Welcome to: Year 10 Options

Year 10 Options Rationale:- “ To provide our students with a portfolio of subjects that will help them achieve worthwhile qualifications enabling them to access further / higher education and / or employment.” Introduce staff involved and welcome

Options Process Wednesday 22 February: Parents Information Session and Subject specific information in the Hall 1.15pm – 3.15pm Wednesday 1 March: Parental meeting with a senior member of staff to finalise choices. Appointment times are allocated by letter. Welcome and thank you for attending this important event. Your child’s option choices are the next important step in their education and we welcome your support. The aim of today, is to inform you of the subject choices available to your child and to explain how the staff in the college will assist you in the decision making process. Following this information session we would invite you to stay to discuss your child’s possible option choices with subject teachers. This will give you the opportunity to ask any questions regarding the outline, style of the course and whether it would be a suitable choice for your child. Mr Houston, Mrs Bonar and Mrs Allen will also be available should you have any additional queries. You may also find it useful to talk to Mr Raymond Nicholl from the Careers Service who will be available to offer further careers advice and guidance. You will then have until 1 March to discuss subject choices with your child prior to a final appointment with a senior member of staff. You will have received a letter in your pack with details of the time of this appointment. During this meeting you will discuss your child’s attendance, progress to date academically and pastorally, benchmarking data, tracking assessment results, and how we can best meet their needs and aptitudes before reaching final choices for next year.

Decision making What you should consider: What is your child interested in? What is your child good at? How does your child like to learn? Keep an open mind Does your child have a particular career in mind? Is more information needed? What is your child interested in? consider their strengths, interests, subjects they enjoy as the challenges get more difficult?) What is your child good at? consider strengths and weaknesses, subjects that they are good at, subjects that they have achieved well in over the last 3 years, interests outside school) How does your child like to learn? (practical/creative based lessons, classroom based) Keep an open mind – new subjects are on offer make sure that they know what these involve – don’t be influenced by friends – make your own choice. Does your child have a particular career in mind at post 16? – if not pick a broad range of subjects, take teacher advice on board Is more information needed – careers teacher, Year leader, subject teachers, senior teachers – all of whom will be available this afternoon

Courses Offered GCSE – final exam and controlled assessment based on 2 years’ work. BTEC – one compulsory exam unit to be completed in Year 12 and portfolio work continually assessed throughout the course. This is equivalent to one GCSE (A*-C). Occupational Studies – 100% coursework There are 3 styles of GCSE courses on offer to pupils: The traditional GCSE course follows a linear system were pupils are assessed through controlled assessment and external exam papers at the end of the 2 year course. GCSEs are traditionally reported as a grade from A*-G. English Board exams will be graded under the new system of 9-1 with 9 being equivalent to an A*. Some subjects have 2 tiers of entry (foundation and higher) speak to subject teachers today about how this is agreed in each department. Many of the CCEA GCSE specifications are under review currently so the assessment structure may be subject to change between now and first teaching in September 2017. BTEC courses are based on one exam unit (externally assessed) with the remainder of the course involving continuous assessment through portfolio work. Pupils will achieve a Pass, Merit or Distinction on completion. This will be equivalent to one GCSE grade. Occupational Studies are vocational courses based on 100% coursework and skills development. There is a wide variety of each style of course on offer as you can see from your option booklet and information sheets available

Impact of Attendance What is good attendance? 80%, 90%, 95%? If you have a 90% attendance record, it means that you are absent from lessons for the equivalent of one day every 2 week cycle or four whole weeks of lessons in the school year. Do you think 90% attendance is good?

Impact of Attendance In the UK, on average, 1 in 5 pupils miss 19 days a year. These pupils will drop at least ONE GCSE GRADE It is important to note that Attendance has a major impact on exam success, as already mentioned pupils may be sitting GCSEs that are predominately coursework based and will have deadlines throughout the year. Attendance is key to managing these deadlines and understanding the tasks set. If a pupil is genuinely unable to attend school it is important to contact staff and ensure that missed work is copied up and completed on time – the deadlines set are often required by the exam boards and are out of our control once agreed.

Options Groups Groupings based on MidYIS; Teacher Assessment and School Tracking results Groups: U; I; C Matching the needs and abilities of our students Study habits, self esteem and worth So, how do we begin this process? You will have received an options booklet this afternoon – this booklet will have important information at the beginning which you should read carefully before making any decisions about subject choices. The main section of the booklet will include information on each course, its content and teaching methods, it will also include information about the structure of the course, such as examinations and controlled assessment weightings. You will also have an option sheet which I will explain shortly. Some pupils who have shown particular strengths in areas such as Science, English and Mathematics may have been identified to study Double Award Science, English Literature and Further Mathematics. This information will be noted on the front of your options booklet. This booklet has been personalised for your child based on their MidYIS scores (these are standardised baseline scores which give us an idea of suitable pathways and predicted grades at GCSE in a range of subjects), we will also look at your child’s report based on regular teacher assessment through our tracking system and pupil attainment based on classwork, homework and general work ethic. Recommendations are also based on the skills and aptitudes of your child, used to form the groups U I and C (Ulidia Integrated College). These groups are designed to match the needs of your child and provide pathways for success and progression. It is about maximising the potential of your child to achieve success at GCSE level, to ensure that they are educated in an environment that allows them to thrive and that their self esteem and confidence is allowed to develop and flourish. Please refer to your option sheet Those subjects marked with a tick are compulsory. Your child should then choose one option from each option block, A, B, C and D The compulsory exam subjects include GCSE English, GCSE Maths, GCSE Single Science or Horticulture and GCSE ICT …………………Group U will take English Literature as a compulsory GCSE and Groups I and C will take one of the following as a compulsory subject – GCSE Short Course RE, Occupational studies in Joinery and Hand Fitting or Occupational studies in Office procedures and Technology Non-exam compulsory subjects will also be timetabled for RE, PE, LLW, Careers and Form Time. Pupils are then to pick one subject from each option block. In the event of a course being over subscribed please see the booklet as to how class lists will be identified. You should be aware that pupils are ranked based on MidYIS and internal school assessment tracking from the last 3 years. You should also be aware that if a course does not have enough numbers then we will be unable to run that particular subject. As parents we would like you to support your child in encouraging good study habits over the coming months and discuss the importance of your child working to the best of their ability in all subject areas (even those they are not planning to study at GCSE). This will ease the transition from KS3 to KS4 in both the quantity and quality of work expected at GCSE level.

Finally… Recommendations Wednesday 22 February - 1.15 – 3.15pm Written on the front of your booklet Wednesday 22 February - 1.15 – 3.15pm meet with Subject Teachers in the Hall Wednesday 1 March– what happens? Individual appointments with a senior teacher Data predictions, Reports, Teacher recommendations Select a Year 11 curriculum to meet the personal needs of your child which will lead to KS4 success.