Year 10 Information Evening September 14th 2017

St Francis of Assisi CTC School Prayer Father of us all, Look upon us in your love and bless us. Bless this school which was built For the education of our young people. Bless our students and teachers, Our parents, our governors and all who work here. May our young people grow in wisdom, age and grace Before you and all your people. May this school always be a home of truth and wisdom, Of faith and goodwill towards all. Through the prayers of St. Francis, May this school help our community, And build your kingdom of justice, light and peace. Loving Father, Listen to our prayer, Which we offer through Christ our Lord, In your Holy Spirit, One God, for ever and ever.   Amen. St Francis of Assisi CTC School Prayer

Aims of this Evening

A Little Context Challenge NILS SATIS OPTIMUM A personal challenge to each student to be the best they can be, achieve the most they can achieve. Competition Every student in this year group will be competing for places with around 160,000 other year 10s in apprenticeships, sixth forms, universities and jobs. They need to be ready for that. 3. The Real World Students need to learn the independence they will need outside of school. This starts with their studies and develops from there. A Little Context

pconway@stfrancis.cc agriggs@stfrancis.cc

Programme for this Evening Exam Changes Calendar for the GCSE Course Mathematics English RE Homework Well Being Early Revision Tips

Why aren’t all the grades letters anymore? Old Grades New Grades A*+ 9 A*-, A+ 8 A- 7 B+ 6 C+, B- 5 C-, D+ 4 D-, E+ 3 E-, F+ 2 F-, G 1

Old Grades New Grades A*+ 9 A*-, A+ 8 A- 7 B+ 6 C+, B- 5 C-, D+ 4 D-, E+ 3 E-, F+ 2 F-, G 1

Old Grades New Grades A*+ 9 A*-, A+ 8 A- 7 B+ 6 C+, B- 5 C-, D+ 4 D-, E+ 3 E-, F+ 2 F-, G 1

Subject Exam Board Number of Exams Length of Exams Total Exam Length Coursework Maths Edexcel 3 Each 1½ hours 4½ hours None English Language AQA 2 Each 1¾ hours 3½ hours English Literature 1 x 1¾ hours 1 x 2¼ hours 4 hours Religious Education

Subject Exam Board Number of Exams Length of Exams Total Exam Length Coursework Combined Science Edexcel 6 6 x 1¾ hours 10½ hours None Biology 2 2 x 1 hour 10 mins 2 hours 20 mins Chemistry Physics

Between 2 hrs 45 mins and 3 hrs 15 mins Subject Exam Board Number of Exams Length of Exams Total Exam Length Coursework French AQA 4 4 of varying lengths Between 2 hrs 45 mins and 3 hrs 15 mins None German Geography OCR 3 2 x 1¼ hours 1 x 1½hours 4 hours History 1 x 1 hour 1 x 1¼ 3 ¾ hours Computer Science 2 2 x 1½hours 3 hours 20%

BTEC Health & Social Care Subject Exam Board Number of Exams Length of Exams Total Exam Length Coursework Business Studies Edexcel 2 2 x 1½ hours 3 hours 25% Physical Education 1 x 1¾ hours 1 x 1¼ hours 40% Media Studies AQA 1 x 2 hours 2 hours 60% BTEC Health & Social Care 1 1 x 1 hour 1 hour 75%

Subject Exam Board Number of Exams Length of Exams Total Exam Length Coursework Food Tech AQA 1 1 x 1¾ hours 1¾ hours 50% Textiles 1 x 2 hours 2 hours 60% Resistant Materials Art OCR 1 x 10 hour 10 hours

English Language 3½ hours English Literature 4 hours Mathematics 4½ hours Religious Studies Combined Science 10½ hours Computer Studies 3 hours Physical Education Textiles 2 hours 34 hours

English Language 3½ hours English Literature 4 hours Mathematics 4½ hours Religious Studies Biology 2h 20 mins Chemistry Physics Food Tech 1¾ hours 24½ hours

English Language 3½ hours English Literature 4 hours Mathematics 4½ hours Religious Studies Combined Science 10½ hours Art 10 hours Geography History 3¾ hours 43¾ hours

If you started these exams now and sat them continuously you would finish… About 4.15 on Saturday afternoon

GCSE Course plan

The Next Year: Year 10 Information Evening – Thursday 14th September Parents Evening Tuesday 16th January Year 10 Reports – March Year 10 Mock Examinations – May Half termly progress checks Individual group support and intervention from departments

Year 11 Parents evening - November Year 11 mocks –December Year 11 reports - February Year 11 Examinations - May – June Prom – July Results Day –c. 22nd August 2019

9-1 GCSE maths

Miss Humphries – Head of Mathematics Contact – thumphries@stfrancis.cc 9-1 GCSE maths Miss Humphries – Head of Mathematics Contact – thumphries@stfrancis.cc

Maths – How is it different? The volume of subject content has increased Harder topics are being introduced at both Higher and Foundation Total time for the examinations has increased from 3 ½ hours to 4 ½ hours 3 papers each of 1 hour 30 minutes Fewer marks at the lower grades for both Higher and Foundation Greater emphasis on problem solving and mathematical reasoning Students have to memorise certain formulae

Maths – Foundation (Grades 5 – 1)

Maths – Higher (Grades 9 – 4)

Maths – Higher (Grades 9 – 4) All taken from the old A Level specification

Maths – How is it assessed?

