Year 10 2024/2025 - come and join!

[36and3]

A thread for those with kids beginning their GCSE course next month.

Dd is my oldest so this process is a first for me. Her options are: triple science, Spanish, history and food/nutrition.

We've spent the summer organising her room. We've bought revision guides and files etc for every subject and she's excited to get started!

Would anyone like to join me for the ride?!

Oops - forgot she's doing further maths too!

My ds is starting y10....now I feel woefully unprepared as I haven't bought anything in preparation....was going to take him out to buy shoes, trousers and shirts at the last minute so he doesn't grow out of them before school starts.

Dc1 is starting y10. She started her GCSE courses last year though, so doesn't feel quite so 'big'. She's doing German, History, Perf Arts & Further Maths & Stats, she's set 1 science so will be doing triple. Stats exam will be this school year so one less to think about come y11. She's spent the summer applying for work experience placements.

Dc2 is going in to y9 so he's starting his GCSE course. He's taken French, History, iMedia, Further Maths & Stats, again set 1 science so will be sitting triple. He's very academic so is keen to get started.

Yes dd has also done work experience this summer. She wants to do medicine so did her first placement which she loved.

Yes I have one of these! Options start y10 here, so he’s relieved to see the back of some subjects he didn’t enjoy. Though he’s started GCSE content in sciences this past year. He’s doing triple science, RS, history, French and computer science on top of English and maths.

Not really thought about his start yet, his older brother gets his GCSE results on Thursday so that is occupying my brain!

I'm in- I was hoping somebody would start a thread. Thanks @36and3

DS is doing maths, 2x English, 3x science, history, geography, RS and an HPQ. They started the science and maths last year, but everything else starts from now. We've had a block of work to do on An Inspector Calls over the summer and he's done some preliminary work on his HPQ title.

He wants to apply for Law, so we'll be looking for super-curriculars too. We've done part of an online exploration course- hoping to finish that before Sept.

Great, so pleased to see you all here!

Just done the last of the uniform shop/ annual pilgrimage to Clarks (her school have zero tolerance to air forces etc much to dd's annoyance).

Dd is delighted to see the back of the likes of drama, music, computing etc. She's a STEM girl through and through so can't wait to get stuck into focusing on things she loves.

Dd hasn't a clue what she wants to do yet, potentially an EFL teacher as she has an affinity with language. Work experience wise she's applied to the two local EFL schools along with the nursery she attended (school recommended one fairly safe bet).

Dc2 is easier, he's always been set on being a teacher. He's already researched Which 6th form he'd ideally like to go to, Uni course requirements, student loans etc

This is my 'turning point' year though as our middle child is starting y7 so I'll only have 2 at primary.

My DD is starting year 10 too. She is doing triple science, History, PE and Food Tech as options. RE is a compulsory GCSE too. She's got into the higher set for Maths for year 10, which means she has the option to do further maths too if she wishes. She's ecstatic to be dropping French (hated the teacher), Drama and Comp Science.
I've got a DS in the year above (in the same school), so I'm also in the previous year 10 thread too. So, I kind of know what to expect for DD this year. She's not that studious or organised, and doesn't like doing much homework, and it's a huge leap in homework from year 9 to year 10 in their school, so I'm feeling quite nervous for her and how she will handle the change.

Thanks @TurtleGemSaturn0 looks very useful!

Hi, my eldest (DS) is going into Yr10 in Sep so GCSEs are new territory for us. He hasn’t mentioned anything about work experience, when would this be for?

@Mull we haven't been told dates for work experience specifically from school yet but my dd knows that she wants to do medicine so has started it off her own back, just two days this summer for now.

Oh, amazing that she has such a clear idea of what she wants to do, good for her. DS is loving languages (he’s taking three for GCSE, two via school and doing another one with a tutor) but no ideas for potential careers etc

I’ll join. My son has no idea what he wants to do other than make a load of money! Some of your children seem amazingly organised and motivated. In contrast I’ve struggled to get him to review the science he’s started in year ten as ‘no one is doing anything over the holidays.’

he’s doing the usual plus, history, drama, Latin and computer science.

I love to hear all the different combinations of subjects they all choose - all so unique!

In NI here so DS is Y11 starting GCSE (we count your reception year as P1). The local exam board still has letter grades but they are aligned with the UK numbers.

The compulsory subjects are English language, English literature, Maths and a short course in Religious studies

He's arts/humanities through and through, so doing music, drama, history, classical civilisation, French and physics.

Total of 9.5, didn't want to do further maths.

My DS also has compulsory CCF this year. He's a competitive sailor so he chose the Navy section, but I'm still 95% sure he's going to hate it and it will be the moaning-point of the year.

I'm here! Oldest DD goes into Y10 this year. Compulsory RE, choices are Sociology, History and triple Science. She's very ambitious, and also very busy with lots of outside school stuff so the juggling will be a learning curve!

@Pastlast it's just a working idea with dc1, she's also considering night nanny (loves babies & is nocturnal ) & has looked at studying with Norland. As I say though they're just things she's considering, she wants to leave her options open.

Dc2 is just one of those who's very organised & likes a plan in place.

Work experience placements are for school, they've told them to apply over the summer but, annoyingly, haven't even given us approximate dates of which week it will be.

They're both checking their phones daily now to see if timetables have been loaded on yet

Morning! Just marking my space! DS is entering yr 10 in a couple of weeks- this seems like a great idea to share thoughts. He is my eldest and I have no idea what to expect. Things seem to have changed in the 25 years since I did my GCSEs (or maybe not because we also did An Inspector Calls! 😂) DS is currently snuggled up asleep in bed next to me. He’s only just turned 14 and seems such a baby still!!

I wish we still had letter grades in England!

Hello. Place-marking as DD1 is starting Y10. They have to do triple science at her school much to her disgust - her other options are history, German, art and drama. She's currently on tenterhooks waiting for their timetables to be released so she can see which teachers she has. Most of her friends are either doing double humanities or double languages so she's worrying about it.

Ok so now I’ve had a chance to read the whole thread! Some super organised DC going on here! This is great to learn about though. DS is doing history, geography, Spanish and RE as his option subjects as well as triple science (so 10 GCSEs in total) I think he’s looking forward to dropping some of the subjects he doesn’t enjoy! I haven’t been on the ball at all this summer re prep for courses, homework or work experience. School have asked us to help our DC find some work experience but when I quizzed DS about anything he’d like to do he doesn’t have a clue!! I asked him what his interests are (school gave us a list of ‘talking points’ for career inspiration) and all he good say was he liked (the extremely niche) sport he plays and dogs…. I had thought he could go and worked for his uncle’s engineering firm for the week but apparently that’s out because it’s too far away for a h&s check so back to the drawing board (or not!) He is so unmotivated about this work experience thing! Please tell me I’m not alone in this? I’m sure my DC2 who knows exactly what career path they want (and has done since she was about 3!) would have written about 20 letters to different companies by now!

My DD starts year 10 this year. Can't believe how fast the time is going. She's struggling with anxiety a lot at the moment so hoping it's not made worse

Signing in, DD2, our youngest starting Y10. DD1 was Covid year so we haven't been through a proper exam series yet.

Triple Science, French, Computer Science, Art & History plus RE is compulsory at her school so 11 total for her.

Lucky in that I have a lot of revision books and guides from DD1 which weren't used much in the end.

We're away at the moment and DD was saying how much she is looking forward to getting started! Long may that last