Welcome to the Year 9 Options process
This year, options evening will take place on Tuesday 7th March between 17:00 and 19:00. The evening will be divided into two parts. Firstly, there will be an opportunity to attend a keynote presentation which will set out the options process in more detail and talk in more general terms about the curriculum in years 10 and 11. Secondly, there will be the opportunity to visit subject areas and talk with our teaching staff about each qualification in greater detail.
The curriculum in years 10 and 11 is built up from core and optional subjects. The core curriculum is made up of English (Language and Literature), Maths, Science, PE and Personal Development.
The optional curriculum offers a wide range of both GCSE and vocational qualifications that allows us to offer a challenging and rewarding curriculum for every student in school irrespective of their needs and aspirations. However, in order to ensure that all of our students qualify for the Progress 8 measure (P8) we insist that they choose either a humanity (History or Geography), language or computing. In addition, every student has a free choice of two additional options.
|
Core Curriculum |
Optional Curriculum |
||||||
|
Subject |
Hours per fortnight |
Option 1 (Choose one from) |
Hours per fortnight |
Option 2 |
Hours per fortnight |
Option 3 |
Hours per fortnight |
|
English |
9 |
Geography |
6 |
Free Choice |
6 |
Free Choice |
6 |
|
Maths |
8 |
History |
6 |
||||
|
Science |
10 |
French |
6 |
||||
|
PE |
3 |
German |
6 |
||||
|
PD |
2 |
Spanish |
6 |
||||
|
|
|
Computer Science |
6 |
||||
Ensuring that all students in year 9 make informed choices about their options is very important. Please take the time to look through this booklet with them before options evening so that you can draw up a list of priority subjects you wish to visit. Please use the evening to find out the details of each qualification you are interested in. Some important questions you might want to consider asking are:
- How is the course structured? Which modules and topics will I cover?
- How is this qualification assessed? How many exams are there? Are there any non-examined assessments (coursework)?
- Is there the opportunity to study this subject in the Sixth Form?
Once the options evening has taken place, your child will receive an electronic options form via their school email account. In addition, there will also be an opportunity for all of you to book a face to face appointment with a member of the senior team if you require further advice and guidance.
Please do not hesitate to contact me on options@hea.ac.uk if you have any questions or queries.
I very much look forward to seeing you on 7th March.
Best wishes,
Richard Vaughan