Self motivated and wants to learn Conscientious Reflective – learns from their mistakes, not afraid to fail Resilient Independent not passive – can work unaided and researches in advance Active outside of school Applies knowledge from different subjects – links them Has a “growth mindset”

Be able to analyse difficult problems and show clear step-by –step working out. Be able to combine topics in order to answer more challenging A* questions. Do extra work at home. For example A/A* booster pack on mymaths. Work independently. They are enthusiastic and are eager to move onto extension and develop their problem solving skills. Are able to understand a topic and are able to explain questions very well to their peers.

Reading Looks at the text as a whole – links language techniques/structure to the overall purpose of a text. Is evaluative in their interpretation – looking at the most and least significant aspects used by the writer. Considers alternative interpretations – looking at how things can be seen in more than one way. Writing Has a clear and developed tone May experiment with humour in their writing Uses a range of punctuation confidently (semi-colons, colons, commas etc) Uses a range of sentence and paragraph structures to add to the overall effect of their writing.

Has read the texts at least four times (research has confirmed this is what a lot of A* students have done) Can identify how the writer has used both language and structure to convey their message to the reader/audience. Is evaluative in their interpretation – looking at the most and least significant aspects used by the writer. Considers alternative interpretations – looking at how things can be seen in more than one way.

An A* student is one who knows all the content (Science is a very knowledge recall based subject) and then can apply this knowledge to a variety of new contexts. Knowledge is rarely required to be linked from different areas, however it is required to apply it to a new or unusual situation. The application of content differentiates an A* and an A student. An A student knows everything, an A* can apply everything to new situations. To achieve this, practicing a variety of questions from past papers and question banks on firefly, plus the textbook, can be completed.

 Teaching and Learning Flipped learning Extension/differentiated work Exemplars/Past Papers

 Extra-curricular Student leadership opportunities Trips Competitions Clubs

Discuss how you can support their academic development with the person next to you

 Top tips – academic development Exam reports Revision guides Websites – subject specific Conversation – talk about their school work with them Reading- as much as possible!

Discuss how you can broaden their experiences and provide opportunities with the person next to you

 Top tips – broadening experiences Conversations about topical issues in the news Discuss aspirations

 Top tips – broadening experiences Cultural awareness museums-in-london