Guided Pathways
2016 – Year 9
Mr Horton
Why is it important?
 First time you have been able to specialise after 9 years
of education
 Can affect your future education and career
 May affect university entry
 Next two years of study leading to formal qualifications
Core Curriculum – 18 periods a week
 English language
 English literature
 mathematics
 science (two GCSEs for majority, possibility of three)
 non-examined PE
Our Routes
 You are put onto one of three routes.
 These routes are based on your performance at
middle school and your time with us so far at North.
 The route you have been put on best suits your skills,
abilities and aptitudes.
Our Routes
 RUSSELL – students must choose at least one of
French/Spanish and at least one of geography/history.
They have a free choice for the other two subjects.
 OPEN – students must choose at least one of French,
Spanish (if studied in year 9), geography or history. They
have a free choice for the other three subjects.
 GATEWAY – students have a free choice for their four
subjects. They can study French, geography and/or
history, should they wish. A minority of students will
follow a smaller number of options subjects.
Why do we encourage students towards
humanities/languages?
 These subjects form the foundations to prepare students
for post-16 study
 Long term opportunities in education and work
 University/government requirements
 Same opportunities as other schools
Some of the reasons why you should take a subject
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You enjoy it
You are good at it – see your year 9 report
You feel it will be useful in your future education/career
The skills link to your strengths
Some of the reasons why you shouldn’t take a subject
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You like the teacher
Your friends want to take it/your brother or sister did it
You want to try something different
You think it will be easy
Making the right choices
 Find out what each subject entails. Common
misconceptions include:
 PE just involves playing sport
 Not having to speak French/Spanish in
French/Spanish
 Not having to act in front of others in drama
 Not having to play a musical instrument in music
 Film is just watching films, food is just cooking etc.
Making the right choices
 Four subjects plus reserve choices
 Options are in blocks
 All subject leaders need to approve your choices. You can start
collecting signatures after tonight. Drama requires an audition;
music an informal interview; pre-apprenticeship in engineering
an interview with our off-site provider, ADI.
 Teacher/tutor guidance
 Parent and tutor signatures
 Get the answers to your questions tonight and read the booklet
carefully.
Making the right choices
 400+ students to accommodate in years 10 and 11.
 You will naturally end up liking some subjects more than others.
 There will be a brief window a couple of weeks into starting the
courses where students have the opportunity to change a course but
there is a procedure and it’s dependent upon there being space in the
group. You will also need to catch up on missed work as GCSE courses
will have already started formally.
 Beyond this point, subjects cannot be ‘dropped’ – you are studying
them until you do your examinations at the end of year 11.
Therefore, make sure you make the right choices!
What happens now
 Take the time tonight to visit the subjects you are interested in. Ask
questions. Any queries about the process – see Mrs Schofield or Mr
Horton in the Conference Room. Any SEN queries see Ms Howard in
the CRC.
 Speak to teachers/tutor/parents over the following days.
 Decide on your choices and reserves, getting subject leader
signatures.
 You also have the option of changing your college on the form.
 Parent’s signature/your signature/tutor’s signature.
 Return the form by tutor time on Friday 5 February to the school
reception.