Choosing GCSE's

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Goodbyekitty
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Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:22 pm

Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by Goodbyekitty »

ToadMum wrote:
Goodbyekitty wrote:
ToadMum wrote:Whatever the issues with doing both Art and Music, does choosing Art really mean that he can't do either History or Geography? Seems rather odd timetabling.
Hi ToadMum, I think what I am trying to say is should I have a say in my sons GCSE options or should I leave the option choices completely up to him? :)
Sorry, I was being a little tongue in cheek there :).

I would agree with others that

- Art is a lot of (practical) work and very time consuming, but the (2 full day) exam is usually got out of the way quite early, before the exams for the other subjects. DS2 does loads of artwork at home - actually sells stuff - and didn't find the amount he was doing at school too much of a struggle, but is now in year 13 and taking it for A level and rather less enthusiastic.
- guide away, but don't impose. Get him to think of what he might want to do eventually (or just look at random careers) and work backwards - what post-18 education / training is required? / what A levels or BTECs might be best for that? / do any of those require the subject or any particular subject to have been taken at GCSE? The answer to the first two in a lot of cases is going to be, if it's something specific, then possibly: e.g. 'being a doctor' <- medical school <- Chemistry / probably Biology A level or a specific BTEC <- sciences and at least a 'good pass' in Maths and English. But those are all core GCSEs anyway. For many other things, the possibilities will be a lot broader and for example, many, many degrees have no required subjects at A level.

Given that all schools require Maths, 2x English and at least the '2 GCSEs' option of Science (and many also making MFL / a humanities subject compulsory), which a student may or may not enjoy or be particularly good at, then it makes sense to choose, for the rest, subjects that they do enjoy and are therefore more likely to do well in.

Does he really have the option of doing neither History nor Geography, though? Does the school make RS compulsory (DS2's does, much to his annoyance at the time, since DD at a different school didn't have to take it and in DS1's time at the same school as DS2, the 'half GCSE' was allowed), but then allow it to be the only Humanities subject taken?
Sorry have just seen your reply Toadmum.

My son school also has compulsory RS and Philosophy but hes not keen on those subjects either.

Art is a worry as I have heard about alot of coursework is involved which I know he won't be happy about. I think his teacher got him excited in lessons talking about covering electric art at GCSE.

There's a bit of time left before he has to choose so hopefully I can get him thinking about what will suit him and what he really wants to study

Thanks again.
ToadMum
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Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by ToadMum »

Art really is a lot of well, doing Art, whether the pencil / paint variety, or digital.

There is no actual written paper for Art GCSE; the assessments are their portfolio - annotated artwork - and the practical exam, which is based on a topic which they choose in advance and which the 10 hours (usually 2 x 5-hour days) of ' focused work' under exam conditions must address.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
Deb70
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Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by Deb70 »

When I was at school we were told to choose subjects we enjoyed. I think it's important to help kids consider what they might want to do as a career as well, because after they've finished their studies they need to make a living.
Moon unit
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Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by Moon unit »

My DD loves art, does it every day for pleasure and is according to her teachers talented and got a 9.
Realised for her art gcse was a mistake by about Oct of year 10.
She felt so constrained by the GCSE course.
The only good point about the GCSEs being cancelled for her was that art was over.
My take on it having watched her do it for the best part of 2 years is if your talented you don’t get much better and if you aren’t talented it’s an utter nightmare.
She felt she learned nothing at all although we did enjoy going to galleries etc.
She is now L6 and back to being able to be creative in her own way and it’s been a great relief.
Music also much hated by my DS and regretted despite being grade 8 etc and persuaded to do it by teachers.
My DD wished she had done history instead and DS PE.
Goodbyekitty
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:22 pm

Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by Goodbyekitty »

Deb70 wrote:When I was at school we were told to choose subjects we enjoyed. I think it's important to help kids consider what they might want to do as a career as well, because after they've finished their studies they need to make a living.
Deb70 I agree.
Goodbyekitty
Posts: 161
Joined: Wed Mar 01, 2017 11:22 pm

Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by Goodbyekitty »

