Options.

[gillybeanz]

I know she may change her mind and there is plenty time to change over the next few years but dd has chosen her options right up to A level.

This is because there really are few options at her school and options taken to start in Y9 (not GCSE) follow on to GCSE then to A level iyswim.

What do you think of these subjects?
Y9 Core subjects: Music, Maths, Eng, Sci, PRS, P.E, Drama.
Options: German, French, completely dropping humanities.

GCSE Core: Music Maths, Eng, Sci.
Options: German, French, Drama.

A level Core: Music Options: German, English.

She feels that she doesn't want to take humanities for GCSE so is dropping them at end of Y8.

I know she may change her mind, or changes at school i.e different subject blocks but these are the subjects she says she enjoys and is best at.
Are the options good choices, or does it really not matter until A level study.

I personally wouldn't want humanities dropped completely at the end of year 8 as I feel that those subjects help develop certain skills that will be very useful for other subjects. In particular a knowledge of history can be invaluable for subjects like music, drama & English.

Don't worry too much about A level choices as this may vary wildly between them & now. It's a shame if your dd's school doesn't offer a btech in lieu of one or more A levels if she isn't quite so academically inclined as they could really tailor it to the specialism.

I know it's difficult.
If she wants to do two languages she has to drop humanities.
If she chose humanities she couldn't take Drama at GCSE and she really wants to do this.
It's the subject blocks that are the problem, but I agree it seemed too soon to drop humanities all together.
We have to hand in the Y9 options today, so she sat and chose this morning.

OUr big compromise is that dd's school only offers one language.

Also history geography & French were all in the same column but that was only at the end of year 9.

It is very unusual for a school to allow a child to drop humanities so early although rs may be enough for gcse.

Why have you got music in your 'core' column?

its a specialist music school b

Flowers

Yes, specialist music school so Music compulsory at GCSE and A level.

I'm not complaining we knew about the narrow choice when we signed up They are very transparent and make it obvious to parents.
No, there is no RS either, they just do something under the title of PRS.
At GCSE You have to drop Humanities or language if you want to do double science as well. Mine is happy with single though.

She seems intent on the to languages, I just wondered about the pros and cons of dropping humanities so soon, a shame too as she is quite good at History.

two, I slipped

What about doing drama outside of school, as a leisure activity? Thereby still being able to enjoy her drama probably a lot more than by doing GCSE in it and keeps both her options open at school ?

Doing activities outside of school is virtually impossible for my dd so I would imagine it's similar for gilly's dd.

Single science and no humanity is really quite restricted.
However I expect you know that.

Doing activities outside of school is virtually impossible for my dd so I would imagine it's similar for gilly's dd

Why ?

OP - do you mean 2 x Eng, 2 or 3 x Science, etc?

Boarding school hours 9am - 6pm with compulsory Saturday mornings & having to keep a myriad of dates free for school performances & rehearsals.

My dd's school however has dropped GCSE dance for dance specialists (drama is still compulsory for drama specialists)

All students have to do at least double science but as I said earlier only one language is offered.

Gilly what do you mean by double science and single. Usually it is triple (awards for three separate subjects) or double ( still all 3 studied but to a lesser degree and 2 gcses awarded).

As Core & Additional science GCSE's have been discontinued (this year 11 will be the last to take them) then the only way to do "single science" will be to choose one out of the separate sciences to study.

I see she is at a specialist music school. PRS, PE & Drama all three as core? But languages and humanities are a struggle to timetable? If she does change school I think she has narrowed her choices so far that she would face difficulty finding one that could let her continue with the same choices.

I assume that as time is limited & it's compulsory to study RS & PE then the school feel they may as well do a gcse in them?

Dd's school is exempt from PE as all the dance counts as excercise.

Isee

Only core for Y9, then Drama is an option for GCSE, it's difficult to explain.
The science is single unless you opt for double, if you do double you can take single science subjects at A level, but not the single as it doesn't cover enough. My dd only would do single whatever school she attended
I just think it's a shame to drop History when she's good at it.
I suppose it's her choice though.
She loves languages, and wants to do Italian outside school.

So what is it about Humanities that would be missed?

Oh and no time for any activities outside school that need a regular commitment as school commitments take up most of her time, so she has to have downtime and a good old chill
I'm really not complaining, just wondering if there are wrong decisions at GCSE or doesn't it matter anyway.

Hi Alexander

Humanities develop skills in research, essay writing, developing reasoned and evidence based arguments. Probably similar techniques to what is required for music at higher level.

Lizs in old money she handed in work assessed at level 8 in Y8.
She gained lots of confidence after this as she struggles with the core subjects.

My dd only would do single whatever school she attended grin

That would not be possible at pretty much any other school. The old single science or Core Science GCSE which comprised of 1 module of biology, 1 of physics & 1 of chemistry has been abolished nationally.

You can either do Combined Science (6 modules equalling 2 GCSE's or Separate Sciences (what many refer to as Triple) a very very few schools may allow two out of the three separate sciences but not one science only as it would be far too restrictive.

Alexander
It probably will be the same when dd takes hers I'm going from the 2016/ 17 school literature, just because dd wanted to look at her choices for GCSE.
She'll not be happy if she has to take two though

You may find the option groups/columns change dramatically each year.

What my dd's school did was ask everyone to list the four subjects they wanted to take (music/drama students had to include music/drama as one of them) & also list a 5th reserve choice.

They then put the option groups together from that trying to accommodate as many people's choices as possible.