English Baccalaureate

[littlebillie]

Please tell me about it and is it if any value

I have always found it an odd position that parents are happy for 3 science subjects and maths but don’t care a fig about MFL because it’s too difficult. Mine had greater difficulty with sciences but I still believe a broad education at GCSE is best for brighter children.

Universities may well look at GCSEs for any ultra competitive courses and the University of Bristol certainly takes GCSEs into account for quite a few courses but doesn’t usually specify subjects. Therefore schools don’t really care about the EBac even for high achievers. Truly bright children can do all the required subjects but children who specialise in their learning or take a dislike to a subject or two like to get a portfolio of higher passes. I would like to see a broad spectrum of academic GCSEs rewarded.

Medicine at Oxford asks for a broad range of GCSEs to include science and arts subjects!

I would like to see a broad spectrum of academic GCSEs rewarded I totally agree.

DS1’s school has compulsory Religious Studies GCSE??!! I don’t get it - MFL not compulsory and Geog/History not compulsory but RS is??? Not a religious school. We’re all fuming because in order to do triple science, MFL and computing he can’t do Geog or History.

I don’t understand why a school would do this.

spiker it's not unusual; RE is a compulsory subject so a lot of schools say, well, might as well do a GCSE in it then.

My school has it as an extra tho, so triple science students get 11 GCSEs.

DS1 school only does 9 academic GCSEs. Is that fewer than normal? I’m concerned.

Ours does compulsory RS but only 1 lesson a week. I think because they’ve got to teach RS anyway in some form so may as well try for a GCSE? They also do triple science in 2 option blocks (the same amount of time as double science). So dd still had 3 option choices. Which include Spanish and History but only because she likes them.

Is Computer Science in the ebacc? Being neither science, language, nor humanity but a nice mixture of all three!

Spiker, dd is doing 10 including triple science and rs. I think schools may reduce the number of gcses now they’re harder. Its got to better to get fewer good grades than more lower grades. And sixth forms only seem to want to know about 8 of them anyway

So schools are obliged to teach RS until age 16 but not a MFL? That’s nuts! What’s the thinking behind that?

Computing Science counts as a science in EBacc I think.

I do take the point about fewer-but-better-grades but I’m concerned that only having 9 might be disadvantage when applying to ultra competitive university courses, which I think DS1 will be.

More than anything I think it’s such a shame that DS1 has to choose between Computing Science and a humanity, plus he can’t do anything artsy at all (he wanted to do art). At least he can do music out of school I guess. Just seems very limiting. They finish at 2.50pm, it’s not like he doesn’t have the time himself!

The Church and religion still has an impact on Governmrnt thinking on education. Hence the daily act of worship. I think if a child is doing triple science, RE should be dropped in favour of History or Geography if they prefer. These keep more choices open than RE. I do think some schools are very short sighted and don’t do the best they can for their students. It’s a curriculum that suits the school, not the pupils.

That’s exactly how I feel B.B.

Sigh...

Drama, music, art, dt are not part of it, as obviously this country requires no musicians, actors, or designers.

Absolutely, I mean it's not like have any designers, artists, business people or musicians. Much better to compare their maths skills with children in Korea/China and make them feel shit.

Actually my DCs' school says the compulsory RE is form time or assembly... anyway Phil and ethics is offered as an option. PE is also compulsory in ks4 but that's not usually as a GCSE!

Nine GCSEs is fine. If you do double science at the DCs school you do nine.

MFL esp the new course which is haaarrd is not for everyone IMO. And it's my subject. I don't want to teach it to kids who hate it and would rather do art.

Spiker we don't live in a secular society hence the requirement to teach RE - our country is headed by the church.

9 GCSEs will be fine, even for ultra competitive courses at university.

DS got one of his best grades in RE (and we're an atheist family!) and his lowest (pass) in the MFL taken. He definitely would have been better doing nine (from results perspective) rather than 11. As someone completely without interest in STEM it just about crucified him having to spend so much time revising those three subjects.

It's a group of subjects which keep your options open.

The government want 90% of students to get the EBACC measure but they don't seem to realise there's not enough teachers nationally in Ebacc subjects to make it happen.

I tell my students it's a useful set of subjects to have. We direct some of our students (good MFL) to take a Ebacc route and we give the option to most and for some who it's just not right for we don't push it and accept the hit in the league tables in order to do what is best for pupils.

DS wanted to do the EBacc, but with Triple Science limiting his other option blocks he had to drop MFL for Business Studies, so won't get it.

Why would any school not enable a child to do triple science and an MFL? For bright children, that’s outrageous! No wonder Private school children get into Oxbridge on MFL courses. They have been given the chance.

He's Y11 now, the EB was all new to them at that point and the way the option blocks worked, the numbers of students choosing each option and timetable restrictions all fell such that there was no way he could continue with Spanish despite decent marks up to Y9. I met his head of year and everything, there really was no way to make it work.

" DS’s school are pushing it saying if you want a place at a top Uni EBAC is the only way to go.*
That's not true. But, having said that, why would you not want your child to do English, Maths, a Humanity, a Science and a MFL? Particularly a top set child? They still have 4 or 5 other options to choose.

But also having said that our school is completely stymied when it come to Ebacc because it has a very high % of lower achievers who don't do a MFL....

88% of DS's cohort obtained the EBacc. The percentage should really have been higher given that it's a super-selective. I have a recollection that the way the 'option' subjects were timetabled meant that a few chose something non-academic over a MFL though.

“88% of DS's cohort obtained the EBacc. The percentage should really have been higher given that it's a super-selective.“

That rather sums it up-it’s one of those headline measures that does not show any context. It doesn’t matter what our school does and how well it serves its cohort it can’t begin to compete on EBacc.

Incidentally, dd’s selective school had low EBacc figures because a lot of the scientists chose RE as their humanity because the department was spectacularly good- and RE doesn’t count.....

Gosh that surprises me about RE - DS did eleven subjects including RE.

I would however say that I've not heard anyone say "have you got the EBacc, or not?" All anyone seems to be interested in is number of subjects and grades! So it's a 'summat and nowt' type of achievement, I would say!