Failed a subject in Yr 11

[hippychick]

Hi everyone! My son just finished Yr 11. He is not enjoying school but wants to finish Yr 12 next year. He got a D (fail) for Graphics but passed the other subjects. One of the teachers told me earlier in the year that my son will not get his QCE (Senior Certificate) if he doesnt pass Graphics in second semester of Yr 11. And so now that je has failed the subject I am worried for his future. Do you know anything I can do? Should I suggest to him that he should repeat Yr 11. I know he cant wait to get out of school but what will happen to his life chances if he doesnt have a QCE at end of school next year? I worry he wpnt be able to get a traineeship, apprenticeship or TAFE. Im unsure what to say and dont want to talk to our school guidance officer as she is very unapproachable and npt very understanding pf my sons issues. I am so grateful to all of you for your help.

Emma 

[Taylor-RO]

Hello @hippychick, thanks for sharing that with us. Sorry to hear that your son has been struggling at school recently. Is there someone else you can speak to about this at school that would be helpful? It is difficult to give advice on such a topic considering it's importance.. although in my experience, there are always ways to get to where you want to be through volunteering, bridging courses, gaining experience or TAFE. You could try looking at some of the apprenticeships, traineeships and TAFE's in your area and see if they require completion of Year 12. You could look through jobs ads or contact the institutions directly. Hope this helps!

Just tagging some members for support - @sunflowermom @Schooner @Mumof1 @taokat

[Schooner]

Hi @hippychick,

Firstly, I don't think the senior grades are anywhere near as important as many teachers make out. I'm going through that process here in NSW with my son, who is thinking about going to university in 2 years time. We've talked to students who got in without an ATAR. All of them made it clear that their Yr 12 grades really made very little difference (which was my experience too, except it was the Dark Ages then so perhaps no longer relevant).

Here in NSW you can take up to 5 years to finish your HSC. You can pick up some TAFE HSC courses at any time during that period and add them to whatever you did at school, and get or improve your HSC (or ATAR). TAFE offers (pretty much) the entire HSC course list to be done externally. I'm told there are internal courses too, although I haven't investigated that. 

I'm not exactly sure what the situation in sunny QLD is, but a quick google got me to this:

https://studentconnect.qcaa.qld.edu.au/12652.html

That says you can do your QCE over 7 years.

So, really, you can relax. As long as you can put up with a kid hanging around at home for another year or two Let's face it, they never seem to move out these days. He could get a part-time job while he finishes a course. Or he might take a gap year...that can really help kids grow up, and work out what they really want to do. Or he might find out he doesn't need to finish that QCE thing for what he wants to do anyway.

Ignore the teacher. Tell your boy to do his best but not stress. There's way too much stress on our kids, for no good reason. Enjoy whatever you are doing.

Cheers

[hippychick]

Hi again! I just wanted to give a quick update on my 'crisis' lol. So, I rang the QCAA yesterday (the ones who award the Senior Certificates). The lady was very helpful and gave us a few options. She said that if my son leaves Graphics this year and changes in to another subject next year that will be one option however if he does switch in to another subject, he will only get 2 of the 4 possible points for that new subject as he would only be doing 2 semesters of the 4 over Yr 11 and 12. Then she said so if that was the case, he would only get 18 credits out of the needed 20 credits that a student needs to get a QCE. But as long as he passes all his other subjects -like, gets a Sound or higher, they will bump the students points up to 20 so he can get a QCE. Otherwise if he did decide to stay in Graphics and pull his socks up (which I really really doubt will happen honestly) if he could bring his mark up to a SOund and exits Yr 12 on a Sound, he will get his QCE. Ijust wanted to fill you guys in just in case anyone else is going through something similar. :-)

Thanks for listening to my panic yesterday

[Lan-RO]

Hi @hippychick thanks for the update. Glad to hear the lady you spoke to was very helpful and that she advised of the options. Let us know how he goes