LEARNING FOR LIFE
IT’S the start of a new academic year – and, for many, one that will bring both changes and challenges.
their chosen subjects into this strict spreadsheet system.
The pressure on schools themselves to ‘perform’ in terms of league tables means some now introduce GCSE coursework as early as Year 9 and, by Year 11 (the fifth form in ‘old money’) pupils are taking AS and A level exams, more usually associated with sixth form studies.
A wide variety of subjects can be no bad thing, however, offering students a greater choice of further education and career prospects. Many students who enjoy a subject to GCSE level find the A- level syllabus much more demanding, different – or plain tedious – and it soon slips down their list of preferred options! Fortunately, pupil appraisals, careers interviews and ‘enrichment days’ tend to ‘guide’ the student in the right direction, to maximise their talents and their aspirations. Scholars who have firm ideas on a future career will naturally select the appropriate subjects at A-level which will gain them a place at University.
However, the advice to those who have no real idea where their
future lies is always to follow the subjects they enjoy the most – as this is more likely to yield good results – as well as a happy student. Well-rounded students with a broad-based knowledge are always welcome at colleges and universities – hence some schools deciding to offer the IB (International Baccalaureate) as an alternative to A-levels.
It’s a system which has worked well in Europe for years and one which enthusiastic, outgoing and good ‘all-rounders’ find especially attractive.
However, even your choice of university degree is not the be all and end all. How many of us know someone who has gone into a job totally unrelated to his or her degree subject?
Obviously, if you want to be a doctor, a lawyer or a vet, it’s a different matter …..but arts, science, humanities and ‘ologies’ still open doors to a wide choice of exciting careers.
Whatever stage of life your children have reached, welcome to the new term, together with its new challenges – and have a happy New Year!
For some, it will mean the start of a new school – a new environment, new ways of teaching, new rules and regulations and also new friends.
For others, it could mark the start of a key decision-making term: which subjects to take at GCSE, AS and A level; to study, or not, in the sixth form – or maybe to follow a more vocational route through college.
As any parent will tell you, the words ‘new year’ don’t just apply to January 1.
That crucial date in September when your offspring take their first steps to school, clad in their shiny new uniform and neatly polished shoes, marks the start of another ‘new year’ - annually for at least the next 14 years!
Choosing your child’s school is one of the most important decisions you will ever be asked to make. Increasingly, especially with the high demand on places, children are steered towards the primary school closest to their home. Some parents move house in order to ensure – as far as possible – their child will be accepted into what is seen as a ‘good’ primary school, hence the outcry when sometimes the strategy fails. The pressure is on once again when it comes to choosing a secondary school.
As Kent is one of the few places which still offers the 11+ - officially known here as the Kent Test – friendship ties get broken as the more academic head for grammar schools while other pupils look towards secondary education in comprehensive schools or academies.
It’s at this stage, as well as at pre- school entry, that parents take a long, hard look at the offering made by independent education – and the affordability. For disappointed 11+ candidates, it’s an alternative route for which many parents are prepared to make sacrifices, in order to ensure their child achieves the best that he or she can do.
Without doubt, small class sizes and exposure to a wealth of extra- curricular activities, means all but the few attain excellent results and a place assured at one of the UK’s top universities.
Independent schools may also be able to offer a more flexible approach to subjects at GCSE than state schools, where juggling the resources of timetables and teaching staff mean not all students are able to pursue their preferred subjects.
Most schools offer option ‘blocks’ based on subject demand and availability of staff and a handful of students each year struggle to fit
Maidstone Town September 2014 17
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