At The Hamble School, we are determined to offer each and every student a curriculum that suits their individual needs, while complying with national recommendations and guidelines. We are proud to offer a range of courses covering many subject areas. Over the past few years the government has introduced the concept of the ‘English Baccalaureate’ (EBacc). The EBacc is not a qualification in its own right. It is a combination of academic subjects that the government wants to encourage more students to take. The EBacc consists of: English, Maths, Science, a Language, History or Geography.

The government has set targets for 75% of students to take the EBacc by 2022 increasing to 90% by 2025. However, we appreciate that EBacc is not the correct route for everyone and some students would prefer more scope to study creative and practical subjects. Therefore, we will be allocating students onto one of two pathways. Pathway A will be for students who will study the full EBacc suite of subjects. For students on Pathway B they will have the same choice of subjects but it will not be compulsory to study a Language. The preference process is outlined below but in summary, your child will continue with their studies in English, Maths, Science, Core PE and PSHCRE.

All students will study either History or Geography and 5 subjects from the list below.

Students who are on Pathway A will also study either Spanish or French and 4 subjects from the list below

At the end of Year 9, they will then choose 4 of these to carry on at GCSE/BTEC level in Year 10 and 11.

At the end of Year 9, if students choose to continue to study Design Technology/Engineering, they will be able to select to specialise in Design Technology GCSE or Engineering BTEC in Year 10 and 11. Likewise if students studied Art/Photography in Year 9 and choose to continue they will specialise in either Art or Photography.

For some subjects, in Year 10 and 11 they will study either a BTEC or GCSE qualification. Heads of department will decide on the most appropriate qualification route in consultation with your son/daughter. These subjects include; IT Practitioners and P.E.

In terms of allocation of periods, students will follow the following model:

An email will be sent home on the 18 March which will include a Microsoft form for your child to indicate their subject choices.

Over the coming weeks your child and yourselves will have the opportunity to access the following in order to support decisions about preference choices:

It is important at this stage in their education, that students choose a broad and balanced curriculum which will keep many doors open for their future lives, careers and further education pathways.

When making their choices, we would encourage students to consider the following questions:

• What am I good at already?
• What do I want to be?
• Who do I want to be?
• What will motivate and excite me for three years?
• What will help me take the next steps in my life?

We always try our best to give students their first choices but if more pupils opt for a course than there are places available, if not enough pupils opt for a course and therefore we cannot afford to run it or if in our opinion, students have made an inappropriate or unwise choice then we will be unable to give them these choices. In this case students will be spoken to on an individual bases and support to make alternative choices will be provided.