Anyone want a thread for starting year 10 this autumn?

DD going into Y10 in sept. She's a real stress head. Very able but falls apart under pressure.
She's had some art pieces to do over the summer which she's spent far too long perfecting.
I'm not looking forward to the next few years!

Year 10 the worst . 15 is such an awkward age . I remember the spots , greasy hair and thinking everyone was prettier than me and cooler .

@doristheelephant , thanks so much for your kind offer, but please excuse my stupidity, as I actually don’t know how to private message on this site. I’ve tried using the dotted functions but they don’t seem to work?

Eldest DC is about to go into Y10 and doesn't seem at all worried. Not sure if that should make me worried or not!
Neither me or DH had our schooling in England so don't have that to fall back on either.
Very good at school but rubbish and I mean really rubbish at homework so that's not going to be pleasant. Hopefully he enjoys his subjects and that will help.

@Mumski45 How lovely, thank you. I'm sure I will be asking lots of questions!

Finds it boring, doesn't like the teacher, can't relate to it... she can't change her options now which is a shame!

@Irish if the options are within the school's standard timetable there's no reason why they shouldn't be sustainable.

My older son did all those (German rather than French) except Design Tech, as well as History, Music and Statistics, as part of his standard option blocks. It sounds a lot but I think things have changed since (his GCSEs were 2016).

At sons' school the top science sets did separate subjects while the rest did Double Combined, which I think is pretty standard, so I'm assuming your D is in the higher-attaining group; in which case I think she should be able to keep that up so long as she spends time every week making sure she's doing what's asked of her.

(There is the argument that the brighter kids need to do lots in order to experience pressure before FE and university, which going by my and S1's experience I incline to agree with...)

@prepared101 What doesn’t she like about Business? I’ve had a quick look at ds’s spec (they do edexcel) and I have to say it doesn’t sound particularly exciting to me!

Hi mines another who started options at the start of year 9 so he has settled well into them now. Aswell as the usual he's also taking music and computer science.

Another 2022 Y10 here. DD actually took options at end of Y8 so is already only studying her GCSE subjects but pace will pick up now.

Her options are:

Triple Science
History
French
Business Studies (hates it despite it being my background and never asking for help )
Religious Studies
Drama

She'll need at least 6 7's plus a 6 in English and Maths to stay on at school sixth form so am expecting lots of stress. She's fairly set on reading law so is particularly worried about securing high grades in History, Religious Studies and English Lang/Lit as these will likely be her A Level subjects.

Hey, yes I’ll join - though trying to cling on to the last couple of weeks of summer before getting my head into back to school! My about-to-be-y10 ds1 is my oldest, so coming into all of this new.

On top of the usual English x2, maths and sciences, he’s chosen Geography, Computing, Spanish and Business. He might be doing Further maths too, but no decision on that yet. He’s fairly conscientious, but his social life picked up in y9 and he coasted a bit more, his school report said he needs to step it up for y10.

@lrish that looks like a good selection for keeping options open including medicine. Did you have a particular worry about it.

The only comment I would make is that I think most do either Geography or History but you do have RS and Eng Lit on there which provide a bit of balance to the 'techy' subjects.

A levels for engineering would be Maths Fr maths and Physics and for Medicine would be Maths Chemistry and I think either biology or physics although there seems to be some flexibility (based on my limited research) in the third subject depending on which Uni she wanted to go to.

My DD is taking the following options:

Triple Science
Maths
Double English
RS
French
History
Geography

Hi all

Please let us know if this combination is sustainable. As my DD is keen on STEM.

And wants to keep medicine and engineering options for GCSE:

Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Computing
Design tech ( ???)
French
English language
English Literature
Mathematics
Religious Studies

Thanks

Is like to join please. DD starting year 10 and is highly anxious. I'm trying to be calm but it's hard !!

Thanks @Mumski45 - it all feels a bit strange at the moment - hoping to get info through from the university this week as regards accommodation allocation, reading lists etc.

And now it all begins again with DD2...!

@HarrietDVane well done to your DD1 for her A level results and securing her University place. I think it has been tough for all kids over the last 2 years but sitting formal GCSE's is good prep for A levels and this cohort missed out on that experience. I hope she settles in quickly and enjoys her independence.

@StColumbofNavron we are in same position with DS1 getting GCSE results on Thursday. Good luck to your DS I hope he gets what he needs to move on to his next stage.

DS1 is a hard worker but DS2 is a bit more laid back most of the time. He has moments were he puts in a spurt of effort and is quite competitive between his friendship group and older brother so I'm hoping if DS1 does well it will set him a target to aim for.

@clary yes DS2 did take Spanish up to end of yr 9 so I think he will be fine for the switch. I just feel for the school as we will have to ask them to juggle his classes about. I hope it's an easy change for them.

Yes please! My eldest is going into y10. She has ASD and is very anxious about it.

Just to say to those DC wanting to change MFL - are they looking to change to one they have already studied in KS3 (in other words did they take two MFL?)

If not, and they are thinking of switching to a new language ab initio in yr 10, I would as an MFL specialist advise against that.

BTW the native speaker issue is much more a factor at A level; a high grade at GCSE in German or Spanish, while never easy, should be roughly equivalent IME.

@EmmatheStageRat I might be able to give you some help? Have been down that route and managed to come out the other side with some sanity left... Do you want to drop me a PM?

Hello! Can I join please? My DD2 is starting Y10 in September. DD1 has just completed her A-levels and will be going off to university this autumn. DD2 is not as studious as her sister but probably has a better work/life balance!

Hello everyone.

dS1 just getting GCSE results here and DS2 going into year 10. He is much less focussed than his brother and cares a lot less about results etc so I think we are likely to have a more difficult time this time as he constantly needs pushing (unless friends/clothes as above).

We are just getting back from a long holiday without the internet so lots of useful chats have happened with his older brother (and DS3 starting year 7.)