Tell me about Citizenship GCSE. Which is apparently compulsory at my DD's school. She doesn't want to do it.

[bellinisurge]

As it says in the subject, Citizenship GCSE has now been deemed compulsory at my DD's school. She would prefer to do Triple Science but doesn't want to lose a free space in her GSCE options to do it. She deliberately didn't go to a faith school (despite being in a feeder primary) to avoid having RE GCSE forced on her.
Any suggestions?

How about sucking it up? Why is she different from all the others kids?

Or you could be helpful. Hope you enjoyed being snarky and it made you feel good.

If I'd wanted a drive-by gobshite response I would have put this in AIBU

I think Citizenship is a lot broader than just RE! How many subjects is she allowed to take?

According to AQA

“Students will gain a deeper knowledge of democracy, government and law. They'll learn how to create sustained and reasoned arguments, present their own viewpoints and those of others, and plan practical citizenship action that delivers benefits for society.“

Sounds great actually although I appreciate that that doesn’t help your DD. Also have you emailed the school? There may well be room for manoeuvring.

titchy is a well respected poster, no need to be rude to her.

She also has a point. Schools can set what they want to be compulsory. DD's comp has a 0.5 RE as compulsory end y10. This is partly because the national curriculum has RE as compulsory in KS4.

What does Citizenship actually cover? DD's RE full course has a lot of interesting topics (capital punishment, abortion, just wars etc).

There are always compromises to be reached when choosing GCSE options. Schools can't give 'free choice' as they don't have free choice for timetabling. If your DD really wants to do triple science they can prioritise it above other options. Not doing citizenship is unlikely to mean school will put on special lessons just for your DD.

Thanks @TheMarzipanDildo , they take 9 although there appears to be wiggle room for 10. I'm so old I did O'levels so my knowledge is way out of date. I wanted some more up to date experiences hence my starting the thread.
I have a public sector job which requires all that sort of thing to be second nature to me. But it's not her thing so I wanted to see if it was a useful subject.

@TeenPlusTwenties the snark was just for me then

I entirely accept she has to make compromises. But I was asking a question .

I understand it is a compulsory part of the National curriculum at your daughter's stage. It is an easy A,so suggest she makes the best of it. If you do a google search on "GCSE Citizenship" you will quickly find the AQA website which will provide you with a general outline of what is involved as well as some fairly detailed information about the content.

@bellinisurge

I entirely accept she has to make compromises. But I was asking a question .

What question? You posted that she doesn't want to do it. The implication was that you wanted to know how she can avoid having to. If you wanted more information on the content why wasn't that your question?

Thank you @TeenPlusTwenties

I am going for the "it's an easy A/you will have time to spend on stuff you care about " line. But I wanted to see if anyone had anything useful to say about it.

@titchy , here's my question especially for you: what is covered in this GCSE? Is it worth it?
I hope that doesn't offend your sensibilities

Anyway the AQA content is here:
https://www.aqa.org.uk/subjects/citizenship/gcse/citizenship-studies-8100/specification-at-a-glance

She would prefer to do Triple Science but doesn't want to lose a free space in her GSCE options to do it.
Any suggestions?
Using up an option space to accommodate 3 separate Sciences at GCSEs is far better than trying to squeeze all the content into the same time as the 2 GCSE Combined Science. Schools that do the latter often struggle to complete the course and students often get poorer results than if they had the full teaching time for 3 GCSEs.

What part of "Tell Me About " didn't you get

I don’t think it is generally compulsory- my brother is at GCSE stage and he isn’t doing a Citizenship GCSE.

I'm with you on this, OP. Given how many subjects have to be compulsory for good reason (maths, English, science, delighted to see modern foreign languages back on the list) and how little scope there is for choice to pursue stuff that genuinely fascinates you or that you have a real flair for, it really pissed me off when schools make a niche subject compulsory (usually because of one particularly ambitious, empire-building HoD).

Yes, I can see the argument that understanding the society around you is important - so how about compulsory block, "one of" set of history, geography, citizenship, then two free options?

Thanks @catndogslife and @TheMarzipanDildo

So what you really wanted to ask was:

'Can anyone tell me about GCSE citizenship as it is compulsory at DD's school and we don't really know much about it?'

And all the stuff about not wanting to do it, avoiding a school with RE, preferring to do triple science was irrelevant? You can see how someone might not have realised what you really meant, surely.

She didn't go to a faith school, in part, to avoid her GSCE choices being clogged up with compulsory stuff she isn't interested in.

@catndogslife

*She would prefer to do Triple Science but doesn't want to lose a free space in her GSCE options to do it. Any suggestions?* Using up an option space to accommodate 3 separate Sciences at GCSEs is far better than trying to squeeze all the content into the same time as the 2 GCSE Combined Science. Schools that do the latter often struggle to complete the course and students often get poorer results than if they had the full teaching time for 3 GCSEs.

Or (and I realise this could be the makings of a timetablin nightmare) allow "pick 2 out of 3, with the option to add the third" approach to sciences.

(Maybe I'm just still bitter after 40 years because my school made us all do biology because biology was suitable for girls, which meant that because I wanted to do physics and chemistry, I was left with a really science heavy set of O levels instead of being able to swap biology for music or art).

Cara I'm bitter because at my high-performing independent girls school we had to choose between Physics& Chemistry OR Biology, so I was forced to drop biology.

I had a similar experience @CaraDuneRedux . I entirely get the timetabling nightmare it must be.

I'll make sure I defer to the Queen Bees on this topic because I obviously didn't speak in the right way😂

@CaraDuneRedux the 2 out of 3 Sciences approach isn't possible in the state sector. Some independent schools may allow this.

Unfortunately OP schools can and do change their GCSE requirements between joining in Y7 and choosing options in Y9.
It changed for my dds year group because of Performance 8.