English Baccalaureate

[littlebillie]

Please tell me about it and is it if any value

Bertrand I agree I would want a top set student to do a range of subjects.

Doing ebacc won't leave them 4-5 options tho! Ds2 could pick two subjects; his mate is at a school where they do 8 (9 if you do triple) so they have one choice - he picked PE. 😁

The EBacc has been around since Gove and he’s been gone for a few years now. I think RE doesn’t count in the EBacc because, ultimately, it’s not a facilitating A level. History and Geography are I believe and so are all the other ENacc subjects. That isn’t to say RE is easy but it doesn’t keep the doors open like History and Geography do. Pushing RE over History and Geography doesn’t do brighter child any favours.

I do think 8 GCSEs is a bit light for top of top set children. It is highly likely they will have to drop desirable subjects which shouldn’t be encouraged.

DS is doing GCSEs in English, Maths, triple Science, Computer Science, German, Chinese and Music. He wants to be a scientist or maybe a medic. There is no good uni in the UK which will be unhappy about his choices or give a damn about him not conforming to Gove’s retarded eb subject prejudices. In selecting a secondary school we excluded from consideration all schools which made the eb list compulsory or who had RS compulsory to GCSE. We wanted our son to be able to choose things he both enjoyed and is good at. He has ended up with plenty of breadth and the fact that his breadth is achieved through music and 2 MFL rather than humanities is irrelevant. He has to write essays in Eng Lit and Music. He also adds breadth through a lot of sport and music participation. Right now he is on an exchange visit to Germany. I could not care less about the eb other than to be clear in my mind that it is a total waste of time.

roguedad what type of school is your DS at? It's unusual for good schools to allow academic DC to ignore both Geography or History (just as it would be to allow a child to not study at least double science).

There is more to both History and Geography than just being able to write essays...

I have a DD in year 11, she is sitting 11 GCSEs this summer but refused to take a MFL she just really hated them. I saw little point forcing her to take something she really didn't want to. The school tried a bit as she is predicted all level 7s and above but she wouldn't budge from her view.

Neither dd or Ds are doing ebacc

Dd opted for RS instead of a humanity & Ds won’t be doing a language as he had to change schools at the start of year 9 & his new school doesn’t offer the language he studied in years 7 & 8.

"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."

Obviously you've never tried to write a timetable. Option blocks exist mainly for staffing!

RE has to be taught by law.

I think if a child is doing triple science, RE should be dropped in favour of History or Geography if they prefer.

You can do triple science and a humanity; my dd did triple plus history alongside RE without doing a silly number of GCSEs.

Dd is doing triple science & RE. She dropped History & geography in favour of music. Music & RE were non negotiable subjects for her.

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.

Given that it's a performance measure for the school rather than a qualification that doesn't matter.