Personalisation and Choice in S3 Dalkeith High School 7th February 2018

The purpose of S3 S3 is the culmination of the Broad General Education that all our young people people experience through Curriculum for Excellence By the end of S3, all young people produce a profile in which evidence is gathered of their skills, interests and achievements to date It’s the stage in their learning journey at which they begin to make decisions about the areas and subjects they’d like to focus on

Learning, teaching and assessment in S3 Young people will be covering the Experiences and Outcomes within Curriculum for Excellence at the Level which best meets their needs The focus is on building the skills and capacities they will need to make a successful transition into their Senior Phase programme Learners’ experiences continue to be varied across a rich variety of subjects Teachers employ a range of different assessment methods to support young people in demonstrating the progress they are making Level 3 or 4- roughly speaking, those doing Level 3 in S3 are likely to progress to N4, those doing Level 4 are likely to progress to N5

What do we mean by personalisation and choice? Every young person has an entitlement to access all of the CfE curricular areas Schools have a statutory requirement to deliver experiences and outcomes that promote literacy, numeracy, and health and wellbeing across these curricular areas Learners in S1 and S2 have experienced many different subject specialisms within curricular areas. They can now use this knowledge to help them make decisions about where their interests and abilities are best demonstrated

How does this link with qualifications? Learners in the Senior Phase (S4-6) undertake qualifications which are certificated by SQA or other awarding bodies The subjects young people choose to focus on in S3 are likely to be linked to these. However, they might also: Move into a subject that’s similar but a better fit e.g. from Biology to Environmental Science Leave a subject in S4 but pick it up in S5/6 Start something completely different! S3 is not about subject choice for examinations- it’s about young people doing more of what they enjoy and what they’re good at

Curricular areas Expressive Arts Languages and Literacy Health and Wellbeing Mathematics and Numeracy Religious and Moral Education Sciences Social Studies Technologies

The S3 Learning Pathways Option Sheet

Core subjects In keeping with entitlements for all, all S3 pupils will continue their studies in: English and a Modern Language (Literacy) Maths (Numeracy) PSE, PE and Home Economics (Health and Wellbeing) RME

Curricular columns In columns 1,6,7 and 8 young people make two choices by ticking the relevant boxes In recognition of the varying interests of our young people, we offer some flexibility in terms of the subjects we’ve put into each curricular column e.g. Expressive Arts We must ensure that there is breadth in the education of young people in the BGE Enrichment Opportunities (more on these in a moment) timetabled at the same time as the subjects in each column appear here for information The ‘Plus’ column supports a variety of specialist interests e.g. taking a second modern language, or doing more PE than the core provision provides Talk through Expressive Arts example- Design and Manufacture (design briefs, creativity) Explain why you can’t take 3 Sciences and what can happen later

Support with making choices Remember: learners are signing up for the subjects they are going to focus on in S3, not for what they are going to do with the rest of their lives The S3 Learning Pathways booklet provides clear summaries of each course Our Parents’/Carers’ Evenings provide a chance to have face to face conversation with subjects specialists, and we welcome young people there too There will also be dedicated time in PSE to support everyone in making decisions and to make sure processes are clear Teachers generally love nothing more than talking about their subject- so ask them about it! Booklet doesn’t tell you everything- not possible.

Enrichment Opportunities This term refers to a variety of courses which are delivered by teachers in school and through partnership working These are included in our curriculum in recognition of the fact that many learners thrive in environments beyond the traditional classroom Young people can note their interests in any of these courses through discussion with their Guidance teacher, who supports them through the coursing process Places on these courses are limited and further opportunities with similar aims to these are offered throughout the Senior Phase Give examples e.g. ex services personnel with Skillforce, college tutors for hairdressing

Some things to encourage your young person to remember This a choice for now. It’s not a choice for ever. Not many people end up doing what they thought they would do when they were 13 Think about why you are choosing to continue with a subject- or not. Are you making your choice for the right reasons? Is it your choice? Or your friend’s choice? Is it because of the teacher? For courses to run, they must be viable. Always give thought to what your ‘Plan B’ might be. You don’t need to do this on your own- but the final decision has to be yours I’m going to write my book some day though

Next steps Take a look at the Option Sheet and think about what the top priorities are Read the descriptions of the courses in the S3 Learning Pathways booklet and speak to teachers directly where possible Look carefully at the S2 Tracking Report coming out this week Use the time in PSE to talk through thoughts Remember, you’re getting two periods of each choice- developing depth. So you can’t fit everything in.