11 Plus Exams Forum

DS is currently selecting his options in Year 8.

He has to take:

English Language
English Lit.
Maths
Double Science
ICT
Geography ( or History)

Options
Product Design
Food & Nutrition

He has to select one final choice he is left with Art, Business Studies, Dance, Media or Sport Science. He enjoys Art & his teacher has been telling him he has talent & would expect him to be successful at GCSE, his sport teachesr are equally encouraging. He does enjoy sport (although loathes football) & is also interested in fitness, exercise & it's effects. .

He has no idea what he wants to do after school. Product Design he thoroughly enjoys & excels at. Food & Nutrition appeals as he enjoys cooking, is capable of cooking a nice meal for the family & is also interested in health aspects of food.

The Food & Nutrition & Sport Science teachers both explained how the 2 subjects complemented each other. Product Design said furthering your art skills may be beneficial but not a necessity.

Although currently in the higher sets, he has not always been the most academic of children and does prefer practical subjects.

Any advice would be welcome, we spoke to the teachers at length, but felt a bit like whilst they offered some interesting points they were both selling their subject & a slightly bias.

Thanks.

No language options, Rainey?

JD

If he is interested in product design then he could be a future engineer. If so then triple science might be useful.

There is no need to take a MFL.

Of the two you ask about I'd go for Sport Science as Art coursework is VERY onerous.

Thanks for your replies.

No language he finds languages a struggle.

Only the very top set are being offered triple science, so it's not an option for him, he is in the set below.

At GCSE the best approach is of keeping options open with a range of subjects rather than ending up with a narrow field. So while 'complementary' subjects may have some merit I would be looking to choose from as wide a field as possible.

Product Design and Food Tech are both course work heavy so I would be careful about choosing another such subject, certainly not Art. Even if he enjoys practical subjects he needs to think about keeping enough time free to spend on the core academic subjects.

While Product Design and Food and Nutrition might seem totally different the skills they will teach are actually very similar, so could Sports Science replace Food and Nutrition?

In this situation I would seriously consider Business Studies as the other choice. It isn't hugely academically vigorous but it would provide experience of a different set of skills. Also it isn't course work heavy so would be a better balance in that sense.

It sounds like your DC is capable of doing well at GCSE but will need to put in the work for his academic subjects. Getting decent grades in the core subjects of Maths, English, Science and a Humanity should be the focus. Then look at options that will provide some relief and teach a range of 'transferable' skills but not detract from the time and effort required to get some solid grades in those core subjects.

DS is doing Art and I'm beginning to regret it. All the cautions about coursework heavy are true and the other consideration, which I hadn't thought of, is that it's very difficult to say when a piece of work is finished. He's constantly going back to pieces and enhancing/amending them, and is rarely happy/satisfied with a piece of work. So it's emotionally draining as well as time consuming. So, unless your Dc has a real passion and talent (in which case, an external art course might be better, anyway), I'd think carefully about choosing this an option.

It's always said Art is incredibly time consuming but neither of ours have been overwhelmed by the workload (although I know son's art teacher would have liked him to spend a little more time on it ). Advantage as far as I'm concerned is daughter will finish her Art GCSE in about two weeks so that's one done and dusted and all the more time to spend revising the rest.

mike1880 - what about the final Art exam? In my experience it impinges on revision lessons as they are off timetable at a crucial time.

mike1880 wrote:It's always said Art is incredibly time consuming but neither of ours have been overwhelmed by the workload (although I know son's art teacher would have liked him to spend a little more time on it ). Advantage as far as I'm concerned is daughter will finish her Art GCSE in about two weeks so that's one done and dusted and all the more time to spend revising the rest.

I'm relieved to hear that having had and lost the gcse Art argument with DD. She does seem to have matured as an artist and actually completes work and moves on. Having said that she might spend ten hours on a weekend on a canvas for her own pleasure, may be she's building a secret portfolio in advance. I see art as her way of relaxing and getting away from the phone/ipad mini/laptop screens that otherwise dominate.

Guest55 wrote:There is no need to take a MFL.

I don't believe I said there was, merely enquired if it was an option ....
Good luck with deciding, Rainey. The main thing is that he enjoys his choices, as then he is far more likely to put in the effort and succeed.

JD