Y9 options non academic

[Mumofteens01]

Advice needed please
My yr 9 daughter has come home with her options and could do with some advice.
She struggles at school and isn't academic and has been in tears as she feels like she's failing.
I'm trying to help her with options and so far she has provisionally pencilled the following; History, Health & Social care, Hospitality & Catering, Film studies & possibly Creative Media. Can anyone give any advice on if these would be ok?
Thanks in advance

How does the options form work? Does she have to choose from different lists? Any restrictions or is it completely free choice? How many does she need to choose?

Tell her to choose what she most enjoys . She already has to do compulsory core subjects for his is her chance to have a say in what she does. Look at the course specs together and what the curriculum entails , tell her to talk to the teachers or ask if she can attend a class or taster session if it’s a a subject she’s never done before , to see what she likes best and can imagine herself doing .
And tell her to do her best not to measure herself against anyone . Ask her how you could help her eg for my daughter she liked talking about what she’d done in school it helped her understand better. All they can ever do is their best.

She has to choose geography or history from first block then four other blocks to choose a subject

History can be heavy going but if it’s an interest? Are Health and social care and hospitality and cooking btecs? I would have a look at the specs but if she has picked them and not been strong armed into them it’s a good thing.

My none academic dc was advised to do geography by school (out of history and geography) as was said to be easier to get a good grade. This could be the exam board though so worth checking out.
Two of my academic dc did history one got a 9 and found it a lot of work but enjoyed the subject the other got a 6 (when most other subjects were higher) and said there was too much memorising dates etc.
I'd also echo previous poster saying do what they enjoy. Dc1 did photography and loved it and got their best grade in it.
Also look at amount of coursework (you need to get the balance right).

Yes agree with @DanceMumTaxi – do you know what kind of choice she has? That’s five GCSEs which is a lot with at least five compulsories. Or does she pick five preferences and will get three or four of those?

Nothing wrong with those subjects if she thinks she will enjoy them. The standard compulsories of maths, English x 2 and science x 2 or 3 (most likely 2 if she is less academic) will give her a good range of the key subjects anyway.

I would think the school might not be keen on her taking film studies as well as creative media? Tho in fact they are pretty different - creative media is very hands on IIRC (a mate of DS2's loved it), if that interests her.

Business is another option that might be worth a look.

I think some of those might Btecs as well (creative media is usually a Cambridge Nationals qual) which means coursework and fewer exams if that would work for your DD?

ETA: I see you explain a bit more @Mumofteens01 but will she really be doing 10 or 11 GCSEs? Can you push for her to be taking fewer as that is a heavy load if someone may struggle?

History she quite likes. The others I have tried to advise may be better as it's more coursework. She has no idea what she wants to do.

Is she interested in these subjects tho? Creative media as I understand it is something you need to be keen on, ideally – as in, you need to be creative and keen on digital tech. Ds's mate used to spend hours making animations for YouTube.

What other options are there? Is she sporty at all, as PE can be a great choice and support your science GCSEs? I cannot get over having to pick four. Several schools local to us basically give one free choice (from a total of eight, and including hist/geog + French).

Yes they have their standard Maths, English Lang & Lit and General Science then pick 5 options as well. Daughter quite likes History but hates Geography.

Make sure it’s her choice . You never want your child to turn around if they struggle in r don’t enjoy something and say they only chose it because of you .
dd2 isn’t very academic but she’s very hard working and absolutely loved history so it made it worth her while even if she didn’t get the best grades. Don’t encourage her for coursework heavy courses unless she likes them .
how many does she have to choose. At my daughters’ school English , maths and dual science were compulsory , had to choose a language from French or Spanish , and then three options plus also could opt in for English literature. More academic children could do up to 11 subjects but the standard was 8-9.

What is she most interested in OP? If she never watches a film then I would say that’s a no. My dd does health and social care and found it much harder than she expected. The exam seems to be either right or wrong answers where you aren’t really encouraged to think holistically. It’s a lot of coursework but she has enjoyed this part and it is worth 60% for her exam board. Go with what she is interested in.

These are options

So science will either be two GCSEs – double award or double science, also confusing called science trilogy – where you study biology, physics and chem and get a grade like 6-6 or 4-5 (the two grades are no more than one away from each other) – or it will be three separate sciences and three GCSEs. Suspect double is more likely. That is still 10 GCSEs which is quite a lot, bearing in mind the high content of a lot of the current specs and the high number of exams.

