Not AIBU but asking here for traffic. Y8 options! Please help with the following two choices Ds needs to pick.

[SweetMarmalade]

AIBU is always busy do I guessed more of you would have been/are in this position.

Ds still has to pick his Y8 options, his last subject and he’s decided possibly Photography, it was D&T Product Design!

The other subjects he HAS to take at his secondary are:-

English
Maths
Triple science

He wants to take

History
Geography

His other option he’s going to take is

Creative i-media and then the final subject was going to be D&T product design but then he saw photography as an option! He’s not artistic in the slightest, although he does like to take photos, albeit on his iPhone no snazzy camera here!

Help needed please!

Any lovely Mnetters who have been through the Y8 GCSE option choices and can offer advice would be most appreciated! It doesn’t help that he’s not at school and can’t talk to any of the teachers about photography!

I have emailed the school which they’ve encouraged, but haven’t had a reply up to now.

The other ‘safe’ third option would be RE!

Anyone?

I actually wish he’d take Drama as he was bloody good in Primary but I think his ‘cool’ persona whatever that may be, means he doesn’t want to do it! I’m gutted!

We let DD have a subject she enjoyed, even if she is not that good at it.

Photography is a branch of Art isn't it? Which normally needs a big portfolio and to show progression of ideas as well as the final pieces.

DD is doing RE and (I think) it is really interesting. However Triple Science, Geography & History is a lot of content so adding RE to that could be overload.

DD is also doing Drama, which gives variety as so many of the lessons are practical. The play she is studying is Blood Brothers. There is only 1 written exam.

Personally I suggest you post on Secondary as the people there are up to date with the new style GCSEs. You run the risk here of getting posters who know how these were under the old specs, and some things have changed quite a lot.

Just let him choose. From those subjects, there's not one that is more obviously beneficial than the others.

It's a bit helicoptery to be this involved. Guide him, but let him make his own decisions.

Thanks @BlackeyedSusan I’m not sure he knows which he would enjoy tbh, product design, he enjoys the practical side, photography is new so he hasn’t had any study time at school, not sure he could make a decision based on anything he’d studied tbh.

Dd did both product design and photography. She enjoyed both. She got a better grade for product design, she got an A and I think got a B for photography.

From what I remember about her course work there was more of a report to write for her product design.....she seemed to focus on one bigger project which I think she enjoyed more than lots of smaller projects which was photography. Iirc she seemed more stressed about photography.

If he has any questions I can ask her.....appreciate different exam boards might be slightly different. She carried on product design for A level but dropped photography.

@TeenPlusTwenties thank you! I might ask MN to move this to Secondary

She was last year of the old A,B,C system......not sure how much it’s changed. So 3 years ago?

I don't think you are being helicopter at all. y8 is only 12/13. They have never done GCSEs before, they don't necessarily know what to consider.
I think it is quite reasonable to try to get an understanding of pros & cons of different options so the DS can make an informed choice not just pick something because it sounds like one thing and then turns out to be something quite different.

@JacobReesMogadishu and @TeenPlusTwenties thank you.

It’s so hard. We were due the Options Evening and then lockdown happened!

Now we’re expected to submit our dc options!

Ds doesn’t know on his final subject!

I’m not helicopter parenting thanks @YesThatIsMyRealName I’m just trying to gauge the best FINAL option for ds, he’s picked his other options

Wouldn't you have to buy a "real" camera for the photography? Product design might also have some material costs.

Not answering the question but I did creative i-media not so long ago! It's relatively obscure, it wasn't on the UCAS application form so I wrote it in as a generic cambridge national, and I had to email 6th forms as it was missing from every single drop down. Not to mention I hated it (now do web development so not that far flung).

Honestly don't think it matters that much beyond getting a couple years edge on a levels. I honestly can't recall any real knowledge from i-media, only the projects we did.

How much info have the school given?
Have they provided info sheets for each subject?
Do you know the boards, exam structure (eg 2 exams 50% each v 1 written exam 25%, 1 practical piece 25%, 1 controlled practical 50%), and topics?
Can he email the teachers or even ask for email to be passed on to a current y10 doing the course for opinion/info?

Suggest he needs to weigh up

• content to learn / exam load in the y11 summer
• actual interest in subject & topics in the spec
• likely ability in subject

Don't do drama if he doesn't get on well with others.
Be wary of 'portfolio subjects' if he is a perfectionist as they will never be finished.

