Key Stage 3 Year 8 Information Evening Nicola Fareham Head of Department Leanne Dickinson KS3 Co-ordinator Richard Allan Intervention Co-ordinator Dan Radford Teacher of Maths

To keep you informed of the changes nationally to GCSE exams. To keep you informed of the key dates this year: -Parents evenings -Assessments To explain how we set homework and what our expectations are. To show you what you should see in your child’s book. To inform you of what your child can do in order to be ready to learn. Why do we have an information evening?

The New GCSE and how it will affect your child Instead of the traditional A*-G grades, they will be numbered 1-9. Students will be placed in classes following pathways from Year 7 through to Year 11 on these new levels. New Mathematics topics have been introduced into the syllabus to allow students to access better opportunities after school. Students are either working towards the Foundation (1- 5) or Higher (4-9) exam depending on their ability. The tier they sit will not be determined until the end of year 10, but may possibly still change in year 11.

Maths GCSE Changes All students sitting their GCSE Maths exams from 2017 will be following a new curriculum. It will be a linear specification with students having one sitting at the end of year calculator papers and 1 non-calculator. Broader and deeper mathematical content. Designed to be more rigorous to allow stretch and challenge for both Higher and Foundation students

A similar proportion of students will achieve a grade 4 and above as currently achieve a grade C and above. A similar proportion of students will achieve a grade 7 and above as currently achieve an A and above. For each examination, the top 20 per cent of those who get grade 7 or above will get a grade 9 – the very highest performers. The bottom of grade 1 will be aligned with the bottom of grade G. Grading

Grade 5 will be positioned in the top third of the marks for a current Grade C and bottom third of the marks for a current Grade B. This will mean it will be of greater demand than the present grade C, and broadly in line with what the best available evidence tells us is the average performance in countries such as Finland, Canada, the Netherlands and Switzerland. The new maths GCSE will be tiered, with grades 4 and 5 available through both tiers. Grading

Ofqual Chief Regulator Glenys Stacey said “We do need to caution against direct comparisons and overly simplistic descriptions of the approach. For example, it is not right to say simply that a new grade 4 will equal a current grade C.” Grading

Year 8 Scheme of Work

“Corridor of delight” All students will receive a grade tracker showing them whether or not they are on the right path to making good progress.

Tracking Progress All students will receive a sticker for their books where they can record their progress and refer to it.

Testing Students will be assessed every half term. This will allow both the student and teacher to see where progress has been made and intervention put in place with appropriate students. We will closely monitor students’ progress, and make set changes based on ALL of the results that we have available to us for each student. This is to ensure that every student is in the set that is right for THEM, and that they are working at the most appropriate level for their ability.

Year 8 Test Dates All students in year 8 will be sitting the following tests this year: Week beginning 24 th November 2014 Week beginning 19 th January 2015 Week beginning 9 th March 2015 Week beginning 20 th April 2015 Week beginning 22 nd June 2015 (provisional) After each test we will look at the setting and decide if there are any students who need to change sets.

Intervention After school enrichments – all teachers offer at least one hour per week to help catch up on homework, classwork or consolidate classwork with extra practice. One to one intervention – any student who is not showing progress from their most recent assessment is selected for one to one tuition. This is during the school day, once per week.

Setting There are 7 sets in each band in year 8. They will be working towards the new GCSE grading system. Set 1 are currently working towards the 4-7 tier Sets 2,3 and 4 are currently working towards the 3-5 tier Sets 5 and 6 are currently working towards the 2-4 tier Set 7 are currently working towards the 1-2 tier This has been decided based upon their attainment levels in year 7 and will be monitored throughout year 8.

End of KS3 Test – week beginning 22 nd of June 2015 This is the most important test in year 8 as it will determine each students’ Key Stage 3 level and will help us decide which set they will be in in year 9. Students who are placed in sets 1-3 in Year 9 will be studying for the Higher Paper, and students in sets 4-7 will be studying for the Foundation Paper. Students with a level 5 at the end of Key Stage 3 are highly likely to leave school with a grade C (new level 4) or above at GCSE.

Option Maths We will use the results of the End of KS3 Tests to select students for Option Maths and English in year 9. Around 25% of the cohort are selected for additional help to achieve a C grade in both Maths & English by the end of year 11. It cannot be taken as a single option until Year 11. We have found that Option Maths helps students dramatically and has a huge effect on a student’s chances of achieving a C grade.

Revision Several weeks before the End of Key Stage 3 test students will be given access to online revision materials for them to work through at home via our website. They will also be working through past papers in class to help prepare them for the test.

Homework Homework is set on a weekly basis and students will have one week to complete it. Homework will usually be set using To access mymaths you need to use the login outwood and password equilateral. Each student then has their own individual login and password. Every teacher runs at least one enrichment per week where students can seek help if they are struggling with their homework.

Homework Policy Maths homework is set in line with Academy policy. Each piece of homework must be completed by a given deadline. If students do not manage this, they will be given an extension. If they then do not complete the homework by the extended deadline they will be issued with a detention (which will be recorded on a sticker in their planner). Students are only allowed one extended deadline in maths per praising stars cycle, and any homework detention for incomplete homework will result in an E4 for that cycle.

What can students do? Come prepared to every lesson: Book Scientific calculator Pen Pencil Ruler Planner Be ready to learn Make all appropriate notes Complete all classwork Use correct equipment (e.g. draw diagrams with pencil and ruler) Ensure all homework is completed on time

Parents’ Evenings Tuesday 11 th of November 2014 Tuesday 3 rd of March 2015 Tuesday 21 st of April 2015

Thanks for listening Any Questions?