Do my DS' GCSE choices look reasonable timewise?

[Bruennetzh]

Dear all,

My DS is going to start Y10 in a private school as a music specialist in September this year. We read through the GCSE guide in the handbook and is close to the following decision.

Compulsory:
English
English literature
Maths
Triple science or double science
RPE (religion studies)
PSHE (not sure if it's a GCSE subject, but the kids will not be examined on the content of the course)
PE, Games (I don't think these are proper GCSE subjects, once a week as the handbook said)

Other options:
As to the handbook, most music specialist pupils take two academic options and two practice time (one practice time is 5 hours every two weeks), all pupils must take one practice.
my DS' choices:
History (critical thinking and essay writing skills)
Music (as a music specialist music is compulsory)
Drama (public speaking and public performing)
Music practice

Our questions are:

1. My DS comes from a non-English curriculum school, so the decision making is purely based on the GCSE handbook from the school. If he chooses three options (history, music and drama) plus the compulsory subjects, will he be super busy? We have no idea what his timetable will look like. If at the beginning of term the options can be adjusted slightly it will be great.
2. Does my DS' choices contain too much writing (English literature and history, probably drama as well, RPE also?) He is not a native English speaker, but he has interest in English literature and history, and he likes reading.
3. If his timetable is too full, we consider taking drama off.

We can also ask the school staff, but they are off for summer holidays we think.

Any comments or opinions will be greatly appreciated.

He'll be fine. If he likes Eng and History the writing won't be a problem.

I don't think you've read the syllabus. My DS is an atheist and did RS for GCSE and is doing religion and philosophy for A level. It's about understanding belief systems, not encouraging blind adherence to faith.

Sounds fine to me. We didn't find that Drama took up particularly any more time than other subjects and, as others have said, is a nice light relief. Although hopefully the music is that as well :)

wow @HopelessEstateAgents I have no axe to grind for RS but I agree with a PP, have you read the syllabus? For AQA (for example) you have to study two religions and four religious, philosophical and ethical studies themes.

Example question from the second element:
‘Greed or just wanting a better life are never good reasons for going to war.’ Evaluate this statement. In your answer you: should give reasoned arguments in support of this statemen; give reasoned arguments to support a different point of view; refer to religious arguments; may refer to non-religious arguments; reach a justified conclusion.

That's pretty interesting IMHO and not at all invasive and weird. Learning about another religion (which does relate to culture; Christianity, for example, has had a huge influence on art, architecture and music in the western world) is not about converting students. You do know that history GCSE often includes study of the rise of Nazism? Didn't turn DS2 into a neo-fascist!

DD (who voluntarily took Religious studies) found the religious, moral and ethical studies an interesting and relevant supplement to study of English Literature and history (which she has gone on to specialise in).

I have a DD who is a music specialist.

I would ditch the drama or the RS and replace with music practice, then add in a GCSE in your DS's native tongue.

Often if compulsory, RE is done as short course 0.5 of a GCSE.
DDs Full course RE was very interesting. Understanding different beliefs on different topics. She did Christisnity and Islam. Beliefs and practices were 50%, but then the themes such as family, war&peace, crime&punishment were the other 50%.

DD is bi-lingual, German/English and did a German GCSE as an extra with minimal teaching/practice. I know that she had serval in her year who did GCSEs in their second mothertongue, definitely investigate.

She did 9 GCSEs, that's the standard in her school. 2x English, Maths, Combined Science, Spanish, History, Sociology and Drama.

Drama is 2 performances, one as a group, the other can be a monologue, duologue or small group. The first one includes quite extensive paperwork as they wrote and directed the piece themselves and had to put their ideas and reasons for it down. The third exam is a written one, about two of the plays they studied.
DD absolutely loved it but she loves drama in general, it will be one of her A-Level courses. But it meant quite a number of afternoon sessions, especially prior to the practical exams.

I didn't expect so many replies within one day, I was thrilled when I saw the page, thank you so much, for all the advice.
Some of your suggestions are quite similar, and I am trying to respond to some of the posts.