No languages????

No! He doesn’t want to take a language even though he did quite well in his last test!

@TeenPlusTwenties I will have a look at both subjects in more detail and post

DD did GCSE photography four years ago, so obviously the old system.

It is a branch of art, and took up masses of time. There was no finish line as such. The PP who mentioned progression of ideas was correct. As a family we spent a lot of time being photographed in different settings! There were school cameras to borrow. DD hated it by the end although she did get an A.

Someone DC at a different school, same time, seemed to keep more of a diary and less of a portfolio.

She also did Drama, she really enjoyed that.

And DS2 did RE GCSE last year as an option and really enjoyed it.

DD2's RE (AQA scheme A) covers the following:

paper 1: Christian beliefs, Christian Practices, Islam Beliefs, Islam Practices (school chose Islam, other options available). Pretty interesting, Christian side I'm finding easier as I was brought up going to church, Islam side has a lot of Islamic terms for things that have to be learned.

paper 2: School teach 4 themes out of 6. DD has Family&Relationships, Crime&Punishment, Life&Universe and something else. You have ethical issues in each but have to learn the religious views (and quotes) on each thing. e.g. View on abortion or divorce, or what happens when you die - and then have your own viewpoint too.

otoh My DD1 did short course mandatory RE, 1 paper only a mix of the two. She hated it. She couldn't write to a mark scheme, but more than that she couldn't see why people would believe different things (SpLD) or why they were being taught things that 'weren't true'.

I would also be slightly worried at the huge content choosing both geography and history. Unless he is very good at essay writing, fact retention and loves it.

History for the OCR board is 3 exam papers, with some heavy mark questions (18 and 20 markers) so adding in another essay based GCSE such as RE might be problematic. Dates for History ranged from 1250- present day, plus percentages to remember, numbers of people, names of people, places, laws etc. It is a lot.

I agree he needs to know the breakdown of the exams. I think maybe he is choosing photography as he thinks it is just taking photos. Is he a hard worker or does he choose the easy path generally?

Why doesn't he want to take a language? Does he think photography would be easier? I think at DC's school you couldn't choose photograpy and art as they were too similar or something.

It's unusual not to have to take a language in schools in England - DD1 would have been thrilled to drop her language in order to do both history and geography.

Does your school have a newsletter or website in which it shares photographs of GCSE art/product design/photography end products? Or is there a local Facebook group you could ask about the workload for the subjects at that school?

It's definitely worth checking the syllabus for each subject to work out the extra time commitment, whether or not iPhone photos are what's acceptable etc. DD1 chose drama as her extra subject because she enjoys going to the theatre and decided that if she has to spend her own time doing extra work, she'd rather it was related to something she enjoyed. So far, it's proved to be a successful strategy.

A quick thought in favour of taking history and geography - if you like them it's no worse than doing three sciences imo. DD hates science and doesn't really see why she has to do them all (albeit double award) but everyone says there's too much work with history , geog & RE (which she's also doing). Yes, lots of essays but she'd much rather write an essay than struggle with chemistry homework!

She loved drama but ended up dropping it at the end of Y10 as what she enjoys (acting in plays) and what the course involves are very different. So, I'd definitely do as much finding about what the courses entail - which is harder seeing as he isn't at school of course! He can probably swap if necessary in September.

Those teens I know who have done photography have enjoyed it despite the time commitment. Those who have done DT have mainly not enjoyed it and it seems to be equally time-consuming.

I was talking to a teacher socially and he said for their own child (current yr11) they had let the child freely choose his subjects but the one he would have steered him away from, had he fancied it, would have been DT.

I think it depends what his thoughts are about A levels or apprenticeships. Is there some career field he’s interested in? If it’s covered by the GCSEs he’s already taking, then he can pick whichever one he thinks would be most fun. If he wants to get into product design or engineering, then DT would benefit him more than photography. If he wants to be a nature photographer because he loves geography and biology, then take photography.

What are his aspirations?

No mfl option?

Ooh lots of replies, thank you!

Just on a quick reply to Plan, at 13 he’s not entirely sure but he’s thinking working for the Police, loves nature, loves rocks!

It’s so hard!

I’ll come back later but thanks everyone for your input.