Year 9 Options

To our pupils:

This phase of your education is probably the most important and hopefully the most exciting part of your learning so far. The next two years will bring challenge and change, as well as increased responsibility and a wealth of opportunities as young adulthood beckons.

Expectations are high for our Key Stage 4 pupils at St Mary’s. We believe every pupil can achieve and succeed, whatever their ability. Good attendance and punctuality are crucial for success and are a basic expectation. You will be really well supported and our outstanding pastoral system links very closely to the curriculum.

Subject Teachers report on your progress throughout the year and Form Tutors will meet regularly with you in Inspire Time . You will find that advice and help is available from the whole range of Key Stage 4 pastoral and curriculum staff, right through until the end of Year 11 and then on into our outstanding Sixth Form.

Our pupils are challenged at Key Stage 4 to organise and manage their study time. Inspire Time is a key focal point in each day where you will receive further support and guidance.

Assemblies and extra-curricular activities remain an important part of College life and we hope that you will manage to balance your school work with enjoyment, through participating in the many events which allow time for us to have fun and grow together as a community.

Rewarding pupils is very important to us. In each term in Key Stage 4 we will have Achievement Assemblies where we acknowledge and celebrate your hard work and encourage success.

We will recognise your good work and effort on a regular basis with celebratory phone calls and postcards to your home.

So there are lots of interesting times ahead! The first stage is to determine the subjects you will be studying. Some of these you will get to choose and the details in this booklet will help with those decisions.

To our pupils, parents and carers:

As you are probably aware, there are some subjects which ALL pupils will study. Here at St Mary’s, these ‘core’ or compulsory subjects include English, Mathemat- ics, Science, RE, a Humanity (either Geography or History), PSHE, RSE and Core PE. All pupils have the option to study French. As you may know, currently, some universities recognise studying a language and a humanities (Ebacc) as a signal or a reference of a student’s potential on a degree course. All pupils have the option to study triple science, this is where pupils learn Biology, Chemistry and Physics separately and is worth 3 GCSEs rather than two. Parents and pupils will be given advice and guidance about what options are best suited to them. We have spent a great deal of time ensuring that the currency of the courses on offer accurately meets the needs of all pupils and prepares them for further study and the competitive world they will be joining in the future.

To parents and carers:

Working in partnership with parents and carers to support the learning of our pupils is something we value greatly here at St Mary’s – your help, support and encouragement with this is much appreciated. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at the College.