SUPPORTING YOUR DAUGHTER IN YEAR 11 EVENING FOR PARENTS AND CARERS September 2015 YEAR 11 BE BRILLIANT

Key Dates Work Experience - 28 th September Sixth Form Open Evening – 11 th November Parents’ Evenings - 22 nd October, 23 rd March Mock Exams – 2 nd November, 22 nd February Mock Results Days – 10 th December, 22 nd March Reports issued - 21 st October, 26 th January, 29 th April GCSE’s written papers begin – 16 th May Easter Revision during Easter Holidays

Assessment ALL THAT DATA! EFG Estimated Final Grade KSTG Key Stage Target Grade PE Target PE Yr10T2PE Yr10T3 Sci : Core Target Sci : Core Yr10T2Sci : Core Yr10T3 Sci : Additional Target Sci : Additional Yr10T2Sci : Additional Yr10T3 RS Target RS YR10T2RS YR10T3 Art : Short Course Yr10T2Art : Short Course Yr10T3 Photography Target Photography Yr10T2 Art : Short Course Yr10T3 BTEC Art Target BTEC Art Yr10T2BTEC Art Yr10T3 Helth & Social Care Target Helth & Social Care Yr10T2Helth & Social Care Yr10T3 ICT Target ICT Yr10T2ICT Yr10T3 Info Sys (Funct Skills) Pupil 1CCCBBBBBBBCC MPP FS Pupil 2 CCC PMM FS Pupil 3 CCCCCCCCCCCCCC FS Pupil 4 CCDCCDCCC PMM FS Pupil 5 BBCBBCBCC DMM Pupil 6 CBB FS Pupil 7 BCC M?P FS Pupil 8 CBCCBCBBB DDM

Attendance Good attendance is directly linked to good achievement Government data shows that only 35% of pupils with poor attendance (less than 85%) achieve 5 GCSEs, including English and Maths, at grade C or above However, for pupils whose attendance is 95% or more this figure rises to 73% ‘It’s only one day’ On that one day you might miss:

Only one day... Important notices about projects/events in tutor time for the rest of the week/month Period 1: Introduction to a new topic in English; Period 2: Explanation of a new concept in Maths; Period 3: An important experiment in Science, on which your later work is based Period 4: new words/phrases in a foreign language plus a grammatical concept Period 5: A demo in food tech showing what you are expected to do in the next lesson

Attendance Natalie was in Year 11 last year. Her attendance was always around 90%. She thought that this was pretty good. However ……. 90% attendance means that she was absent from lessons for the equivalent of one half day every week.

90%=½ day 80%=1 day Percentage Attendance Weekly Percentage Attendance Yearly 90%= 4 weeks 80%= 8 weeks Percentage Attendance Termly 90%= 1 week 2 days 80%= 2 weeks 4 days

Miss Chapman

What we aim to do to help your daughter achieve 1. Teach different ways to revise. 2. Some students will receive a Mentor. 3. Ensure there is regular feedback given to you regarding how your daughter is progressing. Mentoring will help this, as will parent mail. If you are not signed up to this then please let us know at the end. 4. Help your daughter to produce a revision timetable.

5. Help with college applications. 6. Ensure they get the opportunity to meet with the careers advisor.

Top ten tips for parents 1. Make sure you daughter attends school every day and arrives on time. 2. Check their planner and show my homework weekly, if you have any concerns e.g. No homework then contact their form tutor. 3. Create a revision timetable with your daughter (we will look at doing this in form time at school also)and ensure they stick to it. The mocks after half term. They should be revising now.

4. Help your daughter to organise a work area, ensure they have all the stationery they need. 5. Have clear expectations of how much work they should be doing each night/week. 6. Discuss with your daughter if the TV/music helps or hinders them. On the whole I would say a quiet space is needed. There are some good revision apps available but unless you definitely know they need their phone/I- pad/laptop etc, they should probably not be working with them.

7. Put key dates/exams in your own diary/ calendar so you can support before the ‘panic stage’. 8. Time your daughter answering questions, timings in exams can be key to success. 9. Choose one good revision guide for each subject. Ask your daughter to check with their teachers that it is the best one. 10. Ensure they eat a good breakfast before their exams and have a bottle of water with them.

Organisation

Weekends

What your daughter needs to do 1. Catch up on any missed work. 2. Start revising now. 3. Ensure she comes to school fully equipped and ready to learn. 4. Ask their teachers what they need to do to improve their grade. 5. Ask for past papers/exam questions.

