Dance.Mum Posted February 11, 2020 Author Share Posted February 11, 2020 7 minutes ago, DancingShoes said: I work at a selective grammar school and our students take 9 or 10 GCSEs depending on whether they do individual sciences or combined science. 11 would be a stretch even for the brightest children with the new exams. Thank you - I was being to feel inadequate and couldn't workout how they would manage it! I know I didn't misunderstand so looks like some over zealous parents on the "look how good my ****** is doing" front! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pups_mum Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 For what its worth, my children attend/have attended what is generally considered a high performing state school with plenty of leavers going on to Oxbridge and RG universities and the standard is 9 GCSEs and in 6th form 3 A Levels plus an EPQ, or occasionally 4 A levels, the fourth A level almost always being Further Maths for a pupil planning to take a maths degree at a "good" university. 3 separate sciences is the norm at GCSE here and each is given equal time and a full timetable share. Having seen the volume of work required for the new GCSE syllabi I would say it would be insane to try to teach the 3 individual sciences within a "double science" timetable slot, and that taking 9 subjects, or possibly 10 for the most academically able is more than enough. I think some parents, and maybe even some teachers, haven't yet grasped the enormous changes that have occurred in public exams over the last few years, from SATS upwards. Less than a decade ago most GCSEs were modular and many schools were entering their pupils for 12,13 or even more subjects, so of that is what you have been used to, then "only" 9 GCSEs may sound concerning, but nowadays, getting 9 decent grades across a range of subjects at GCSE is an achievement for any child, never mind one who is at a vocational school or dancing seriously at a local dance school with a view to full time training. There are only so many hours in the day and some of that must be spent on rest and relaxation. Personally, I would prioritise quality over quantity - better 8 good grades than 11 mediocre - and a physically and mentally healthy child over everything . 7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Picturesinthefirelight said: Single Science GCSE is now longer available. It is only available as an IGCSE and is generally only offered to very low ability students. That’s us 🤣🤣🤣 No offence taken 😘 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MAK Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 1 hour ago, Dance.Mum said: Thank you - I was being to feel inadequate and couldn't workout how they would manage it! I know I didn't misunderstand so looks like some over zealous parents on the "look how good my ****** is doing" front! Definitely not an over-zealous parent here but I'm wondering if there might be some regional variation? DD1 is at a Comprehensive and will be sitting GCSEs this year - it is standard at her school for all students to take 10 GCSEs (if you assume triple science is counted as three GCSEs) or 9 for those taking double science (English Language, English Lit, Mathematics, two or three Sciences and four further options). DD2 is at a Grammar School where they will take the same plus Religious Education and Statistics (or Further Maths for those in Set 1). However, in her case they have benefited from the school implementing a three year GCSE programme so they have longer to "get through" the syllabus in each subject (at the expense of having to drop some much loved subjects early however, which is certainly sad imho). I agree with everything that has been said about quality over quantity but just for any other parent reading this thinking "oh no, that's worrying that people are saying it would be too much for a student to take on X number of GCSEs" - you are not alone 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 51 minutes ago, Peanut68 said: That’s us 🤣🤣🤣 No offence taken 😘 Considering my son got a Grade 2 3 in his recent science gcse mocks I wish they offered that option in state schools too. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meadowblythe Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 Having had two children changing school for year 10 (one changing vocational ballet the other starting vocational music) my observations: The biggest challenges were: Making sure that your DC is correctly set for ability - DD was in too low a set for maths but this only became apparent at A level when missed material at GCSE came to light. DS vastly overestimated his ability to complete GCSE music based on his level 8 performance at previous vocational school. I still have no idea how they came up with that one. Syllabus mismatch - make sure you know what the school you are going to has already covered - especially if they have a 3 year GCSE syllabus. Also exam board/module choices. I know I shouldn't say it but .. teachers. Not all teachers are created equal. DD was taught German by someone for whom it was a 3rd language. Not ideal. I wish I had checked previous exam performance. Not perfect but at least an indicator. I didn't know anyone where she went to school but DS picked a subject he went on to love because he had heard from friends what a great teacher took the subject. Definitely one for PMs - one advantage of this forum is that someone will know who teaches what at xxx. Having said that, having had a great grammar school grounding DD was able to come out with a decent set of GCSEs. And it meant that she could make informed choices at A level, knowing the staff. Year 10 was, for both of them, a good changing point. Enough time to benefit from the excellent vocational training, make friends and that lovely in-between freedom when you know they are safe but they feel they are not too constrained. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 6 hours ago, Dance.Mum said: For us the academics has to be strong which is why we are undecided about possible entry this year. One of the things that I am still not clear about with is what GCSEs are always available and the number they are allowed to do. This also makes it difficult to assess the comparative successes of examination entrants. Each school will give their headline results in a way that pouts them in the best light. I have gone as far as looking at the entry requirements for university degrees that may be of interest further down the line and there are some who will look at the pass of certain GCSEs if you don't have the require subject at A level. Schools can be very creative when publishing their GCSE grades & %. It’s taken me several years and experience for 3 of my 4 children to finally get my head around it all. And just when I thought I understood all of this my youngest and non-DS can’t decide which 3 A Levels to select (paperwork needs to be submitted by Thursday😱) as he keeps bouncing between 3 different degrees 😉. Auditioning for a place at vocational school/ college seems like a breeze, now I look back at it all 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 (edited) 3 hours ago, Picturesinthefirelight said: Considering my son got a Grade 2 3 in his recent science gcse mocks I wish they offered that option in state schools too. Oh bless. My son just got a grade 2 in his recent Spanish GCSE mock. His tutor then announced that he could achieve a 5 in the actual exam!! Unsure how she even came to that conclusion. I’ve kindly ‘informed’ the school he will not be continuing the subject after half-term. MFL are compulsory at his school. Funny enough I’ve yet to receive a response 😉 He is hoping to aim for quality over quantity. Well that’s what he tells me. 