Maths – What is each paper worth?

What has the department done in response? GCSE teaching began in Year 9 New curriculum maps and schemes of work have been produced to ensure complete coverage of new specification Regular assessment opportunities built into curriculum Opportunities for revision built into curriculum after mock exams Greater emphasis on reasoning and problem solving in lessons

Resources available HOMEWORK SET ON THIS WEEKLY

Revision Guides and Workbooks – Available through Parent Pay

English

GCSE English Language and Literature There is no controlled assessment element – students will be assessed through 100% examination. All examinations will be taken at the end of Year 11; there are no resits throughout the course. All students will have the chance to study both English Language and English Literature, gaining 2 qualifications in total. There are no entry tiers; all students sit the same examination. There is a greater emphasis on the technical writing skills of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

GCSE English Language Paper Length Content Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing 1 hour 45 min 50% of GCSE   Section A – Reading. Unseen prose from 20th or 21st century. Section B – Writing. Writing to describe or narrate based on a stimulus (picture). Paper 2: Writer's viewpoints and perspectives Section A – Reading. 2 unseen extracts from non fiction texts; one modern, one 19th century century. Section B – Writing. Transactional writing (e.g. writing to argue, persuade etc) Studied in Year 10 Studied in Year 11

GCSE English Literature Romeo and Juliet ALL CLOSED BOOK EXAMINATIONS Set X – Jane Eyre, Great Expectations OR Jekyll and Hyde Set 1 – Jekyll and Hyde or Frankenstein Set 2 and 3 – A Christmas Carol Paper Length Content Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th Century Novel 1 hour 45 min 40% of GCSE   Section A – Shakespeare. An extract from the play given and you relate this to the rest of the play. Section B – 19th century novel. An extract is given from the novel and then relate this to the rest of the text. Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry 2 hour 15 min 60% of GCSE Section A – Modern Prose/ Drama. 1 essay style question. Section B – Poetry Anthology. Comparison of 2 poems. Section C – Unseen Poetry. Studied in Year 10 Studied in Year 11 Set X, 1 and 2: An Inspector Calls Set 3: Blood Brothers Studied in Year 10

What can I do to support my child? Encourage your child to revise throughout the course; they cannot leave revision until the end of Year 11 as there is a lot of knowledge to remember in this course. Encourage your child to re-read the texts they have studied in class – some of these are available on Firefly. Ensure your child learns key spellings and those words they often struggle with. Encourage your child to read widely so that they are able to access the unseen extracts on the Language papers more easily. This can be fiction and non fiction. See Firefly for a suggested reading list. Encourage your child to write short summaries of what they have read to consolidate their comprehension skills.

Details for all texts along with IBSN numbers on Firefly. Study Guides? If you are interested in purchasing study guides, we would recommend any of these. York Notes for 9-1 course for Literature texts studied. RRP: £5.99 Cambridge AQA approved guides for Literature texts studied. RRP: £10.00 CGP Guides for the 9-1 course for Literature texts studied. RRP: £5.95 Details for all texts along with IBSN numbers on Firefly.

Religious Education

Homework 45 minutes per subject each week Maths/English up to an hour Support – Tuesday after school – Miss Clensy Support in departments/ interventions Not 5 hours a subject Importance

FireFly Homework Revision materials Communication with staff Examinations section for Year 11

Firefly

Winning Behaviours Be consistent Be in control of your emotions Reflect on your performance Be realistic about your performance Take responsibility for your performance Don’t moan! Seek to proactively solve problems

AdAPT Advanced Learner Looks for challenge. Works at problems. Will try a variety of approaches to reach a successful conclusion. Perseveres when things get tough. Works hard to improve. Acts on advice. Always goes out of their way to produce absolutely their best work. Passion for learning. Willing to move outside comfort zone. Encourages others to do well. Creative approaches. Sets own goals. Maximise abilities. Seeks opportunities to improve, asks questions Active Learner With support will persevere to resolve problems. Will try one or two different ways to approach a problem. Will act on advice in the short-term. Produces best work on most occasions. With support will try to do anything asked of them. Keen to participate in lessons with frequent answers to questions or contributions to discussions. Effective in groups. Passive Learner Prefers to stick to work they are comfortable with. Does what is requested. Relies on teacher guidance. Needs support when working. May settle for work which does not show true potential. Works well in a group but focuses on own performance. Answers questions. Turned Off Likely to impede the progress of others. Reluctant to do even the minimum required. Needs constant attention to remain on task. Is content to hand in work which is not complete or does not reflect true ability. Little attention paid in lessons. Little participation in lessons. Gives up when faced with difficulties. Ignores advice and repeats mistakes regularly. AdAPT