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

It's alot isn't it and no option to drop one and have extra maths lessons. So hard for her to choose as the options are quite repetitive. So far she is think History, H&Social care, hospitality & catering, possibly film studies but struggling to pick another. I'm also concious of the amount of coursework.

Why film OP?

I'm not sure I think it's the one that interests her more in that specific block. I've explained that there is lots of writing and not just watching films. To be honest finding it stressful and trying not to push her and let her make her own choice.

So her current possible choices include three Btecs (I think film is a GCSE?). Yes that is a lot of CW.

Btecs can be great options for lots of DC, especially if they find exams a challenge, but I think that is such a lot of CW in might be daunting too, in a different way.

Tbh tho looking at the options table you posted @Mumofteens01, I am struggling to see how you could choose five GCSEs. You'd have to pick hist and geog and RS (a lot of essays), French and film. The only other GCSEs I can see are art and music, both of which really require some level of outside skill/interest. Would your DD consider RS tho as well as history? Look at the spec, I think it is really interesting.

It’s the strangest set of options I’ve ever seen. And some subjects only in one option block. Plus so many BTECs, never seen a school offer so many. It’s just bizarre. Let her do history if she likes it and film sounds interesting. Is she better at English or maths? If English, go for film if she’s interested. Then maybe two BTEC options? Just to avoid being completely overwhelmed with the NEA elements. Is RE a popular option at the school? At my school it’s part of core (Church school), but I know in others it’s not very popular at all. It might be ok if she likes history, they’re similar with them both being a humanities subject. It doesn’t seem like a highly academic type of school with those option choices (apologies if I’m wrong), so I’m surprised it’s making the children pick so many. Doesn’t feel very inclusive or like they’re adapting to the needs of their intake particularly well. I can see why your dd is struggling to choose. Have you had yr9 parents evening yet? What did her subject teachers advise?

Didn't even get chance to discuss at parents eve as literally 2 min teams then you get cut off! The school has a good ofsted rating but really struggling with these option blocks!

BTEC enterprise could be good?
I think whatever we end up doing in life it's helpful to understand the fundamentals of business

Which is fine but given in your OP , you say 'non academic' I just wanted to clarify that film is definitely not a non academic subject, especially if for coursework the school does the screenplay option.

If you message school i am sure they will tell you how you can discuss with teachers outside of options evening

If she likes history she should do history. My DC hated geography too and both did well in the gcse (they are academic though). I’m not and I also did history back in the day & got a decent grade.
i mean both are ‘academic’ subjects so pick the one she likes

I think Health & Social Care and Hospitality & Catering are good in that there will be plenty of jobs in those areas so if she has an interest it is nice to explore it at this stage. It will also prepare her well for level 3 BTECs in those areas (or others).

Business would also be useful because pretty much everyone will end up working for a business. So BTEC Enterprise may be interesting too. However if she has no interest in it then I wouldn't push it.

History because she likes it.

Then, if you are still struggling to choose something: Religious Studies may help reinforce essay writing skills so help with English and History. She may also find it interesting if she likes history.

I think BTEC Engineering is out if she struggles with maths. I would only choose Sport, Media or Performing Arts if she has a particular interest in those.

History is very essay heavy, so may not be great if not academic but probably ok if she enjoys it. Do they really have to do 10? My DS’s grammar school has them do 10, but that includes triple science. Even with the cohort you’d expect at a selective school they don’t allow more as they want them to do well.

Yes, she'll pick 1 from each block so five in total then the normal Maths, English and the three science! She struggles with Maths and has a tutor to help with that. She wants to do History so think she'll be ok with that. My husband and I are at the options evening tomorrow so am going to try and speak to the teachers.