1. Parent and student support meeting November 2018
Yr. 11 exam information
Parent and student support meeting
November 2018

2. Welcome and Introductions
Significant changes to Key Stage 4, tougher exams, less coursework, exams at the end of the two year course, new grading system.
GCSE’s now graded 9-1with a grade 4 being roughly the same as a C
Advice and guidance from English, maths and science leads
Advice and guidance on how manage workload and revision in year 11.

3. Mock exams Next week for English, maths, science and humanities paper1
Week beginning 3rd December for all other subjects and remaining humanities papers.
Timetable have been issued for next week which include seating plans
Same routine as terminal exams in June regarding protocols and expectations

4. General Advice Make sure your child attends school every day.
Plan study together as a family don’t just presume they know what they are doing or the best way to do it.
Utilise experts in the family to help, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends neighbours!
Make sure they get enough sleep, eat well and get enough exercise to combat over analysing and worry.
Know which subjects are being studied, if they are GCSE or vocational, and visit exam boards, download past papers and mark schemes.

5. How to revise for GCSE English language & GCSE English literature

6. GCSE English
We study AQA Specifications for both English Language and English Literature.
Students will now receive a GCSE grade numbered 1-9. Grade 1 is the lowest grade and roughly equivalent to GCSE G grade. Grades 8 and 9 will be the highest grades and roughly equivalent to GCSE A** grade.
There are NO tiers in English. All students, irrespective of ability sit the same examinations. English Language questions get progressively harder as the paper goes on. English Literature questions test an analytical and evaluative skill set and follow a ‘to what extent do you agree?’ format.
Both qualifications consist of two exams per subject, four in total. Three examinations last for 1hr 45min and one examination lasts for 2hrs 15min.
Colleges, apprenticeships and employers have no preference over English Language or English Literature they simply want students to have achieved a grade 4 or 5.

7. GCSE curriculum:

8. GCSE English Language + Literature crossover:
Analyse and evaluate the impact of language and structure (separately) –
Lang P1:Q2, Q3 + Lang P2: Q3
All Lit questions
Retrieve information –
Lang P1:Q1 + Lang P2: Q1, Q2
All Lit questions
Analyse and evaluate the impact of language and structure in two texts –
Lang P2:Q3 (in two non-fiction texts)
Lit questions: Conflict Poetry and Unseen Poetry
Analyse and evaluate the impact of language and structure together –
Lang P1:Q4 (in a fiction text)
Lit questions: A Christmas Carol, Macbeth and An Inspector Calls
19th C fiction in Lang P1 and non-fiction in Lang P2 with ‘A Christmas Carol’
21st C non-fiction in Lang P2 and supporting contextual materials for ‘An Inspector Calls’ and Conflict Poetry

9. Assessment: Mock examination data from June 2018
In class assessments (specific exam questions) every fortnight in English Language
In class assessments (specific exam questions) every fortnight in English Literature
Mock examination data from June 2018
Y11 Mocks taking place in November and December 2018
Y11 Mocks taking place in February 2019
Students who are underperform must attend English masterclasses held on Tuesdays (both weeks) with English teachers
Students who are under target are selected and must attend intervention held on Tuesdays (wk1) in small groups of 8 students with English teachers

10. Effective Revision: Encourage your child to:
Focus on the skills required to access each question on the exam papers as more often than not, the same skills will be used on several different questions.
Practise different questions with a range of texts, only practise questions considered a weakness to exam success.
Create flash cards about context, characters, themes and writer’s intentions for English literature texts.
Watch a range of GCSE Pods and complete the quizzes.
Attend English Language Intervention or Miss Redmond’s English Literature Masterclasses.
Complete all of your homework set to a high standard

11. Maths GCSE Edexcel Exam Board
 Edexcel Exam Board
The qualification will be graded and certified on a nine-grade scale from 9 to 1 with 9 being the highest grade
Two tiers are available: Foundation and Higher
Foundation Tier – grades awarded 1-5
Higher Tier – grades awarded 4-9
The qualification consists of 3 equally weighted exam papers
- Each paper is 1 hour and 30 minutes long
- Each paper has 80 marks available
- Paper 1 is a non-calculator assessment
- Papers 2 and 3 are both calculator assessments
 Edexcel Exam Board
The qualification will be graded and certified on a nine-grade scale from 9 to 1 with 9 being the highest grade
Two tiers are available: Foundation and Higher
Foundation Tier – grades awarded 1-5
Higher Tier – grades awarded 4-9
 Edexcel Exam Board
The qualification will be graded and certified on a nine-grade scale from 9 to 1 with 9 being the highest grade
 Edexcel Exam Board
Maths GCSE

12. 57% 19% 28% 22% 7% 6% 66% 22% 5% 1% YES 58% NO 42% YES 69.9% NO 30.1%
4) What resources did you use to revise? (circle – you can choose more than one)
Mathswatch GCSE Pod Exercise Book Revision Guide
Other
If Yes:
2) How many hours did you revise (approximately)? (circle)
Less than 1 hour hours hours 4 – 6 hours hours 6%
66%
22% 5% 1%
YES % NO %
3) Did you use the revision list given to you by your teacher? YES/NO
1) Did you revise for your recent assessment? YES/NO
YES %
NO %

