Art, Music, Drama - does your child like these, good at these?

[ARimmer]

The new E Bacalaureate thing, 2015, there is no provision for any of those subjects in secondary schools! This government only want to educate one side of your child's brain. We are not all mathematicians or English stars, my children thrive on drama and music whilst studying the maths and English. A balance is needed, Finland has best education in Europe who embrace the 'education for all' not bringing back the Grammar school regime, which actually gave me the opportunity to take any subject. GCSE now is Higher or Foundation, ring any bells, 'O' level and CSE, .
Something needs to be done to stop this looney government ruining our children's education, they only get one crack at it. Where will all those teachers go, thousands of excellent and skilled staff on the scrap heap, or will we get a secondary modern school to put all the cannon fodder in
Personally, I was rubbish at school, but now have 3 degrees, so what can we do about it?

[adeucalione]

All of those subjects will continue to be offered as GCSE qualifications whilst core subjects will be offered as EBCs. If you achieve EBCs in every area you will be awarded the full Ebacc. Don't panic, art, music and drama aren't disappearing from the curriculum!

[creamteas]

They might still exist, but that doesn't mean they will be offered to all DC.

At my DC's school all the top sets have to do the (current) EBAC subjects they don't really get the chance to take these now.

Art, Music, Drama, Food Tech etc are now options for the non-academic child only

[ATailOfTwoKitties]

Don't they get several options on top, though, CreamTeas? Even with EBacc taking up 5 or 6 subjects, why don't they have room for, say, Music + Art on top?

[Elibean]

Precisely why my brother wants his high achieving, academically brilliant, bilingual kids to move to the English system for secondary school - drama hugely important to one, sport to the other.

Hope its not the thin edge of a wedge...

[Zippylovesgeorge]

I do wish people would stop assuming that Music isn't an academic subject - you have to be quite a high grade level to gain a good grade and the theory paper is very hard.

[adeucalione]

cream teas, that sounds like something to take up with your school because it's certainly not the case nationally. At DCs school the academic pupils are also encouraged to do the Ebacc but they still have three options and are positively encouraged to take at least one practical subject.

[creamteas]

My DC choose their options before the rules were introduced, so it is not really my battle to fight.

[KitKatGirl1]

I don't get why there's not room to do both either. 2 x English, 2 x Science, 1 x Maths, 1 x language and 1 x humanities still leaves room for at least 3/4 more choices. At ds's school (and ours) they are encouraged to do one arts/one tech/one business (or a mixture of those) and also one extra language/humanity/science if they wish.

[Theas18]

This is why I'm happy that my youngest is year 9 and so will do gcse through all subjects.

I have already seen how music (our family"thing") hrs been pushed out of state primary curriculum to a degree-especially in year 6 in favour of sats work.

Arts subjects are already devalued at uni too.

Its not good.

[BackforGood]

I agree with most - you can do the EBAC subjects and still do more creative ones too.
I have to disagree about music being for the less academic too !!!

[dottygamekeeper]

I have two DCs, both doing 2 English, Maths, MFL, Geog, triple science, then one is doing art and RM, the other is doing art and textiles, so it is very possible to do the EBAC and fit in a couple of creative options. They also do BTech in PE, plus short course RE. They could have done Music, Food Tech, Media Studies, Business Studies, Graphics etc instead of the art/textiles/RM. It seems to come down to the school as to what combination of options are made available - ours encouraged pupils to choose a combination that would get them an EBAC but it wasn't compulsory.

[Startailoforangeandgold]

DD could have done the Ebac and two out of music, art and Drama.
She is in fact doing all three being a dyslexic for whom English is quite foreign enough.

[wordfactory]

Of course you can take the Ebac and the creative arts!

A decent school would ensure it can happen.

However don't conflate the creative arts with non-academic. Music and art are rigorous. Drama requires a good deal of talent as opposed to just hard graft.

[ARimmer]

Funny, 7 schools in my area have already dropped Art, Music and Drama in favour of topping up Maths and English, be very aware of academies who want to fulfil the governments aims of Eng and Ma as the key to the future.

Heard the latest from the OFSTED leader, 'we have got it wrong if teachers are not scared', or words to that effect, hows that for a motivational speech!

[walpole]

My oldest dd doesnt particularly like Music and drama and won't want to take them at gcse/ebacc level anyway. She likes art and design and will probably do PE as well as three sciences, English, Maths, Hist, Geog, RE (compulsory), and German.

[adeucalione]

Do you have a link ARimmer, I haven't heard/read that report from Ofsted?

[DeWe]

Do they particuarly need these as GCSE/subjects in school?

Dh is very musical and never did music GCSE, deliberately avoided it, I think, as he did a lot outside school, including choosing to do music theory up to grade 8.

Dd1 (year 7) does both music and drama out of school because she enjoys them and is good. I think the experience they get through being in a performance, is probably worth more (and worth more on CV/uni entrance etc) than having a GCSE in them.

[creamteas]

DeWe yes they do need to do these in school, because many kids can't do them out of school.

Buying instruments, private lessons and groups (or even bus fares to free ones) and beyond the pocket of many parents.

[walpole]

I agree DeWe, in our case drama and music is done extra-curricular. Don't see the point in an exam and would have thought it totally stifles any creativity/performing which surely is the main part of it?

[walpole]

So if you do Music GCSE do you get given free instruments and lessons?

[webwiz]

If only Walpole. There is a subsidy for GCSE students with the county music service but the lessons are so expensive to start with that it isn't much help.

[ATailOfTwoKitties]

I'd say Music at GCSE is pretty much impossible without external lessons first, plus own instrument (though DS has just this minute arrived home with a free tuba, so I might be wrong).

[MordionAgenos]

Not everybody in DD1's music GCSE class has instrumental lessons - a couple of the boys are self taught guitarists and there are I think a couple of girls offering singing as their performance and ensemble work but they don't have singing lessons. Most of the kids do have instrumental lessons of course, and most of those are through the school and take place during the school day. DD1 is a bit unusual - she does learn 2 instruments at the school but her first and second studies she learns outside. There is an instrument hire service run by the LEA, we don't use it though. I don't think it's particularly cheap. You can get free instruments if you want to play something unusual - such as the bass clarinet (DS has just been offered the use of one of those for free but he knocked it back, he's happy with his normal clarinet and sax and doesn't want to add Bass to the equation at the moment - he's only 12). Or the contrabass recorder. But most instruments you have to pay for.

[ATailOfTwoKitties]

Ah, OK, I'm wrong then (and glad to be, actually; what other subject needs you to be externally tutored to be in with any chance, after all?)

[Suffolkgirl1]

what other subject needs you to be externally tutored to be in with any chance, after all?

GCSE Dance