Options - got to choose one more!

[bumpybecky]

I thought dd had got it all worked out, but the options booklet came home today and we've got to decide on another option and now we're stumped!

Core is English, English Lit, Maths, Double Science, RS

Her options are French, Spanish, History and Catering, so far so good :)

Then she has to choose one from the extension group...

Triple Science GCSE
Government and Politics AS
Latin GCSE
ICT BTEC

and that where we're confused!

At the moment her plan is to do MFL / MFL + European studies at University
her report last week gave her a A at science, C at English

She doesn't think she wants to do science A levels, but enjoys science and is doing well at it at the moment. Seems to me that the 3rd gcse might be an extra good grade for her without huge amount of extra work (and that's speaking as a scientist!)

I think the Govt + Politics is a good idea for the sorts of degree courses she currently wants to do (and yes I know that's a long way off!) but I'm a bit concerned that it would be difficult to get a good grade in yr 11 at AS level in an essay subject given her current English performance

Would doing Latin be a language too far? French, Spanish and Latin seems like an awful lot! (but then I can't really speak any of them, so what do I know?!)

Finally ICT I know the GCSE isn't highly rated, is the BTEC any better? (DH works in IT and doesn't think much of any ICT taught in schools)

We'll be speaking to the teachers at some point, but in the mean time can anyone help us with a decision?

thanks :)

[bumpybecky]

sorry, that was an essay! have some if you read it all!

[Pandygirl]

Hi,

I could be wrong but I thought latin was the root for both French and Spanish languages, so she wouldn't find that too much of a stretch. But I also think that triple science or Gov and Politics would be interesting choices.

Sorry, that probably isn't much help!

[PastGrace]

I did French, German and Latin. Latin grammar is a bit closer to German, but in terms of vocab then French and Spanish will be very helpful. With French, Spanish and Italian your DD could probably survive in Italy understanding the majority of things she reads/sees. If Italian is a possible for university then I think Latin would be exceedingly helpful.

I also think (and I have absolutely no justification for this whatsoever, other than my personal opinion) that a B in GCSE Latin will look more impressive than the equivalent in the BTEC (if that makes sense - because Latin is perceived as being a difficult subject).

One of my friends struggled with English, but loved her politics A Level - because she found it interesting she didn't notice the English side of it. Rather than thinking "argh, I have to write an essay and use good sentences and clever words" she thought "ooh, I get to learn all about the coalition" (or whatever) so I think in a funny way it helped her English by distracting her. It was very stressful for all of her friends though, because we were worried she would hit a mental block about the English side of her.

Hope something in that epic helps!

[cinnamonnut]

I'm really enjoying Government & Politics AS, but it is without a doubt an intense essay subject. She'd also need to make sure she kept up to date with all recent political events, and in all honesty, I'd steer clear if her essay-writing skills aren't up to scratch yet. It is a really interesting subject to keep in mind for sixth form though :)
It might also be quite stressful doing an essay AS while also doing GCSEs.

I'd recommend she do triple science :)

[Milliways]

My DD did MFL at Uni. She did Triple Science (NOT as an option), French, German, History & Geography. Latin was not offered at her comprehensive. A levels were French, German, English Lit & Maths (+ History AS).

DS did Latin GCSE - and he is terrible at the MFL subjects (apparently Latin is a Humanity!) There is a lot of learning set texts - English version, as well as vocab.

DD did say she thought Latin would be useful, but Triple Science was good on her UCAS applications etc.

[cricketballs]

the new spec BTEC in ICT is very good to be honest; very up to date and interesting as well; ICT in schools has not been the fault of schools by the way - we have been taught what to teach by the government at KS3 and the exam boards (which up to this year have been very out of date!) but the new specs look to be future proof for the next couple of years at least!

[TooManyJobs]

With the 2 English and history that's 3 essay subjects already so I would steer clear of the AS. Surely if she is good at science then triple science is going to be the most impressive yet relatively easy option of those on offer?

[bumpybecky]

Pandygirl that's about as far as we'd got too!

