1. Welcome to Oakgrove School Year 10 GCSE Information Evening 2018

2. Year 10 Year 10 team Miss Gordon – Head of Year
Mr Stevenson - Assistant Head of Year
Mr Boon – Senior Assistant Head Teacher (Behaviour and Safety)
Mr Evans – Senior Assistant Head Teacher (KS4 Intervention)

3. Year 10 All GCSE and equivalent courses have started.
Attendance is crucial.
Start thinking about future –what do you need for your next step?
At the end of Year 10 ALL students will go on Work Experience placements for 2 weeks .

4. Year 10 Term 1 – 14 weeks (INSET & TFL) (now only 10 weeks left)
11 Weeks (Bank Holiday, INSET & TFL)
Term 3 –
12 weeks (Bank Holiday x1) Plus 2 weeks work experience

5. Key Dates for this Year:
Autumn Term
Thursday 6th September to Friday 21st December
(Half term: Monday 29th October to Friday 2nd November)
Friday 26th October School closes at 3pm for the Half Term break
Monday 2nd November School re-opens 8.25am
Thursday 29th November TFL Day
Friday 30th November INSET Day (School closed to students)
Thursday 13th December Parents Evening
Friday 21st December Secondary School closes at 1pm for the Christmas break

6. Key Dates for this Year:
Spring Term
Monday 7th January to Friday 23rd March
(Half term: Monday 18th February to Friday 22nd February)
Monday 7th January School re-opens 8.25am
Friday 15th February School closes at 3pm for the Half Term break
Monday 25th February School re-opens 8.25am
Wednesday 13th March TFL Day
Friday 5th April School closes at 1pm for the Easter break

7. Key Dates for this Year:
Summer Term
Tuesday 23rd April to Friday 19th July
(Half term: Monday 27th May to Friday 31st May)
Monday 6th May Bank Holiday, School Closed
Tuesday 7th May School re-opens 8.25am
Friday 17th May Reports Home
Friday 24th May School closes at 3pm for the Half Term break
Monday 3rd June School re-opens 8.25am
Monday 1st July Yr10 Exam week begins
Monday 8th July Work Experience – 2 weeks

8. NEW GCSE grading structure
New Grading Structure
Previous Grading Structure 9 8 7 A* A 6 5 4 B C 3 2 1 D E F G U
Good Pass 5 and above = top C and above
Awarding a (standard pass) 4 and above = bottom of C and above
Current Oakgrove Sixth Form requirements are 7 Grade 4 or higher including English and Maths.
Link to 6th form for this year – grades – subject specific criteria (english and maths at least 4 to get re-sit 5 did not need to)

9. Work Experience Last 2 weeks of Year 10. Monday 8th July.
School will “finish” Friday 5th July.
Not specific career training – more an insight into workplaces.
All students are entitled to a work placement from the school.
Own placements can be arranged by your son/daughter
MRS SHARPLING.

10. Attendance 96% and above is the schools expected attendance figure.
5 minutes late every day equates to almost 10 school days lost over a year.
15 minutes late every day historically means almost two grades dropped on average.

11. Attendance
Try to avoid holidays in term time – controlled assessments happen throughout year 10 and 11.
Holidays will be marked unauthorised.

12. Exam Advice
Most subjects will be assessed through end of year exams in Year 11.
A lot of students throw marks away carelessly in exams by poor exam technique, which is why we have introduced Private Study this year.
Preparation is everything – knowing exactly what to expect – layout, topics, choice of questions etc.
Very strict rules apply – punishments for malpractice are severe.
A student who is too ill for an exam (very extreme circumstances only) will require medical evidence. This is then submitted to the exam board and they will decide on the outcome.

13. Supporting at Home Take an interest in what they are doing.
Digital dead-zone.
Not everyone revises in the same way.
Check planners for homework and encourage swift completion.

14. Revision Start early. Little and often.
Cover all areas/subjects – need a plan.
Being organised.
Make and look after revision notes.
Use techniques that work for you.
Read/Cover/Write/Check.

15. Revision Ideas:

16. Private Study New half hour slot on timetables.
Currently learning about revision techniques and how they can be implemented.
After the October half term students will be applying the new revision techniques to the subjects they study.

17. Student and Parent Guide to KS4
Please refer to this booklet for revision websites, recommended texts, exam specifications and assessment breakdowns.

18. Subject Specific Support:
Understand format of papers.
Some very good websites, including the exam board sites for past exam questions and advice.
Can buy or order revision guides – but make sure you get the right one!

19. 100% Exam based subjects English Maths Science Trilogy
Science - Synergy
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Business Studies (GCSE)
French
Geography
History
Religious Studies
Sociology
Regular testing in class and mock exams at the end of year 10 and year 11.

20. Exams with Controlled assessment Element
Art & Design
Business (BTEC)
Child Development
Computer Science
Design Technology
Drama
Film Studies
Food Prep & Nutrition
iMedia
Music (GCSE & BTEC)
Photography
Sports Studies
Controlled assessment throughout the 2 year course and an exam at some point during the course.

21. Study Supports
Staff will enter students for study support sessions if they are behind target.
This might be with regard to controlled assessment or exam work.
Please encourage your child to attend.
Students who are on track and want to study independently can use E23 on a Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 3:00-4:00.

