why didnt they listen to me?

sashafierce

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Big Bag of Chips

Did she tell you the school made her, or did you hear that from the school? I'd be surprised at a school forcing a student into a particular subject.

Is there a chance your sister is feeling a bit 'ganged up on', so is now lashing out trying to find everyone else to blame? It's not unusual for people who are under a bit of stress, and feeling there is no way out.

Try to take the stresss and arguing and blame away for her at the minute. Don't use phrases like 'you should have....' Or 'you should never have....' Etc....

What's passed is irrelevant now. It can't be changed. Instead of focusing on the negatives and the 'should haves'. Focus on the positives and what she CAN do. As far as I'm aware she doesn't have to pass everything as only the top 6 grades are taken into consideration. If she does have to pass everything, then she doesn't need to be doing ANY honours subjects, if all she needs is passes. Having a good Leaving is one thing, but it's not obtainable to everyone, and putting pressure on her if its unnecessary is going to achieve nothing except make her pull back further.

Has she a portfolio together? You say she plans on getting one together next year? Is that not too late? Is she due to start college in Sept, or is she only in 5th year now?

Edit: ok just saw the post from 'can't log in' about doing a year portfolio course.. that's where doing it next year comes from!

The Big Red Button

sashafierce wrote: »

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Firstly, you say she has to pass everything in order to get the portfolio course. She does not have to pass everything. If anything, it's probably a case that she has to pass six exams. Most schools arrange that Leaving Cert students sit seven. So she's probably OK to drop one.

Secondly, you say that the school 'made' her do biology instead of history. This is unlikely. The fact is that, when timetabling Leaving Cert subjects, you only have a limited number of hours in a day, and a limited number of teachers (all of whom have other classes, too). So what it comes down to is that students do have to choose between classes. E.g. I wanted to do both Physics and Music - however the classes for these ran at the same time. I ended up doing Physics in school, and Music externally. My own decision, as they were both subjects I had a strong interest in (and it was worth it, as both were amongst my top six subjects in the end, so were part of my Leaving Cert points.)

Thirdly, I did Accounting myself for Leaving Cert, and easily got an A, with very little work. This does not mean that other students would do the same. Just because you flew through it does not mean that she would do similar. You don't know that she wouldn't struggle with Accounting in the same way that she's currently struggling with Economics.

Rather than looking for someone to blame, why not focus on what's important right now - helping your sister. Forget the "I told you so"s. Just try to do what you can to help her with the Economics course, or with whatever other subjects you can.

You can't change what's done - and there's no point dwelling on it or questioning it - but you currently have an opportunity to help her as much as you can going forward. And that's what you should focus on.

sashafierce

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