Year 9 - 2022/2023 Support Thread

[QueenMabby]

Hi
Having got a lot out of the thread for my ds who's just finished year 11 I though I'd start one for anyone wanting support/chat about dcs in year 9 from September.

Some schools will be starting GCSE syllabi this year and for those that don't there'll be options later in the year.

I have a dd starting year 9 in September. Her favourite subjects are languages and chemistry. We've not taken gcse options yet - that joy is to come.

Can I join please? DD just started year 9 and they haven't picked their options yet. However, we´re thinking about changing schools. She´s currently at a girls grammar and v miserable since year 7. Cries herself to sleep the night before the new term starts each time😕. We´ve had many conversations with the pastoral team and we know shes is doing v well academically and there's no bullying,...but..... the atmosphere is not healthy. Going to see a very good mixed comp tomorrow (she might want to stay put afterwards lol). But I feel if we are to make a move its now or never. What do people think? I shall report back!

I feel for you.

My gut instinct would be to move her. I moved both my children at various points of their schooling and it was totally the right thing to do.

Good luck x

@MackenCheese - your poor dd. I do think some grammars have an ethos that some children find stressful rather than inspiring. My dd is at an academically selective school (indie). She thrives on the atmosphere but I can see that it's not for everyone.

I certainly would move her if she feels the comp would provide a less stressful experience for her. Academics are all very well but not if they're miserable and she's given the grammar a very good go.

I had to write into school this week to DD's maths teacher who is not putting any extension work up on the board and dd is spending a lot of time in maths with nothing to do. She hates drawing attention to the fact that she's finished so is not the type of child to put her hand up but she is good at maths and is a fast worker so regularly needs extension work. She has maths today so 🤞🏻 she's kept busy!

Thanks guys, your replies are making me feel better. I know people would give a limb to get into the school where she is, but the reality is that her friends are unhappy too, but are prepared to grit their teeth. So I know it's not just her.

As it turns out she's come down with a v sore throat and a streaming cold from school yesterday, so we've postponed the comp visit to next week. She's excited about a possible change, just not up to it today....
Thank you all so much. Making these sorts of decisions is tough!

Your poor DD - honestly, if she's miserable I would move her. Is there a girls' comp nearby too or just a mixed one? My dd2 is at a girls' comprehensive and it feels like a healthy place to be. I wasn't sure initially - but it is right for her. But if she's been miserable for two years now might be the time to go?

@QueenMabby my dd had the same problem with maths in Year 8.The teacher understood that she didn't want to draw attention to herself, so when we talked to him he agreed that he would watch for her getting a book out as a signal to give her more to do. And then he put her at the front and watched her like a hawk. She was, in the end, slightly cross that she would be doing less reading.

@minisnowballs - my dd was memorising square roots in maths earlier this week....each one to five or six decimal places!

In year 7 her teacher used to give her the next lesson's work as extension - it all came to a head when he realised she was about four weeks ahead of everyone else! So the head of maths stepped in and gave her an extension workbook to go through.

Last year her teacher was excellent and she had class work, extension work and miniqueenmabby work all available.

This year's teacher is nice but a bit waffly and dd is a speed demon so she's suffering. She does maths Olympiad with the year above one lunchtime a week but needs stretching in lessons too. Fortunately she's too well-behaved to cause a fuss but that does mean she flies under the radar a bit.

Not sure DD is quite as fast as your daughter @QueenMabby ! And she's thoroughly happy if she gets to read, so it's less of an issue.

We've had a massive curveball this week. Took DD2 to see a music specialist school for a taster day that was a little more serious than we'd realised. She liked them, they liked her (though suggested she perhaps did more than 20 minutes practice a day). It's three hours drive away and they've suggested a formal November audition for a Year 10 place.

We're still reeling from the contrast between massive london comp and rural boarding independent with music specialism. Potentially very big decisions for our 13 year old this autumn.

Wow @minisnowballs - that sounds like an amazing opportunity but yes a big decision. Does your dd want to do music professionally?

Dd did a few days' piano course at Chetham's one year and loved it but doesn't want to do music professionally (and tbh is probably not good enough!) so it's not something we've ever looked at.

@QueenMabby This isnt chetham’s - though she is now seeing that too (because they very sensibly then suggested she see them all before deciding).

She wants to do ‘something with music’- but is not sure that something is conservatoire and then professional orchestral player. Maybe singing? At least they seemed to understand that it isn’t always obvious at 13.

quite an eyeopener for us all, anyway. We will see.

Hope the visit to the potential new school goes well @MackenCheese. I ended up moving schools when I was in Year 9 (many years ago!) because of a timetable clash with options I wanted to take at GCSE. It was a very positive move at the time - good opportunity for a fresh start.

@minisnowballs - that sounds very exciting for your DD2! Is it Wells? Purcell? Good luck in any case with the process and decisions.

