1. Year 10 Information Evening
September 14th 2017

2. St Francis of Assisi CTC School Prayer
Father of us all,
Look upon us in your love and bless us.
Bless this school which was built
For the education of our young people.
Bless our students and teachers,
Our parents, our governors and all who work here.
May our young people grow in wisdom, age and grace
Before you and all your people.
May this school always be a home of truth and wisdom,
Of faith and goodwill towards all.
Through the prayers of St. Francis,
May this school help our community,
And build your kingdom of justice, light and peace.
Loving Father,
Listen to our prayer,
Which we offer through Christ our Lord,
In your Holy Spirit,
One God, for ever and ever.
  Amen.
St Francis of Assisi CTC School Prayer

3. Aims of this Evening

4. A Little Context Challenge NILS SATIS OPTIMUM
A personal challenge to each student to be the best they can be, achieve the most they can achieve.
Competition
Every student in this year group will be competing for places with around 160,000 other year 10s in apprenticeships, sixth forms, universities and jobs. They need to be ready for that.
3. The Real World
Students need to learn the independence they will need outside of school. This starts with their studies and develops from there.
A Little Context

6. Programme for this Evening
Exam Changes
Calendar for the GCSE Course
Mathematics
English RE
Homework
Well Being
Early Revision Tips

7. Why aren’t all the grades letters anymore?
Old Grades
New Grades
A*+ 9
A*-, A+ 8 A- 7 B+ 6
C+, B- 5
C-, D+ 4
D-, E+ 3
E-, F+ 2
F-, G 1

10. Old Grades
New Grades
A*+ 9
A*-, A+ 8 A- 7 B+ 6
C+, B- 5
C-, D+ 4
D-, E+ 3
E-, F+ 2
F-, G 1

11. Old Grades
New Grades
A*+ 9
A*-, A+ 8 A- 7 B+ 6
C+, B- 5
C-, D+ 4
D-, E+ 3
E-, F+ 2
F-, G 1

12. Subject Exam Board Number of Exams Length of Exams Total Exam Length
Coursework
Maths
Edexcel 3
Each 1½ hours
4½ hours
None
English Language
AQA 2
Each 1¾ hours
3½ hours
English Literature
1 x 1¾ hours
1 x 2¼ hours
4 hours
Religious Education

13. Subject Exam Board Number of Exams Length of Exams Total Exam Length
Coursework
Combined Science
Edexcel 6
6 x 1¾ hours
10½ hours
None
Biology 2
2 x 1 hour 10 mins
2 hours 20 mins
Chemistry
Physics

14. Between 2 hrs 45 mins and 3 hrs 15 mins
Subject
Exam Board
Number of Exams
Length of Exams
Total Exam Length
Coursework
French
AQA 4
4 of varying lengths
Between 2 hrs 45 mins and 3 hrs 15 mins
None
German
Geography
OCR 3
2 x 1¼ hours
1 x 1½hours
4 hours
History
1 x 1 hour
1 x 1¼
3 ¾ hours
Computer Science 2
2 x 1½hours
3 hours
20%

15. BTEC Health & Social Care
Subject
Exam
Board
Number of Exams
Length of Exams
Total Exam Length
Coursework
Business Studies
Edexcel 2
2 x 1½ hours
3 hours
25%
Physical Education
1 x 1¾ hours
1 x 1¼ hours
40%
Media Studies
AQA
1 x 2 hours
2 hours
60%
BTEC Health & Social Care 1
1 x 1 hour
1 hour
75%

16. Subject Exam Board Number of Exams Length of Exams Total Exam Length
Coursework
Food Tech
AQA 1
1 x 1¾ hours
1¾ hours
50%
Textiles
1 x 2 hours
2 hours
60%
Resistant Materials
Art
OCR
1 x 10 hour
10 hours

17. English Language
3½ hours
English Literature
4 hours
Mathematics
4½ hours
Religious Studies
Combined Science
10½ hours
Computer Studies
3 hours
Physical Education
Textiles
2 hours
34 hours

18. English Language
3½ hours
English Literature
4 hours
Mathematics
4½ hours
Religious Studies
Biology
2h 20 mins
Chemistry
Physics
Food Tech
1¾ hours
24½ hours

19. English Language
3½ hours
English Literature
4 hours
Mathematics
4½ hours
Religious Studies
Combined Science
10½ hours
Art
10 hours
Geography
History
3¾ hours
43¾ hours

20. If you started these exams now and sat them continuously you would finish… About 4.15 on Saturday afternoon

21. GCSE
Course plan

22. The Next Year: Year 10 Information Evening – Thursday 14th September
Parents Evening Tuesday 16th January
Year 10 Reports – March
Year 10 Mock Examinations – May
Half termly progress checks
Individual group support and intervention from departments

23. Year 11 Parents evening - November Year 11 mocks –December
Year 11 reports - February
Year 11 Examinations - May – June
Prom – July
Results Day –c. 22nd August 2019

24. 9-1 GCSE maths

25. Miss Humphries – Head of Mathematics Contact – thumphries@stfrancis.cc
9-1 GCSE maths
Miss Humphries – Head of Mathematics
Contact –

26. Maths – How is it different?
The volume of subject content has increased
Harder topics are being introduced at both Higher and Foundation
Total time for the examinations has increased from 3 ½ hours to 4 ½ hours
3 papers each of 1 hour 30 minutes
Fewer marks at the lower grades for both Higher and Foundation
Greater emphasis on problem solving and mathematical reasoning
Students have to memorise certain formulae