Does the school not offer a pathway with a reduced number – like, one fewer and then some extra time on English and maths? That might be of benefit if your DD is worried about failing (tho I am sure she is doing well).

Maths, combined Science, english lang & lit compulsary and then has to pick either History.or Geography. Don't have to pick a language but do have to pick 4 other options.

Going to a pathways meeting this week but no option to drop one and do extra maths/english. Have put the option list below.

Wow that is a lot of Btec options! Does the last one in the second block say Btec Enterprise? If so that sounds kind of interesting.

There's not much choice tho is there, to say you have to pick four options? A lot of repetition. No GCSE PE, no computing, no DT that I can see. No GCSE business, no GCSE drama. Anyway you are not asking us to critique the school’s option choices! I think the Btec sports is less about playing sport and more about the theory so that's worth a look too maybe? I agree with PPs, look at the specs with her and see what appeals. In terms of future career, as long as she has got the core subjects she should be fine going forward.

Religion can be quite interesting and bbc bitesize has great resources for it . Mine did it and most of the spec in her school was ethics in the form of education , family , abortion , euthanasia etc found it straight forward to answer and very common sense but again it was something she found interesting .
Ive never seen such a big btec heavy choice . Usually it’s more GCSE heavy . Could she do less GCSEs and use the extra free time for studying or doing work ? It’s a shame they don’t have extra English or maths in lieu of some options. Are you given links and told what areas of the courses the school will be following and what boards etc? Sitting down
at home with her and looking at a couple each evening might be helpful and feel less overwhelming . Looking at assessments might help too .

Yes it is alot isn't it as she will have 3 science exams, 2 english and 2 maths papers plus the 5 options she has to pick! She is really stressed about picking the wrong things and failing.

They are all repetitive and that's part of the problem as she is struggling to pick. It's hard to advise as she is completely different to her older sibling as she has no confidence and struggles at school.

I can't read the options you have posted but if the more practical options are BTEC then the advantage to her of that is that the coursework finishes before GCSE exams.

That can be an advantage when it comes to revising for GCSEs. The other thing is that she will know her provisional grades (they are not finalised until the external verifier has been).

Anther thing with BTEC equivalent to GCSEs they are level 1 / level 2. So passing at level 2 is a GCSE equivalent but a pass at level 1 is also a qualification.

In terms of exams she will have four English papers for the two GCSEs. And six for science, three for maths. I wouldn’t focus too much on that right now tho. And the number of Btecs will bring down the exam total.

@sashh a GCSE grade below a 4 is also a L1 qualification of course. Tho I agree re Btec CW perhaps being a plus.

There is a lot to be said for BTECs, fewer exams, learn how they work before college etc.

Please reassure your DD she has lots of options later even if she doesn't pass everything. There is a BTEC thread running in Further Education (which is 6th form, you are really in a unit board here) which you may find helpful.

You may like to get this thread moved to Secondary Education where you will find other options choosing parents.

Do history if she prefers it. If it is too much to learn she can drop it if allowed or just ignore it for revision purposes.

Gosh, 10 GCSEs is a lot. I work in a really high achieving state school (non-selective) and our kids only do 9 (small number who do separate science do 10). I thought most state schools did 9 now. 10 isn’t necessary and it overwhelms a lot of children. I feel for your dd, its a lot isn’t it. Geography can be easier for some because there is less writing at length, but you do need to be a bit of an all rounder to be good at it. 10% of the geography GCSE is maths based skills. If she hates geography don’t make her do it, let her do History. BETECs can be a good choice as reduces the amount of exams, but the NEA requirements can be really time consuming and stressful. Don’t underestimate the work involved. I think she’d find doing multiple BTECs hard to keep up with. So maybe just one or two of her choices might be best. Tbh though, school doesn’t sound like it’s providing an inclusive curriculum by making them choose so many GCSEs.

I’d suggest she picks whichever she likes best. If she’s not highly academic, then the important thing is that she enjoys what she does (as she’s more likely to do well in such subjects).

That's a lot of coursework , OP! The workload of coursework subjects can seem relentless and will pile on top of each other. Don't assume coursework is easier.

I teach film. It's academic. Lots of writing. It's really enjoyable but its closest stablemate is English Literature, for ease of understanding its demands.