TKA GCSE Guided Choices 2022

Welcome from Mrs Macfarlane, Head of Year 9

Hello and welcome to our Kingston Academy GCSE Guided Choices website! While it is a shame that we are not able to host our normal GCSE Guided Choices Information Evening due to Covid-19 case numbers, I hope that this website proves to be a helpful resource that you can peruse and return to at your own convenience as Year 9 make their GCSE subject choices.

This is likely the first time that our pupils are having to make a decision about their future learning. The choices that Year 9 make at this stage of their education may have an impact on their post-16 pathways and potentially their future career aspirations. Therefore, it is important that all of our pupils are guided to make the GCSE choices that best fit their passions and interests, as well as their progress as a learner so far.

Each Curriculum Lead has produced a short video summarising the content of their subject's GCSE curriculum; these videos can be found via the drop down bars at the top of this site. There are additional information videos and advice from our Careers Lead, Ms Young, underneath the heading 'Careers', and from our SENCo, Ms Briggs, underneath the 'Inclusion' heading.

I hope that this website serves to be a helpful resource for everybody involved in this process. If you need any further support from myself or your child's form tutor, please do not hesitate to reach out.

smacfarlane@thekingstonacademy.org

Welcome from Mr Brook, Senior Deputy Head Teacher

Welcome to the Guided choices process. This booklet is your guide to the Key Stage 4 curriculum at TKA for 2022-2024.

Our pupils entering Year 10 are starting out on perhaps the most important part of their school career so far. At TKA we make it our aim to provide each individual pupil with the support they need to make the GCSE choices that are right for them.

This can be an anxious time for families, as it marks the first point at which pupils will be setting out in different directions to their peers. It may not seem long ago that your children were starting at TKA, and indeed, the next phase of their education, Key Stage 4 will also fly by. Key Stage 4 (KS4) spans Years 10 and 11, and all courses will follow the latest National Curriculum changes, in the form of the GCSEs which will be graded 9-1. Pupils and Parents will already be very familiar with these grades rather than the historic letter grades, as our Key Stage 3 assessment systems have previously mirrored these.

Outcomes from the end of KS4 will form the stepping stones to Key Stage 5, where we anticipate many pupils will study A-levels, with some taking vocational qualifications, either at TKA or other local providers such as our Trust partners, Kingston College. Other pupils may go on to study for technical qualifications or begin apprenticeships. To ensure that pupils achieve their full potential and are prepared for life and work beyond TKA, careful choices need to be made now.

We very much hope that our Year 9 pupils are looking forward to the fresh challenge that the GCSE curriculum will offer them.