Year 9 Guided Choices
From Years 7 to 9, Holderness Academy provides a broad and balanced curriculum, equipping students with essential knowledge and skills that form the foundation for their Key Stage 4 studies.
The Year 9 Pathways process empowers students to choose the courses they will continue with in Years 10 and 11, shaping their individual learning journey.
Our goal is to personalise learning and provide comprehensive support by:
- Offering a diverse and engaging curriculum.
- Providing students with genuine choices in their course selection.
- Delivering high-quality, impartial advice and guidance to inform their decisions.
Making informed choices is a collaborative effort involving teachers, parents/carers and the wider community. Over the next four months, leading up to the option selection deadline, you and your child will have access to a variety of resources and opportunities to discuss these important decisions with staff.
Key Stage 4 is the name given to the period of education during Years 10 and 11. A range of qualifications are available to ensure that students achieve the best possible grades to match individual levels of ability and aptitude. Although there is some flexibility in terms of the choice of courses followed at Key Stage 4, the Department for Education insists that all students follow a compulsory core of key subjects, which includes English, Maths, Science and aspects of Religious Studies, Social, Moral, Spiritual and Cultural (SMSC) which includes Careers - this forms part of our ARRK program.
The structure of our curriculum at Key Stage 4 is provided below:
| Curriculum Area | Subject | GCSEs Awarded | Hours Per Fortnight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Core | English (GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature) | 2 | 10 |
| Maths GCSE | 1 | 9 | |
| Combined Science or Separate Science |
Combined Science - 2 GCSEs Separate Science - 3 GCSEs |
10 | |
| Humanities | Geography or History | 1 | 6 |
|
GCSE Option 2
|
Option Choice Subjects Art ASDAN Business Food Technology BTEC First Award ICT 3D Product Design GCSE Physical Education GCSE Philosophy and Ethics Health and Social Care Sociology Spanish |
1 | 6 |
| GCSE Option 3 | 1 | 6 | |
| ARRK | ARRK Lessons (British Values and RSE Framework) | - | 1 |
| Performance | Core Physical Education | - | 2 |
Total timetabled lessons over a fortnight (Week A and Week B)
GCSEs Awarded = 8 GCSEs
Hours Per Fortnight = 50
Core subjects, as well as PE and ARRK, will automatically be added to each student's timetable as a lesson as part of our pastoral delivery or focus days. Further changes have also been made recently by the Department for Education to ensure that students have access to a broad and balanced curriculum consisting of at least 8 subjects.
All courses will also contain a high level of external assessment. An increased emphasis on literacy skills means that most examinations will carry marks for extended written answers containing the correct spelling, punctuation and grammar.