St John Plessington Catholic College

Year 9 Options

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“Education is the most powerful weapon which can you can use to change the world” - Nelson Mandela

The next two years will bring challenge and change, as well as increased responsibility and a wealth of opportunities as young adulthood beckons.

We are inspired by the quotation from the late Nelson Mandela who makes us realise the transformative nature of education. As educators, we are privileged to work with the next generation of inventors, carers, doctors and parents to name a few.

Expectations are high for our Key Stage 4 pupils at SJP. We believe every pupil can achieve and succeed, whatever their ability. Excellent attendance and punctuality are crucial for success. Students are well supported and our excellent pastoral system links very closely to the curriculum.

Subject teachers report on your progress throughout the year and Form Tutors will meet regularly with you during form time. In addition to this, you will meet with your Learning Coach throughout the year to review your progress and to set targets to take your learning to the next level. You will find that advice and help is available from the whole range of Key Stage 4 pastoral and curriculum staff, through until the end of Year 11.

Pupils are challenged at Key Stage 4 to organise and manage their study time. Form time is a key focal point in each day where you will have the  opportunity to continue your studies. Liturgical Prayer and extra-curricular activities remain an important part of College life and we hope that they will manage to balance their work life with enjoyment, through participating in the many events which allow time for us to have fun and grow together as a community.

Rewarding pupils is very important to us. In each term in Key Stage 4 we will have Achievement Assemblies where we acknowledge and celebrate your hard work and encourage success. 

We expect that positive recognition for good work and effort will be awarded on a regular basis on our Arbor platform.

This is an exciting time for our students and there are lots of interesting times ahead! The first stage is to select the subjects you will be studying. Some of these you will get to choose and the details in this booklet will help with those decisions.

As you are probably aware, there are also some subjects which ALL pupils will study. Here at SJP, these ‘core’ or compulsory subjects include English, Mathematics, Science, RE, Humanities and Core PE. 

We have spent much time ensuring that the provision accurately meets the needs of all pupils and prepares them for the ever changing world we live in. Current Government curriculum measures (Progress 8 and Attainment 8) require pupils to pursue a suite of specific subjects and combinations of these subjects are available for all our pupils.

I advise you to choose subjects that you enjoy and are good at, this usually goes hand in hand.

Working in partnership with families to support learning is something we value greatly here at SJP. Together we can ensure that each student realises their potential and leads a choice-filled life. Should you require any further information, please do not hesitate to contact us at the College.

Mr P McLoughlin

Headteacher