So we visited the local school for the options evening presentation last night. Dearest daughter has her sights almost set on what she wants to do. I have my own opinions and they run almost run similar to hers but I’m not the sort to say no you’re not doing that etc as she’s come a long way in the three years at “big school” so I feel the choice is hers.
Her three options (if she gets them) will be Spanish, Geography and PE, I’m hugely proud as the dad of a girl that she’s chosen pe. However this will stop her from doing the triple science award as that is an option.
The English baccalaureate is another thing that was thrown in to the mix last night and if she still does PE and Spanish and drops geography for the third science she will no longer be eligible for that. How important is the ebaac deemed going further into education and then maybe work.

arnt the sciences compulsory? like maths and english?

my eldest options were really limited outside of teh ‘core’ subjects.

Ebac was in the news because it was added to school performance tables – so schools starting pushing kids into it. It’s been dropped now.
A language and a humanities (Geog) are a great idea. If she’s not looking to go into a ‘sciencey’ area, then double science is fine. Do she get a choice of which sciences to do (for full GCSEs), or is it a double award covering all three sciences? Is the PE GCSE or a vocational qual – BTEC etc?

What does she want to do when she’s older and what does she enjoy now?

The ebaac hasn’t been dropped. The dual science will be a double combined gcse as opposed to three gcse’s in each of physics biology and chemistry.
The pe is a full gcse with 30% practical and 70% exam.
She has no idea what she wants to do.

The pe is a full gcse with 30% practical and 70% exam.

This is a new syllabus this year. There’s a fair bit of anatomy etc in it. Mrs Dubleyou says it will be interesting to teach.

She has no idea what she wants to do.

As a job? In year 9? I’m gobsmacked!*

* not really. Best advice is to pick stuff she will be engaged in (i.e. enjoys)

She has no idea what she wants to do.

That’s the problem with subject choices – and I was no different at that age myself and my kids were much the same. That being the case I advised them to go for a decent general set of courses (and neither of them did 3 sciences) to keep their options open as long as possible. Both of my kids did a couple of subjects they were good at & quite enjoyed even though they were perhaps not the most “useful”, however it meant they could get decent grades in those without working too hard – freeing up times for others they needed to work harder for.

Other than where they bar entry to uni courses I’m not sure how important the individual school courses are anyway. My daughter ended up going to uni to do Biology but realised she hated it and instead ending up getting an accountancy degree, despite not having done accountancy at school. My son is doing Chinese language – despite not having done Chinese at school (and not being great at the languages he did do). I went to uni to do Chemistry but left with a computer science degree.

Check that the school will let her do A levels sciences without triple science.
The EBacc is (was) a measure for schools and doesn’t really matter for individual students.

That was a question I asked last night and yes you can specialise into any/all of the three fields at a level

We have this next year. Only advice I’ll offer is let her do stuff she is good at and enjoys – I remember I was pushed down a science route which meant dropping two subjects I enjoyed and was top of the year in, and then struggled to keep up and be interested in the two “better” subjects, which then restricted A level options, which then knocked on to grades and uni options

This was back in the days of O levels mind.

I wish I had done what I really liked rather than what was sensible and academic. I’m not academic. I could have excelled in something rather than muddled through and felt disheartened. Or done something I knew was too hard but failed valiantly and confidently having learned a bit on the way.

Triple science will be biology, physics and chemistry as individual GCSEs. It can be a bit risky if it’s possible that she’ll find one of these tricky or really doesn’t enjoy it. The double award covers an equal share of each of the above – so it is still possible to get a reasonable grade(s) for science even if she finds one of the sciences tricky.

I really like the idea of doing a language and a humanities subject as it means the child will have a reasonably well rounded education.

If she has no intention of taking a science(s) further at A-level or beyond there’s no real need to do triple science.

If she happens to enjoy and be good at a range of stuff that makes sense from a career point of view, it’s easy. If not, no harm in a bit of oddball stuff so long as there’s a decent core. I did geography, history and economics (despite being strong in science I binned biology) and they didn’t all turn out for the best but it didn’t matter at all.

the Ebacc hasn’t been dropped

I meant from school league tables.
Worth checking entry criteria for A levels she might fancy.

Do you have other options for the future such as FE colleges and sixth form colleges nearby? It might be worth sounding them out as well
IME it’s more complicated when your child (quite naturally) wants to stick with their mates

She’s a ruthless one after being let down by her mates in the past so she now does exactly as she wants regardless of what others are doing. After another discussion it looks like we’re staying with Spanish, Geography and PE. She loves sport and I think the PE will give her the much needed break/enjoyment from the rest of the compulsory syllabus.

My daughter is now first year of sixth form so I’ve watched a similar situation play out and then had a whole lot of new fun with the agonies of A levels, where the school really does want to tie them to Uni courses and careers.

My two thoughts are:
1. Jimdubleyou was the first to say “pick stuff she enjoys” and that’s been my advice at GCSE and A level (and will be for the rest of her life I hope)

2. My daughter did PE at GCSE (and was disappointed there wasn’t the demand to run a course at A level) and it was so much more than most will assume. As a poster above says there was a lot of anatomy, plus a fair bit of teaching theory and lesson planning. Academics may sneer, but they be wrong to.

Check that the school will let her do A levels sciences without triple science.

The A level sciences are designed as if pupils had done double not triple
Do well in double and it is no barrier to doing well at a level

Sounds like a good mix in there to be honest, as the others have said the Ebac is made up stats and meaningless. Spanish and geography are good rounded academic choices and PE can’t hurt on a personal level, if she develops the mindset of being a fit person and has some understanding of general physiology that can’t hurt. I agree with the others to an extent about allowing them to do what they enjoy as long as most are core academic subjects with the odd lifestyle choice (dance, media studies etc.) thrown in. That said if they’re really good at something you need to support them, however that means ballet at Elmhurst or Richmond Park, drama at Tring, PE at a football academy, dance or PE from the local comp isn’t in the same league.

I followed the science route through school whic was fine but really should have gone engineering rather than chemistry at university.