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Year 9 options (Secondary School) questions.
Comments
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Right, that says that the more able students can take the 3 separate sciences so it obviously is offered.0
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Thanks, that's what i thought it was saying.0
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As a former school careers adviser who worked very hard with year 8 and 9 students choosing options could I ask if the school offers any careers advice (as they legally should) to help children make these choices.
Engineering is a vast subject for example, and actually studying art can be useful if design engineering is a possible future career. My daughter who is now a qualified engineer took art alongside maths and design technology and finds this immensely helpful in her current design job using CAD.0 -
I wouldn't encourage him to do all of those because, although they sound vocational, they're all rather vague, and less useful than traditional subjects.
If he wants to go into Engineering he'd be better to do separate sciences and Further Maths if these are available. What other oprions does he have?
I would agree with you that traditional subjects will tend to give OP's son better options for further education as these tend to be what colleges and Universities look for. My daughter's school have a modern foreign language GCSE as a core subject now as some Universities have apparently started to look for a pass at GCSE level, so if it is not a core subject and still an option, it might be worth considering this. If in the top set for science hopefully OP's son will do the three sciences and do the 3 GCSEs in Biology, Physics and Chemistry and if in the top set for Maths, Statistics may be studied as a second maths GCSE without having to be taken as an option.0 -
My sister and I were encouraged to do well academically and artistically. We both studied music to A level and beyond. We also did maths to A level and beyond.
I can't agree with your views of music and drama being a waste of time. Music in particular can encourage learning in other areas and both help develop emotional intelligence.
DS is now studying IT and computer programming/game design at college.. probaly also useless but he is enjoying it!
My DH brings in about £150k a year into our company as a computer programming consultant. I would have been far less successful in my HR career had I not studied drama (to A level). I directed rather than acted.
The standard of all GCSEs these days are so poor that they may as well just study what they want. Most don't come out of school ready for work or further study so they're not really an indicator of ability or knowledge anymore.Trying to be a man is a waste of a woman0 -
My understanding of the sciences are that they study all three - physics (P) biology (B) and chemistry (C)
There are three levels of paper
P1+B1+C1 = Foundation
All the above and P2+B2+C2 = Additional
All the above and P3+B3+C3 = Triple
But I could be wrong!0 -
My understanding of the sciences are that they study all three - physics (P) biology (B) and physics (P)
There are three levels of paper
P1+B1+C1 = Foundation
All the above and P2+B2+C2 = Additional
All the above and P3+B3+C3 = Triple
But I could be wrong!
I think one of those physics should be chemistry.Trying to be a man is a waste of a woman0 -
I let my 2 daughters choose which subjects they wanted as they're the ones who are going to have to do the work for them. I still remember being annoyed that I wasn't able to take the subjects I wanted to at school (I wanted to do art and metalwork and ended up taking typing and sewing), so was determined to let them have the final say.
Both of them were in the top set which limited their options as only certain subjects are in each block. My eldest went for drama, art textiles, french and extra ICT. The french and drama she chose because she enjoyed them and the textiles because she wants to be a costume designer. Art based subjects like textiles may sound like an easy option - but it actually took up a LOT of her time.
Her sister was forced to study french by the school (a new thing they decided for pupils in the top set), but opted for history (she always enjoyed that) and health & social which is a double block subject.
Unless theres a specific career in mind, I'll also let my son choose his own subjects - after all at that age theyre becoming sensible and old enough to make these decisions themselves.XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX:wave:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX0 -
Both of them were in the top set which limited their options as only certain subjects are in each block. My eldest went for drama, art textiles, french and extra ICT. The french and drama she chose because she enjoyed them and the textiles because she wants to be a costume designer. Art based subjects like textiles may sound like an easy option - but it actually took up a LOT of her time.
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The drama will really help with costume design. That's fab.
My cousin "wasn't allowed" to choose her GCSE or A level subjects. She's very clever (particularly in art) but her parents wanted her to be academically brilliant. Stripping all art related subjects have them complete control, their daughter a miserable time at school and limited options for uni (wanted to do Art History but no art A level scuppered that. She is doing English instead - admittedly at a Russell Group uni).Trying to be a man is a waste of a woman0 -
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