Moon unit wrote:My DD loves art, does it every day for pleasure and is according to her teachers talented and got a 9.
Realised for her art gcse was a mistake by about Oct of year 10.
She felt so constrained by the GCSE course.
The only good point about the GCSEs being cancelled for her was that art was over.
My take on it having watched her do it for the best part of 2 years is if your talented you don’t get much better and if you aren’t talented it’s an utter nightmare.
She felt she learned nothing at all although we did enjoy going to galleries etc.
She is now L6 and back to being able to be creative in her own way and it’s been a great relief.
Music also much hated by my DS and regretted despite being grade 8 etc and persuaded to do it by teachers.
My DD wished she had done history instead and DS PE.
Moon unit that is very interesting about the Music. :? Was it because she found it boring as she must have already beyond GCSE level?
And he definately isn't the most talented in Art.
loobylou
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Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by loobylou »

My viewpoint, fwiw, on the music - not at all wanting to put your son off if he's keen - but performance is only a bit of the music GCSE. I presume all boards are slightly different in their components but dd - who genuinely really enjoyed her music GCSE (current year 13) - found the composing to be a lot harder than she expected and it took up a disproportionate amount of time for her. Her grade 8 probably gave her some benefits in terms of general musical awareness but I'm not sure it did much more than that - I think almost all the students got pretty much full marks on the performance aspect as it is only judged at grade 5 level. For the exam she definitely had to revise less than for other subjects which was a bonus but during the year it took up quite a bit of time, a lot of which had to be done during lunchtime and after school but staying there because the composing software is prohibitively expensive to get at home.
2childmum
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Location: S E London

Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by 2childmum »

DD was grade 8 when she did music GCSE and it was the worst of all her subjects

Part of the problem was a teacher who knew nothing about classical music, and there were no other classical musicians in the class

This made the practical element really difficult, as one of the two performances is a group piece and there was nobody my daughter could play with. There was also no-one able to accompany her for the solo performance.Other friends of hers at orchestra who played at a similar level also struggled with this as, although there were others playing more classical music, none were at a level that could play with them. In the end we had to pay for an accompanist, and also pay a musician we knew to play a duet with her. In theory there might be peripatetic music teachers at the school who could accompany or play a duet, but this wasn't an option at this school.

The composition also caused problems as the teacher confessed he didn't know anything about composing classical music, and in the end we again paid for a couple of basic composition lessons to get DD started. If She had been happy to try and compose a pop song she would have been fine! She also had to teach herself to use Sibelius to compose with - the teacher seemed unaware up until the last minute that, under the new GCSE, all the compositions needed to be written down. DD also taught herself almost all the work for the written paper - apart from the section on popular music the teacher didn't seem to know anything about what was on the spec!

I would say to encourage your DS to do some research into the type of music played by the other students studying music and whether there will be others who can accompany/perform with him. He might be better continuing to play for pleasure and in orchestras/bands (if that is possible) and choose something else for GCSE
Moon unit
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Joined: Fri Mar 07, 2014 9:14 am

Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by Moon unit »

The problem I think with these creative GCSEs is a lot of people embark on them thinking they will be fun and offer a respite from other subjects.
For my two it was the opposite.
Neither complained to me about any other gcse work or lessons apart from art and music.
These were their only regretted choices.
The composition in music took up a massive amount of time.
My DS also didn’t enjoy some of the works they studied either.
The low point was having to go to see Wicked!
It was a toss up for him between pe and music and he was persuaded to do music by then head of music who said to us at parents eve it would be a tragedy if he didn’t do it.
Like art for my dd gcse took the fun out of music for him.
After 18 months of not touching an instrument post gcse he got back to playing again.
Being grade 8 helps a bit with gcse music music I think but the work is very different to a graded music exam.
My DS regretted not really researching what the course content was before embarking on it.
The other issue I think is with these creative subjects it is harder to help yourself.
Got a dodgy teacher in Biology and a couple of CGP guides can pretty much sort it out.
It isn’t really possible to help yourself in art and music in the same way.
ToadMum
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Location: Essex

Re: Choosing GCSE's

Post by ToadMum »

Moon unit wrote: My DS regretted not really researching what the course content was before embarking on it.
Possibly the quote of the day, there :).

The specification for each course will be on the relevant board's website, along with past papers. And ask the relevant teachers / HOD if there are options within the spec and the students haven’t been told yet which will be taken.
Outside of a dog, a book is a man's best friend. Inside of a dog it's too dark to read.Groucho Marx
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