In Year 8 Perins students choose their Key Stage 4 courses early in the summer term. We work hard to give parents and students the information they need about the courses that they will spend the next three years studying. Students are able to study up to a maximum of 10 GCSE subjects as follows:
In Key Stage 4 all students study English Language, English Literature, Maths and Science. They will also have two hours of PE per week and each student will take modules of compulsory Religious Education spread throughout Years 9 and 10, delivered by our Personal Development Learning (PDL) team.
Students choose four additional subjects to study at Key Stage 4 alongside the core curriculum. The majority of students are encouraged to take both a language and a humanities subject, giving them a combination of subjects which forms the English Baccalaureate and demonstrates ability and achievement in a broad range of academic subjects. All students are required take at least one additional subject from the Baccalaureate list: Computing, History, Geography, French and Spanish.
For their remaining subjects, students can choose from the courses offered by the Creative Arts, Technology and Sport Departments or, of course, select additional Baccalaureate subjects. We offer a range of qualifications in these areas including GCSEs, BTECs (a GCSE equivalent) and Cambridge National Qualifications. These add breadth and depth to the diversity of our Key Stage 4 curriculum.
In Years 7 and 8 all students study the Combined Sciences curriculum of Biology, Chemistry and Physics. During Year 10, depending upon career aspirations and ability, some students will change to studying the three sciences as individual subjects enabling them to take three GCSEs. Other students will be able to continue with the core Combined Sciences course and also take Additional Science, enabling them to take two GCSEs. Students are able to progress to A Level Sciences at college, whichever routeway they take.
We recommend that students continue to study a balanced academic curriculum in Key Stage 4. It is difficult for students aged just 12 or 13 to know what they might want to do in the future and we want to ensure that they are well placed to choose from a wide range of options, not only at A level but also when looking at the vast range of courses available in Higher Education, including applying to top universities. We want to ensure that our students “keep doors open” to make further choices in the future. We help students to balance a number of important factors:
- The student’s strength in each of the subjects
- The need to have a broad and balanced approach to their subject choices
- The importance of giving students the most appropriate qualifications they will need in the future
Please note that whilst we work hard to provide choice for students and to give as many as we can their first choice, this is not always possible. With some courses, such as Technology, the course is only possible to run if a sufficient number of students choose it. Should this happen we will be in touch with you to discuss the best next steps.