Choosing options in year 8

[Glittercandle]

My DS is currently in year 7, his school choose GCSE options in yr 8 to start the courses in yr 9.

Personally I feel that yr 8 is too early to decide. Due to the current situation I feel even more strongly that it’s too early as DS hasn’t been taught any lessons since schools closed (no live or recorded lessons from his school).

Does anyone else’s school also choose early and do you know if they are pushing it back a year (in line with most other schools) due to the fact the children haven’t properly experienced the subjects.

Have they not always chosen in year 8. I picked mine in year 8.

We're in the same situation and I completely agree. They've had 6 months of y7. It's ridiculous.

All the other schools here choose in year 9 to start in year 10 as GCSEs are two year courses.
Historically DSs school used to take some GCSEs in year 10 to lighten the load in year 11 and also to give an opportunity for retakes.

@Glittercandle our schools in our area all choose in year 8 to start in year 9. If you're concerned contact the school

I would normally say that y8 is too early.
However I suspect that this year, the y10s who started in y9 will be at an advantage as they will have been further through their courses (presumably) before the disruption.

Maybe your school will put choosing back from eg Feb to May?

They choose after the Easter hols of Y8 at ours. I would agree there is an advantage now but I just don't think they've had enough exposure of subjects like DT or textiles to make an informed decision

There isn't that much actual choice involved though OP.

Pro- I'm sure your child has subjects they do not like and are probably not putting the effort and enthusiasm into. For example my youngest can't wait to drop French.
3 years to do GCSE subjects gives a better understanding of the subject.
Cons- they have only had a 7months of subjects before choosing, probably only a couple of lessons of the DT flavours for example.

I think it depends on how strict the school is with ebacc @justforthecake Ours gets 4 options plus English maths and science, so quite a few choices unless their the top top sets in which case it's 2 because they're forced to take citizenship, statistics and ebacc.

Personally my kids picked in year 8 and it was better they didn't want to waste time on music and art and now my son is year 10 so at least he's had couple years on his chosen subjects and year 11 was more about revising when my oldest done it as in majority of subjects they had covered the content

DD(yr8) had to choose options before Easter! She was allowed to drop 1 of 3 languages, still has to do all 3 sciences maths, English, Religion, PSHEE, but was also able to drop one or 2 of Art/DT/ICT/Drama/Music. Business Studies joins the list of compulsory subjects.

An interim report giving effort and attainment grades for each subject was rushed out about a fortnight before the deadline and we had one of those 'speed-dating' parents evenings with the subject teachers. Each subject has an outline syllabus online, detailing what would be covered in yr9, and parents and children were expected to look at those.

DD gets to prune these down again at the end of year 9 (when they are told whether or not they should sit double or triple science etc.). IN some very extreme circumstances, the children can opt to take a subject they have dropped.

TBH I think we'd prefer to know now whether she is being timetabled for these options versus reserves as the school could be setting enrichment activities for year 9 in the exam weeks/activities week and all the end of term things the children won't have.

Also maths English science are all compulsory and choice is very limited as you can often only pick from one box , my son wanted to do pe and engineering but could only do one , some schools also insist on a language

If I remember rightly dt was doing all ie they couldn't just select woodwork so if they liked that bit not metal etc
But may be different in other schools

My DCs school picks in year 8. Which seemed early to me, especially for summer born DS1.
But in reality they had very little choice.
They have to do English, maths, science, RE.
They had to pick Geography or history.
French or Spanish (although this is listed as a choice on paper they can only actually pick the language they were randomly assigned to in year 7)
And then 2 'free picks'

Interesting to see there are a few other schools that also pick in yr 8.

I had a look at the options for those going into year 9 in September and as some of you have stated there aren’t actually many choices for DS to make. He has to choose a language, geography or history and then has to choose four subjects which he’ll rank 1-4 and he’ll be given two of them.

The only pro I could think of for DS choosing so early was that he could drop French but a language is compulsory!

They’ll get until about March of year 8 to choose so that’s extra time. DD’s school does it (they are a great school with great results) and I think it’s good as GCSE’s are so much harder now and with covid they’ll need catchup time.

Our school there's 4 out of 8 options to choose in year 8 which rule out missing 4 from GCSEs then GCSEs chosen year 9, already chosen and no alterations allowed. Very glad DD picked up academic subjects as not looking like there'll be much in school teaching next year either and the practical subjects are struggling to teach via SMHW. No amendments planned to exams yet.

One of ours picks some options in yr8 for yr9 which are then further narrowed in yr9. I actually think it is better for many students. They knew early on some subjects which were not of interest (art - no pleasure in drawing, music- not particularly musical, computer science -they struggle with). It means that at yr9 they will be doing subjects that they are more interested and motivated in. The school can start to get ahead with the curriculum and any unforeseen circumstances which befall either the year group or an individual have less impact. They also have time at the end to revise.

Is there an alternative language he can take? Does he have to choose between Geography and History or can he take both with one being his option? Many schools will still allow you to do A level History even without a GCSE if he changes his mind.

Which are the subjects he is finding it hard to decide between? Is this a concern that he shares with you? I was a little sad when one of mine dropped History but I realised that it was more that it made me feel old that she would no longer have another history lesson. She hasn't missed it. Some subjects can also be studied as a hobby, so for example just because they don't study music or drama at GCSE it doesn't rule them out as hobbies or maybe even a career option.

Ours choose in year 8. There is a parents' evening as part of the process and subjects such as Business which are not taught at KS3 have a teacher who runs a drop-in session.

My DDs went to the school and loved the fact that they could drop certain subjects after only 2 years. If they could have dropped Art & DT after 6 months, they would have been ecstatic.

To be honest, they get such a limited choice that it really has little bearing on A level and university application. Every kid takes 2 x English, Maths, 3 separate sciences, RPE, a language and either history or geography. They get a couple of additional subjects which could include the other humanities subject, another language and subjects like Drama, Art, Music etc. Even if you want to be a professional musician, GCSE Music is only optional. It works well for us.

Im not keen on the 3 year gcse. I think they lose a whole year of having a broader curriculumn. It bugs me that my son is 12 and he will bever have another art, music, geography, french, food, resistant materials, drama etc lesson again.

However he seems delighted to ditch the subjects he didnt like and is looking forward to focusing on the bits he does.

I'm another one who feels that a broader curriculum for longer is better. Nowadays the emphasis is so much on getting exam results that proper education doesn't take place.