Am I asking too much?
Posted: Wed Aug 29, 2012 5:49 pm
My son's school requested that the students decide upon their A level options just after Christmas. In May my son decided he would like to change one of the options to Maths and was told he was second on a waiting list. We thought he would stand a very good chance of accomplishing this change as there is often quite a bit of movement when the GCSE results are released. Following his results last week he decided he would also like to do Physics instead of another subject. He went to see two of his senior members of staff immediately and was told to make an appointment to see one of the teachers who deals with options today, as there was obviously no one available to see him at that time. Having been to see the said teacher this morning we were told that his options had not been changed and he was still down to do his original options. We were also told that Maths and Physics were oversubscribed and it was unlikely he would be able to change even though he achieved A*s in both subjects.
When we got home I rang the school and spoke to a senior member of staff who said he would look into it. He then sent me an email to tell me they wouldn't know if there was any availability on the courses until Tuesday. They would have to wait and see if people dropped out or didn't turn up. He said that my son 'would have to be patient and wait until Tuesday'. I have subsequently appealed to the headmaster via an email as I am hoping he will be able to intervene in some way. My son feels completely let down. He gets on very well with his teachers, he has never been in trouble, he always gets very good reports, he works extremely hard and did very well in all his GCSEs. I cannot believe they are being so inflexible. The thing is we could have applied to other sixth forms on the day of the results if someone had been prepared to speak to us there and then. My son loves his school and the last thing he wants to do is leave however, the last thing he also wants to do is spend the next two years studying subjects he doesn't want to study. Very reluctantly I have phoned three other schools this afternoon who said, in view of his results they are prepared to consider him and have requested that we email them. Am I being unreasonable in expecting the school to accommodate my son's option changes? Having been so happy about his results he is now very low.
When we got home I rang the school and spoke to a senior member of staff who said he would look into it. He then sent me an email to tell me they wouldn't know if there was any availability on the courses until Tuesday. They would have to wait and see if people dropped out or didn't turn up. He said that my son 'would have to be patient and wait until Tuesday'. I have subsequently appealed to the headmaster via an email as I am hoping he will be able to intervene in some way. My son feels completely let down. He gets on very well with his teachers, he has never been in trouble, he always gets very good reports, he works extremely hard and did very well in all his GCSEs. I cannot believe they are being so inflexible. The thing is we could have applied to other sixth forms on the day of the results if someone had been prepared to speak to us there and then. My son loves his school and the last thing he wants to do is leave however, the last thing he also wants to do is spend the next two years studying subjects he doesn't want to study. Very reluctantly I have phoned three other schools this afternoon who said, in view of his results they are prepared to consider him and have requested that we email them. Am I being unreasonable in expecting the school to accommodate my son's option changes? Having been so happy about his results he is now very low.