Welcome to The ‘Steps to Success’ Evening Please feel free to mingle with staff who are happy to answer your questions before we begin.

Introduction and Aims of the Evening

Introductions Mr Beck - Deputy Headteacher Ms Hall - Employer Engagement & CEIAG Manager Mr Speirs - Head of Year 11

Core Directors of Learning Mrs Loveridge - English Mr Mittell - Mathematics Miss Cady - Science

Aims of the Evening Attitude to Learning - linking it all together Aspirations Revision stress and how to avoid it Subject specifics for the Core Subject Areas

Attitude To Learning

Positive attitude to work While there is no guarantee a positive attitude about school work will automatically help you learn and develop, it does remove the self-imposed limits and opens your mind to the learning process.

Parental impact Parental Attitude – Whether parents have benefited from education by gaining a good job and subsequent lifestyle, parental views on education and its value in respect of their own lives will be passed on to their children.

Research shows... The positive attitudes, routines and good behaviour allow students to attain grades that are consistently above the national average. Developing a positive attitude towards learning is a key aspect of students’ learning, alongside attainment.

Aspirations

Your GCSE results affect your next steps.

A Levels and Level 3 BTEC

Apprenticeships.

Revision

There's a million websites to help but how do you know which are any good? I didn’t even do GCSEs - how can I help him/her? He always leaves everything to the last minute - one moment he has all the time in the world – the next it’s all stress and stropping because it has to be in tomorrow. She’s always panicked in exams and when I try to help I seem to make it worse. She surely shouldn’t be going out again when she has exams coming up? I don’t understand all the coursework, levels and module exams – it’s so different from when I was at school. Sound Familiar?

“You may never know what results come of your action, but if you do nothing there will be no result.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

What can revision sometimes feel like ?

The answer

Have positive conversations with your teachers

Revision What does a structured plan look like?

Revision Tools Post-It notes Highlighters Coloured pens or felt-tips Some plain A4 paper Your iPod or CD player A nice big desk

Get revising website Link is on our VLE Has the ability to create a revision timetable for you It will help you make better use of your time

How much time to spend revising? How long is your attention span?

How much revision / how long? After 15 mins most people’s concentration level has dropped quite low. The work they are doing is not very productive.

How much revision / how long? 5 min break every 15 minutes = reset your concentration levels!

The Writing Technique Read Write Use a highlighter Re-write to condense the important information. Get it all onto one page. Read through your created pages before bed, on the bus, before dinner and so on. REPEAT – get it onto one revision card.

The Listening Technique Stage 1 - write down or highlight all the essential information. Using your smart phone, or laptop, or any recording device record yourself reading the notes out loud. Stage 2 is to listen to the recordings Stage 3 is to listen to the recordings Stage 4 is to listen to the recordings!

Past papers Make use of past papers Ask what exam board you are doing and then go to their website – follow the directions, usually ‘key materials’ and go from there.

Useful websites

Stress free Fact: The earlier you start, the less stress you will be under. Fact: The less stress you are under, the better you are likely to perform.

English - Mrs Loveridge

English Studies and English Language AQA exam board 1 exam paper (Unit 1) 2 hours 15 mins Section A = Reading skills Section B = Writing skills ALL students will have revision guides and practice papers to prepare for this. (Search for ‘bbc bitesize english’)

English Literature Exam 18 May – Unit 1 Modern Texts Students should be using revision guides provided to prepare essay plans about ‘Of Mice and Men’ and either ‘An Inspector Calls’ or ‘The Woman in Black’. Exam 22 May – Unit 2 Poetry Across Time Students should be using the revision guides to revise the fifteen poems in the ‘Conflict’ cluster and prepare to write about an unseen poem. (Search for “BBC Bitesize English Literature”)

GCSEPOD REVISION Love learning, love GCSEPod!

GCSEPOD? What is it? A series of podcasts, usually between 3 and 5 minutes long, that cover all areas of the English curriculum in Key Stage 4. GCSEPOD can be accessed from any mobile or smart technology. Revision on the go! Students can download podcasts to their devices for use when there is no Wifi.

The podcasts are organised into exam pathways so they are easy to find.

Each unit has its own playlist of podcasts that cover every aspect the students need to know.

GCSEPOD has been embraced by Year 11 students. The night before the mock exam over 100 podcasts were watched! This is a great resource to support students in their revision.

Maths – Mr Mittel

Login: hamble Password: adding

Science – Miss Cady

Science Exam Board – AQA Science A Teaching groupsCourseNumber of GCSEs Number of examsExam format 11AO and 11A1Triple Science 3C1, C2, C3 B1, B2, B3 P1, P2, P3 Each worth 25% final grade 1 hour exams 50% recall 23% analysis 22% application 11A2/11A3/11B 2/11B3 Route 1 Core and Additional Science 2C1, C2 B1, B2 P1, P2 Each worth 25% final grade 1 hour exams 50% recall 23% analysis 22% application 11A4 and 11B4 Route 2 Core and Additional Science 2Core paper 1 Core paper 2 Additional paper 1 Additional paper hour exams 50% recall 23% analysis 22% application

Where to start? QLAs (Question Levelled Analysis) & Pink sheets: Figure out where to begin your revision by referring back to your QLA/pink sheets for your end of topic tests and re-tests. Prioritise the reds, then the ambers.

What do you need to know? Personal Learning Checklists (PLCs) Break down of all content Shows which exam it will be tested in Place to RAG and log your revision

What to actually do? Therapy tasks Designed to help you review the prior learning needed to access difficult concepts/ideas and key exam questions. Electronic copies with hyper links to online supporting documents and videos

Where can you get help? Ask your friends or teachers Revision sessions Your exercise books

Have you got it? Before you move on, check your understanding 1.Topic recall quizzes – get someone to test you (50% of your exam is just basic recall!) 2.Questions in the back of your revision guide – check your answers in lessons/revision sessions with the answer booklet. 3.Exam questions - plan, write, check, improve, re-write. Record your progress in your PLC before you move on.

Remember, you don’t need to remember everything… Exam data sheets Check what is on there so you don’t waste time memorising things you are given.

Question and answer Staff are happy to answer any questions you may have.