Year 9 KS3 into 4 Transition Talk

Key stage 3 to 4 transition information talk 6pm Tuesday April 5th, 2022

Dear Parents / Carers,

As we approach the end of our second term of Year 9, we are enjoying a more ‘normal’ school set up and students being far more settled into their learning after such an extended period of challenges. It is great to see so many students really applying themselves and taking full advantage of the opportunities on offer.

As students move from Year 9 into Year 10, the transition from Key stage 3 to 4, we are intending to reduce too much change, given the disruption endured over the past 2 years, and ensure that students have an ambitious broad and balanced curriculum.

The core curriculum of English, Maths, Science, Modern Languages and Humanities currently followed will continue into Year 10 and 11. These subjects provide an ambitious and traditional solid base for students to build on. Students will be asked to make 2 choices to sit alongside these GCSEs, firstly choosing which humanities subject they wish to take to GCSE, Geography or History and then deciding on a further subject they would like to take. These choices of subjects will continue alongside the additional GCSE or BTEC subject that students have already chosen and being studied during Year 9 and 10.

The curriculum will look like this for the majority of students for Years 10 and 11:

• English – 2 GCSEs in Language and Literature
• Mathematics
• Science – 2 GCSEs in Combined Science
• Modern Language – Either French, Spanish or German, whichever is currently studied
• Geography or History
• The GCSE/BTEC subject begun at the start of Year 9 and completed at the end of Year 10. (BTEC Sport, Enterprise or Music or GCSE Classics, Religious Studies or Statistics).
• An additional GCSE chosen from one of the Arts, Technology or Social Science subjects. (Art, Art Textiles, Drama, Dance, Music, Computer Science, Food Technology, Design Technology, Hospitality and Catering, Media Studies, Citizenship, Sociology, or whichever humanities subject not selected or an additional language).This will equate to 9 GCSEs or equivalent.

Our SENCO and the SEND team are working to ensure that specific students will be provided with a curriculum that will be more accessible to them, you will be contacted separately if this is relevant to you. Please find linked a key stage 4 transition booklet which will have information about all these subjects and instructions on how to make the selections via the SIMs app as used previously last year. This will go live from Wednesday 23rd March.

To provide you as Parents/Carers with more information on what Key Stage 4 will look like and how your child will be learning you are invited to an information talk at 6pm on Tuesday 5th April in the school hall.

Yours sincerely,
Mike Newman
Deputy Headteacher