Let Down By French Teacher and School

Yes however although a lot of schools say you 'have' to take a language as part of your GCSEs, you can often get out of it if you talk nicely to them and say you'll take a different class instead. Friend of mine took business studies (not much better I know, but just an example) instead of a language at GCSE.
 
Redmint said:
Yes however although a lot of schools say you 'have' to take a language as part of your GCSEs, you can often get out of it if you talk nicely to them and say you'll take a different class instead. Friend of mine took business studies (not much better I know, but just an example) instead of a language at GCSE.
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Not likely anymore.

http://www.education.gov.uk/schools...s/englishbac/a0075975/theenglishbaccalaureate

Schools dropping languages for things like business studies, is being seen as taking soft subjects to try and boost league table rankings.

Languages are incredibly beneficial in the front office jobs of many sectors. My regret is not continuing a language from gcse onwards.

Being fluent in French or German is brilliant. Russian and other Eastern European languages are now being sought after. You have to remember that British universities are incredibly diverse attracting some of the best from Europe who are fluent in at least English and their home language. I know this is the case for finance and consultancy sectors.
 
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Obviously it's not good and the school should be notified, maybe get a parent behind you or something, it will add a lot of momentum to your argument. But I do have to say, in 2 years nobody will care about that French GCSE.
 
I'm pretty sure education is compulsory until the end of year 11, not just when you pass 16.

I'm also pretty sure our high school is going to make a language a compulsory GCSE, lucky I missed out on that one. :D
 
According to oxford the only two courses that "a language" would be helpful are oriental studies and English lit/lang. Where as further maths crops up much more, here. Not even the very top universities are likely to care about GCSE grades, they have much better things to look at such as your personal statement/ References than something you did 2 years ago, I know a lot of people who have lost motivation or picked up on motivation in that time.
 
I'd like to point out that i didn't even take a language at GCSE (i took IT, DT, History and the compulsories) and still got offers to every single uni i applied to (i don't quite remember, but Brunel, Nottingham etc. were definitely among them, good universities by any reckoning.)
 
I never did any course work, or the speaking exam (is it still the same format now? anyway) and lucked my way into a D through the multiple choice exam. Dont worry about it.
 
As everyone else is saying. Get your decent grades in maths, english and science. Go off and do your A-Levels and the majority of uni's won't even acknowledge your GCSE's.
 
If you have more lessons, I'd consider bringing a video/sound recorder (check it can pick up classroom noises OK beforehand) and then send the recording to the head or someone along with something like what you wrote to start with.

As for the immediate effects, I don't think GCSE language won't be too important unless you want to continue it further. Just do the best you can in the time before any exam. You might even be able to find some tuition or extra help before the exam?

Also, if you feel that you're heading towards an E or something, and there isn't anything you can do (help sessions, maybe asking other teachers, revising etc hasn't worked before your exam), just make sure that your other grades are much better, so that French will be a clear anomaly, so if anyone looks at your GCSE's you will still be seen as a 'good student'. In particular try super hard to do well at maths and English.

I've had similar experiences in the past, but probably not as bad as you. Our head of English thought it was a great idea to cycle unqualified teaching assistants/students through our lessons (in our GCSE year!). A lot of these were rubbish, and the lack of continuity must have resulted in certain topics being over or under taught. But then again most of the regular English teachers were just as useless as the students, so it might not have made much difference. Our DT teachers don't seem to believe in 'theory teaching' (despite the exam being worth 50% of the marks). Luckily DT is a soft subject and you can get by without knowing anything (unlike languages!).
 
Not brilliant advice here saying a GCSE language is useless and you should concentrate solely on science and maths. Some unis do require at least a grade C in a MFL, and I would expect more to do so if competition increases. Remember, he hasn't even done his GCSEs yet so by the time he applies for uni a lot could change.
 
Six7th said:
Not brilliant advice here saying a GCSE language is useless and you should concentrate solely on science and maths. Some unis do require at least a grade C in a MFL, and I would expect more to do so if competition increases. Remember, he hasn't even done his GCSEs yet so by the time he applies for uni a lot could change.
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A C at GCSE, really? I understand a C at a-level but a C at GCSE languages is way too easy.

oh and...

Maths/Science > Humanities > DT/IT/PE etc.
 
Thanks for the support, was half expecting you to tell me to shut up and get on with it! Anyway, here's the plan: tomorrow I will be going back to Student Services to inform them about what is going on and if they do the standard 'We'll look into it...' I'll tell them my parents want an appointment. It may end up being a case of getting other parents to write in though. As I mentioned earlier, the school mainly cares about how it looks to other people and parents, so if this happens, the school should be duty-bound to intervene!

I do have a story you will probably enjoy. Last year I was going through a heavy period of homework, I had it all under control, and you kind of make a mental plan of when you need to do what. Anyway, I had some History due in for the next day which would last all evening, as planned. However, in French Madame X set us some next day homework which is actually not allowed by the school. Clearly I couldn't do it and I assumed that I could just come in the next day and say "Sorry Miss, I didn't have time as I had History to do which was set much earlier and this was next day homework". She had none of it and basically told me that as I was so keen on History I should write a 2-page essay in French of something about French history for Monday (this was Friday). I was pretty annoyed and went home. Then I had a brainwave, I went on French Wikipedia and copied 2 pages worth on the Battle of Agincourt! When I handed it in she asked me to briefly outline what I wrote about to the class when I promptly told them "I wrote about the Battle of Agincourt- basically a battle where about 10,000 English demolished about 35,000 French while losing only just over a hundred men". She gave me a look of disgust and sat down, happy days!
 
I find this thread strangely erotic... must be the memories of MY french teacher in secondary school, 22 and gorgeous!... ahhh those fond memories of her mammaries as she leant over you to check your spelling! :p combined with a whiff of perfume it was amost enough to cause an accident to a horny 14 year old!
 
It was my maths teacher that did that for us.

French teacher was an old battleaxe ! Tried to report me to my parents for having FHM in year 9 (so aged about 13/14) Like they gave a damn ! it was FHM not human centipede or whatever.
 
AtreuS said:
I find this thread strangely erotic... must be the memories of MY french teacher in secondary school, 22 and gorgeous!... ahhh those fond memories of her mammaries as she leant over you to check your spelling! :p combined with a whiff of perfume it was amost enough to cause an accident to a horny 14 year old!
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My French teacher made me horny too... occasionally she'd wear this amazing skirt with flames coming from the bottom... :D
 
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