😄 What many ‘outsiders’ don’t understand is that to achieve 9 GCSE’s can result in a pupil having to sit up to 27 separate papers/examinations. So many subjects are made up of 3 papers. Edited February 11, 2020 by balletbean 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Peanut68 Posted February 11, 2020 Share Posted February 11, 2020 😱 I’m sure it really wasn’t this tough back in my day of ‘O’ Levels.... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meadowblythe Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 I think the difference, for state schools, is League Tables. MFL may, for example, be compulsory as they are an Ebacc subject. Don't get me started ... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 15 hours ago, Peanut68 said: 😱 I’m sure it really wasn’t this tough back in my day of ‘O’ Levels.... Absolutely. I don’t recall any ‘study leave’ One subject one paper except for Maths that had two papers (one calculator). A B C etc. Please don’t get me started on this new grading system of 1-9 but with A levels staying as it has always been. 😳 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pas de Quatre Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 However, I seem to remember that the individual exams were much longer for O levels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Picturesinthefirelight Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 We had study leave. Some left at Easter whose birthddays fell before that. The rest of us left at the beginning of May. None of our local schools have study leave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pups_mum Posted February 12, 2020 Share Posted February 12, 2020 No, no study leave here either. They have to be in school every day until May half term, and then there are still "optional but highly recommended" lessons most days up until the exams were over. My O levels are so long ago now that I cant really remember what happened, but I have a feeling that the exams didn't start until after May half term and that we had normal lessons til then, and then I only had to go in on exam days after the holidays. I think the exams were a bit longer, yes, and they went on longer in the year so there wasn't such a big gap between finishing O leveks and starting 6th form as there is now. But I don't think there were intense weeks with exams morning and afternoon virtually every day like my son had last year. I think I recall quite big gaps between exams, which made it easier to plan revision. I think overall it was less pressured in my day. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
balletbean Posted February 14, 2020 Share Posted February 14, 2020 On 12/02/2020 at 15:39, Pups_mum said: No, no study leave here either. They have to be in school every day until May half term, and then there are still "optional but highly recommended" lessons most days up until the exams were over. My O levels are so long ago now that I cant really remember what happened, but I have a feeling that the exams didn't start until after May half term and that we had normal lessons til then, and then I only had to go in on exam days after the holidays. I think the exams were a bit longer, yes, and they went on longer in the year so there wasn't such a big gap between finishing O leveks and starting 6th form as there is now. But I don't think there were intense weeks with exams morning and afternoon virtually every day like my son had last year. I think I recall quite big gaps between exams, which made it easier to plan revision. I think overall it was less pressured in my day. My DD took her GCSE’s in 2017. Study leave started a week after the May 1/2 term holiday. The actual exams were so spread out we never felt as if we ‘were in the thick of its. Mainly afternoon exams. We live so close, so on one occasion she sat on her bed in the morning going over past papers. Left her books open. Went to school for the exam. Opened the paper to find it was the same as the one she had left on her bed!! Only pupil to leave the exam hall grinning from head to head. 😄. Pressure? What pressure 😂 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dance.Mum Posted February 15, 2020 Author Share Posted February 15, 2020 I am relieved to hear that the GCSE offering at vocational schools is not as bad as I was beginning to think. The only school that I am still not clear on is YDA so any insight would be great. I have been relaying this all to DC and all I have got back is but what about the dancing! I am now back to ask more about what each course does dance-wise: genres and hours etc. We are looking for a strong ballet focus and recognise that other styles are important. We know that RBS offer a taster of what they offer on the intensives but Irish and Flamenco didn't impress and never having done character that didn't go down well at another course (can't recall which now). WE have been successful in supplementing ballet with various day courses and intensives in jazz, contemporary and tap and would be happy to continue doing this. I appreciate that some of this may be on other threads but I haven't managed to find what we are looking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dance.Mum Posted March 8, 2020 Author Share Posted March 8, 2020 On 15/02/2020 at 12:47, Dance.Mum said: I am relieved to hear that the GCSE offering at vocational schools is not as bad as I was beginning to think. The only school that I am still not clear on is YDA so any insight would be great. I am back to follow up on my question about academics at YDA. They seem to have a good record but I am not sure how many GCSEs you can take there and how it relates to the BTech and exactly what level the BTech is. Can anyone fill me in on this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffeequeen Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 Pm me if you would like additional information Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffeequeen Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 On 11/02/2020 at 12:53, Milzmam said: My dd has offer for year 10 at Hammond, didn't audition anywhere else. Just waiting on funding audition now. Maybe see you there if your dd is Hammond aswell x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milzmam Posted May 19, 2020 Share Posted May 19, 2020 11 minutes ago, Coffeequeen said: Is your dd at Hammond? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coffeequeen Posted May 20, 2020 Share Posted May 20, 2020 Yes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Milzmam Posted May 21, 2020 Share Posted May 21, 2020 10 hours ago, Coffeequeen said: Yes Great, is she in year 9 now going into year 10? Would be good to get in touch if my dd gets funding as would be nice for her to speak to people before she goes, however big IF at the moment x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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