The sooner the options process comes around the better for us. DS definitely losing interest in the subjects he knows he won’t be taking next year. I feel for the teachers to be honest trying to keep Year 9s interested in the full range of subjects.

Will have a few open days coming up soon for eldest for 6th form. Bit anxious about that as it feels as though demand definitely outstrips the number of places locally for the more popular schools. Although, to be honest, it has felt like that all the way along since nursery.

I think Y9 is very tricky for this reason.

I've told ds2 that whilst I appreciate he will koto be taking MFL, nor CS I expect him to still make an effort and be respectful.

some pupils behaviour absolutely tanks in Y9.

I agree that y10 can't come soon enough! :)

@Circleoffifths - yes, one of those. But very much not a done deal. She's very happy at home - and of course the funding is a tricky thing from what I understand.

We are very grateful that DD2 already has her options. It helps with this year I think --- but I know lots of people don't like a three year KS4. Also doing Sixth Form open days for older daughter - but she wants to stay put which is easier!

Year 9 is tricky. My dd is facing the possibility of not doing a humanity at gcse because she doesn't have enough "slots". We're going to have to discuss with school but I'm waiting until later in the term.

I have a ds who has just started sixth form (same school so no change for him) and he's loving it. The independence and the fact that he's only studying subjects he's actively chosen has been a game changer.

It absolutely is :)

Ds1 had a spiky profile at gcse - some 8s, some 6s and some 5s. But at A level he got 3 straight As :)

They are by then - hopefully - studying their passions and it makes a huge difference ime.

Well hormonal strops averted today by Latin homework which was to write a curse tablet.
DD's had a lovely time translating some very detailed curses into Latin which has made her feel much better (much to the relief of the rest of us!).
We get half term grades in a couple of weeks and dd says they'll be based on gcse grades for the first time so that'll be interesting. Haven't heard anything from the school about it though.
How are everyone else's dcs doing? Can't believe the first half term is yearly done!

We have been trying to get our heads around the GCSE options and what ds is going to probably pick. Trying to keep his choices as wide open as possible, as he doesn’t have a firm idea about what he will do post A Level.
It’s a lot to think about!

DS is still keeping up a steady rate of detentions 😬 for not doing homework.

Although to be fair to him, he does also collect a lot of credits for the quality of the work that he is doing. It’s a pity that the credits don’t cancel out the corrections but the system doesn’t work like that.

There’s an open day for a 6th form next Saturday and DD (in Year 11) can’t make it. So am taking DS instead to give his sister the low-down. Have told him he needs to look tall 🤣.

@MissyB1 - my fingers are firmly in my ears and I'm shouting la la la as loudly as I can over options. Dd won't need to select hers until Feb/March time but I know it's going to be a stressy nightmare!

@Circleoffifths - hope the sixth form visit goes well. My ds is in lower sixth and went to a local uni for their open day today. I'm not ready.

GCSE options will be in Feb for us too. Although once all the compulsory subjects are taken, it only leaves 2 free choices. At the moment DS is saying he would like to take music but is not clear on the second choice.

That’s exciting @QueenMabby - uni open days already. What subject would your eldest like to study?

@Circleoffifths - physics. Bloody difficult and v high grades needed but he's capable if he puts the work in!

Well I've just discovered ds has a Biology test on Wedenesday, which he hasn't mentioned and hasn't done any revision for. This resulted insome serious chat (from me), lots of huffing, puffing and eye rolling (from him), and now he's in his room on Bitesize looking at that topic!

Jeez it's bloody hard work sometimes!! I need a lie down!

Ooof!

May I recommend www.physicsandmathstutor.com?

They have revision cards and more importantly practice questions by topic and by exam board. Great for maths and sciences.

Dd also likes the free version of Seneca which has some gcse stuff.

I have just seen this thread. I hope it's ok if I join. I've been on 2 great threads for several years for my older 2 ds's. On both threads everyone has been really helpful and supportive and non judgmental. This thread looks very similar. There seems so much to discuss as they progress through options, then exams, 6th form and onto university or whatever else they choose to do. My oldest Ds has just graduated. Ds2 started university this sept. Ds3 is in year 9. It is interesting reading how things are done differently in different schools. They don't choose options until later in year 9 at our school. So Ds hasn't thought about it much. The school teaches French and German in years 7 and 8. Ds3 learnt German but now the school have decided to drop German completely, teaching French and Spanish instead. Ds has been put in the French group, quite a few have been learning French for 2 years so Ds has to catch up. He knows he will doing gcse French. Also as he's top set science he will do triple science. But other than that we will wait to see what the options are. I know we had subjects in columns for ds1 and ds2 they had to pick one subject from each column and for both of them subjects they wanted were in the same columns. So they had to do stuff they hadn't planned. So for ds3 we won't discuss it until we see what the choices are.

Gcse options here are chosen in January

They are called "buckets" here (no idea...)