GCSE choices - wanting to drop all humanity subjects

[CoffeeandWalnutCake]

So it's that time of year, and my DD is looking to make GCSE choices. There seems to be a lot of subject flexibility at her school, but given that she's a good allrounder, it's making the decisions pretty tricky.

She has to take English Lit and Lang, Maths, MFL (French) and is being strongly encouraged to do triple science (is the norm at her school). School are allowing a choice of 8-10 GCSEs, and most do 9, so essentially she has a free choice of 2 more. She's narrowed it down to a choice of two out of Geography, Drama and Textiles - I have no doubt she'll do well in all three, but she's far more passionate about Drama and Textiles.

I'm concerned that if she picks Drama and Textiles, there's not a humanity subject in the mix for her. I'm also thinking ahead to A level - I think she's unlikely to take Textiles for A-level - she's keen on sciences and the idea of psychology at the moment (clearly subject to change I'm sure!), but Geography seems like a good potential A level subject to me, and I'm not sure she should drop for GCSE. Or perhaps I'm over thinking this!

Any thoughts on the implications of dropping all humanity subjects at GCSE to allow the choice of two 'passion' subjects?

Can't she start 10 and drop one if she needs to?

Drama's a humanity subject.

Design/Textiles can also be a humanity subject.

So can MFL.

Almost all of her subjects have at least a sizeable humanities element or there is a university somewhere that has placed the equivalent department into their Humanities Faculty.

There's also nothing stopping her from taking Psychology, Sociology, Business Studies or any other humanities subjects at A Level if she wants to. Or she could use her interest in textiles to later take a direction into a scientific area of study - astronauts need clothes, after all.

I agree start 10 and then if it's too much there's always the option of dropping whichever doesn't turn out as expected. My DS's school are similar and he chose Business Studies over History (against our advice as he was great at history & had never expressed any interest in BS 🙄). By Christmas it was clear BS wasn't what he had expected but by then he was told he's missed too much history and couldn't drop BS so has had to stick it out.

what does she want to do as a career. Start with that and work back to what Uni course she needs or wants to do and that should then inform what A-levels she will need and then you can pick the GCSEs!

DD didnt do any humanities at GCSE level. She is doing A-levels - English, Textiles/Design, Psychology and Photography.

She wants to do graphic design/marketing at uni.

My DS is doing A Level Geography without having done the GCSE. It might be worth checking what the entrance requirements are at your local sixth forms.

I'd encourage Geography and then either drama or textiles.

If she's quite academic then I tend to think keep the choices mostly academic but with 1 softer subject for some enjoyment.

It will keep more options open for A'levels and beyond.

Have the option blocks been released? Just because if she's likely to achieve it, the school may have the preference of the ebacc route and the option blocks may be designed to insist upon this!

I would say that Geography is quite a good fit if you are good at Sciences.
The main problem that I know people have had with drama is that there is a group work element and that doesn't work if you don't fit into the group.
If she does drama out of school as an extra-curricular activity, it's fairly easy to pick it up later on.
So I would say to prioritise textiles over drama.

I would ask school if they would allow a Humanities A level with a good English mark. If the answer is yes, nothing is really lost by not doing those GCSEs.

Usually better to take the GCSEs that will be most enjoyed, unless vital for later choices.

Does she know what she wants to do after GCSE? If it's Geography A Level, then I would expect it to have been an automatic choice - is it you saying it is a good A Level choice, and not her? it's not a good choice if she doesn't want to do it :)

I'd say she should do the subjects she wants to. She's more likely to do well if she enjoys them. Drama and French are humanities subjects.

i'm also wondering if the people commenting on Drama have any actual experience/knowledge of Drama GCSE. It's a heavily academic subject and you can't easily take it out of school. Performing Arts is a different thing.

Drama AND textiles would be useful
if she’s considering pursuing a creative field, such as Costume Design, Theatre Design or Performing Arts.
Otherwise Geography is the broader subject , probably more useful general knowledge about the world and environment… could lead to climate sciences, anthropology, charity work, anything travel/world related, geology etc

So she could consider her goal beyond school, what is more drawn towards?

