Y8 Pathways Evening
As you may be aware, we are starting the process of helping your son/daughter make decisions about which courses/qualifications they want to pursue at Key Stage 4 (KS4). There will be a range of different activities and events in order to allow your son/daughter to take time over making these important decisions. In their lessons, teaching staff will be delivering taster lessons where students will have the chance to experience the different subjects available to them.
More information on subjects can also be found on the BSCS Pathways site via Frog. This includes example work, student reviews of the courses and other useful links and videos. The link to this site can be found on the main student dashboard. In the next couple of weeks students will also be given a Pathways Booklet which covers all you and they need to know about the KS4 curriculum and courses on offer. You can also access the booklet on our website, under curriculum and pathways. As you will see in the booklet, there are lots of different courses/qualifications they could choose to follow. Students will be having a PSHE lesson, where they consider their strengths and goals and will be given a form to fill in with their thoughts. Please use this form to help you talk through the choices with your son/daughter, so that they feel more confident to discuss this during their one to one interview.
They will get to make four choices in total, and one reserve choice. One of their choices will need to be made from History, Geography, French, Spanish or Computer Science. We will always do our best to make sure all students get their choices, however, if there isn’t enough demand for a subject then unfortunately we won’t be able to run it and occasionally the combination of courses may result in a clash, which is when we use their reserve.
Further key events are: 21st January – 27th February Taster lessons for all option subjects
February 4th – 15th PSHE careers guidance session
February 28th Pathways Information Evening Y8 – presentation and an opportunity to speak with staff about KS4 courses and the Pathways process
Surnames A-M at 6.15pm – subject information in the hall afterwards
Surnames N- Z at 7.00pm – subject information in the hall before
March 1st onwards Each student will have a 15 minute individual interview with a senior member of staff. Interview times will be up on the Sports hall wall during the pathways evening.
Week beginning 23 Aprill Parents will receive a letter confirming the choices their son/daughter has made
Week beginning 3 June Final confirmation of choices sent home
