Y9 OPTIONS for KS4 beginning September 2025

Mr Gordon Green - Head Teacher

wELCOME TO OPTIONs

A very warm welcome to our Options Website.

Dear Parents/Carers,

In September 2025 your son/daughter, along with all students in the present Year 9, will begin a two year course leading to qualifications in GCSEs or their TECH Award vocational equivalents: BTECs and VCERTs. In this website you will find details of the courses we offer and the types of assessment and examinations used. There will also be a 'Guided Choices' Evening on Thursday, January 16th, 2025, starting at 5:50pm.

Click the arrow to the top right to read more.

As well as the Options Evening, to assist in these important decisions the website will provide you with:

online guides to each subjects
a recorded presentation on the Options process,
‘How to’ guides to filling in the Google options form

There will also be a Year 9 subject parents evening on Thursday 23rd January. You will be able to have a meeting with the teachers of your child, so you can get a better overview of how they are progressing across a range of subjects.

Your child will have already been informed of the Pathway they are on in a separate letter before Christmas.

Our aim is to allow a degree of choice while making sure that all pupils have a broad, balanced curriculum. Students will be sent a link to an ONLINE GOOGLE FORM a couple of days before the Guided Choices Evening, in January, which will allow you to make the choices alongside your child. This will need to be completed by the deadline, Monday, 27th January, 4pm. If you are unable to access the GOOGLE FORM, then you may contact your Assistant Head of House, who will complete the form for you.

For much of this year, students have spent a great deal of PSHE time (as well as time in other subjects) in preparation for the important decisions which must now be taken. Hence the content of this website should contain no surprises for your son or daughter.

Obviously staffing levels and accommodation have an impact on the options which we can offer. While every attempt will be made to meet students’ requests, it may be necessary to offer some students alternative options from those that they initially request. This may occur if too few pupils opt for a subject, or if there are too many to accommodate. In addition, if a student chooses an unsuitable subject, or too narrow a range of subjects, they will receive an Options Guidance session with Mr Phillips, Deputy Head for Curriculum, where they will be able to discuss their choices and explore a range of appropriate alternatives.

I urge you to read through with your son or daughter all the information you receive. Please do not hesitate to contact your House Head, our SENCO, Mrs Lewis, or Mr Phillips, if you require advice on any aspect of your child’s subject choice which may be causing you concern. You can do this via enquiries@nortonhillschool.com

Yours sincerely

Gordon Green

Headteacher

pATHWAYS

We want to support students by offering 3 pathways which will:

give them the opportunity to achieve the highest possible outcomes.

ensure that the qualifications students are taking will help them progress to appropriate subjects in the 6th form, College or Apprenticeships, and then onto their future careers or Higher education.
encourage students to choose the most challenging subjects that they are able to succeed at, and so allow our students to compete well with other students across the nation, in the future.

We will look at the previous achievements of students in a range of subjects, including Maths, English, the Humanities and Languages, to determine which range of subjects will offer students the most appropriate choices. Whilst we will place students on a Guided Pathway, there will be a considerable overlap between each Pathway, and also the opportunity for students to move between Pathways in discussion with Mr Phillips. All students will be initially placed in a particular Pathway to begin with.

Please watch the videos above to learn about our KS4 Curriculum. We recommend viewing this video in full screen.

SELECT A PATHWAY TO START YOUR VIRTUAL TOUR

Pathway 1

Applied Learning Certificate

Students are invited onto this pathway by Mrs Lewis, the school’s Special Educational Needs Coordinator

Students take the Applied Learning Certificate instead of a Foreign Language.

Next, students choose either History or Geography.

Finally, students make TWO further choices.

Further details of this pathway will be provided to those students who are contacted by Mrs Lewis.

Pathway 2

TECH AWARD instead of French

Students invited onto this pathway do not continue with French, but choose one of the following TECH Awards instead. These are subjects equivalent to GCSEs, but with at least 40% coursework:

Health and Fitness
IT iMedia
Business Enterprise
Health and Social Care
Child Development & Care

Next, students choose either History or Geography.

Finally, students make TWO further choices from a range of GCSE and Vocational qualifications.

Pathway 3

Modern Foreign Language

Students automatically choose between Spanish and French, and some may wish to study both as part of their Option Choices.

Next, students choose either History or Geography – and can study the both as one of their other Options Choice.

Finally, students make TWO further choices from a range of qualifications – which may include taking a second Humanities from History and Geography, or a second Modern Foreign Language