Pas de Quatre Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Chatting to my Yr 9 pupils about their GCSE options last night, I asked if any were going to do Dance. To my surprise they told me that it is not an option anymore in most schools in this area, but that there is a Dance strand within the PE GCSE. The schools that no longer offer GCSE dance of course no longer offer A level dance either. Have other people encountered this? Another thing that really horrified me is that one of the Girls Grammar schools is now asking Yr 8 pupils to choose their GCSE options! Surely this is far too young. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pups_mum Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 My DD's academic school is offering Dance GCSE for the first time this coming year,having just had a new drama and dance studio built. Too late for my DD as she is in 6th form now, but good for the younger pupils. I was quite surprised to be honest as its a school with a strong focus on traditional academic subjects and team sports with little previous focus on the performing arts. But they've spent a great deal of money on the new centre so they must be planning to develop that side of things. No invite for DD to participate in the grand opening ceremony mind you,but no surprises there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 My dd's school does not offer GCSE Dance, and to take A'Level Dance students have to travel to another school nearby. Fortunately she took it as a Twilight Subject at another school, starting in Year 7 and taking the exam in Year 9. It worked well as she had got the GCSE done and dusted before starting the other 13 in Year 10. With regard to choosing your options in Year 8, that is too young, IMHO. The boys' school which is (sort of) twinned with my dd's girls' school makes their students choose in Year 8 and the boys effectively get an extra year studying GCSEs, much to the disapproval of the girls! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxi4ballet Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 I do wish they'd stop lumping dance in with PE... It is like putting singing lessons under the English department! Several schools round here offer BTEC in dance instead of GCSE. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 A lot of schools do not offer GCSE dance or have it only as an optional extra curricular subject - done after school. As for the year 8 students choosing options already - that is happening already at several schools I know of. Parents were told that this is to allow a 3 year run at the GCSEs now that it is the new exam systems coming in and of course all exams will be at the end. Current year 10 students are the last year to take the GCSEs as they stand at the moment - though of course all exams are already at the end of the 2 year course. This early choice of GCSEs is not happening in my area where it would be nigh on impossible as they start High School in year 9 but i know year 9s in other areas who are already studying their GCSEs, having done options last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Anna C Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 You see I thought all subjects were now Linear for current Year 11s, yet dd has done a few exams, some last year, which count towards the GCSE - several Science ISAs (?), some music performances, and an English Controlled Assessment, making me think that some subjects are still partly Modular? It's all extremely confusing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 My school offers neither GCSE or A level dance:( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
2dancersmum Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 The change spanner for the all linear is not in the controlled assessments and ongoing assessments/performances etc (substitute the word coursework and the word paractical for them - as they took over from coursework quite a few years ago now and with good reason - coursework could be taken home, marked, redone and redone until the required grade was achieved before being submitted to the exam board). The change is with the actual exam papers and retaking - you used to be ableto take them at any point during the 2 year course and retake within the course. My son took GCSE English language in the November and Geography and a Maths paper in the January. Some people who got grades below those they wanted would then retake in the January and in the Summer - in effect getting 3 attempts at passing the GCSE. We know of one student the year above him who had a D for the English coursework and it was redone (and completed by an uncle) until the student got A. The same student then took English in November, January and May to keep improving their grade. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
aballetlife Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 (edited) you can take GCSEs dance at my old school and one other in the area as a regur subject. at another school it was a twilight option run by the teacher from my school. although I know dance can also be done within gcse PE ,if you didn't want to take the whole dance subject, as one of your chosen sports. also at my school, we had to take all exams in summer. in previous years there had been November and January entries for some subjects, not sure which ones, def maths, but for my year (would now be year 12) all exams were in summer so you couldn't resit. although our whole year was made to take english language in November as the exam board was taking out the speaking and listening aspect of the course so the work would only count for the November exam. it could then be resat in summer if you didn't get your target grade but with a higher percentage of the exam counting to the final grade. I think year 8 is too young to pick GCSEs as you pick them quite early on to give schools time for the time tabling etc. so this means pupils would only really have a year and a half of high school education before they pick what they want to study for the next three years! I know the GCSE and grading system is supposed to change though so if it's part of the new national course I guess we can't really do much! Edited March 7, 2015 by aballetlife Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nutcracker-x Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Quite a few of the schools in the area I live in offer GCSE dance including the one I go to. Its quite a nice change to the classes I do at my local dance school however there are times when it is quite infuriating when you have to repeat the same simple step over and over again as someone who doesn't do dance outside of school doesn't get it. It is definitely an option I would recommend to someone deciding on their GCSE'S. in regards to choosing options in yr 8, the local girls school choose in yr 8 as do the local boys school. Must be something to do with single sex schools Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dancemum67 Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 My DD's school