GCSE options

[HowardH]

Might I respectfully request that all speculation ceases until you have received the appropriate information. This change has come about following long consultations. I am certain that the statement from the Director of Studies, which will have been agreed by the Head Master, will make all clear.

PS There's a kestrel on my bird feeder - sorry that must be an April Fools joke....

but we have received many visits in the past two weeks from a Greater Spotted Woodpecker!

[KenHo]

Thanks for the quick reply. This sounds sensible, particularly the bit about IT. I have a very low opinion of the IT GCSE, so having the ability to prove you are computer literate without "wasting" an option seems a very good idea to me. The only thing I would also like to see, assuming it doesn't already happen, is the ability to take music early and so get a music GCSE without using an option up. My daughter has this option at her school provided that have some minimum grade in an instrument and do the theory in their own time before the start of the course. What happens is that all the children taking this route get really good grades without having to miss something such as a second language in order to take music later.

[huggermugger]

To be honest, I'm fairly happy with this. I've always felt that 12 GCSEs is far too many for all sorts of reasons. I'm not sure what they prove, or indeed are trying to prove. To me, it all smacks of jumping through hoops just for the sake of it. I would rather they did fewer subjects in greater depth. My daughter (state educated) did ludicrous things like studying two chapters of "To Kill A Mocking Bird" and two acts of a Shakespeare play (I forget which, as I'm sure she has) so that they could rattle through an overcrowded curriculum. As the letter we had states " British schoolchildren are the most tested, examined and assessed cohort of pupils anywhere in the world". One of the reasons I chose CH for my DS was that they don't rigidly follow the National Curriculum. they don't do the dreaded (and now largely discredited) SATS and they are largely free of the knee jerk overreactions of the Dept for Education.

As for not being consulted - I have never once been consulted about major decisions in my children's schools. I'm sorry, but this is not education by consultation. You buy into the ethos and you're either happy with it overall and trust the school to deliver it or you don't, in which case you find another school. Overall, I am happy. It's not perfect but it knocks all other available options into a cocked hat.

On a slightly lighter note, I am rather relieved we don't have that many options to choose from. I can with a fairly clear conscience say "Choose whichever you think you'll enjoy most". My daughter (bright and able) had far too many choices and wanted to do needlework, child care, cookery and RE or some such combination.

[ailurophile]

Huggermugger, you’ve made some very good points here! I accept that we can’t have ‘education by consultation’ (although it’s worth noting that every state school has parent representatives on its governing body). However, as you also say, when choosing a school for your child you buy into an ethos (in terms of fee-paying schools, literally!) and trust the school to deliver on its promises - and the main reason we chose CH for our children was its reputation as an academic school.

We've been very happy with our choice to date, and I’m sure that the new GCSE curriculum is being introduced with the best interests of the pupils at heart; but I still can’t help feeling slightly uneasy that the academic goalposts have been shifted. Of course, it’s only two years since we went through this process with our older child at which point an equally cogent case was made for studying as wide a range of subjects as possible! (I particularly recall that the TP teacher was very persuasive as to the importance of taking this compulsory subject, and assured us that every CH pupil was easily capable of taking the GCSE in their stride and getting a good grade; what's changed?).

I recognise that the changes now being introduced represent the culmination of what has been a long consultative process by the school, but as parents we've had just two weeks' notice before we're meant to hand our child's choice forms in and it's come as something of a bolt from the blue! My DS had already been giving a great deal of thought to which subjects he might choose, and tells me that he’s not alone among his peers in being disappointed that he will now have to give up a further subject. He’s keen on languages and his three ‘choices’ were going to be Latin, German and Art; now he must decide whether to concentrate on languages or sacrifice one of these in order to study Art, which he loves but can see might be less useful to him in the long run. Personally I think it a shame that he’s having to make these tough choices at such an early stage. If a bright child wants to study 'needlework, childcare, cookery and RS', is capable of doing so and is happy to put in the effort required, why shouldn’t they be given the opportunity to go for it? After all, as we are reminded in the GCSE curriculum document sent to us by the school, it is still an "increasingly competitive and unpredictable world".

