Year 12 Parents’ Information Evening 2014 Mrs Boardman Assistant Headteacher Director of Sixth Form at St Gregory’s Ms Colin Head of Sixth at St Mark’s.

Working together to maximise your child’s success The good news is they have all chosen to come here! They have all already tasted success and we want them to have plenty more success in the next 2 years with us. We want them to enjoy their sixth form experience and have fun along the way. They will be presented with numerous opportunities; help us to make sure they take as many of them as they possibly can. When they leave us, they will go into work, take up an apprenticeship or go to University. Our role is to make them as prepared as possible for those environments

Attendance and Punctuality Central to everything that goes on in the College. Monitored by all of their teachers and by Mrs Parr in the LRC If the students are not in school, they cannot learn anything. Students must telephone the sick line or bring in a note for every absence Punctuality is equally as important. Reference requests always ask us to comment on the attendance of the individual. Students are only allowed to leave the site at lunchtime and they must sign in and out

Subjects The students have taken subjects they are good at and that they enjoy. Attendance to all lessons is not optional! Homework will be a regular feature in all of their subjects. If your child has any issues, no matter how small they might appear, please encourage them to talk to their subject teachers, their tutor or to me. Communication is extremely important and will allow us to address problems early

The Challenge- the Step up Academic Enquiry Increased depth of knowledge and understanding More abstract concepts Sophisticated analysis and evaluation Longer answers! Organisational Ability Research and reading Extended tasks, longer deadlines Paper overload Study periods GCSE A Level / BTEC

Teaching and Learning… Transition to independent learning Importance of Homework (at least 2 hours per night and 4-6 hours at weekends) Self motivation in class / no spoon-feeding Being proactive (student focus, not teacher) Assessment for Learning

Student Referrals We would expect all teaching staff to report to tutors issues such as lack of attendance in lessons, significant under- achievement in a subject, deadlines not being met, etc. This will form an important part of our progress monitoring procedures and will be the basis for any intervention in terms of guidance and support. If there are causes for concern that cannot be quickly and easily resolved, students may be asked to sign a Student Action Plan or for serious concerns a Behaviour contract. Parents will be kept informed.

Examinations Teachers are assessing now in October and this allows us to identify early if any students are struggling to make the jump up to AS level study. Mock examinations will take place in January. They will provide a very realistic experience of the AS exams. Preparation is key and will help the students in terms of their confidence when they sit the summer exams in May/June AS exams happen in May and June. These dates are not moveable or negotiable in any way. AS results will be used to make A2 predictions for University applications. It is vitally important that students do their best and take the exams seriously. Any special considerations regarding exams will need to be applied for in advance so if you could make us aware of anything as soon as possible

The Core Programme Dedicated programme of PSHE and General RE on Mondays period 1 Programme intended to support school ethos Timed to coincide with important transition points Focused on personal development, future university / job applications

Celebrating Success The sixth form student council will be helping us to decide how to celebrate success: Students will receive credits for good work, progress etc. These can be given out by teachers for all manner of reasons. Students will receive termly rewards. Letters will go home. Termly prizes and an end of year celebration. Roll of honour displayed. Records of these awards will be kept in the students’ personal files and used when writing references. Students of the Month. These will be nominated by teachers/tutors each month and displayed on the plasma screens in the LRC

General Points This year is very intense and there will be trials and traumas along the way. Please support your son or daughter by encouraging them to communicate with us as much as possible. There will be plenty of distractions for the students! Please support us by reinforcing our expectations about responsible approaches to study. If they have a part time job, please could you ensure that they keep their hours to a minimum. Negative correlation between employment and academic attainment If you have any concerns, please ring Mrs Parr, your child’s tutor or teacher. We will ring you if we are concerned.Our doors are always open and issues that are dealt with early can avoid a lot more problems in the future.

How can you help? Show an interest Ask them to explain what and how they are doing Try to provide the right environment at home for study Discuss future career / university goals Revision guides can be useful Stay in touch Be sympathetic Encourage them to aim high –We will!

Finally... The next 2 years will fly by! Please do stay behind if you have any specific questions. Thank you for coming