Welcome to the Year 9 Options process

At this stage of your education, we ask you to make some very important decisions about the courses you would like to study over the next two years of your education at the Forest School. Our ambition at the Forest School is for all of you to leave us equipped with the appropriate skills and qualifications to forge your futures. Making key decisions about what the next steps in education should be are always very difficult; education is not just about what someone achieves but also about enjoyment and creating sparks of interest which will carry on with you for life.

There are some compulsory subjects all students have to study at GCSE. At Forest these are: English Language, English Literature, mathematics, and sciences. In addition, all students have lessons in: Personal, Social and Health Education (PSHE) and Physical Education (PE).

Combined with these subjects you have some options over which subjects you would like to study. The website is designed to give you information regarding the subjects you can study in Year 10 and 11. 

To help with these decisions you may wish to consider these questions:

• What are you good at and what do you enjoy?

• Where can you use your talents best?

• What do you want to do in the future and what qualifications do you need?

People that could help you to make these decisions are:

• Your parents/carers

• Your current Year 9 teachers

• Your form tutor

• The subject lead teachers at the Forest School

• Mr. Laker – Member of staff leading Options

The government are constantly reviewing and adapting qualifications that you are offered. They are placing more emphasis on you leaving school with a broad range of GCSE subjects which includes English, mathematics, science, a foreign language and either geography or history. Currently Universities are not using this as an entry requirement, but this could change. To best prepare you for this we ask you to choose certain categories of subjects on your options forms.

Please make sure you choose carefully, keep an open mind and make the most of this important opportunity.

We wish you well with your selections,

Mr. Laker