6. Know how many minutes per mark are needed for each exam. 7. Be positive: It is not too late, they need to talk to their parents and teachers if they are worried. 8. Have a healthy balance between work, sleep and a social life. 9. Consider whether they really need to use the internet at the moment. Facebook, twitter and so on are distractions which they do not need and will still be there when they have finished.

10. Think about the long term goal. Lots of girls 15/16 year olds do not know what they want to do for a job. However they all want to have money and be able to afford the things they want. Better grades=more options in life.

Mrs Worth

How to Raise a Grade in Mathematics GCSE questions are predictable Most girls will be entered at higher tier Summer 2015 only 33% was needed for a C grade at higher tier Concentrate on key topics

Top 10 Topics for Students Targeting a C Topic AT Target Grade Average Percentage of Marks Cumulative Percentag e 1Basic NumberNumberC10.06% 2Simplify (inc expanding)AlgebraC6.47%16.52% 3Linear equations and inequalitiesAlgebraC4.89%21.41% 4 Cumulative frequency inc box and whiskerDataC4.31%25.72% 6ProbabilityDataC4.31%30.03% 7Transformations and symmetryShapeC3.81%33.84% 9Straight linesAlgebraC2.87%36.71% 11Area and volume (inc density)ShapeC3.09%39.80% 12Substitution (inc rearranging)AlgebraC2.59%42.39% 13FactorisingAlgebraC2.23%44.61%

So What Can I Do As A Student? Evaluate your learning –what do and don’t you understand Take every opportunity to finish tasks or attempt challenges When you don’t understand something ASK Keep practising, do not READ a revision guide but do questions instead Show working out/ method Make sure you have the correct equipment

What Support is Available? Maths clinic runs every lunchtime (except Tuesday week 1) Anyone can come on any day Bring your lunch Bring your friends Nice and warm and dry Mymaths.co.uk Anyone can log on using username “frances” and password “pentagon”

What Support is Available? Loads of great sites on the internet a quick Google search will turn up literally thousands Textbooks are on the VLE in Moodle All pupils will be given a CGP book to use for practising questions Make sure you work through as many past papers as possible, attempting as many questions as possible We have old textbooks full of extra questions available

What Can I Do as a Parent? Monitor your daughter’s progress, ensure she seeks help when it is clear she does not understand Encourage her to set up a regular revision schedule; little and often is the best way to learn

Ms Fowkes

Regular Study time Study Hall – Fridays in the 6 th Form Study Room giving access to quiet area to work and computers. Some Fridays we will have teachers present. Girls will be registered and given light refreshments, 2 stamps in their passports. There will be rewards/a draw for girls who attend.

Easter Many subject staff offer revision sessions. These encompass both weeks. We strongly encourage girls to attend. We recommend that girls do not go on holiday over this very important period just before GCSE’s commence in May.

Digital Resources available from home Contacting the school Contact addresses are in the booklet. A summary of digital resources are listed in the booklet. Shortly you will find two documents on the website namely a student and a parent ICT guide.

Regular Clubs and Support Information can be found in the booklet and will be published on the website. Watch out for updates. Before most of the written GCSE’s begin in May teachers will hold additional revision sessions to give students that extra boost and encouragement.

Year 11 English Mrs Dowie Head of English

GCSE English Made up of 2 separate GCSE qualifications: English Language English Literature English Language sought by employers, colleges and universities. Government expectation that students reach C grade or above in English Language.

AQA Qualification 4 Controlled Assessments (40%) Exam in reading and writing (60%) IGCSE Qualification 3 pieces of coursework (40%) Speaking and Listening exam (20%) Exam in reading and writing (40%) English Language – 2 routes

English Literature AQA for all students 1 Controlled Assessment (25%) Exams on Prose, Poetry, Drama (75%)

What students need to do Catch up on any missing Controlled Assessments/Coursework May need to redo a Controlled Assessment/Coursework to improve and meet their target grade Have copies of the texts they are studying and read them – not just once in class! Talk to teachers about their current grades and how to reach their targets

Exam Skills – English Language Reading and writing are both assessed Key areas for improvement: Spelling, punctuation and grammar Proofreading Expanding vocabulary Reading a wide variety of texts – newspaper articles, fiction, non-fiction (e.g. autobiography), blogs, online news Knowing what the question is asking, how to tackle it and how many marks it is worth

Exam Skills –English Literature Reading and essay writing skills are assessed Key areas for improvement: Proofreading Knowing the texts Structuring essays Learning the context of a novel, poem, play Being analytical in essays

Extra Help and Support Intervention for some students – timetabled lessons or form time Revision sessions run by the English Department Seeking advice from the classroom teacher Exam board websites – aqa.org.uk; cie.org.uk The English Office