27. Maths – Foundation (Grades 5 – 1)

28. Maths – Higher (Grades 9 – 4)

29. Maths – Higher (Grades 9 – 4)
All taken from the old A Level specification

30. Maths – How is it assessed?

31. Maths – What is each paper worth?

32. What has the department done in response?
GCSE teaching began in Year 9
New curriculum maps and schemes of work have been produced to ensure complete coverage of new specification
Regular assessment opportunities built into curriculum
Opportunities for revision built into curriculum after mock exams
Greater emphasis on reasoning and problem solving in lessons

33. Resources available
HOMEWORK SET ON THIS WEEKLY

34. Revision Guides and Workbooks – Available through Parent Pay

35. English

36. GCSE English Language and Literature
There is no controlled assessment element – students will be assessed through 100% examination.
All examinations will be taken at the end of Year 11; there are no resits throughout the course.
All students will have the chance to study both English Language and English Literature, gaining 2 qualifications in total.
There are no entry tiers; all students sit the same examination.
There is a greater emphasis on the technical writing skills of spelling, punctuation and grammar.

37. GCSE English Language Paper Length Content
Paper 1: Explorations in creative reading and writing
1 hour 45 min
50% of GCSE
Section A – Reading. Unseen prose from 20th or 21st century.
Section B – Writing. Writing to describe or narrate based on a stimulus (picture).
Paper 2: Writer's viewpoints and perspectives
Section A – Reading. 2 unseen extracts from non fiction texts; one modern, one 19th century century.
Section B – Writing. Transactional writing (e.g. writing to argue, persuade etc)
Studied in Year 10
Studied in Year 11

38. GCSE English Literature
Romeo and Juliet
ALL CLOSED BOOK EXAMINATIONS
Set X – Jane Eyre, Great Expectations OR Jekyll and Hyde
Set 1 – Jekyll and Hyde or Frankenstein
Set 2 and 3 – A Christmas Carol
Paper
Length
Content
Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th Century Novel
1 hour 45 min
40% of GCSE
Section A – Shakespeare. An extract from the play given and you relate this to the rest of the play.
Section B – 19th century novel. An extract is given from the novel and then relate this to the rest of the text.
Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry
2 hour 15 min
60% of GCSE
Section A – Modern Prose/ Drama. 1 essay style question.
Section B – Poetry Anthology. Comparison of 2 poems.
Section C – Unseen Poetry.
Studied in Year 10
Studied in Year 11
Set X, 1 and 2: An Inspector Calls
Set 3: Blood Brothers
Studied in Year 10

39. What can I do to support my child?
Encourage your child to revise throughout the course; they cannot leave revision until the end of Year 11 as there is a lot of knowledge to remember in this course.
Encourage your child to re-read the texts they have studied in class – some of these are available on Firefly.
Ensure your child learns key spellings and those words they often struggle with.
Encourage your child to read widely so that they are able to access the unseen extracts on the Language papers more easily. This can be fiction and non fiction. See Firefly for a suggested reading list.
Encourage your child to write short summaries of what they have read to consolidate their comprehension skills.

40. Details for all texts along with IBSN numbers on Firefly.
Study Guides?
If you are interested in purchasing study guides, we would recommend any of these.
York Notes for 9-1 course for Literature texts studied. RRP: £5.99
Cambridge AQA approved guides for Literature texts studied. RRP: £10.00
CGP Guides for the 9-1 course for Literature texts studied. RRP: £5.95
Details for all texts along with IBSN numbers on Firefly.

41. Religious Education

42. Homework 45 minutes per subject each week Maths/English up to an hour
Support – Tuesday after school – Miss Clensy
Support in departments/ interventions
Not 5 hours a subject
Importance

43. FireFly Homework Revision materials Communication with staff
Examinations section for Year 11

44. Firefly

45. Winning Behaviours Be consistent Be in control of your emotions
Reflect on your performance
Be realistic about your performance
Take responsibility for your performance
Don’t moan!
Seek to proactively solve problems

46. AdAPT Advanced Learner
Looks for challenge. Works at problems. Will try a variety of approaches to reach a successful conclusion. Perseveres when things get tough. Works hard to improve. Acts on advice. Always goes out of their way to produce absolutely their best work. Passion for learning. Willing to move outside comfort zone. Encourages others to do well. Creative approaches. Sets own goals. Maximise abilities. Seeks opportunities to improve, asks questions
Active Learner
With support will persevere to resolve problems. Will try one or two different ways to approach a problem. Will act on advice in the short-term. Produces best work on most occasions. With support will try to do anything asked of them. Keen to participate in lessons with frequent answers to questions or contributions to discussions. Effective in groups.
Passive Learner
Prefers to stick to work they are comfortable with. Does what is requested. Relies on teacher guidance. Needs support when working. May settle for work which does not show true potential. Works well in a group but focuses on own performance. Answers questions.
Turned Off
Likely to impede the progress of others. Reluctant to do even the minimum required. Needs constant attention to remain on task. Is content to hand in work which is not complete or does not reflect true ability. Little attention paid in lessons. Little participation in lessons. Gives up when faced with difficulties. Ignores advice and repeats mistakes regularly.
AdAPT