How much of a say did you/do you have in your Yr9 LO's Options?

[MaureenMLove]

I just keep being told, they are called yr9 options, not parent options!

Did you push for them to take the right ones (in your opinion!) Did you guide them into the right ones or did you say 'you do what makes you happy?'

Just received DD's mid-term profile and it would be a crying shame, judging by the comments and results, if she didn't do a couple of the ones she is dithering on!

Do tell. I'm about to face another hurdle on the racetrack of parenthood and I fear I will not be Colin Jackson!

I think I am quite lucky too as DD1 and I seem to have similar ideas apart from she doesn't want to do a Language. Reading her report though I can see why

She gets to choose 5 so we have agreed on History, Geography, Art Textiles, DT Graphics and RE.

She has also expressed a choice for triple science which did shock me a bit.

That will mean she is taking 11 GCSEs

We haven't had the parents meeting with teachers yet though so I expect they will be pressuring a language!

Think 11 is the norm isn't it?

I did 11 GCSEs in early 90s.

One thing (out of many) which annoys at the school is that the DT subject which she is doing now in Year 9 is the option which she will have to take for GCSE. And as she is interested in engineering she would have prefered to take electronics or resistant materials (or whatever it's called). She was put in the catering class when she joined teh school, and that is now the DT subject which she will have to take apparetly.

Well, this is what we have been told, I am certainly going to argue agaunst this however am waiting for options evening.

Every other school in teh area has had their options evening already. God knows why we have had to wait until March/.

I do feel children should make their own choices or at the very least be completely happy and comfortable with the final descision, but that's so easy to say if you have a child who can be relied on to make a sensible choice!

With ds I had no worries whatsoever leaving him to his own devices - it was evident that he would choose carefully and think things through. And I suspect lots of people on this thread who say 'leave it to the child' have children &/or schools that are highly likely to come up with a sensible choice.

Dd (currently doing choices) is much more unorthodox & more likely to choose the easiest set of options without considering the longer term (actually, I think she would probably choose a sensible set on her own, but lead me up the garden path along the way). So I initially 'told' her what she 'had' to do, more to get her thinking about things and arguing persuasively about what she really wanted to do, than to actually mandate things (though she didn't know that at the time). That opened the door to debate & discussion of the pros & cons of all the choices in depth. Then we went to parents evening & heard what her teachers thought - found out a bit more about what's involved and her aptitude for each & I then told her she can do whatever she chooses. Her current list is thankfully one I'm very happy with, though not 100% what I'd choose in her shoes. If she was persisting with too many light options (not that easy at her school as there aren't all that many 'soft' choices) then maybe I would put my foot down a bit, who knows? I'd like to think that any child that age can come to a sensible decision if the arguments for/against are given, but if you had one that really wasn't going to then I can understand that parents might want to mandate certain choices.

I do know of children at other local schools, who really don't seem to be opting for sensible choices given their career aspirations and if one of my children was there I might well be putting my foot down, but more likely encouraging them to look up what they really might need to stand the best chance to get on eg a vet course at university and figuring it out for themselves, sadly that doesn't happen for some children.

It's worth remembering that the exact combination of GCSEs really doesn't matter too much for most things in the long run though and one or two 'easier' subjects won't matter. A child is more likely to get good grades in something they are passionate about than in something else they've been browbeaten into. The problem comes when a child chooses something like Art, when they don't really, really enjoy it (or ever even bother to do their homework in it) because they think it sounds easier than something else that they actually have a real aptitude for. Or if they are choosing things based on what their friends are doing rather than thinking a bit deeper.

11 is a lot more than I took !

DD1 will have to work much harder and facebook less to accomplish this I believe .

I was just pleased we agreed on the Options, as I think I would be pressurising her quite hard into what I thought was right for her.

10 is standard at dcs school.

In answer to the OP; my DD has to choose her options by May this year - she is only in Y8. Luckily, she's fairly certain of what she would like to do, and I'm happy with what she has potentially chosen. Not sure what we'd do if I felt she had got it wrong - but the likelihood is that I'd let her decide and not try and force the issue.

At my DCs school which is a Comp, the students are fortunate in that they choose 4 options, which can be pretty much anything, and also one 'elective' subject, which can be something they enjoy, but don't want to do a GCSE in, eg, my DD will probably choose Drama or Textiles.

Their core subjects are Maths, RE/Citizenship, Eng Lang, Eng Lit, Double Science (NO Triple on offer at their school).

So it is possible to do 10/11 GCSEs, and that seems to be the norm these days.

Mine aren't old enough yet, but I'm planning on letting them choose unless they pick something really silly.
My friend ruled her daughter with a rod of iron and chose everything for her (school, GCSE & A level subjects, university, job, first house etc) and now she's mid twenties with a great degree & good job she's miserable as she can't make any decisions for herself. She feels she's leading the life her mother wanted her to have not one she chose herself and is arguing with her parents like a 14-year old!

