Gcse options - textiles/food/dance

[Verycold]

Are any of those worth doing? Or should an able child stick to the academic stuff?

Unfortunately, a lot of the design tech courses, not just food tech, are seen as soft options. Often by other teachers who push less academic students towards them because it's easy. It's just making cakes. It's just making a toy.

Design Tech is SO much more than that.

Can you tell what I teach?

ImATotJeSuisUneTot

Resistant materials = making stuff from wood.
Engineering = Engines
Graphics = drawing stuff
Product design = drawing pretty stuff
Electronics = soldering

All of these from teachers who had a fit when I showed the pupils a "C" grade folder and saw the work that they would have to do.

I teach Textiles GCSE. It may be seen as a soft option, but it is hard. Only the able kids get the high grades.

We do 2 lessons on production lines in 2 years, but lots and lots of making exciting and creative things. Loads of fashion and interiors. Our kids love it, it's always oversubscribec

Also, textiles isn't an Art subject. Well, it can be, but at GCSE it usually Dt

And DT is always the subject that parents complain about the cost.
I have honestly tried to stop your DC from making duck pancake rolls as their starter, and no I didn't want them top make that monstrosity of a book case because I have no where to store it.

Yes, sheet metal does cost that much per meter.

and Yes, I have to charge for the acrylic because your DC has just trashed my years stock.

Funnily enough my dd wants to take two DT options. No idea if the school will allow this as she is only Y8.

cece

sadly i'm pretty sure they won't. Apparently it is a nationwide thing that they can only take one D.T subject as they are "too similar". Rubbish how does textiles and food relate. if you strip it to basics they are sowing and cooking which are completly different things.

My DD2 took Textiles GCSE, and it was very very hard for her, because of the amount of writing and academic stuff involved. She's very good with her hands and creative so the practical work got high marks, but just being good at practical work is not enough, there's a huge amount of writing etc. However we were warned upfront and I read through all the syllabus and we talked to her a lot about it, so she didn't have false expectations. In the end she got a C, and I was truly astonished by that (and proud), I just didn't think she would manage it. She did have to put in a lot of work outside school, and that was really hard for her. I should probably say though that she has SN, went to a special school and textiles was the only non-core GCSE subject she took

I don't see any DT subject as a soft option, and you can definitely do a couple of DT/Art/Music etc GCSE's alongside the others, just be aware of the amount of coursework there is.