1. Year 10 Information Evening for Parents 2017
Thank you for attending
I hope that you find it useful

2. Aims of The Evening Key personnel Information about Key Stage 4
Relevance of good attendance
Key dates
Work Experience information
Answer questions

3. Key Personnel Mr P Adams – Headteacher
Dr J Tinker – Deputy Headteacher
Mr G Simms – Assistant Headteacher (Teaching & Learning)
Mrs A Millward – Assistant Headteacher (Pupil Support)
Mrs R Stokes – Assistant Headteacher (SENCo)
Mr M Hartshorn –Learning Manager

4. Life in Key Stage 4 Different from Key Stage 3 Pupil time
Responsibility
Homework, revision, controlled assessment
KS4 build on knowledge, skills and understanding gained in KS3.
Working towards their first set of qualifications that they take with them into adult life.
Pupil time - Increased demands. Essential pupils pace and organise their work and have positive attitude.
Pupil need to address their work-life balance and organise their priorities (e.g. socialising may need to be curtailed at certain times).
In KS4 pupils need to take more responsibility for their learning.
Asking when they do not understand.
Persisting when learning materials they find challenging.
Courses are 2 years and commitment is needed for the full period.
Planning and carrying out their revision - On going throughout Year 10 and 11.
Revision booklets on the chairs with lots of useful information in.
School will host revision seminars in school, presented by a specialist company. This will be followed up with revision lessons in PSHE.
Completing homework on time – approx. 45 minutes on each topic set.
Show My Homework later in presentation
Organising and planning time over longer periods to complete a controlled assessment project – more detail later.

5. Role of Parents Attendance officer Partner with school
Provider of tools
Banker
Study buddy
Entertainments officer
Sounding board and adviser
Project manager
Hardest thing for year 10 and 11 pupils is learning to sacrifice short term fun at times in the interest of long term benefits.
Teenage perspective - interest and effort in education come a long way down the priority list, after friendships, the right clothes, social life, romantic concerns and hobbies.
We also find children will differ in their levels of maturity their ability to take responsibility for their learning organisational skills and levels of motivation.
This is where you come in - you are the experts on your own child and have always been their most important teacher.
Your support, encouragement and interest can make the difference.
When you, your child and the school work in partnership you can be sure that your child will achieve the best results.
Please contact us if you have concerns about your child’s classwork, homework or revision.
Please check you child’s books and planner on a regular basis. You can help the school to monitor your son/daughter’s progress.

6. Attendance
Link between good attendance and high achievement is well proven
One half day’s absence per week results in a pupil attaining only a 90% attendance
Equates to the pupil having missed four whole weeks of lessons in the school year
Over five years this would total half of a school year
Important your child understands importance of attendance and making the most out of lesson times.
Sometimes just missing one lesson means they miss key information about coursework or the key introduction to a topic.
Starting out from behind often results in a vicious circle of not understanding, falling further behind, disagreements with teachers, an increasing dislike of the subject and giving up.
Link between good attendance and high achievement is well proven.
Please do not take your child on holiday during term time, holidays are very unlikely to be authorised.

7. Technology / Social Media
Social media incidents
Your role as parents
Phones in school
Technology is advancing so quickly, many parents are unsure about the constant flow of new apps that their children are posting and viewing online
We spend a great deal of time dealing with social media incidents and this is becoming yet another distraction from teaching and learning. We do a great deal to educate pupils but we know this isn’t enough. Where parents are monitoring their child’s online activity and intervening early we do see positive outcomes
Please go to the CEOP website for more information and to report any serious concerns
We have very strict rules with regard to the use of mobile phones to safe guard every child in school and again we continue to seek your support with this.

8. Staying Safe Online We still have some pupils that:
continue to post personal information online
post pictures or videos of themselves online
have little or no privacy settings set on their social media apps
The school does a great deal to educate pupils about the real dangers online – like your address, address or mobile number.
Once  a picture is online most people can see it and may be able to download it, it’s not just yours anymore.
We say to pupils, would you allow anyone to walk into your house and look around your personal things? So don’t let them do it online.

9. Staying Safe Online Continued
share passwords with each other
befriend people they don’t know online
arrange to meet people they have only met online
give no thought to posting rude and offensive comments online
Pupils should never share passwords. So called friends have posted inappropriate things online in their name
We still have a lot of pupils doing this. There have been incidents where fake accounts have been created by other pupils and members of the public!
The things we write and share on social media will effect our future and the police have and will get involved where this becomes.

10. Safe, confidential, anonymous Free at the point of need
Kooth is:
Safe, confidential, anonymous
Free at the point of need
Available through a smart phone, tablet or computer
Service is offered Monday to Friday 12pm—10pm and Saturday and Sunday 6pm—10pm
A representative from Kooth has been in school talking to pupils during assembly. Kooth has been commissioned by the local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, as an online counselling, advice and support service for young people aged across the Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin areas.
It provides a safe, secure means of accessing help via the internet from a professional and fully qualified team of counsellors.
Whilst your child may not need or use the service, as part of supporting our students, we are ensuring all young people are aware of provisions in the area that could assist them, now or in the future.
Kooth helps to reduce wait times for young people seeking help and removes stigma around mental health.
It integrates with face to face local services to ensure a seamless transition for young people. It is manned by a team of accredited counsellors, therapists and support workers providing guided, outcome-focused help for each individual.
The service is offered Monday to Friday 12pm—10pm and Saturday and Sunday 6pm—10pm. This is an online service with text based counselling offered as the first port of call.  