Just a warning....

DD chose all hers. No point in me deciding, i am not the one who has to study/struggle with them.

DD just handed hers in - wait to see if we get them all.

I think the options form is the ONLY form I've ever seen from the school that does not demand a parent signature or approval.

I did post on an earlier thread about being annoyed that offical guidance to parents said that if they were unhappy with dc's choices they should 'query gently' but 'give in gracefully' and if dc had made a mistake, then it was up to dc to correct it in later life

The thing is that there are so many things on offer nowadays - double science, triple science, GCSE, BTEC, diploma and others so options are not as easy as you think - the world is so much more competitive now that you don't want dc to make a mistake or close down a whole area. In the end DD made sensible choices we were v happy with and for well thought out reasons, but could well have been otherwise.

I sympathis with you Maureen It's a VERY long time since I took GCSE's but DS is starting to choose his now in Yr8 & I'm finding it all very confusing! Even more so reading all these posts about double/triple this & that, BTEC & diplomas etc. He is 12 FGS - why do they have to choose so early these days?

There is an 'open evening' next week which I'll attend with him and they've been having talks about the various options open to them. The school have been encouraging the children to take Performing Arts because (they say) it's equal to 4 GCSEs. Surely unless you want to do something in that field it is more beneficial to concentrate on English, Maths,Science & other 'sensible'(sorry, can't think of another word!) subjects?

DS told a teacher that I thought an employer would look more favourably on a GCSE in anything other than Performing Arts but was told no, it's not the subject that counts, it's the fact that it's the equivalent of 4 GCSEs. Is this true? I'm dreading this whole options process! He's talking about joining the Police - and I know he may well grow out of it - but can't seen how Performing Arts will tie in with this!

I am worried that students are not getting good advice for choosing options. Some schools are not spending quality time advising students and often it's hard at this age for parental opinions/experience to be listened to. In addition schools have results pressure on them, which may mean they want to encourage students to do less academic subjects, which generally result in higher grades...

Furthermore 11-16 schools sometimes have few links with 6th form colleges, let alone uni applications, so don't see the need for rigorous academic subjects for some students.

I'm not looking forward to options process with my boys, though I think (ds1) seems to already have in mind subjects I would be happy with. ds2 can be more of a wildcard, so we will start 'working on him' early too.

Often children equate a subject with a teacher at this age, which can be misleading. ds1 loved geography last year and hates it this. The only difference is the teacher. When he's in yr9 there will be no way of knowing who will be going to teach the GCSE classes.

Good luck to you MML!

I think Roisin has a good point about schools having results pressure & therefore encouraging students to do less academic subjects - DSs school has a lot to prove in terms of results. And the point about subjects & teachers - DS enjoyed science all the way through primary & junior and did well at it. He had a good science grade for the first term at secondary but it is a real battle now because he dislikes the teacher and the feeling seems to be mutual ...

As I suspected, open evening was all about the teachers trying to get DD to take their subject!

The art teacher was particularly outragous! She opened by saying, 'right DD, make me a very happy lady and tell me you are taking art as an option!' DD said no and she proceeded to go on and on about getting a good grade at something you are good at and enjoy and getting an average grade at something you think you ought to do!

Poor old DD is very subdued and quite now.

The Sociology teacher was wonderful (he was one of my teachers!) He said, he'd love her to teach her again, but it wasn't up to him! I think he may have been the teacher that has convinced her that she has to do at least double science. Thankyou Mr Cook!

I have simply said, I will support her in whatever she does take, but she should think very carefully about her long term goals and realise that the job she wants to do, needs her to put the work in. Work hard for just a few more years and school and it means you can play hard in the future, because you have a sound background to do so!

Thanks for all your comments.

I'm glad you seem to have got there with the double science - hope it all works out for her I will wait and see what our open evening brings!

Well I would love to be more involved than the school seem to want us to be! I.e. I would actually like them to give us some information which DS2 and I can discuss. The booklet, issued on Monday, has minimal info. He has ONE choice, two if I can get the school to agree to drop the compulsory language, which I think they will be at least prepared to consider. His Tutor is also his French teacher, and because he has told her he more than likely won't be taking it as an option, (hasn't fully decided, may be put down as a reserve choice) she has refused to give him a consultation evening appointment, and told him she won't return my phone call made first thing this morning, because she is too busy apparently!! She doesn't seem to realise that I would like to speak to her as his TUTOR in general, and perhaps about his French incase, shock, he changes his mind!! There obviously is no convincing about her own subject being done here!! The pathway they have put him on includes several 'diplomas' as choices, and whilst I have a rough idea of what they entail, i.e. one day a week at another local school, an information evening or some literature would not have gone amiss.

We have parents consultation evening next Tuesday and the forms have to be in on Friday.

ds in y8 has picked his options to reflect what he later wants to study and luckily there all the right ones for him

Some schools make the dc choose options in Y8??? But that's only 1 year away for DD. EEEeeeeeeeep. I don't even have any idea of if she is coping with any of her lessons, never mind which ones she should do for GCSE. And I highly doubt she does either! In fact, if she's even heard of GCSE's I'd be surprised! She is working on NC lvl 1 in maths, how the hell can she chose to do her GCSE's in only a year?? I think I need to talk to the school....

DS (Yr 9, Comprehensive school) has Aspergers and although he made his own choices, we steered him towards academic subjects. He needs a quiet and orderly environment to work in and the top sets in his school are made up of a very focussed and high-achieving bunch of lads.

Along with compulsory 2 x English, Maths, French and double Science, DS has chosen History, Geography, RS, ICT and Civilisation & Ethics. He has private tuition in Italian (which he will be dropping this year at school) and we may enter him for GCSE ourselves depending on his progress.

Can I just put a word in for those of us who actually teach option subjects? Several posters seem to think that we try to "sell" our subjects purely for our own benefit, but please consider the fact that we only see your DCs IN our lessons, and therefore if we see a DC thriving, enjoying and achieving in our subject, we are highly likely to suggest that they may want to take it as an option. I teach Drama - obviously, from reading posts here, a soft, easy option, which should only be available to students who are incapable of doing "academic" subjects. I'm not going to start laying out the advantages of taking Drama, but I do think that some students are put in a difficult position by their parents, who try to steer them in certain directions, without considering what the student would actually LIKE to do. I was in this position myself as a teenager - see my post earlier in the thread. Also, for those of you thinking about DCs' A Levels, and being dismissive of BTECs as an option, you may be interested to learn that one of mu current students (BTEC Performing Arts in the VI form, which she is taking along with two A levels and a further BTEC in Business Studies) is weighing up her options for university, having applied to read English Lit, and having been accepted by all her choices, which include two Russell Group institutions. Please don't let your own experiences or prejudices get in the way of your DC's choices - school has CHANGED since we were there.

I pretty much let my DS choose but advised him on what I thought would be the best options too.
Although I would be dismissive of certain vocation qualifications (our school offers hairdressing for example - I soo would have picked that at 13 and pissed my parents off), my DS has chosed an OCR(?) in ICT (worth 4 GCSE's) which I think is fantastic as that is the career he wants to go in to. Also History and French GCSE's.

I'm proud of him for being mature and forward thinking with his choices .

I think the compulsory elements are the really important ones and it's good they have some choice in what they study the rest of the time.

Loudlass

\ds2 new school here in Herts do that he has had to choose his options forst week of starting but he is going tradtional route all gcse .And taking Maths GCSe next year

But he is happy means can drop French and Art this year least he takes after me in somethinb

hello everyone, this is my first post. my son had to choose his options last year (he's at KGS and now in year 10). we sat together and ran through them, we came to an agreement. i wanted him to take music as an option as he is very musical but he wanted to take drama. therefore the agreement was that he would continue taking singing and piano grades and take part in musical life at the school which would tie in with his drama anyway. he is taking graphic / product design, french and the usual subjects. he's also doing the triple award for sciences. he wants to be an animator in the future and part of me knows that this is something he would love but he is so bright i'm not sure if this is enough! my daughter was much more straightforward i can tell you. she wanted to be a teacher from the age of 10 and she's now a local primary school teacher. no wavering for her!

LOL Kat being dismissive of "vocational" qualifications and then being proud of DS taking an "OCR" in IT. OCR is an exam board. The OCR National which your DS is taking is a vocational course. If you look at their wesbite, it says that OCR Nationals (BTEC by another name) "are an exam-free alternative to GCSEs, taking a more engaging, practical approach to learning and assessment" - ie a vocational qualification.

Sorry, but this proves my earlier point about parents putting their own prejudices onto their children. Would Kat have been as proud if her DS had told her was taking a BTEC? Possibly not.

Evil... I mentioned being dismissive of CERTAIN vocational qualifications such as hairdressing... I agree they are a great idea for those who have little hope of passing GCSE's but I really believe that most children should do their GCSEs (in the main) and wait until 16+ to decide on vocational skills.

I am well aware that ICT is a vocational course.. I just didn't know what kind (hence the OCR?).

I believe ICT is 'different' from other vocational courses as it is useful no matter what a child decides to do in the future.

Most 13 year olds don't have a clue what they want to do when they grow up and whilst hairdressing will be fun ( I totally would have taken it), it's not particularly useful to you unless you decide to be an actual hairdresser.

I am pleased my DS has chosen a combination of ICT (a vocational qual) and the more traditional GCSE's.