. All schools are obsessed with their performance statistics, which are reflected in OFSTED ratings. These statistics, for secondary schools, are predicated on the predictions for a child's performance made at the end of primary school. Pupils whose performance is suggesting a lower than predicted outcome in a subject, might be transferred to a different subject, especially one considered 'easier'.

    This affected my eldest. They were predicted to  get a grade A at GCSE maths, but on taking it a year early got a  B. This was fine, as they were not intending to go down the science route - and indeed ended up doing a fine art course. However, rather than getting to do an extra subject, as had been promised by the school, they were forced to do another year of Maths. We complained, but were ignored. A totally pointless, for my child, grade A in Maths was achieved; at the cost of a tedious year of repeating all the maths they had already studied and missing out on getting a qualification in a subject they actually wanted to do.

    It is a scandal that schools routinely put the reputation of the school, measured in meaningless statistics, above the welfare of their students.