1. @Mumdiva99 congratulations for the good marks you son has already got. Regarding combined and triple science, I understand that in both pupils need to study three subjects, but combined one is easier. Will combined science a decent pathway to A level science subjects, for example chemistry or biology? Or pupils need to take triple science at GCSE to be able to further the knowledge at A level?
2. @calmcoco Good to know that pupils can drop one subject if it's too much.
3. @2boysandagirltoo You can say it's a late choice making. My son didn't attend Y7-9 in the UK, actually he didn't even do an English curriculum at all, so we didn't have the opportunity to investigate in all GCSE subjects at the end of Y9 as some UK pupils do, as I guess. The school sent us the GCSE relevant information one week ago, and we don't really know much about the subjects, expect the brief introduction in the guide book. That's why I am here to ask for advice.
4. @Zonder We didn't think of choosing a language, because it looks like my son can replace language with a music practice in the language option column. The school lists music practice in all four columns although it said in the guide book "Pupils must choose a language unless they have been advised otherwise." I think for music specialist student it's ok not to choose a language, but I am not 100% sure.
5. @LIZS In the school 66% pupils who chose drama have got 7-9 last year. I thought it's not too bad, so we considered picking drama. Another reason is that my son is doing opera singing, so we thought drama might be beneficial. In his previous schools he has never done school plays before because there wasn't such a thing, he thought it might be interesting to have a try. I wasn't aware that pupils can take native language as a subject because the school doesn't offer it. As other people said, it can be paid to arrange a language exam. RPE is compulsory probably because the school is a Cathedral school?
6. @Plumbear2 The practise time should be in school time, I think. My son is doing opera singing, which doesn't require so much practice, but he does need to practice piano as the second instrument, if voice is regarded as the first. We considered computer science, but were put off by some other posts saying that Computer Science is dull and doesn't include so much practical stuff. The posts we read might be wrong.

Hi @Bruennetzh

Combined science is not easier, it is just less content (and shorter exams). It is fine to take A level science with double, but be aware that if most of the sixth-form cohort has taken triple, then a student with double may need to catch up. In both double and triple students can take foundation (grades 1-5) or higher (harder, grades 3-9). The advantage of triple can be that if a student has one science that is weaker that will not pull down the grade for the others (so you could get 4 for physics and 8 for biology and chem; if that student did double they would more likely get (say) 6-6 (double is two grades the same or one grade different eg 6-5)).

I agree with everyone suggesting he take a GCSE in his native language. What is it might I ask? Should be an easy win.

You should check with the school re possibly dropping a subject - it is quite unusual in state school tho it may be more workable in a private school.

@TeenDivided@clary @CatkinToadflax @LadyLapsang @HopelessEstateAgents @OprahWinfery My DS is no native English speaker. For small talks or short conversations he is fine, but he is not so fluent if he has to speak long. I thought drama is mainly pre-written script and pupils get time to practice. His pronunciation is fine. With practice I believe he will be fine to perform. No, he has never learned any European MFL, so we don't consider French, German or Spanish at this stage. As other posts said, exams in native language can be considered. Although I have learned German in the Uni, but I don't think it's very necessary to learn a foreign language if he is not going to use it. Take myself as an example, I forgot quite a lot of the language I learned in the Uni many years ago. (My own fault though, I could have read books or watched movies to keep the language) Geography was not possible, because when I first got the option list, Geography was crossed out because it was full. I guess Geography is lot easier than history and thus popular? It's a Cathedral school, so I can understand why REP is compulsory.

@Singleandproud Thank you for pointing out this angle of view. We haven't decided what to do at A levels or afterwards. We thought he should do maths and another science, probably music again, as a music specialist? It's a bit too early to decide. Yes, my son is completely literate in his first language, I will ask the school for possibility of a paid exam. Thank you!

@Clymene How much would an exam of own choice normally cost? We understand that history definitely needs a lot of work, but didn't think of drama as content heavy. RS is a short course, not sure how heavy it is.

