Year 9 - 2022/2023 Support Thread

Year 9 Options Evening last night. We now have 2 weeks to fill in the form, to choose ds2's options. He's mostly sorted, but undecided about whether to take GCSE PE or Cambridge (BTec) PE.

your DD's choices are a bit similar to my DS, he does 4 languages now but will drop German for GCSE

Eng x2
Maths
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Spanish
Greek
Latin
RS
History.

He'll take Latin GCSE in Year 10.

@QueenMabby so many languages! She'll be sought after when she's older! Hope everyone else is working through their options choices happily too.

The flute shopping is, er, expensive. However, because DD is at state school she can buy through school and get the VAT off, which will help. I'd no idea flutes were so complex, or that you could spend so much.

That's amazing @QueenMabby - i don't think a single person in dd's year got above silver (plenty of golds further up) but it's not a selective school. She must be thrilled.

Shame about music but she does plenty anyway...

DD2 would do fewer options (because so much music) so it would mean a cut in numbers of GCSEs, She doesn't currently do an MFL (she does speak spanish reasonably well for a non-native, but chose Latin instead) and I can't quite work out how that will work with options at a smaller school - it feels weird to have to discuss this with them without having accepted an offer yet.

We had a lovely strike day. DD1 was in doing mocks but DD2 and I went musical instrument shopping. They set no work for her, but she did her homework so at least that's something!

Well done to your DD @QueenMabby sounds like she did really well!

Options form all submitted here. She had to put not just a second choice but also a third preference which we weren't expecting but hopefully it shouldn't come to that! Not sure when we will hear confirmation, probably after Easter? DS (now year 12) was in year 9 in 2020 so I can't remember when we heard for him.

How is everybody doing with the strike days? DD was home for the first one but in school on Wednesday this week. She will be home again on the 15th and 16th but not sure how much work school will set, they have said we can take them on educational trips if we want but there is also a train strike on the 16th! Perhaps we might wander to a local museum.

Thank you @QueenMabby we are doing ok- dd1 has got mocks finished (phew) and has written her eulogy for her grandma for Thursday’s funeral.

Dd2 continues to vacillate over whether she will take a boarding specialist music place for September (what a time for her funding to come through)- she would need to re pick all her gcse options for example
but I think she is leaning towards going.

i am completely exhausted-
partly because I’m back to trying to work as well as doing all the sad admin that comes with loss, and things had built up. But it is good to have something else to think about.

Hope others are doing ok. At least evenings are lighter and spring is in the air!

Hope today goes ok for you and your family mini. Sending love and strength.

@Oblomov23 thanks - I’m so so tired but we’re getting through it- struggling to work which is hard going when you’re self employed. Dds seem mostly alright with occasional tears…they’ve not seen my dad yet but he’s coming tomorrow and then it may really hit home

Mini, so very sorry to hear of your loss. How are you baring up atm?

@minisnowballs thank you too - and really sorry for the difficult time you and your family are going through.

Thanks for kind thoughts, all..

@FeinCuroxiVooz I can't imagine they'll be so organised that they'll have started the process of options allocation yet - they'll be chasing loads of disorganised parents. Hope he gets what he wants though - my dd wanted a really weird combination last year - they choose early - and they juggled everyone to get her what she wanted (Dance and Latin, anyone?) but it does help she's in a very big school.

@minisnowballs sorry for your loss. Hope the cello turns up! And well done to your DD on the maths challenge.

@minisnowballs sorry for your loss.

Welcome @FeinCuroxiVooz

his choices are Computer Science, Design Technology, and Drama - they will all be popular courses but the danger will be if one of them is too popular for everyone to fit into one classroom, but either not quite popular enough to split into two parallel class, or if there aren't enough teachers or rooms for there to be two classes (especially likely for Drama and CompSci which need dedicated rooms).

The other possibility is that if there's hardly anyone else wanting to combine drama with the other two "geeky" subjects, then they might end up scheduled in opposition to each other, such that they can't be combined. That's what happened to me thirtysomething years ago, I wanted to do both Latin and R.E. but they were timetabled at the same time and I wasn't allowed to do both.

But I know we just need to wait and see. maybe it will all be ok.

I seriously doubt they’ve even noticed his went in late. Are his options unusual as in my VERY limited experience it’s the courses with very little interest that get culled rather than the most popular courses. But it’ll depend on teacher availability too. What’s he chosen?

@NotDonna
@FeinCuroxiVooz welcome! Two days late will make zero difference. They won’t have even begun to look at the timetabling in those two days and probs haven’t begun it yet. It’ll be fine. What has he chosen? Do they have to choose from blocks or us it free rein?

It's basically free rein for the non-core subjects, but they then take a few weeks to work out viable blocks and don't guarantee to meet everyone's choices - everyone has to nominate a "backup" tgat they are willing to do if a viable timetable for their main choices can't be achieved.

DS reckons that in the event of a situation where it's not possible to meet everyone's first choices, the fact that his form was in 2 days late will be considered a "tiebreaker" and he will be the one to lose out

@minisnowballs I’m so sorry for your loss. That must be so hard for you all. 💐 And fingers crossed the cello turns up. A cello is hardy small and unlikely to be hiding under a jumper or in a coat pocket. A drama you can well do without at the moment!
@FeinCuroxiVooz welcome! Two days late will make zero difference. They won’t have even begun to look at the timetabling in those two days and probs haven’t begun it yet. It’ll be fine. What has he chosen? Do they have to choose from blocks or us it free rein?

hello. I don't know why I haven't found this thread before.
DS, only child, in y9.
The school lets them drop a small number of subjects that definitely won't be gcse at the start of y9 and whittle away again for y10. the deadline for y10 choices was the Wednesday before half term but I got the dates confused and thought I had until the Friday and submitted the form 2 days late. DS is very stressed and upset with me as he thinks this may mean he's forced to do GCSEs in subjects he doesn't want if the classes he has opted for are oversubscribed. I have no idea if this is likely.

@notdonna, tough start! I’m not with my girls as my mum died over half term so I’m at my dad’s sorting arrangements and trying to help organise the kids by WhatsApp. Yesterday dd2 forgot to take her lunch and to look for her cello which is mysteriously ‘missing’- praying it is at school. Somewhat horrific that she didn’t even notice this over the hols but she was on a music residential with another instrument so perhaps ok. Now getting texts from older one about whether I’ve ordered leavers hoodies- there is always something!

with the maths challenge quite a lot get something I think- it’s a non selective school and dd is not mathsy- she said 16 in her year got bronze and three silver- out of 60 top set. I’m only surprised as she’s never shown any interest though she does like sudoku and other logic stuff. Suspect it will mean she is on the maths’ teachers radar though- no more avoiding all the enrichment classes.

Mine are back to school. DD2 with A level mocks and DD3 with a chemistry test today & a biology one tomorrow. So she was in a great mood this morning 🤣 They do the maths challenge thing at their school as I remember DD1 and DD2 doing it but maybe it is just the top sets as DD3 hasn’t mentioned it. Maths is not her forte!