GCSE options parents night - what should I be asking?

[spababe]

GCSE options night looming and will be attending with my DS. I think there will be some sort of presentation then talks with individual teachers?? Not entirely sure.
What should i be asking? No idea as it has all changed since I did 'O' Levels. MY DS is doing quite well at school and wants to be a primary school teacher so will need a degree.

I'm about to go to my first one in a couple of weeks (the first since my own, I mean).

The letter we were given implies that there will be a short talk about how the system works, and then an opportunity to meet with individual teachers.

I'm not really sure why I would need to meet with individual teachers.

We have already been given detailed descriptions of each course, so there aren't any questions I could ask about that.

If you ask a teacher if your child is capable of getting a good grade in their subject, then they will almost always say yes, possibly because it is in their interests to have as many children as possible choosing their subject.

Ask what the GCSE actually covers and how is it different from Year 9 work. That way there are less surprises once they actually start on coursework.

At DD's school, the talk covered how many subjects would be studied, which were compulsory and how to go about choosing the optional subjects (eg don't choose something because you like this year's teacher, or your best friend is doing it.) Then things like how to use the on line application form, and the deadline for submitting it.

We then spoke to the individual teachers as though at a parents' evening, eg discussing DD's progress to date and questions about the GCSE course if we had any. DD was with us, and asked things like what books they would be studying in English Literature, and whether double science would be a hindrance if you wanted to study one or more of the sciences at able. I think the teachers were quite honest, and I don't remember them telling her she could get a good grade if they really didn't think that!

There was also an opportunity to talk to teachers and students of subjects that they hadn't studies previously. Can't now remember what they were, as DD didn't choose any, but I think things like business studies.

• what the syllabus is for History (may also be relevant for Geography)
• understand how will be examined (exams v controlled assessments) (in case it makes a difference for your DS's preferred working style)

• talk to any option subject your DS is interested in doing to make sure you and he understand the course (eg Food Tech is not 'just' cooking)

Do you have a separate parent's evening too to discuss with current teachers? If so, make a point of seeing all options subjects he is thinking about and be explicit re expectations "would you expect him to get at least a B in this?" (or whatever grade you think is reasonable).

I also took DD's report along and asked the 'options' teacher whether her perferred choices would be 'too academic' for her as I was concerned re overloading.

If you have a chance to ask questions during the presentation I would ask "if they don't get on with one of their options do they have an opportunity to change it" and if so for how long is this available.
I say this as ds1 took pe but discovered it wasn't what he expected so he asked to switch just before 1/2 term. He had to switch groups for 2 subjects to accomodate this(and is working hard to catch up) but his school have been great. They have a procedure in place for this situation.
Ds1 is in his first year of Gcse's.

have you got the options form with the available permutations?
which subjects will be compulsory?
which can be dropped (eg RE) ?

go through the corm, cross out everything that is irrelevant and see what he fancies out of what is left

I found it very helpful to look at all the course materials for each subject we thought was at all a possible. To see what was covered & would be studied. Also, to get a clear picture of what the assessment procedure would be.

We had 6th form colleges there who are the ones who offer BTECs, if any of those seem like a good direction.

Our parents' evening is separate when we can get opinions about what grades DS could realistically get.

I would ask "if they don't get on with one of their options do they have an opportunity to change it" and if so for how long is this available.

Good point.

Have a look at the 2013 GCSE results on the school website for a good indication of the schools most popular and strongest subjects.

Also get a science teacher to explain the difference between double science and three separate sciences ( triple science).