This time of year is a very important stage in the educational life of second year pupils as you and your child make decisions regarding the experiences and subjects he/she will engage with in S3, the final year of the Broad General Education. This information has been prepared so that you know which courses are being offered in S3, what they involve and the progression they allow into National Qualifications, starting in S4.

Our purpose is to provide a high quality, all-round education for each of our young people. The school community wants to support all our pupils to be all they can be. For each individual pupil we aim to provide a broad range of appropriate educational experiences to ensure preparation for adult life. Our courses seek to develop successful learners, confident individuals, responsible citizens and young people who are effective contributors. The Broad General Education is the keystone of the government’s philosophy. The S3 experience should include participation in a wide range of experiences and outcomes, including a blend of curricular areas and subjects as well as some activities to develop personal achievement. Learners will receive increased opportunities to specialise in their chosen subjects across different curricular areas in line with their entitlements to a Broad and General Education. Your son/daughter’s S3 course option includes opportunities to choose a wide range of curricular subjects and opportunities for personal achievement.

The courses chosen now will last for the duration of S3 and your son/daughter will review their curriculum choices near the end of S3, prior to making the transition to the Senior Phase. New national Qualifications have been introduced for study from the start of the Senior Phase in S4. They are called National 3, 4 and 5, and are designed to assess the core skills being developed in Curriculum for Excellence. Details of these courses are found in this booklet for your information. Your son/daughter should be looking to choose subjects for S3 which they can progress with through into the Senior Phase and National Qualifications. It is important for you to be aware that we are currently reviewing the Perth Academy Senior Phase curriculum structure. Under the new structure, students making the transition into the Senior Phase will sit no more than 7 National Qualifications in S4. Great care will be taken in school to ensure that your son/daughter makes the correct choice and advice and guidance will be given by class teachers. Your son/daughter will also have a personal interview with his/her guidance teacher to discuss their choices. While it is not impossible to pick up new courses of study in S4, well planned natural progression in subject areas clearly offers the best possible chances of success for learners, so it is important to make the right decisions now.

We try our best to give pupils all of their choices, however on some occasions this is not always possible. This can be down to a number of reasons such as those noted below, and it is therefore really important that pupils think carefully about their reserve choices.

• Too many pupils have selected this subject for the number of classes that we can run, this can be due to number of staff in the department, facilities/equipment.

• Not enough pupils have selected that subject which means the class is not viable to run that year.

• Staffing can change during the course choice process which means a subject can no longer run,

• There may be a clash between the two subjects that a pupil wishes to take, as both run at the same time they will need to choice one as a first choice and another choice in a different column.

If we cannot accommodate a pupils subject choices, we will use their reserve choices. If there are any problems with your choices, your Guidance Teacher will re-interview you to discuss your course choice options again.