Y9 Options

[Bluebird23]

Hi,

My DD has selected the following options for GCSE

English Lang
English Lit
Maths
Physics
Chemistry
Biology

Spanish
Geography
History

She'll be starting Spanish from scratch in Y10 due the school making the ebacc pathway compulsory for her set. Unfortunately', she doesn't enjoy French, although she's currently predicted a grade 8 in the subject.

DD is considered bright and is hard working but I'm really concerned about the potential workload with two humanities, a new lamguage. and separate science.

I wondered if anyone could share any thoughts or experiences with a similar set of GCSE subjects and the likely Y10 Y11 workload. DD is our eldest child so it's all new to us.

Thanks in advance

@putitonaplate That's interesting to know. My daughter enjoys Art & DT but they don't come naturally to her and she has to work much harder in these subjects than academic ones. A piece of art homework that should take an hour generally takes her 2-3 hours to complete. Maybe its for the best she decided against taking one of them!

Will your son be starting a new 2nd language in Y10?

@RampantIvy its a shame your dsughter was let down by another child not working. Well done to her for pulling it back. I think my daughter would find that situation v stressful.

No, he's already doing two MFL, so neither of them is new.

It's a funny time isn't it, forcing yourself to pull back and let them decide.

I wouldn't worry about the triple science workload at all. I think it's only an issue if the 3rd science is a 10th GCSE.

Normally I would say schools tend to allow more flex in practice than they let on, so swapping MFL out for a tech/creative/IT type subject might be more of an option than they make it sound. It's a shame to have all book learning and nothing to break it up. However it sounds like that might genuinely not be an option here, and it's moot if she'd rather do the Spanish anyway.

The point about all book learning is the bit we/DS agonised over, as his eventual choices were purely academic. In the end though, he decided that because he does a lot of extra curricular drama, music and sport, that would provide enough of a contrast - leaving the actual examined subjects to 'book learning' choices, which are actually more within his comfort zone. That's a very personal thing though - if he were a less 'bookish' kid, or didn't have so much going on outside the curriculum, then he might well have opted to include a creative GCSE choice.

@HummingQuietly

It's certainly been a learning curve for me!

Good to know separate science shouldn't be too much as part of 9 GCSE's.

I thought the school would be more flexible regarding the learning pathways / ebacc. We've met with the Vice Principal and communicated with the Principal. They have made a decision that for this year group at least 75% of pupils will be taking a MFL and the final decision regarding learning pathways sits with the school. The Vice Principal mentioned that in our area take up of MFL is low (working class northern town) and their aim is to have nearly all children taking an MFL for GCSE. He did point out benefits of studying a language which we hadn't considered.

Overall we're very happy with the school and our children are happy, safe and learning well but the options process has proved to be restrictive for us as the MFL being compulsory means she can't take Food Tech as originally planned. She attends an out of school drama school and sports which I think she'll continue for another couple of years.

Hopefully, in 2 years time my daughter will be enjoying learning Spanish and we'll look back at this and be glad of the outcome.

Firstly I'd say don't panic about the number of GCSEs - it's pretty standard given that the top 5 you list are all fairly compulsory, so your DD is doing 3 "options". Many schools offer 4 but 3 is also very common. On an EBacc pathway this is their chance to take a humanity, a language, often an arts or more practical subject (which your DD is not) and then a second option from one of the blocks above. Your DD is taking 2 humanities which is a great way of preserving the most flexibility for post-16 study.

Secondly, if your DD is keen on Spanish, and good at French, it sounds like a pretty good option for her. She'll probably put more work in if she's keen, and having a teacher she gets on with will definitely help, as will the 3 years of French she's done. Achieving a 7 in Spanish rather than an 8 in French will not make a blind bit of difference to her future plans, even if that's going on to take a language at A level.

DS is doing
Maths
English Language
English Literature
Physics
Chemistry
Biology
Spanish
Geography
Computer Science

His teachers are happy with those choices

I agree that starting a language later than everyone else is a bit of a challenge however I did German GCSE whilst I did my a-levels starting from scratch and I managed and I wouldn't say I'm amazing at languages but I was determined to pass.
What has really helped DS with his Spanish so far is that granny started a weekly Spanish chat on zoom when we were in lockdown and continued it since - it's only about 10-15mins speaking Spanish each week but his teacher says his conversation has come on leaps and bounds - small amounts of speaking (the hardest bit of language) practiced regularly will really help with the whole subject. Also consider watching Spanish shows on Netflix or online.

I hope it goes well for her.

If she doesn't click with the Spanish then don't forget it might be possible to switch subjects in the first term or so. It happens every year, they just don't advertise it. It's just something to have in your back pocket. Great that they are encouraging MFL, but the 75% is just an arbitrary target someone made up in a meeting. It shouldn't stand in the way of your daughter doing the right subjects for her. It sounds like Spanish should be fine though.

@Bramshott thank you for explaining, the process, that makes sense. My daughter taking the two humanities is what has prevented her taking Food Tech and not the language as I'd first thought. History & Georgraphy are two of her favourite subjects so it's good to know they'll help to keep her options open for college

She seems really happy and positive about taking Spanish and as you say a lower grade won't really matter in the long run.

@wonkylegs thank you, it's really positive to know a language from scratch can be done with hard work & determination. I've passed on your tips about watching netflix shows and also about speaking Spanish regularly once she gets going.

Good to see your son has an academic set of subjects too and his teachers are happy with this. Good luck - I hope he enjoys the last 2 years of school.

@HummingQuietly
Thank you for your kind post and advice.

It's useful to know that there can be movement at the beginning of Y10 as it does come accross as though they'll be set in stone. I'll bare this in mind if she doesn't settle in September.