2024-2025
DENSTONE COLLEGE MIDDLE SCHOOL CURRICULUM FOR THE ACADEMIC YEAR 2024-2025
The term ‘Middle School’ at Denstone College refers to the Fourth and Fifth Forms (years 10 and 11).
The Middle School curriculum is composed of a mixture of compulsory and optional courses making a normal total of between 8 and 10 GCSE/IGCSEs. These years are an important period of transition as you move towards preparing for Sixth Form and then university, or the world of work, and you begin to specialise after the broad curriculum you have been following until now.
The purpose of providing this document is to help you in deciding upon a suitable collection of courses to study. There is a lot of information to consider. Think carefully about it and discuss things fully with your parents/guardians, tutor, Head of House and subject teachers before making any final decisions. You may also find it useful to speak to Mr Lightfoot (Head of Careers) or Mrs Watson (Head of Higher Education), especially if you already have specific careers or university courses in mind, and want to know the best GCSEs to follow with this in mind.
The ‘core’ GCSE curriculum
Four subjects are compulsory in Middle School for most students, consisting of a possible total of six or seven GCSEs. They are:
English (GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature, for higher sets)
Mathematics (IGCSE)
Science (Two or Three GCSEs)
Modern Foreign Language (French or Spanish, with Supervised Study an option for a few pupils not taking a language GCSE)
In English, Mathematics and Science pupils will be taught in sets based on past and ongoing performance.
All Fourth Form pupils will be set in Science according to relevant assessment data and teacher feedback, with approximately half the year group undertaking the ‘triple science’ course, which leads to three separate awards in Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and others studying the ‘Combined Science’ course, which leads to two GCSE awards in Science (see details contained in this booklet). Studying the ‘Combined Science’ course will provide students with more study time during the working week and still provides the opportunity for ‘A’ Level science study (dependent on the final grades achieved).
Each member of the Middle School can also pick up to three optional subjects to study at GCSE. Some pupils may benefit from more time to concentrate on fewer GCSEs. In this case, there exists a Supervised Study option in place of studying a Modern Foreign Language, whereby the pupil will have four periods of supervised study each week to commit to the other GCSE subjects they are studying. Supervised Study can also be selected as an optional subjects, allowing pupils time to engage with a range of academic enrichment, support and extension activities in place of a third optional GCSE subject. In this way, it is possible for pupils to have flexibility over the number of GCSE courses they will be studying, with some opting for a slightly narrower range of courses. When choosing subjects the onus should very much be on ‘quality rather than quantity,’ with higher grades in a narrower range of GCSE subjects generally preferable to lower grades across more subjects.
Please note that, once courses commence in September, pupils will only be permitted to drop a GCSE subject in exceptional circumstances; we expect pupils to be fully committed to the subjects they choose.
Optional Courses
Optional GCSE subjects available from September are:
Art
Business
Computer Science
Design and Technology (DT)
Drama
Spanish (for pupils who wish to study both Spanish and French)
Geography
History
Music
Physical Education (PE)
Religious Studies (RS)
In addition, pupils may choose Supervised Study as an option. This course will provide additional time and support to support and consolidate academic progress in other subjects or to engage in specific academic extension tasks. Supervised Study is not a GCSE course so should only be taken by pupils wishing to study one less subject at GCSE.
Please note that pupils opting for Supervised Study (instead of a modern foreign language) should not also opt for Supervised Study instead of an optional GCSE subject.
Which options should be chosen?
The selection decision should be seen as an opportunity to create a personal curriculum of your choice.
The decision about options is a significant one and a number of important questions should be borne in mind:
How good are you at a particular subject; do you have an aptitude for it?
Are you genuinely interested in these subjects?
What are the implications for A levels, higher education and career choices of one subject rather than another?
Are you able to successfully study for 9 or 10 (I)GCSEs, or would you benefit from spending more time on fewer subjects?
It is often desirable to keep some breadth in your chosen programme. As such, many pupils will opt for at least one humanities subject (such as Geography, History or Religious Studies) alongside at least one creative subject (such as Art, DT, Drama or Music), although there is no compulsion to do so. It is our recommendation that pupils should follow a balanced curriculum and not become over-specialised too early in their academic careers. For this reason we anticipate that the vast majority of pupils will opt to study at least one modern foreign language at GCSE level. The number of pupils leaving school with a foreign language GCSE is in decline nationally; taking Spanish or French (or both) can therefore be a real selling point for a pupil moving forward to university and the world of work.
Please remember that GCSE choices can have an influence on the subsequent selection of A Level subjects. It is perfectly possible, however, to commence some of our sixth form courses without having done the subject at GCSE. For example, the A Level course in Business and our sixth form vocational courses (BTEC Sport and CTEC ICT) require no previous study of these subjects.
Please select three optional subjects from the previous list. We will then endeavour to produce a set of option blocks that will allow us to accommodate as many choices as possible. After this time, you will still be able to change your option choices so long as they are within the settled blocks.
Choose French as the compulsory language and then pick Spanish from the list of options if you wish to study both languages at GCSE.
Please bear in mind that it may not be possible to timetable all the combinations of subjects that are chosen, and you may have to choose an alternative option, but we will assist you if this is the case. For this reason, please give some thought to the subject you wish to nominate as your reserve (4th) option choice.
The Middle School Tutorial Programme
The personal development of our pupils is taking place every moment they are with us. The House Tutor will provide individual care, support and guidance and will monitor academic progress. Our Middle School tutorial programme aims to help equip our pupils with the skills they need to be balanced, emotionally resilient and responsible individuals. Tutors play a pivotal role in delivering this programme and thereby managing the overall development of their tutees.
Themes covered during the Middle School years are constantly reviewed and updated. Recent examples include…
Getting into good habits
How we learn
Strategies for dealing with stress
Communication
At what age can I?
Consent
Manners
Revision techniques
Personal Health Check – Sleep
Alcohol
Revision timetables
Personal Finance
Growth Mindset
Our tutorial programme compliments our academic and co-curricular programmes, being delivered each week by House Tutors. Further queries about this programme can be directed to Mr C S Farman (Head of Wellbeing) or Mr R Mace (Head of Middle School).