22. GCSE English
In Years 10 and 11, students will be following the AQA English Language and the AQA English Literature courses, resulting in two separate qualifications.
Both courses are now assessed on 100% examination and there is no coursework or controlled assessment option.
For English Language, there are two exam papers worth 50% each. Both papers include Section A: Reading and Section B: Writing.
Paper 1 focuses on reading Literary Fiction and producing descriptive or narrative writing. Paper 2 focuses on reading Non-Fiction and writing to present a point of view.

23. GCSE English
For English Literature, there are also two exam papers. Paper 1 is worth 40% and Paper 2 is worth 60%.
Paper 1 focuses on a Shakespeare text and a C19th novel. Paper 2 covers a modern text, pre-prepared poetry and unseen poetry. Both exam papers are closed book which means that students cannot take the texts into the examination.
GCSE English Language and GCSE English Literature will now be assessed on a new grading system, starting at 1 (the equivalent of a ‘G’ grade) and going up to 9 (a top A* grade). A ‘5’ will be equivalent to a top ‘C’ grade.
Please note there are no longer different tiers of entry in GCSE English Language or GCSE English Literature and, as a result, all students now sit the same exam papers.

24. GCSE Mathematics
Students do OCR Mathematics (J560) and will be graded on a 1-9 scale.
Students sit internal exams throughout the course of Years 10 and 11, and mock exams in Year 11.
Students will sit three exams at the end of Year 11 at either higher or foundation tier.  We will regularly review the progress of all students to ensure that we are making decisions on exam entries that are in the best interests of students (this may mean set changes and/or tier changes if we feel it is the best option).

25. GCSE COMBINED SCIENCE SYNERGY (AQA)
All students will cover the following topics across Year 10 and Year 11:
 1. Building blocks
2. Transport over larger distances
 3. Interactions with the environment
 4. Explaining change
 5. Building blocks for understanding
 6. Interactions over small and large distances
 7. Movement and interactions
 8. Guiding Spaceship Earth towards a sustainable future
This qualification is linear which means that students will sit all of their exams at the end of year 11.
Paper 1: Topics 1-4 (100 marks - 25% of GCSE – 1hour 45 minutes)
Paper 2: Topics 1-4 (100 marks - 25% of GCSE – 1hour 45 minutes)
Paper 3: Topics 5-8 (100 marks - 25% of GCSE – 1hour 45 minutes)
Paper 4: Topics 5-8 (100 marks - 25% of GCSE – 1hour 45 minutes)

26. GCSE COMBINED SCIENCE TRILOGY (AQA)
All students will cover the following topics across Year 10 and Year 11:
 Biology Chemistry Physics
1. Cell biology 8. Atomic structure and the periodic table Forces
2. Organisation 9. Bonding, structure, and the properties of matter 19. Energy
3. Infection and response 10. Quantitative chemistry Waves
4. Bioenergetics 11. Chemical changes Electricity
5. Homeostasis and response 12. Energy changes Magnetism
6. Inheritance and evolution 13. The rate and extent of chemical change Particle model
7. Ecology Organic chemistry Atomic structure
  Chemical analysis
16. Chemistry of the atmosphere
  Using resources
This qualification is linear which means that students will sit all of their exams at the end of year 11.There are six papers: two biology (paper 1 units 1-4, paper 2 units 5-7), two chemistry (paper 3 units 8-12 and paper 4 units 13-17)and two physics. (paper 5 units 19, 21, 23 and 24 and paper 6 units 18, 20 and 2)

27. GCSE SCIENCE TRIPLE (AQA)
All students will cover the following topics across Year 10 and Year 11 (in more depth than those taking Trilogy):
 Biology Chemistry Physics
1. Cell biology 1. Atomic structure and the periodic table Forces
2. Organisation 2. Bonding, structure, and the properties of matter 2. Energy
3. Infection and response 3. Quantitative chemistry Waves
4. Bioenergetics 4. Chemical changes Electricity
5. Homeostasis and response 5. Energy changes Magnetism
6. Inheritance and evolution 6. The rate and extent of chemical change Particle model
7. Ecology 7. Organic chemistry Atomic structure
  8. Chemical analysis Space
9. Chemistry of the atmosphere
  Using resources
These qualifications are linear which means that students will sit all of their exams at the end of year 11. 
Biology Paper 1: Units 1-4 and Biology Paper 2: Units 5-7
Chemistry paper 1: Units 1-5 and Chemistry Paper 2: Units 6-10
Physics paper 1: Units 2, 4, 6 and 7 and Physics Paper 2: Units 1, 3, 5 and 8

28. The Future
Sixth Form? College? Apprenticeship? Work placement? Job? Volunteering
What you do over the next two years will determine your next path – so don’t limit it. Making choices now will limit you further down the line.
What do you do that will make your application stand out?
All students in KS4 will receive a 30 minute careers appointment.

29. Final Points
If you have any queries or concerns then contact tutors, subject teachers, Miss Gordon, Mr Stevenson, Mr Evans
Make every lesson count.
Be organised and prepare in advance.
Continue to support students with revision and encouragement to try their best.
Encourage attendance to study support sessions.
Work with us to ensure that your child achieves the best possible grades and has the best prospects for the next phase of their education.

30. Thank you for all of your continued support
Thank you for all of your continued support. We will be available now to answer any questions. This PowerPoint will be available on the school website from tomorrow.