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Original poster

Need help in subjects choices in Y9

34 replies

StarDust14 · 27/11/2014 09:15

Greetings to all super mums here!
Your topics and advises have been very helpful and I was following you anonymously for quite some time. Here comes the day however when I had to register in order to get somewhat personal advise from you. Any help will be greatly appreciated.

Here it goes.
I have twin girls in Y9. One of them wants to be an artist therefore her subject choices were Spanish, Art and Design and Textile. Her core subjects are Maths, English, PE, RE and ICT. My question is Isn't it better to choose Creative iMedia or Graphics instead of Textile? And probably Applied History instead of Spanish?

My other daughter is still indecisive about her subjects :( All her life she wanted to an athlete, she is also interested in science. She likes art as well. Because she is very competitive and not very patient I believe that PE GCSE is a good choice for her. From what I've read this subject covers the PE and science aspect of her wishes. Adding Spanish and Geography to that seems just right to me. What do you think? Or should we choose art?

I am attaching the subject choices in case you wish to see them.

Thank you very much for your time and any answer/advice you can give me.

Need help in subjects choices in Y9
OP posts:
Marmitelover55 · 04/12/2014 14:41

My dd is only in year 8 and loves art too. I've heard that their is a lot of course work, but will this still be the case when the new GCSEs come in, as I thought the emphasis was moving towards final exams? Just wondering how this will work for art?

Original poster
StarDust14 · 02/12/2014 07:36

Thank you titchy!
I am not sure about science options yet. I will know more this week.
I guess work load will be the question of the day when I go to Career Choice day

OP posts:
titchy · 29/11/2014 14:10

Please done think about specific careers for them now - they have plenty of time for that. Art is fine, no need for the others art sounding subjects at all, very heavy workload though. No to applied history -it's for less able kids- do proper history for the one that's interested in that. Make sure the other does either history as well or geography and make sure both do a language. For the sciencey one is there a chance of doing triple science?

Original poster
StarDust14 · 29/11/2014 12:33

My children are very good in academics with mostly A grades with some B and A* including in Spanish. They also have honors/distinctions ABRSM certificates for piano, violin and music theory.

I would really want them to take the higher path in life based on their interests. So for the one interested in art I was hoping for degree in architecture or similar not just a painter for example. The one interested in sports and science is a bit of a head ache for me. I have no clue how to combine interests with abilities. She is talking about astronomy (they have had astronomy classes in their previous school), geography and everything involving drama and sports on the side. I just cannot think of a career combining all her interests.

I have asked both of them if they would like to take music but it seems like instruments and music will remain a hobby. It makes me sad because they are good in this but I don't want to push them. So I will only continue preparing them for the certificates as an extra curriculum.

As for the subject choices. They will have science yeay! It was a mistake.

Yes, Clary it seems so. They have to chose between History and Geography.

This coming week is a Career Choice day where I am supposed to get more information on the subjects. We all know that 5 min. is barely enough to gather even general knowledge on what is there for us. Because of that I posted my question here, to get as much insight and ideas as possible on to which subjects would be best for my DDs.

OP posts:
clary · 27/11/2014 22:58

Art is a very coursework heavy GCSE - great if you love doing it but not otherwise.

I think your DDs should choose what they like to do. Being an artist or an athlete is a hard row to hoe and yr DDs may need other options so a balanced range of subjects is a good idea.

Am I reading your chart of choices correctly - is it impossible to choose History/Geog and MFL? so the Ebacc (more use to school than students) is impossible?

skylark2 · 27/11/2014 13:31

Plus - how academic are your kids? I can only find references to Applied History being intended for lower ability children. Great if that is what they need. Pretty terrible if they might want to be taking history at A level.

skylark2 · 27/11/2014 13:28

It won't matter what GCSEs someone takes to be either an artist or an athlete. Nobody will care. An artist has to be superb at their art. An athlete has to be superb at their sport.

I agree with TeenandTween - you need to consider how academic the courses are and how much coursework is involved. Art is notorious for having a lot - not that a child who loves art will care, but it will mean they won't have as much spare time for coursework from other subjects.

Original poster
StarDust14 · 27/11/2014 13:25

Thank you for your post TeenAndTween. Your questions are absolutely welcomed and well appreciated.

The subject options were sent home yesterday and just like you I noticed that Science was missing therefore I asked my kids to inquire about it at school this morning.

Talking to Y11 students is a great idea! I did ask Y10 student's parents about the subjects they have chosen but was left with the impression that a) they don't really care much about their child's education or b) they don't want to share information.
I told my children to talk to their school advisor and teachers for additional information on the subjects. But, yeah, talking to Y11 students and parents can be really beneficial.

Applied history is hands-on way of studying the subject. Sounds interesting to me:

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Applied_history

As for their Spanish, they have only high grades (so far).

What I want is probably the same as what most of the parents here want for their children namely the best possible combination of subjects that will ensure acceptance in good university and at the same time be as fun and appealing as possible to the child.

OP posts:
TeenAndTween · 27/11/2014 11:26

Some random thoughts:

I don't understand very well, as I can't see science listed either as compulsory or an option? My gut reaction is that it has been omitted accidentally off the compulsory list?

I have no idea what 'Applied History'.

Have you got details about all the courses and how they are examined? Which sound most interesting to your daughters?

Have you asked whether your children are likely to get a C or above pass in Spanish?

How academic are your children? What sort of grades are being anticipated?

Your children may change their minds as to what they want to do, so being as flexible and broad as is possible in the options choice would be good.

Some of the practical courses have a lot of coursework. Your daughters need to talk to current y11 students to see how much. Taking too many of these could be very hard.

Sorry, lots of questions, not much advice.