Lees Brook Community School 2020 2022 Year 9

Lees Brook Community School 2020 -2022 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 14 th 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 are 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.

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 (Government target is 75% currently)

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 If GCSE 4 and above is not achieved in English & maths, students will continue to study until a grade 4 is gained.

NEXT STEP OPTIONS Further Education College School Sixth Form Apprenticeship 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

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

Apprenticeships • An apprenticeship is a job with a skills development programme designed by employers • Available to anyone over the age of 16 yrs • 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

How do I finalise 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 Other Choices French German Geography History Computer Science Triple Science Art: Fine Art* Art: Textiles* Dance Drama Music D&T: Resistant Materials Graphics Engineering Food Construction Hair and Beauty PE/Sport ICT Film Studies Religious Studies * Can’t be taken as a combination

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

Pathway 2 Three other choices One Ebacc subject One reserve choice

Subject specific information Some subjects have additional requirements and costs associated with the course. Construction: PPE is required and will need to be purchased Food: Ingredients will be required on a regular basis Hair and Beauty: Equipment and uniform will be required. Music: Learners are expected to participate in extracurricular instrumental lessons in addition to normal class work. Please be aware of the extra requirements for these courses and if there any issues with this, please discuss with subject staff prior to the final options deadline.

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 9 thth If you wish to apply, you will need to register your interest and attend this event. Please see vocational subject area for further details of how to register.

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 KS 4 studies. This will mean catching up on missed work during arranged after school study support opportunities. For further information regarding the Rolls Royce engineering apprenticeship please see Mrs Abu-Aita and the vocational subject area staff.

Option Choices Whilst we attempt to give everyone their 4 choices, there are some circumstances that may prevent this and therefore require us to use the reserve choice where necessary. This could be down to low uptake of a particular subject that doesn’t make it viable to deliver. Some qualifications have limited spaces due to resources, facilities and staffing and therefore have to be capped at a certain number. If learners have not studied a particular subject during Year 9 or have not demonstrated the behaviour and attitude that would be expected, they may not be given the opportunity to select this for their Key Stage 4 studies without prior discussion with SLT and class teachers.

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

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.

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.

Appointments can be made with Miss Jones or Mr Smith to discuss options prior to final deadline: Friday th 14 February 2020 Times or dates for discussion can be arranged via telephone or email at: ssmith 1@leesbrook. co. uk vjones@leesbrook. co. uk https: //www. sims-options. co. uk/