Welcome!

Helping your child to get the best out of

KEY STAGE 4

Helping your child to get the best

out of Key Stage 4

Mr T. Dolly – Deputy Headteacher

Topics for tonight

• What to expect in Years 10 and 11.

• Supporting your son and daughter

at home:

– Revision and exam preparation

– The schools’ VLE (Virtual Learning

Environment) ‘Revision Zone’.

– Show My Homework recap

Don’t panic!

• The presentation will be on our

website tomorrow

Curriculum

• Key Stage 4

• All GCSE’s are now weighted to terminal exams – Linear qualifications

• Some subjects still include an element of non exam assessment, NEA (e.g. Physical Education)

Implications for Y10

• Internal assessments are our only

diagnostic opportunity – need to

take any school exams or formal

assessments seriously

• Greater pressure to revise more

material

Key dates YEAR 10 YEAR 11

Additional English & Science Mock w/c 4th February

Mocks w/c 26th November

Parents Evening 14th March Mock Results Day 7th January

English Language Walking Talking Mock 28th March

Parents Evening 31st January

Mocks commence 3rd May Additional English, Maths & Science Mock w/c 18th March

External exams begin w/c 13th

May

Supporting your son / daughter

Year 10 – List finalised by end of NovemberOrders processed and distributed by February half-term

ENGLISH

INFORMATION

• Information about assessments, mock examinations and revision resources can be found as follows:

• VLE

• Revision Zone

• KS4

• Y10 – or Y11

• Mock exams

• English

REVISION MATERIALS

• GCSE English language and GCSE English literature revision resources can be found as follows:

• VLE

• English and Media

• KS4

• GCSE English language or GCSE English literature

• Practice papers and revision resources for each specification can then be selected

audiopi

• This is an additional GCSE English literature resource that is available to our students

• It consists of a number of podcasts on the examination set texts

• Students can access the resource via computers or can download an app to use on their mobile phones

• Pupils can access the resource as follows:

• Access the audiopi website on www.audiopi.co.uk

• Enter user name: range@audiopi.co.uk

• Enter password: range

audiopi

• It is vital that students do not change the user name or password as they are common to all students in the school

• Resources for each of the set texts can then be accessed.

• The resources available to RHS students are indicated by the ‘licensed’ tab next to each text. Podcasts on The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, An Inspector Calls and Romeo and Juliet are currently available.

RECOMMENDED REVISION

GUIDES• RHS English department recommend the following

Hodder revision texts:

• WJEC/Eduqas: GCSE English language -My Revision Notes

• WJEC/Eduqas: GCSE English language - Workbook

• Study and Revise: An Inspector Calls

• Study and Revise: Romeo and Juliet

• Study and Revise: The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde

• If the above texts are purchased as a ‘bundle’ via RHS, a 25% discount can be applied

• The total cost for the 5 texts is £29.96

MATHS

Unit Homeworks

On the vle are copies of all the unit homeworks which cover the entire content of the course.

Students will be used to seeing these in class and will have been given them for homework.

However, this allows students to download another copy if they wish to try it again.

They should download the document first before printing.

There are unit homeworks for both Higher and Foundation tiers.

YEARS 10 & 11

www.vlemathswatch.co.ukHere students will find over 240 videos covering every GCSE topic. There are also over 200 ‘1 Minute Maths’ videos to allow for quick revision.

Students have been given username and login details to access this resource.

YEARS 10 & 11

www.diagnosticquestions.comHere students will find a collection called:

AQA GCSE Maths (2017-2018) Collection

This comprises of a quiz, written by our exam board AQA, which maps to each unit of the course. Each quiz contains 10 multiple-choice questions. It is expected that some working on paper will be needed to answer most of the questions.

There are quizzes for both Higher and Foundation tiers.

Pupils will be shown by their teacher how to access this resource and may be set quizzes as part of their homework.

YEARS 10 & 11

Check-in Tests

On the vle are a series of check-in tests produced by OCR which the students have access to.

There are topic tests, answers and review sheets in separate folders.

Note: The exam board we follow is AQA but these resources are useful as an extra revision tool.

YEARS 10 & 11

www.trello.comThis is a revision tool to aid organisation. Each unit has multiple links to videos, homeworks and quizzes.The idea is that students move a unit across to amber and then green when confident with that module of work.Over the coming weeks, students will be shown how to access the relevant Trello board.

TRIALLING WITH YEAR 11

YEAR 11 ONLY In the next few weeks, students will be given an ‘Aiming for Grade….’ revision booklet which they can work independently on.

Inside they will find plenty of questions on topics covering Number, Algebra, Shape, Space & Measure, Data Handling, Probability and Ratio & Proportion. They are aimed towards a particular grade (1, 3, 5, 7 or 9).

Each topic starts with a helpful ‘Things to Remember’ section.

AFTER YEAR 11 MOCK EXAMS

Once mock exams have been marked, students will be given the opportunity to complete a review sheet for each paper.

This is an interactive resource which will enable students to see which areas they found easy and which they need to work on.

Students save a copy to their documents/pen drive.

By clicking on hyperlinks, students will see the original question, the mark scheme, a worked solution and any comments from the examiner.

SCIENCE

Edexcel Science GCSE’s

Route 1

Route 2

More information can be found here

https://qualifications.pearson.com/content/dam/pdf/GCSE/Science/2016/teaching-and-learning-materials/GCSE-9-1-Sciences-guide-for-parents.pdf

Digital Resourceshttp://www.pearsonactivelearn.com

How you can help

All pupils have been issued log on details to access these

resources. Check that your child can log in and that they are using

the digital book to help them with homework. Pupils can also

complete online tasks to help with their understanding- they will get

instant feedback and can see where they can improve

Please make sure they ask their class teacher if they need a

reminder of log in details.

Digital textbook

Online Tasks Hints

Link to book page or power point

Class Resources

Booklets

• Each topic has a booklet that pupils work through in

class and at home.

Booklets contain

• Progress checklists

• Key facts

• Key fact quiz

• Glossary

• Worksheets

• Exam questions

• Assessment task

How you can helpPupils will be tested on the recall of the key facts in each booklet so you can test them on these at home using the key fact quiz

Revision Cycle- Science focus

Organise

Prioritise

Summarise

Memorise

Practice

Gather resources- booklets ,books, stationary,online passwords

Use checklists and feedback

from assessments to

decide the focus topic

Try various techniques to summarise information- revision cards/ topic on a page etcaim to quarter the text

Keep testing the key factsAsk and answer questions from revision materialCover/ copy / check/ repeat

Try quizzes and exam questions for that topic

Equation List

Pupils also need to learn these equations-they can be found in the revision zone What I need to revise- Physics section

How you can helpAsk your child which equations they have learned so farThey should be writing these all out and memorising them throughout the course

Online resources

On the Portal/ VLE/Revision Zone

• Revision Lists

• Progress checklists

• Key fact lists and quizzes

• Exam questionsHow you can help

Pupils will be shown be their class teachers where to find these resources- Ask your child to show you where they are. If they don’t know ask them to ask their class teacher for a reminder.

Additional Resources

Available to buy through school order

Revision guides- Pearson or CGP

Exam Practice workbooks

Also available online

Exam practice papers

Target 5 workbooks

Target 7 Workbooks

General Advice

How can you support your child?

How can you support your child?

Pre-Bed Routine Stick to a sleep schedule of the same

bedtime and wake up time. Reading a book (a real one – no

electronic light) before lights out. Eliminate light in the bedroom. Their

phone, tablet and e-reader have already been turned off (and left downstairs) but what about other LED lights on alarm clocks or similar?

How can you support your child?

Get them organised! Make sure they have…

• A course outline

• A full set of notes with no gaps.

• An organised set of notes.

• Review their notes regularly.

• An up-to-date record of homeworks set.

• The dates and times of their exams.

• Any books or equipment that will be needed in the run to exams.

Help with revision

What they think revision looks like…

Active Revision!

Scientists have found that the more ways something is introduced to the

brain and reviewed, the more regions of the brain will store that information. This will form connections and these multiple stimulations to the brain will

mean better memory.

Read it.

Highlight it:

Key words

Key points

Underline it.

Summarise.

Bullet point.

Chunk it.

Merely re-writing the text from the book into

your notes does not ensure retention.

Try to put things in your own words and devise

your own examples - this will make the

material more meaningful.

Only use the highlighter pen AFTER you have

read / scanned it, thus ensuring you identify

the most important material and you avoid the

creation of a fluorescent textbook!

Use index cards and flashcards

MEMORY MAPS

Your brain loves

things to be

organised into

groups and

categories because

that helps attach

meaning to things.

USE MNEMONICS!

Mnemonic device

Acrostic (or sentence) - Make up a sentence in which the first letter of each word is part of or represents the initial of what you want to remember.ROYGBIVEGBDF

My very easy method just speeds up naming planets

HANG OUT IN YOUR MEMORY

PALACE!

Mnemonic device

Method of loci - Imagine placing the items you want to remember along a route you know well or in specific locations in a familiar room or building.

Everyone is an individual

• Different preferences

• Everyone benefits from active

revision

Frequent reviewing