Please or to access all these features

Add post

Watch this thread

Save thread

Start a new thread

Flip thread

Hide thread

My feed

Active Unanswered threads

Getting started FAQ's

Unanswered threads Acronyms Talk guidelines

Hide shortcut buttons

Talk

Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Flip

1 2

Original poster

GCSE Options horror

40 replies

Navratilover · 25/03/2019 18:54

We're 4 days from year 9 options deadline and still no closer to finding a solution. Dd will have to do all core subjects plus Theology, a practical subject, a language and history or geography.

This leaves with her with only one real option choice. She wants to do Drama. And Art. She is excellent at both. I'm more in favour of keeping Art, but she won't countenance dropping Drama under any circumstances.

In a moment of madness I have suggested that she does both and I teach her History as a private candidate (am a qualified teacher, have taught History before and love it, though it's not my official subject).

I'm uneasy though as it takes her to 12 GCSEs in total and I don't want to overload her, especially as she has a v busy extra-curricular and social life on top. She's all for it in theory, but once the time comes, I can imagine her being less keen.

Is there another way? I've spoken to the school and they are pretty rigid about their subject blocking (and I do understand that timetables are murder to organise). Do we just accept that she has to drop one of her great loves? Or do I bite the bullet and register her with AQA as a private candidate?

OP posts:

hellsbells99 · 29/03/2019 07:25

Can’t she take art as the practical option?

TapasForTwo · 29/03/2019 07:28

Another caveat for drama is group work which is fine if everyone pulls their weight, but can go very wrong if they don't.

BubblesBuddy · 29/03/2019 08:27

Drama club outside school? My DD did both Drama and Art GCSE! In the circumstances, Drama could be dropped if she can still do a bit of drama elsewhere.

Fazackerley · 29/03/2019 12:45

If she loves Art enough to want to do it at A level then I would drop Drama and History.

Fazackerley · 29/03/2019 12:46

Or double science, maths, english x 2, theology (do you mean RE?), Art, language, history and drama. That's 10.

yikesanotherbooboo · 29/03/2019 16:21

My DD has a similar dilemma, took drama GCSE and A level. She enjoyed them but missed the creativity involved in ART. She had a couple of wobbles about it and when looking at sixth forms the Art depts we went to said she could be considered for the Alevel if she put together an acceptable portfolio.in the end, although she missed the process of Art , when all her friends were stressing out with course work inApril she was relieved not to have been doing it. She had a enough insight to know that she is a bit of a last minute reviser and that she would always be tinkering with her work and never feel it was finished.
Apart from that, my tuppenceworth would be that they are DD's options and that she she should choose what she wants to do, that 12 GCSEs is ridiculous , that Drama is for personal satisfaction rather than a means to an end ( plenty of skills learned) but that Art does give foundation skills if DD has a genuine plan to do fine art in the future.

WhyAmIPayingFees · 31/03/2019 12:57

Change school. Those constraints are ludicrous. Compulsory Mumbo jumbo alone would make us go elsewhere.

Fazackerley · 31/03/2019 13:34

If you mean RE, it's compulsory to teach it so most schools do it as a GCSE. It's actually a really interesting subject if you are at all open minded

shaddywaddy · 31/03/2019 13:39

It's not theology, it's RE or RS and if anyone bothers to read a syllabus you'll see exactly what is taught - abortion, euthanasia, medical ethics, the death penalty, peace and conflict, etc etc.

Original poster

Navratilover · 31/03/2019 16:54

DC school calls it Theology. Their previous school called it Ethics and Philosophy. Others call it RE/RS. It's all the same subject though.

As for moving, no chance. Theirs is the only school within a reasonable distance that isn't failing on a grand scale.

Anyway, options deadline has been and gone. She dropped Art. I'm not happy about it, but I guess we'll make the best of things.

OP posts:

Tw1nsetAndPearls · 31/03/2019 17:03

It's not theology, it's RE or RS and if anyone bothers to read a syllabus you'll see exactly what is taught - abortion, euthanasia, medical ethics, the death penalty, peace and conflict, etc etc.

That is 1/2 the course. She will also have to study Christianity and one other world religion.

Tw1nsetAndPearls · 31/03/2019 17:04

But yes it isn't theology. I agree that it should not be a compulsory GCSE.

shaddywaddy · 31/03/2019 17:08

I know the course, I've taught RE for over 2 decades. Just irritated when posters have no idea of what is involved and refer to it as mumbo jumbo and presume it's all God and Jesus. And I'm an atheist (many of us are).

Decormad38 · 31/03/2019 17:14

So much emphasis on gcses yet beyond getting into A levels the only ones of interest ever again are maths english and science. So...does it matter. Let her do what is of interest to her.

Tw1nsetAndPearls · 01/04/2019 22:59

But 1/2 of the course at least is about God and Jesus or the equivalent and much of the other half is as well. Also a non believing RE teacher one her second decade in the classroom. The new GCSEs quite rightly have much more "mumbo jumbo" in them!

Flip

1 2