Lees Brook Community School 2019-2021 Year 9 Options Evening

Online system All pupils able to log on with school email Initial choices made during citizenship All choices to be reviewed by 15th Feb Final choices confirmed by letter home after half term

Government Reform Since Sept 2015 the Government have introduced a series of educational reforms. These include: - a new grading system at GCSE - new syllabuses - new performance measures that focus on academic ability.

New Grading System All GCSE courses starting in September 2019 will be graded on a scale from 9 - 1 ‘Standard Pass’ level New ‘Strong Pass’ level All pupils are expected to reach a ‘standard’ pass level in English or Maths through resits at college if necessary.

New Level 2 Qualifications GCSE Have much more content to learn Either have a 100% exam at the end of the course or significant reduction in controlled assessment Vocational courses Recognised as equivalent to GCSE by colleges and Sixth Forms Usually contain a single examined component which must be passed Majority of assessment through assignments and controlled tasks New Performance Measures Greater emphasis on the number of academic subjects studied (EBacc suite) Expectation is that the majority of students study English, Maths, Science, a Foreign language and either History or Geography.

Recommended Pathways and Courses Two pathways assigned based on current academic progress Pathway 1 – Pupils who have a target to achieve at least 5 or above in French or German and also in Geography or History who are currently On Target (O) or Above (A) Pathway 2 – Pupils who have a target below 5 in Languages and/or Humanities or who are Below (B) or Significantly Below (SB) if their target is above this. Courses recommended ‘R’: - Pupils currently on or above target Pupils’ best subjects in terms of achievement Subject that has a tradition of high achievement

Qualifications – after Year 11 Level 3 ACADEMIC A Levels 2 year course final exams at end of Year 2 AS Levels 1 year course no longer contribute to the A level APPLIED VOCATIONAL Qualifications providing a broad study of a vocational area Available in different sizes Coursework and examined units Recognised by Universities Examples include BTECs, Cambridge Technical awards TECHNICAL LEVELS 2 year course Specialise in a technical occupation Qualifications for recognised occupations e.g. engineering, IT, professional cookery Contributes to the Technical Baccalaureate For the purpose of this presentation the focus will be on a progression from GCSE. Recent government changes have re categorised qualifications that can be studied at Post 16 (Yrs. 12 – 14), previously classed as Academic and Vocational. Need to stress that if the GCSE 4 grade is not achieved in E & M, they will have to re-take. Applied general qualifications, they are recognised by universities but entry requirements for courses need to be considered as they may want an applied general qualification to be accompanied by Academic qualifications. Different sizes will be equivalent to AS level, 1 A Level, 2 A Levels and 3 A Levels Feeling is that these qualifications will still be preferred to a vocational provision in any discussions with students and parents. Technical Baccalaureate consists of the Technical level qualification, level 3 maths, extended project qualification. If GCSE 4 and above is not achieved in English & maths, students will continue to study until a grade 4 is gained.

Further Education College NEXT STEP OPTIONS Further Education College School Sixth Form Apprenticeship More is known by students, staff and parents about the FE and School Sixth Form route and they are likely to have their own experiences to illustrate, however the changes to the Apprenticeship pathway is one where greater attention is needed as it has certainly changed from what it was historically, e.g. trade related. Employment

Further Education College Big organisations, could be split across different campuses Wide range of subject areas Mix of Academic and Vocational qualifications, emphasis on Technical Levels Range of levels available from pre level 1 up to level 5 Specialist provision available in certain areas, for example Special Educational Needs, English as an additional language FE colleges are generally quite big. Some are split over different campuses. Students likely to be based in one curriculum area Not a school environment, students are given more independent learning time. Students will be encouraged to undertake work experience to supplement their course. There will be support available for students not just for educational purpose but also pastoral, health and well being and career planning, the difference with school is that this is likely to be up to the student to actively participate.

School Sixth Form Smaller than FE colleges Different curriculum offers depending on the school – some traditional with A level only and others offer a mix of A level and vocational Progression internally more likely but open to external students School delivery model May have to wear a Sixth form uniform Structured full timetable Littleover, Allestree, Chellaston predominantly A levels; Noel Baker, St. Benedicts, Derby Moor, Landau mix of A levels and vocational qualifications. Merrill and Bemrose mainly vocational with Lees Brook offering niche provision targetting SEN. All schools open to external students. Although Yr. 12 & 13 may offer a little more timetable freedom (free periods), the likelihood is that it will be a more structured day and will include tutor time, PHSE programmes. Students as part of their programme of study will be expected to undertake some form of work experience, shadowing, placement and schools are likely to offer support in arranging this – but they will not find the placements for the students. For some students at the end of Year 11 they have just had enough of school and want to learn in a less school like environment. For some students, they feel uncertain about leaving the comforts of what they know and it may take some support to actually overcome this as their next step may be better placed in a college or on an apprenticeship.

Apprenticeships An apprenticeship is a job with a skills development programme designed by employers Available to anyone over the age of 16yrs Need a grade 4 or above in English and maths for most apprenticeships Offered in 170 industries and cover 1,500 job roles Apprentices are employees and are paid a wage Apprenticeships should not be linked just to ‘trades’ like plumbing, engineering and joinery; they are becoming more widely available in a range of career areas. Need to check with apprenticeship provider on the exact entry requirements, especially for intermediate level, some may not request a grade C in English or maths, but this will then form part of the apprenticeship programme. The apprenticeship wage is below the National Minimum wage if the apprentices are under 19yrs and /or in their first year as an apprentice; the apprenticeship wage is currently £3.30 an hour, National minimum wage for under 18’s is £3.87, 18 – 20 is £5.30. The wage does appear low, however if they were at college or school they would not be earning anything. Some employers do however top the apprenticeship wage up to the national minimum wage for the age group.

How do I choose my options? https://www.sims-options.co.uk/

Managing your choices Four choices in total - each subject will have 5 hours of dedicated lesson time per fortnight Pathway 1 – At least 1 Humanities subject and a language Pathway 2 – At least 1 subject from Ebacc list

Subject Choices Ebacc Subjects French German Geography History Computer Science Triple Science Other Choices Art Dance Drama Music D&T: Resistant Materials D&T: Textiles Graphics Engineering Food Construction Hair and Beauty Business PE/Sport ICT Film Studies Religious Studies

Pathway 1 One humanities subject One reserve choice One language Two free choices One language

Pathway 2 One reserve choice Three other choices One Ebacc subject

Other selections Rolls Royce Young Apprenticeship – Indicate using ‘RR’ in the comments section. Candidates will be formally prepared and interviewed by Rolls Royce RR Rolls Royce Young Apprentice Open Evening – March 4th If you wish to attend, you will need to register your interest. Please see vocational subject area for further details

Young Apprenticeships Not included in the total number of option choices – if you are interested, please indicate this in the comments section in addition to your 4 other choices. Young Apprentices will be expected to continue with all other option choices during their KS4 studies. This may mean catching up on missed work during arranged study support opportunities. For further information regarding the Rolls Royce engineering apprenticeship please see Mrs Needham and the vocational subject area staff.

What did last year’s students tell us? They found the following very helpful: 20

What did last year’s students tell us? Speak to your subject teachers about courses offered. Think carefully about what you want to do as a career. Think about college and the courses you might want to study. Choose courses that you enjoy and will work hard at. 21

What did last year’s students tell us? Make sure you choose your OWN options - choosing an option just because your friends are taking them doesn't help at all. It’s not guaranteed that you’ll be in the same class as your friends anyway. Choose subjects that you think you will succeed in and not just the subjects that you think you like the most. 22

Appointments can be made with Miss Jones or Mr Smith to discuss options prior to final deadline: Friday 15th February 2019 Times or dates for discussion can be arranged via telephone or email at: ssmith1@leesbrook.co.uk vjones@leesbrook.co.uk https://www.sims-options.co.uk/