I'm planning for next year; my & the school are going to fall out & I'd like to minimise it

[KatyMac]

DD is hoping to go to performing arts/dance college in Sept 14; she will start auditioning in Sept/Oct 13

This will be her final GCSE year, so time off will be difficult.
She wants to do as many auditions as possible
I'd rather she does as few as possible while giving her the best possible chance
I'm sure school would rather she wasn't off at all

Next year she is doing:
2nd yr of Maths
2nd yr of Eng Lit
2nd yr of Eng Lang
2nd yr of Science

Entire Drama BTEC
Entire Business BTEC

She 'should' already have GCSE Spanish, Geography & Music and she has BTEC Dance

Is it worth suggesting she drops the Business so she can use that time to make up any lessons she has missed?

[LIZS]

I wouldn't pre-empt it tbh so keep Business for now . Is it double or triple science ?

[KatyMac]

Double I think (hope)

She has about 3.5 hrs a week already to use for 'coursework'

You know me Lizs I worry

[Iggi101]

You can't make up lessons missed in time spent alone though, can you?
Does the school have a careers teacher, or similar, who you could arrange an appointment with at the start of the year? Then you could at least explain what's going on, and surely they will have had someone follow the same path in the past? It is important for school to realise this time off is part of a career plan, not just a hobby. (I don't really understand the connection between lots of auditions and performing arts college entrance though)

[noblegiraffe]

How many auditions and days off could be reasonably expected? Will they all be happening at the same time or spread throughout the year?

They might be reluctant for her to ditch a whole BTEC (how manyessoms a week?) if the auditions are done by Christmas.

[LIZS]

What sort of time off do you anticipate , do you know the dates of the ones she is hoping to audition for ? If she is travelling around then she can catch up on train .

[KatyMac]

No the auditions will run through until after Easter - especially if she gets places and needs to do funding auditions too

I imagine about 10 or 12 auditions plus funding ones (if she gets that far)

You do an audition to get a place then a second one to secure funding

We could cut it down to her fewer auditions but that reduces her chances


I wish they had a manual

[cricketballs]

rather than dropping Business altogether why not ask if she can drop from Diploma to Extended Certificate (2 GCSEs instead of 4) therefore she will still gain a qualification and will enable her to have 'time off' as it requisites less units to be completed.

Dropping a subject after work has already been completed seems such a waste especially as her place is not guaranteed and therefore she may need to look at other paths

[EvilTwins]

BTECs are likely to have units which can be completed outside the class. Is her BTEC "Drama" a BTEC Performing Arts? Is it new spec or old? If she's not started yet then it will have to be the new spec. There will be things she can work on by herself- portfolio updates etc BUT please be aware that she will have to do group work for the controlled assessments and her absence will impact on others so as much notice as you can give the teacher would be appreciated, I'm sure.

[KatyMac]

She hasn't started either yet; it's less about the work for those subjects and more about the time to catch up on work for the others

Maybe, considering the impact on the others Drama might be the one to drop.

I don't know when the colleges announce their audtion dates; but I do know they often have more than one - but whether DD gets to choose which she attends I'm not sure.

She is planning on starting with less likely colleges to give her experience and the colleges she really wants a bit later (but it all depends on when they announce their audition days)

[noblegiraffe]

The school might look more kindly on the request to drop Drama if you highlight the issues it will cause for other students. It really wouldn't be fair on them if she knew from the start she was going to miss rehearsals.

[LIZS]

Are you sure you don't need to register early and the dates aren't already set ? Presumably she won't get through all the initial auditions or even then be invited to do funding ones. Agree about her need to be reliable for group work, if much of that takes place in Autumn then it would be unfair to compromise others.

[KatyMac]

Only one of the colleges she is looking at has announced it's dates (lots & lots of dates)

Maybe that is the way to go

I don't know how many invite you on a specific date

[Vivacia]

How would she be able to catch up on missed lessons by dropping Business?

[KatyMac]

They use a lot of workbooks and computer thingies which she would be able to work through during the time

[Vivacia]

But doesn't that lead to problems about who would supervise her, who would set the work, who would mark it, who would help her when she was stuck etc? Surely there's more to learning than just working through a workbook?

[KatyMac]

Well currently she spends about 2 or 3 hours like that a week (in the corner of the form teachers room I think, or occasionally the library)and when she gets stuck she moves on to another subject until I (or my dad) can sort it out for her. It's not ideal, but it's working

We do a lot of compromising

[Vivacia]

Oh dear, why is she already working out of lessons like that? Also, do you mean that you are compromising because you are supporting your daughter's dancing ambitions, or some other reason?

[KatyMac]

Yep dancing; she can dance until she is about 30; then she will return to college & do Alevels/access courses and uni

She is doing close to 18 hours dance a week plus the attendant travelling so coursework/homework and revising are tricky. So she has given up PE/Games as she probably does enough exercise and citizenship/ethics as there isn't an exam in that.

Maths, 2xEnglish, Science, Geography & Spanish are my requirements for her to leave home; we'll start again when she is 30

[KatyMac]

It's the schools best attempt at Flexi schooling and it's sort of working

[mummytime]

I would suggest you encourage her to do some study whilst dancing. Maybe an OU unit, or some other part time study. From friends who have worked as Dancers there is a lot of sitting around (in airports, backstage etc.).
The school sounds as if it is being quite accomodating.

[UniS]

Drama may be the one to skip. Much group work required , not fair on others if she is erratic attender. She IS doing plenty of performing art out side school. UNLESS- any of the colleges expect her to have an exam pass in that subject.

Business I think could be quite useful. There is more to making a living as a dancer than just dancing, some knowledge of business and an understanding of where to GET more knowledge could be handy.
Science- keep it up. Again, relevant to dance even if she can't see it now.

[EvilTwins]

You need to find out exactly what the BTEC is. You refer to it as BTEC drama, but that doesn't exist. If it's BTEC performing arts, then it will be the new generation spec which means 3 units- one is individual showcase, which she will be able to do without any disruption to others if she's absent. The other two are preparation, production & performance and then a skills one. I'm teaching acting skills to my class but there is no reason she can't do dance skills if either her school teacher or her dance teacher is happy to assess her performances (or videos of her perfomances) and she herself is able to do her portfolio work either when she is in school or at home.

You need to talk to the school rather than ruminating on MN where none of us actually know what is possible. If I was your DD's drama teacher, I would be doing everything possible to support her. I go to my own students' out of school performances and write witness statements etc so that their work out of school can count towards their assessments in school.

[KatyMac]

I know Eviltwins, but I get ideas to propose from MN and hear both sides of the argument. It helps me decide what is realistic and what I'm being a pratt about (and I'm often being a pratt )

The teacher has said he'd love to work with her on this; but he is worried (to some extent) about the others on the course - as he won't know until the class list is finalised whether he thinks it will work or not; but having '2' performing arts BTEC is potentially pointless - however doing the work without the qualification might take additional pressure off.

Mummytime she has 3 years of BTEC first - but I will suggest that to her when she is qualified.

[Iggi101]

I'm loving the "giving up ethics as there isn't an exam in that"
I think in far too many careers people have given up thinking about ethics!

[marriedinwhiteagain]

I'm totally confused tbh. My mother was a ballerina and whilst at the royal Ballet school all girls were expected to study hard and matriculate - in those days that was as rigorous as the EBacc.

Your daughter isn't even at dance school yet so I don't really understand the issue. I would have thought top priority is foundation quals even if that means a year off next year. There is no substitute for good GcSEs or equiv.

You do realise how competitive the performing world is don't you? And that your dd will need sound quals or vocational experience to see her through the lean times?