11. Show My Homework
We see work completed at home as a valuable part of a pupil’s learning.
The school regards the purpose of homework is to:
Develop an effective partnership between the school and parents/carers
Consolidate and reinforce skills and understanding following lessons
Extend learning across the curriculum
Encourage pupils as they get older to develop independence
Year 10 & 11: hours per day
As a general rule, teachers will not usually set substantial homework tasks to be completed for the next day and pupils will have at least two days to complete any work set.

12. What is Show My Homework?
A simple online homework calendar showing homework information, deadlines and attachments for students.

13. Benefits for Parents Visibility Interaction Accessibility
Communication
Multiple Children
You can see exactly how much homework has been set.
It’s much easier to take part in home learning.
Translation into 50+ languages
Better communication through school announcements.
If you have more than one child at the school, they will appear on the same page.

14. Homework Calendar
Homework appears in the calendar as a block, stretching from the issue date to the due date.

15. Homework Calendar
In this view we can see a task’s title and description, issue and due dates and how it should be submitted.

16. Mobile App and email notifications

17. Controlled Assessments / Coursework
Some subjects during Year 10
Can include portfolio work, practical performances, project work
Some work may need to be completed at home
Pupils will be closely monitored if they do not meet deadlines or fall behind
Pupils need a disciplined approach
Part of some courses but lots of courses now don’t have.
Can include portfolio work (e.g. Art), practical performances (e.g. Drama, Music, PE), project work (e.g. Food, Textiles, Resistant Materials)
Pupils require self discipline and motivation.
Provides marks towards the final assessment and is work pupils have control over.
Happens at various points through KS4.
On your chairs you will find a schedule.
So, organisation and planning are key.

18. Reformed GCSEs (Ofqual)
Content
Structure
Assessment
Tier Grading
New numbered scale (9 to 1 plus U), 9 is the highest
New Government ‘Good Pass’ set at grade 4 (Old C - roughly)
New Government ‘Strong Pass’ set at grade 5
Content – New and more challenging content
Structure – GCSEs will be linear with exams only at the end of the course
Assessment – Mainly by examination. Non-exam assessment only where necessary
Tiers – in the future only maths, science and modern foreign language GCSEs will be tiered (where pupils either sit foundation or higher exams).
Grading

19. Key Dates in Year 10 Careers evening – October 2017
Revision seminar – November 2017
Monitoring – December 2017
Parent’s evening – December 2017
Monitoring – March 2018
Year 10 exams – May 2018
Reports – June 2018
Work experience – July 2018

20. Key Dates in Year 11 Monitoring – October 2018
College talks - October 2018
Careers evening – October 2018
College open evenings – November 2018
Revision seminar – November 2018
Parent’s evening – November 2018
Mock exams – November & December 2018
Reports – January 2019
Revision seminar – January 2019
College applications – February 2019
Monitoring – May 2019
GCSE examinations – May/June 2019
At the same time as studying for exams, your child will be thinking about the next steps.
Should they go on to A level study, vocational study, training or work.
To help with this we have careers advice in school, with all pupils receiving an individual appointment.
Colleges and further education providers from the local area are invited to speak to the students.

21. Intervention Revision workshops in year 10 & 11 Monitoring
Various forms of intervention
Year 10 & 11 academic mentoring programme
Throughout KS4 we monitor pupils, some students need additional help and support with their studies.
Some may be identified if they are underachieving and provided the extra assistance.
The intervention programme ranges from subject specific work to general academic mentoring, where a member of staff has regular meetings and discussions with individual pupils to help with their studies.

22. Work Experience Starts Monday 9th July 2018 for a week Placements
Pupil responsibility
Family links / businesses
Placement forms
List of placements
Health & Safety checks
Different circumstances
Additional information
Placements need to be secured asap, as other schools are out on placements at the same time (work experience was launched at the end of yr9).
Deadline for placements: February half term
All placements for one week only
If placement is ‘out of county’, it must be secured by Christmas to allow for all of the relevant checks to be done.
Placements can be found with the aid of parents/carers, but the pupils should be contacting the employers
Placements with parents and family are fine as long as pupils are not working directly with relatives
Once a placement is secured, the pupils should complete the placement form (spares from school office) and returned asap
The list of placements is only for suggestions (Corbet pupils used them last year). Other employers are acceptable.
All placements are vetted
Some placements have very strict dates (e.g. NHS, Police, Armed Forces). These can usually be accommodated providing your child catches up work missed in school whilst the other year 10s are on work experience.
At the beginning of the summer term, more information will be given to the pupils.

23. Communication from school
Letters
Show My Homework
Student planners s
Text messages
Facebook
School website
Newsletter
Check your child’s bag.
Log in to SMHW and download the app.
Check planners on a weekly basis.
Keep addresses and mobile phone numbers up to date.
Like the school Facebook page.
Check school website periodically (parents and pupils sections).
Newsletter has important dates section every edition.

24. Questions?
Click on ‘contact us’ and complete the ‘message form’
I’ve tried to include information regarding questions from reply slips.
If you feel that I didn’t answer your question or there are any specific questions you have then please go to and click on contact us.
So that concludes the information evening.
I would like to thank you all for attending.