Welcome to Options evening 2016

Time to hear from subject staff Format of the evening Short presentation Time to hear from subject staff

Parent(s)/Carer(s) and teachers The right choice Important decision Fully informed Time Talk Parent(s)/Carer(s) and teachers Important decision Choosing your option subjects is an important decision as these are subjects you will be studying for the next 3 years Fully informed In order to make a good decision, you need to be fully aware of all the facts before you make your choices. We have tried to give you as much information as possible to help make your choices. PSHCE lessons Options booklet Tonight Time But you must dedicate some time and thought to it. Talk to other people – not just your friends. The people you really need to speak to are your parent(s) or carer(s) and your teachers. The decisions you make must be right for you, not your friends.

New curriculum in every subject Recent changes New curriculum in every subject Different timelines – English and maths first New GCSE grades 1 – 9 In line with other countries Harder content You may have read in the media that education is experiencing some major changes at the moment. The national curriculum for all subjects is changing – however this is happening at different times for each subject. English and maths will experience the changes first with the new exams starting in summer 2017. Other subjects have yet to have their new courses agreed and published. So, some of the information you have in your booklets may change slightly but we can only give you the information that we know. It won’t affect your decision making though as courses won’t be totally different. They will have harder content as they are being brought in line with other countries across the world.

Ebacc (English Baccalaureate) English Maths Science History or Geography Language The government want to see an increasing number of students taking the following suite of subjects. It is not a separate qualification but shows the range of core subjects that have been studied. Especially important for those who may study at university or want to take a higher level apprenticeship

You will study 3 or 4 of these. The Options process Rank your top 6. You will study 3 or 4 of these. Tick one After this evening you need to spend some time thinking and discussing your choices and complete the options form. Although you are putting down your top 6 choices, you will only be allocated 4 options. For those of you following the Ebacc – you will have Spanish and 3 further choices. For other students, you will be allocated up to 4 options. Some students may be given 3 but that will be discussed with relevant individuals. We aim to give as many people their highest preferences but as you can imagine, it is a complicated process and there may be some students who have to make some difficult decisions as we always have to make some compromises. Students will be informed after Easter what their final options are and we will speak to any individual who may not get the choices they wanted.

Your choices, not your friends! Notes to remember! Your choices will not make or break your future career – it’s your grades that count! Your choices, not your friends! Choose subjects you enjoy and are good at Visit subjects you are undecided about Opportunity to visit 6 subjects. You can leave before that though if you’ve seen the ones you want to! Any other questions, please email the relevant subject staff via the office.