@clary Very clearly explained regarding double or triple science, thanks. My DS comes from a billingual family (English and Chinese), but he grows up in China, so his native language is Mandarin Chinese. His English is not native, but good enough to start GCSE study in the UK, might be some catch up to do.

I think it's around £200? I'm not sure to be honest. My children are at state school so they don't get charged by the school for doing mother tongue exams. I do know there were lots of them though.

Kids took exams in loads of languages - not just European languages but Urdu, Hebrew, Arabic, Chinese, Japanese and Gujarati. So I would definitely think it's worth pursuing if your son has a decent standard of reading and writing in his mother tongue.

Cross post. Your son can definitely take a GCSE exam in Mandarin.

@Clymene Sure, I will do. Thank you for the information regarding paid language exam, which I didn't know before. I did find mumsnet.com is a wonderful source of information and I get a lot of useful advice here. Thank you.

Definitely try to take mandarin as a GCSE! It’s highly sought after here and an easy win for him.

I can understand why a cathedral school would do short course RE. Most of the pupils will already have a good background in Christian beliefs, so it would be a quick win.

Triple science is 3 full gcse's. My son does chemistry, physics and computer science.
Combined science is equivalent of 2 GCSE's and the content covers things from biology,chemistry and physics. Yes plenty of kids go from there to a science A level.
As you can see my son has limited himself in some ways as Biology a level would not be an option for him. But...because all children have to do combined science if they don't opt for 3 sciences - the likelihood of being in a class with people not interested in science increases. And he would rather be with likeminded classmates.

Don't sweat too much. These are gcse's and will not define his future. If he likes drama let him take it.

Echoing chorus of Mandarin for a GCSE. Fab easy win. Also not too impossible to find a speaking examiner - more schools offer Mandarin than some languages. And I would venture to suggest that it would be more useful than many MFLs.

I don't think Geography GCSE is easier than History.

My kids school they did nine GCSEs, with the addition of extra maths or a second foreign language, generally if they were a native speaker and usually did it in Y10.
So my son did:
English lit
English language
Dual science
History
Math
German
PE (as a GCSE)
Drama

My daughter did:
English lit
English language
Triple science
History
Math
German
Art
Plus Art silver award

It was generally History OR Geography

Meant to add the nine/ten GCSEs seemed reasonable, with a games session once a week.

Doing the Mandarin GCSE is a separate thing to choosing his options for his timetable - it will be an extra, and can be discussed once he's started. In the state sector, schools would not usually charge for a native language GCSE, but it may be different in the independent sector - they might charge for the exam entry and for the costs of organising a mock exam.

If he's heading for opera, I can see the sense in doing drama. It won't all be relevant, but it will presumably enable him to pick up useful vocabulary, as well as some performing experience.

History is very content heavy and I would think it would be a challenge for a non-native speaker, especially with less general knowledge of British history to give them a start. One of the topics takes a theme through a broad sweep of British history, and the others will have some prior knowledge from what they've done in earlier years. Geography is also content heavy but possibly easier to come into from overseas. I wouldn't worry about "critical thinking and essay writing skills" - that will come into English and RPE. However if he is keen enough on history that he might want to take it at A-level, doing the GCSE would be helpful.

Studying in a second language is likely to be hard work to start off with, so he may be better with two music practice slots and one fewer GCSE. However I suspect it would be relatively easy for him to drop a GCSE and replace it with music practice if necessary, so starting with three GCSE options gives him a chance to see how he finds them before deciding whether to drop one.

It’s ridiculous that you should be paying a school for your son to attend, and gave to resort to asking the most basic of questions on Mumsnet! That’s a criticism of the school, not you. Is this really a school you want to give your money to?

The options chosen sound sensible though, and drama makes sense. I'd go for double science rather than triple.

I'd have thought the lack of a language was a problem though. Surely learning a European language (preferably Italian) would be pretty important for someone who wants to be an opera singer?