I think Drama and Textiles is a fine combination, but can she do them together?

Thank you everyone, some really useful insights and thoughts, much appreciated!

I'm wary with her starting 10, and then dropping one as I think she'd be quite anxious about giving something up. I think I'd prefer her to make a choice and then just throw herself into it from the start.

Her school is huge and seems to be really flexible with subject combinations, but point noted that actually maybe there might be a timetable block clash which could present us with an automatic answer!

@oatmy that is very interesting about your DS doing A level but not GCSE. I'll check with school (where she is likely to stay for sixth form) as maybe that will put my mind at rest about shutting future doors. Can I ask why he didn't pick it for GCSE, and what made him pick it up for A level?

@redskyatnight very astute point! It is me looking ahead and thinking geography would be a good choice for A level, not her. I'm deliberately being very careful about what I'm saying to her, as fundamentally it needs to be her choice.

At the moment, she's unclear about future career choices, but she's highly creative with genuine passion for performing arts and textiles (she's been attending out of school sewing classes since early primary school and is very good at ballet and singing). It's a bit of a head vs heart decision, but I think I need to let her choose what she loves. It's only GCSEs I guess!! I'm overthinking (as usual!).

@CoffeeandWalnutCake He hated the Geography teacher at his previous school! Real personality clash. He did History for GCSE and found it quite boring. I had a hunch that he would enjoy A Level Geography (and he had few options on the table having ruled out most subjects). Luckily he is really enjoying it and doing well.

That’s great @oatmy glad he’s enjoying it now. Evidence that things tend to work themselves for the best in the end anyway!

I know nothing at all about Textiles, but my DS is in Yr3 of a STEM degree. He did Drama at GCSE and it has been incredibly helpful in his degree, where he has to present his own papers and research. He's a confident speaker, is good at getting his point across and tailoring it to his audience and he knows how to present himself. Drama gives you the kind of transferable skills that can be used anywhere.

Geography is a broad and interesting subject which will teach her how to handle a large amount of knowledge and impose order on it, which is also valuable.

Is it normal for mums to be this involved in options their teens are picking? I'm genuinely not being rude or goady by the way I'm really curious! As when I was at school picking options (2012) me and my peers discussed it all with our friends and that was it!

Whatever she chooses OP she sounds very bright so I'm sure she'll be fine.

It party depends on the amount of support/information provided by school.

DC are not necessarily going to realise that (for example) that not picking subject A will preclude them doing something later or if they are interested in a particular career that it would be preferable to do certain subjects.

DC don't always understand the implications of a certain subject. For example, DS's Computer Science class was full of people who thought it was an easy option and would involve messing about on computers. Likewise DC take art not realising quite how much work is involved in the portfolio, that there is a lot of writing involved too, and that (quite crucially) you can't just produce the art work you want to and are quite heavily bound by the constraints of the syllabus.

@ImWorkingLateCosImASingerrrr it seems to be normal at her school - I spent four flipping hours (!) at an options showcase event run by her school last week, which required all parents and children to attend 'speed dating' style presentations from all option subjects, as well as a lengthy talk from HoY/senior teachers!

The children are definitely encouraged to chat to each other/older children to form their ideas, and my DD has independently narrowed her choices down to 10, but only wants to do 9 so needs to drop something. She's voluntarily discussing it with us, but I am certainly trying not to influence her. I'm only really trying to be involved to ensure she has thought about the bigger picture, to make sure she doesn't inadvertently shut off future paths. Thankfully, from posts in this thread, it sounds like there are always ways round things no matter what she wants to do in future.

My concern for Drama and Textiles is they can both involve quite a lot of "coursework " and such subjects can really eat up time.

Never before I have seen drama and French described as humanities subjects. The usual definition of humanities is history, geography and RE.

I'd have thought 10 GCSEs ought to be manageable for a good all-rounder but I agree with most others that if your daughter is going to drop one it should be textiles or drama.

For what it's worth my daughter did geography, drama and textiles GCSE and enjoyed all three. She went on to do psychology A level, studied psychology at university and is now a psychology teacher.