13. Personalised
Plans

14. vle.mathswatch.co.uk

15. Scheduled Assessments 2018-2019
 Before each assessment we will…..
 Send a text home to parents
Give each pupil a revision list and provide revision materials
 After each assessment we will…..
Produce a Personalised Plan for each pupil
Any pupils who have not revised and underperformed in the assessment will be required to re-sit the exam after school
Scheduled Assessments

16. Intervention and Revision Sessions After school Wednesday Week 2
 After school Wednesday Week 2
Revision sessions during Easter and May Half Term
Extra sessions leading up to the exams 
 After school Wednesday Week 2
Revision sessions during Easter and May Half Term
 After school Wednesday Week 2
Intervention and
Revision Sessions

17. GCSE Science Double Award (Synergy), Triple Science & Entry Level Certificate

18. GCSE Combined Science (Synergy)
Course contains aspects of Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
Taught in a combined way where key ideas are linked together regardless of the Science discipline.
4 examination papers assessing 8 units studied over the GCSE course.
Each exam is 1h 45min in length and sat at the end of year 11.
No controlled assessment.
Students must learn 21 equations and be able to apply these to examination questions. They are given some equations on a data sheet to select and apply to questions. (See booklet)
Students will be awarded two GCSE grades 9/9 – 1/1.
Students can be awarded split grades eg 5/4, 7/6
Students must sit all examinations at the same level; Foundation or Higher tier.
Foundation tier students can be awarded grades 1/1 – 5/5.
Higher tier students can be awarded grades 4/4 – 9/9.

19. GCSE Combined Science (Synergy)
Required practical investigations:
Students complete 21 practical activities throughout the course;
7 Biology, 6 Chemistry and 8 Physics.
These will be assessed predominantly (but not limited to) paper 2 and 4.
Questions could be data driven, extended response, short response, mathematical processing or analytical in design.
Attendance is important when these are being delivered in lesson time.

20. GCSE Biology, Chemistry & Physics
Students are assessed at the end of year 11.
Two papers for each of the Science disciplines each 1h 45min long worth 50% each.
No controlled assessment.
Required practical investigations
10 in Biology, 8 in Chemistry and 10 in Physics.
Students are given some equations on a data sheet in the exam but the majority have to be learnt. (Booklet has these equations in)

21. Entry Level Certificate
A Level 1 course designed for students where GCSE is not appropriate.
All internally assessed.
3 examinations that are externally set, internally marked, 1 for Biology, Chemistry and Physics.
3 teacher devised assignments that involve a practical investigation and write up.
Students awarded Entry 1, Entry 2 or Entry 3 with Entry 3 being the most demanding.
Significantly lower course content and demand.

22. Student advice Know and understand the course content
Visit the exam board websites regularly (e.g. aqa.org.uk ; ocr.org.uk etc) and practise regularly using past papers and mark schemes
Use study websites (e.g. GCSE pod, bbc bitesize revision)
Attend extra classes in school , if identified for intervention make sure you turn up and engage.
Be organised and plan your study
Stay healthy – exercise, sleep well, eat well

23. Revision - Parental Support
Supplies – stationery, snacks and revision aids
Structure – timetable / Rest breaks Timing – 2-3 hours per night
Mobile phones, iPods and music
Past papers and mark schemes – checking and recording progress
Room for study (bedroom vs dining room)
Internet, friend or foe?
Internet History
Social Media
Toolbar and tabbed browsing
Turn off your router

24. Revision strategies
Flashcards
See booklet for more details but some strategies to try:
Mnemonics

25. As a school we have also signed up to the online web based provider GCSE Pod again students use their network login (not full e- mail address) and their password unless they have already changed is Student1 (note the capital S).

27. Other Online Resources

30. Putting together a revision plan
Start by listing the subjects
Break each subject down into topics (use the exam board website for this)
Rank the subjects and topics starting with the hardest first
Use a template like the one in your booklet to schedule in evenings when at school and slots on a weekend
Mark in when revision isn’t possible such as hobbies outside of school and family events.
Use a variety of techniques to revise such as GCSE pod, flashcards mind maps, highlighting key information and condensing.

31. Literacy across all subjects
GCSE specifications and mark schemes have been revised in order to promote and reward good standards of written communication across the curriculum.
Spelling, punctuation and Grammar (SPaG) has been introduced into the assessment of History, RE and Geography GCSE qualifications, 5% of the total marks is allocated to the assessment of candidates’ spelling, punctuation and grammar.

32. How will SPaG be made clear on the exam paper?
There will be an instruction for candidates before any question that has SPaG marks available stating that spelling, punctuation and grammar will be assessed in that question.

33. Exam regulations Detailed information in the back of your book
Essentially..
Be on time for exams, morning 9am start afternoon 1pm.
Equipment must be kept in a clear pencil case
Labels on water bottles must be removed
No phones or smart watches are allowed in the exam hall, wrist watches must be removed and placed on the desk.
Infringement in one exam may lead to all exams beign cancelled
Exam boards visit during exam periods to check that we ar following the regulations.

34. This presentation can be found on:
Thank You
This presentation can be found on: