1. Year 10 Purpose of the evening Exams Assessments Key Dates

2. Teenage Myths I’ve got no homework… It doesn’t matter how I do in the Year 10 exams… I can re-do my coursework…. The best way to revise is….. My target grades are B’s, so I will be OK…

3. Jill.davidson@northumberland.gov.uk

5. English Mr N A Hamilton

6. English Students prepare for two qualifications: GCSE English Language GCSE English Literature

7. GCSE English Literature (9715) Exam Board AQA Two Levels of entry – Foundation Higher Your son/daughter’s performance this academic year will begin to determine which level they will finally be entered for in the summer of 2016.

8. GCSE English Literature The coursework will be completed in year 10 – one controlled assessment which is worth 25% of their total mark – a comparative essay on Shakespeare and poetry. Examination texts will be studied during year 10 and 11 working towards two written exams in the summer of 2016

9. Literature exams Unit 1: Exploring modern texts (1hr 30) – ‘Of Mice and Men’ and ‘DNA’ Unit 2: Poetry across time (1hr 15) – ‘The Moon on the Tides’ Anthology - the ‘Relationships’ cluster and an unseen poetry question.

10. English Language All students follow AQA GCSE English Language (4705) The coursework component is 40% for GCSE made up of four assessments One examination paper worth 60%: Understanding and producing non-fiction texts (2hr 15) – Section A tests reading, Section B tests writing – two levels of entry: Foundation Higher

11. Three Top Tips for English Become familiar with the texts your son/daughter is studying and discuss them. Past papers and mark schemes are available on the AQA website: http://www.aqa.org.uk/exams- administration/exams-guidance/find-past-papers- and-mark-schemes http://www.aqa.org.uk/exams- administration/exams-guidance/find-past-papers- and-mark-schemes Encourage your son/daughter to read and discuss non-fiction texts e.g. newspapers, leaflets, magazines

12. Revision Guides English Literature – specific text guides are commercially available to buy English Language guides are available in the library or to buy commercially (Pearson ‘Always Learning’ Revise AQA GCSE – by Tier) English Language workbooks also available commercially (Pearson ‘Always Learning’ Revise AQA GCSE – by Tier)

13. Maths Mr M Smith

14. GCSE Maths Two Tiers Higher Tier – Edexcel 1MA0H Foundation Tier – OCR J567F

15. NO Coursework! Both a blessing and a curse.

16. QWC Questions (4 Marks)

17. QWC Questions (5 Marks)

19. www.mymaths.co.uk

20. www.mathswatchvle.com

21. Top Tip for Maths Be positive about maths – it is a key qualification for all students Encourage them to begin working independently – 30 mins twice a week at this stage would be ideal Don’t revise things that they already know how to do – challenge themselves to improve/ perfect 1 new skill each time they revise. Don’t be discouraged – we all make mistakes but over time these will reduce and the marks will improve. Practise, Practise, Practise!!!

22. Maths Revision Guides One revision guide, one workbook sold as a pair. They cost £5 (50%RRP) for the pair.

23. Science Miss S Neale

24. GCSE Sciences Exam Board AQA Two Routes Science A and Additional Science Biology, Chemistry and Physics Both routes prepare students for Level 3 study of Science subjects

25. Biology, Chemistry and Physics Students will take three exams in each subject in May and June of year 11. These marks are combined with the ISA mark to give an overall grade. All modules have equivalent weighting (25%)

26. Science A and Additional Science Science A Students will take the Science A qualification in year 10. This is ONE GCSE. Students will take one exam in Biology (B1), Chemistry (C1) and Physics (P1) in June. Additional Science This GCSE qualification is completely separate from Science A and is taken in year 11.

27. Science A and Additional Science Science A ISA date: Wednesday 10 th November Lessons after half term will all be used to prepare students for this

28. What is an ISA? Investigative Skills Assignment Research Exam 1: Hypothesis, Plan, Results Table Practical Work Graph Exam 2: Own results analysis, Case Studies

29. What is an ISA? Specimen ISAs and examiners commentaries are available on the AQA website http://filestore.aqa.org.uk/support/pdf/AQA-SCIENCE- CONTROLLED-ASSESSMENT-LEAFLET.PDF

30. QWC Questions (6 Marks) In this question you will be assessed on using good English, organising information clearly and using specialist terms where appropriate. Students are presented with an A4 side of information to read, often including charts or graphs.

31. QWC Questions (6 Marks) They are then asked to describe a process give advantages/disadvantages evaluate a new development explain the data In this question you will be assessed on using good English, organising information clearly and using specialist terms where appropriate.

33. Three Top Tips for Science Download past exam papers and mark schemes from AQA website Watch and make notes from the website myGCSEScience Encourage your child to use the BBC website: – use the bitesize revision materials – watch science programmes from iPlayer – browse the scientific news articles

34. Science Revision Guides Nelson Thornes revision guides are available from the science technicians. They cost £3.25 (50%RRP) each.

35. All Students Year 10 Exam Week – 23 rd March Careers’ Week – 13 th July