[Mrs C.]

I particularly recall that the TP teacher was very persuasive as to the importance of taking this compulsory subject, and assured us that every CH pupil was easily capable of taking the GCSE in their stride and getting a good grade; what's changed?.

the TP teacher??

[Barnes Mum]

Theology and Philosophy. The new name for RE!

[huggermugger]

I particularly recall that the TP teacher was very persuasive as to the importance of taking this compulsory subject, and assured us that every CH pupil was easily capable of taking the GCSE in their stride and getting a good grade; what's changed?.

the TP teacher??

My DS rather wearily commented that every teacher is convinced that their own particular subject is the one to choose and has "pitched" accordingly... I suppose we should be grateful that they're all so enthusiastic! (the teachers,that is...)

[huggermugger]

Two points relating to your post, ailurophile (I wish I knew what that meant):

Firstly, I think you'll find that the forms have to be in by 10th May at the latest, so we do have a while to think/consult, including with teachers at the parents evening

Secondly, my DD chose all those options because she thought they would be the easy ones, not because she had any deep seated desire to do them. I'm all for a child following his/her heart but she & I both knew that's not what she was doing!

[lonelymom]

ailurophile (I wish I knew what that meant):

I was wondering that too, so I just googled it. It's someone who loves cats!

[huggermugger]

Well done that woman - I was beginning to wonder if it was a love of garlic...

[englishangel]

Two points relating to your post, ailurophile (I wish I knew what that meant):

Firstly, I think you'll find that the forms have to be in by 10th May at the latest, so we do have a while to think/consult, including with teachers at the parents evening

Secondly, my DD chose all those options because she thought they would be the easy ones, not because she had any deep seated desire to do them. I'm all for a child following his/her heart but she & I both knew that's not what she was doing!

Perhaps DD ought to think again. She is going to get bored doing 'easy' options, whereas if she has a deep-seated desire she will work as hard as she can.

It always makes me laugh when they call media studies and drama and stuff 'easy' options, as I can't think of anything worse, give me maths any day.

[Mid A 15]

Two points relating to your post, ailurophile (I wish I knew what that meant):

Firstly, I think you'll find that the forms have to be in by 10th May at the latest, so we do have a while to think/consult, including with teachers at the parents evening

Secondly, my DD chose all those options because she thought they would be the easy ones, not because she had any deep seated desire to do them. I'm all for a child following his/her heart but she & I both knew that's not what she was doing!

Perhaps DD ought to think again. She is going to get bored doing 'easy' options, whereas if she has a deep-seated desire she will work as hard as she can.

It always makes me laugh when they call media studies and drama and stuff 'easy' options, as I can't think of anything worse, give me maths any day.

Agreed.

We all have different aptitudes and talents and something that is "easy" for one is difficult for another and vice versa.

For example on my first attempt at posting this I wrote dificult rather than difficult and had to edit the original. Anything requiring dexterity, like typing, is very difficult for me yet my wife and daughters rattle away with scarce a mistake.

to more pressing matters Which 3 legged donkey does Mr Englishangel think I should place my Charlton shirt on this year?

[ailurophile]

To Huggermugger and Lonelymom:

As it happens, I'm partial to cats and garlic. Of course, I reveal this at the risk of blowing my secret identity - now you can look out at parents evening for a frazzled-looking mother with cat hair on her skirt, reeking of garlic...

[lonelymom]

You've just described me!!! It'll be like looking in a mirror. And we're expecting the patter of little feline paws any day now so I'll be even more furry by parents evening!


[Edited 5/4/09 to say we have now got three little furries (got to start saving hard now to pay for the big op for mom!) so at parents evening will be skint, frazzled, covered in fur and reeking of garlic. Sounds ever-so attractive eh? Oh, and I need three girls names for a black and white furry and two calico furries ]

[blondie95]

I think its a very sensible idea to reduce the number of GCSE's taken, as i said previously the majority of other schools only do 8-10 subjects. It absolutly should be quality not quantity, given that after gcse's you spend you alevels and then degree focusing on a much narrower range of subjects.