Pastgrace I've said the same to her about learning Italian later, I don't think she'd even thought about learning a 3rd language, latin has come as as bit of a surprise to her

cinnamonnut I think G&P would be interesting too, but it's not listed in the A level choices, only as AS in yr 11. I'll have to ask as I wonder if its new and they'll run it for 6th form too

Milliwayshow can latin be a humanity?! good to know about the set texts

cricketballs are you teaching the btec ict? is it going to be a soft option? or is it more academic? dd might prefer something a bit easier as (apart from catering) everything else looks quite serious

thanks for all the replies, I'll let her have a look at them tomorrow :)

[bumpybecky]

xposted - TooManyJobs that's what I think - triple science should be relatively easy extra gcse - not a huge stretch from double, easier than a whole new subject. But she's fairly sure she doesn't want to do science a levels and wonders if the latin might prove more useful later

until the book came home I thought we'd got this sorted - first 4 options were much easier to choose, even though the list is huge. The extension option is only a choice of 4, but is proving much harder!

[circular]

If she is much better at sciences than English, would Geography be a better choice than History - Less writing?
No less relevant for MFL.

Then either Latin or triple science.

[bumpybecky]

I thought that about geography, but having looked at recommended A levels for MFL / MFL + European studies degrees, they like History. She needs to do that at GCSE so she's got that choice for A level. Also (perhaps more importantly) she much prefers history to geography, and everyone's lives will be easier if she's doing subjects she likes!

Having chatted today, we're agreed that it's down to latin or triple science. First meeting is tonight, so we'll have a chat with teachers later on :)

[cricketballs]

whilst the BTEC is not an 'academic qualification' is should not be treated as a soft option, as there is coursework that has to be completed together with a unit test for the new specification.

The beauty of the BTEC is that it allows students to continually improve their work (other than the exam unit) and as it is a vocational qualification the focus is on how the software/hardware can be used in a working situation rather than just the theory behind it.

[Milliways]

I wondered about the Latin/Humanity thing (the school has Humanities and one of its specialisms) so looked on Wiki and got:

The study of the classics is considered one of the cornerstones of the humanities; however, its popularity declined during the 20th century. Nevertheless, the influence of classical ideas in many humanities disciplines, such as philosophy and literature, remains strong.....
...The study of individual modern and classical languages forms the backbone of modern study of the humanities.

[PastGrace]

Latin is definitely like a humanity, if nothing else because you don't have to speak it. I did Chaucer as part of my A Level English and found that quite similar in the sense that you have to learn the meaning of the text, learn the text itself etc.

Hope your meeting with the teachers went/goes well. Has your DD done any Latin before? If not she might find this website useful. One of my old Latin teachers helped to set it up (my class trialled it) - the CLC textbooks are used in lots of schools. It's not as dull as the website makes out (honestly) and the GCSE uses lots more primary sources (so real texts rather than a made up story) but it might be helpful for her to have a look around and see what she thinks?

[gettingalifenow]

Tbh, of the options you've presented, triple science is the easiest 'add on' option - she's already doing each of the subjects and for each full gcse it's just one more module each.

I can't see how you can possibly do AS politics in the same time as a
Gcse - it's way more demanding and Latin is the root of French and Spanish but is very different in the curriculum - loads of literature and verse.

[sashh]

I'd vote for the third science - it wouldn't add much tot he work load and you never know what the future will hold.

If she has a flare for languages she will be able to pick up other languages when and if she needs them

[bumpybecky]

I think we've made the decision (still time to change her mind though!)...

We had the meeting, have ruled out G&P as they will be running it for 6th form, so think we'll leave it for now. We're ignoring ICT as it's definitely her 4th of the 4.

So that leaves latin and triple science. Latin is taught by her current french teacher who is lovely and gets on well with dd1. She said it would be fantastic if dd1 did latin, but to think seriously as it can always be done later / outside school, whereas science is only really possible in school, so maybe take the opportunity now.

The head of science (who knows me as I used to work there!) said if she's interested in latin, go with that! he did say that it is less work to do 3rd science as an add on that a whole new subject, but if she wasn't planning multiple science a levels, that there's no need to do all triple at gsce.

He also started talking about doing the triple as a twilight option in year 11, so effectively ending up with latin and triple science, but I'm not sure that's a good plan as she's not really A* all the way student, and I think doing an extra subject might be too much.

So the teachers weren't hugely biased towards their subject which was a bit of a surprise! The choice seems to be latin = probably more useful for future study in languages or science = probably easier.

dd1 is unlikely to be a Russell group applicant but I'm sure she'll get enough grades at A-C, to go on to A levels. So we're not so worried about maximum possible highest grades, more about doing things she's interested in.

So she's chosen latin :) although if it's not possible (not sure who many will take it as it's new this year) she'll do triple science :)

Sorry for the stupidly long posts and thanks for all the help. It's really helped to chat through with people who've been there before and are teaching / studying these subjects :)