This year is a very exciting time for our Year 9 students as they begin, probably for the first time, to consider what they may want to study over the next two years and beyond.
The options structure for current Year 9 pupils has been distributed and the Options booklet is available as a pdf below. Our Options Evening for Year 9 pupils, parents and carers takes place on Tuesday 13th March 2018.
For a good number of years now, the key performance indicator schools were judged on has been five or more A*-C grades including English and Maths. The government has now introduced a series of new measures which has resulted in changes to the ways we are held accountable for the performance of our students.
The new DfE proposals has disbanded 5A*-C including English and Maths and has replaced it with the ‘Progress 8’ and ‘Attainment 8’ measures that compares the achievements of our students across a wider range of subjects including the English Baccalaureate subjects.
The English Baccalaureate is not a qualification in itself but more a recognition for the pupils that have secured a quality grade in a particular suite of subjects which include English, Mathematics, History or Geography, the Sciences and a Language. These are subjects most likely to be required or preferred for entry to degree courses and ones that will keep the most options open post sixteen.
Progress 8 and Attainment 8 will be based on students’ results in eight subjects: English, Maths, three EBacc subjects and three other approved ‘High Value’ subjects which may or may not be an EBacc subject.
Our options arrangements are designed to ensure that all students’ opportunities at the end of Key Stage 4 are maximised and offers the greatest opportunities to progress on to suitable courses, apprenticeships or work placements post 16. Our commitment to supporting each student’s individual needs will ensure that the choices your child makes now are right for them enabling them to achieve at Key Stage 4 and beyond.
