Post by runmum on Feb 12, 2018 12:01:32 GMT
Jealous Dog has a high average IQ but struggles with learning as he has ADHD, OCD (with crippling anxiety) and dyslexia, dyscalculia. He is choosing his GCSE options.
In year 7 he was overwhelmed with secondary school so they agreed that whilst he had to go to all lessons he only needed to do homework and revision for core subjects i.e. 4 subjects.
In year 8 he developed an interest in a couple of non core subjects so he started doing homework for those i.e. 6 subjects. It takes him 5-8 times longer to do everything than the average. So if the teacher says revise for this science test it will take you 1 hour. He spends 8 hours (with full adult supervision either by us or a tutor/homework helper that we pay for) and gets about 30%. Same with the homework - write this essay or answer these questions it will take you 40 minutes it takes him about 4 hours.
So with the new government push for traditional subjects all kids at his schools take 10 GCSEs - Core subjects: Maths, English Lang and Lit (taught together but 2 GCSEs) Science (3 sciences taught together but 2 GCSE awards), RE. Then 4 options organised so that you have to take either history or geography to keep the powers that be happy. He is never going to cope with homework and revision for 10 subjects but if he focuses on 5 he might get 3 x grade 3's. This is the lowest possible level for entry to college to do anything meaningful. I know you can do entry level courses with no qualifications but the kids on that course don't have high average IQs and he would feel very out of place. He is not remotely practical and recoils in horror at the thought of any career involving plumbing or gardening etc.
After the GCSE options open evening he was terrified and overwhelmed and almost had an anxiety attack. We arranged a meeting and asked school what could be done so that he did not have to study 10 subjects as this would in effect condemn him to failure whereas studying 5 subjects he might get 3 x 3's. The head of year listened and was lovely and compassionate. We worked out a plan for him to be in the triple science set but only study for one science and in English to ignore all the literature and keep going over the language and to have an agreement that the teachers would accept that he would de-prioritse RE and history in terms of homework and revision. This would take him down to 6 subjects that he would actually be hammering hard at including maths and english language. The head of year took our request to the SLT and just came back with a straight "no." We will have to see how he copes - but we already know he doesn't cope we've got 3 years evidence for that. They say they can't agree to it as it would be disruptive and they do not have staff to support him when he is not doing the same class work as everyone else.
Has anyone had any success getting your children to study fewer subjects and how was it managed practically? Thanks. We are applying for an EHCP - we keep being told that he will not get one - you have to be below the 1st centile apparently - good grief!!
In year 7 he was overwhelmed with secondary school so they agreed that whilst he had to go to all lessons he only needed to do homework and revision for core subjects i.e. 4 subjects.
In year 8 he developed an interest in a couple of non core subjects so he started doing homework for those i.e. 6 subjects. It takes him 5-8 times longer to do everything than the average. So if the teacher says revise for this science test it will take you 1 hour. He spends 8 hours (with full adult supervision either by us or a tutor/homework helper that we pay for) and gets about 30%. Same with the homework - write this essay or answer these questions it will take you 40 minutes it takes him about 4 hours.
So with the new government push for traditional subjects all kids at his schools take 10 GCSEs - Core subjects: Maths, English Lang and Lit (taught together but 2 GCSEs) Science (3 sciences taught together but 2 GCSE awards), RE. Then 4 options organised so that you have to take either history or geography to keep the powers that be happy. He is never going to cope with homework and revision for 10 subjects but if he focuses on 5 he might get 3 x grade 3's. This is the lowest possible level for entry to college to do anything meaningful. I know you can do entry level courses with no qualifications but the kids on that course don't have high average IQs and he would feel very out of place. He is not remotely practical and recoils in horror at the thought of any career involving plumbing or gardening etc.
After the GCSE options open evening he was terrified and overwhelmed and almost had an anxiety attack. We arranged a meeting and asked school what could be done so that he did not have to study 10 subjects as this would in effect condemn him to failure whereas studying 5 subjects he might get 3 x 3's. The head of year listened and was lovely and compassionate. We worked out a plan for him to be in the triple science set but only study for one science and in English to ignore all the literature and keep going over the language and to have an agreement that the teachers would accept that he would de-prioritse RE and history in terms of homework and revision. This would take him down to 6 subjects that he would actually be hammering hard at including maths and english language. The head of year took our request to the SLT and just came back with a straight "no." We will have to see how he copes - but we already know he doesn't cope we've got 3 years evidence for that. They say they can't agree to it as it would be disruptive and they do not have staff to support him when he is not doing the same class work as everyone else.
Has anyone had any success getting your children to study fewer subjects and how was it managed practically? Thanks. We are applying for an EHCP - we keep being told that he will not get one - you have to be below the 1st centile apparently - good grief!!