don't offer dance at either GCSE or A level, much to her disappointment. However, she is doing Performing Arts GCSE which she absolutely adores (and is currently on track for an A* next year, fingers crossed!). Unfortunately the 6th form don't do Performing Arts A level, only theatre studies which she isn't very keen on doing. Luckily we've got two of the highest performing sixth form colleges in the country not far away and both seem to have really strong offerings in dance and performance arts alongside the more traditional subjects. I think we'll be visiting a fair few places for DD's post 16 studies Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sarahw Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Re taking GCSE options in Y8 it is happening at more than 1 school (both mixed) around here. I was horrified that a friend's intelligent child has been allowed to totally drop a foreign language so they'll do no language after end Y8. Can't be right. I think this is another example of our country's obsession with teaching for exams and not to give a good all round education. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwaybackSapphire Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 DD chose dance, but there needed to be 15 choosing it but as there were only 12, they aren't running it, and was advised to choose PE! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LovetoDance2003 Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 Why oh why is GCSE dance taught by PE teachers and not dance teachers-well it is in our school anyway! DD is only in yr 7 but her dance principal positively frowns when you mention GCSE dance at the school! On top of this, apparently so much extra time is taken up at lunchtimes and after school to prepare for the exam etc. I know we have a couple of years to decide but in people's opinion does further education I.e btec in performing arts like you to have GCSE dance? Drama is a similar problem with most of its teachers being English teachers also and Drama not being their focus! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted March 7, 2015 Share Posted March 7, 2015 In my experience no, gcse dance is absolutely not essential especially as lots of schools don't even offer it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lifeafterballet Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Ds 's school offer GCSE dance over 2 years and one year as well as A level dance ! On Thursday evening I sat through a sharing of work that was 60 dances long ! Ds gets told constantly that he is too balletic but has really enjoyed the variety of dance offered ! Older Ds has done gcse and A level PE ! Apart from ballet being his chosen sport ! There is no dance in it at all ! Although some PE teachers feel themselves qualified enough to grade his ballet performance pieces ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pas de chat Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I'm wondering what RAD and ISTD Modern level are equivalent to a GCSE? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 According to the QCA Grades 4 & 5 RAD are at Level 2 on the national framework which is the same as GCSE grades A* - C 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 My school is really academically focused and wouldn't dream of offering gcse or a level dance but are happy to run theatre studies for alevel with 3 students?!! They also do pe alevel which I take and do dance as one of my sport(also agree that I don't know how thinks their qualified to grade it!) and they're offering pe gcse next year much to parents dismay as it' tarnishes the schools representation' I took gcse in a year out of school and am taking a level dance out of school. It does make it so much harder having to talk with my school about taking one less AS at school and having to play for the dance course etc And I really would question whether some girls I know who got a c at gcse dance would even pass grade 5 ballet to be honest it is a course designed to be accessible to anyone without dance training xx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 What is offered at different schools for GCSE options can vary tremendously. Has GCSE Dance ever been an option at single-sex boys' schools, I wonder... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legseleven Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Goodness PITF, I hadn't realised that grade 4 RAD is a level 2 qualification. I must tell DD that she had an A*-C GCSE Dance equivalent qualification at just turned 10! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rowan Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 I've found out an answer to my own query about single-sex boys' schools and GCSE Dance - Tiffin Boys' Grammar (which I think is one of the country's top grammar schools) not only offers GCSE Dance, but dance is also compulsory throughout years 7, 8 and 9. Good on them! 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anondancer_15 Posted March 8, 2015 Share Posted March 8, 2015 Our school still currently offers dance gcse and a level, it's getting more and more popular but my teacher was talking to us the other day about how it probably won't be offered for much longer which is a real shame! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annaliesey Posted March 9, 2015 Share Posted March 9, 2015 We went to a few open evenings prior to secondary school applications. At one of them my daughter asked if GCSE dance was available and was told no, it comes under PE or alternatively she could do GCSE Trampolining!!!! Haha 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
t_rose Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 (edited) Dds school doesn't offer GCSEs dance but her dance teacher isn't keen on it anyway. Dd in yr 9 & just done options, however already started GCSEs work in maths & science Edited March 10, 2015 by t_rose Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwaybackSapphire Posted March 10, 2015 Share Posted March 10, 2015 DD wanted to take dance but there were only 13 taking it and the school policy is 15 children ???? Oh well, she is taking psychology instead!! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo G Posted February 28, 2019 Share Posted February 28, 2019 Does anyone know how my daughter could do GCSE Dance when her school doesn’t offer it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SissonneDoublee Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 9 hours ago, Jo G said: Does anyone know how my daughter could do GCSE Dance when her school doesn’t offer it? If she is able to attend RAD in London, they offer GCSE and A Level, which I think run on a Saturday morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junedancer Posted March 1, 2019 Share Posted March 1, 2019 I have seen some dance schools offer it. Which part of London? Maybe someone on the Forum may know of a school close enough to you. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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