Ponteland High School
Welcome to the Year 10 Parents’
Information EveningKieran McGrane
Headteacher
25 September 2013
Information Evening
Staff• Kieran McGrane Headteacher• Jim Balkwill Assistant
Headteacher• Larraine Tilley Head of Year 10• David Cockburn RAL Maths• John Dolman RAD English• Mark Warland RAL Science
Information EveningStudents
MathsAlex Reeman and Kim Grey
English Jolie Ince, Andrew Macgowan, Charlie Bell, Georgina Hazon, Lucy McKenna, Rebekah Dale
and Olivia Taylor
Science Ben Eggleston, Michael Dwyer and Davinder Mahal
Supporting Your Child
Jim BalkwillAssistant Headteacher
Information Booklet:• Key dates• Preparing for GCSEs – parents’ roles• Revision – helping your child progress• Specification details
Information Booklet
Subject information• Controlled assessment • External examinations• Setting arrangements• Homework
Supporting Study Controlled Assessments (CAs)
• Controlled assessments have replaced coursework.
• Restrictions on the way assessments are conducted, including– Time allowed to complete work– Conditions under which work is carried out– Amount of assistance and feedback students
can receive from teachers.
Levels of ControlThe exam boards set different levels of control for different
subjects
• High Control – Exam conditions apply. Students are not allowed to communicate with other students or to bring new work in to the session (e.g. MFLs, Art and Design)
• Medium Control – Students can communicate with each other but they are not allowed to collaborate with each other during the controlled assessment itself (e.g Media Studies, Graphics).
• Low Control – Generally means students can work together and take resources to and from sessions to work on at home (most subjects are low control during the preparatory phase)
Managing controlled assessments
√ Students must …• act on feedback provided by the teacher.
• prepare thoroughly for the task beforehand using the information provided. – read guidance and prepare resources
• set aside time to carry out supporting study at home whilst carrying out the assessment.
• make sure that you meet all of the deadlines.
Switch to only linear examinations • There are no longer any modular
examinations: – Most exams will be sat in May and June of year
11.– Exams will test the work covered over two
years.– CAs will take place throughout Y10 and Y11 – Re-sits will only be available for English and
Mathematics in November of year 12.
• Changes required in study strategies:– Internal assessments, tests and mock exams
will take on even greater significance– Students to summarise topics to aid revision – Longer revision period in Spring of Year 11 to
prepare for end of course examinations
NorTLE, the school’s VTLE
• Website – www.northumberlandvtle.net
• User ID and password, obtain from teachers.
• To use, students need to attach themselves to sets using ‘manage sets’
• Students should attach themselves to a set for each subject
We are ‘designed’ to forget
• It’s quite normal to forget things, it’s how our brains have evolved – but repetition overcomes this
• Evolution did not prepare our brains to remember much of the information we see once only – review and revision are vital
Improving MemoryLearn to remember
• Building understanding– Takes time– Confusion often precedes
understanding– The ‘pit’ is good for you,
don’t fear it
• Review and revise– Improves recall– Find ways to make
repetition interesting
The pit
Understanding
Unaware
Rec
all
Time
The Year 11s who have just left and our three previous cohorts studied a modular GCSE course with great success but…
No More Modules
One big exam at the end of Year 11
Foundation (C – G)Higher (A* – D )
Our top four sets will sit the higher GCSE paper in Year 11.
The next four sets will sit a foundation GCSE paper at the end of Year 10.
This year the remaining sets will also enter in June.
Entry at the end of Year 10 earns a ticket to enter the November exam during Year 11.
If candidates gain a C grade then they will be taught a condensed higher course and sit a higher GCSE paper at the end of Year 11.
If they don’t get a C then they will have the opportunity to re-sit at foundation level.
Avoids the overly cautious entry into a foundation paper at the end of Year 11.
Allows the department to spread out our intervention focus throughout the year to cater for more students.
Targeting a real exam motivates students to ensure there are no gaps in their knowledge, giving them an excellent platform to build higher content upon.
A student gains a grade C at the end of Year 10 and loses all motivation to aim higher?
• Clear, simple, interactive lessons.
• Clear, simple, interactive lessons.
• Linked tasks with instant feedback.
• If you can do everything in every past paper you should do extremely well in the real thing.
• If there is something you cannot do then don’t ignore it because you can guarantee it’ll come up on the exam.
• Weekly Tests
• Breaks down the course into 4 manageable chunks.
• They get you revising weeks, not days before exams.
• They give a sense of achievement (or a wake
up call!)
•Superb for learning facts, methods and formulae.
• Easy way to show your parents that you know things to get them off your back.
• Shows real progress of revision.
• Spending hours revising things you can already do might make you feel better but it won’t improve your mark.
• Ask yourself at the end of a revision session, “What can I do now, that I couldn’t do before?”
• Ask teachers for help at break time or lunch time.
Parents
5. Get their
MyMaths Login!
4. Look over their
homework.
3. Test them or
ask them to explain things to
you.
2. Encourage
us but please don’t
nag – we’re moody enough already!
1. You can’t beat
rewarding effort and hard work!
MR DOLMAN
GCSEEnglish
Language/ English
LiteratureY10
Supporting your Child
Some Practical Ideas
MR DOLMAN
GCSE English
Your child will get 2 GCSEs: English Language and English Literature.
The exam board we follow is AQA.
GCSE English Language
The exam counts for 60% and focuses on the candidate’s ability to understand and produce non-fiction texts.
40% of the mark is for written controlled assessments.
Speaking and Listening is now assessed as a separate component
GCSE English Literature
There are two exams; one on poetry and one on modern texts. They are worth 70% of the final mark.
30% of the mark is for a written controlled assessment in which students study a Shakespeare text and one other text (usually poetry).
The English Literature exams will be taken in the summer of Y11; the English Language exam is also taken in the summer of Y11.
MR DOLMANAssistant Principal Teacher- English
Practical Strategies to Support your Child
• Olivia Taylor - Introduction• Georgina Hazon – Learning environment• Jolie Ince – Keeping us on track• Rebekah Dale – Positive reinforcement• Charlie Bell – Proof reading and practising• Lucy McKenna – Preparing and structuring• Andrew Macgowan – Resources
GCSE Sciences 2013
Ponteland High School
Twenty First Century Science
Dual Award Science• GCSE Science• GCSE Additional Science
Separate Science• GCSE Biology• GCSE Chemistry• GCSE Physics
B1, B2, B3 C1, C2, C3 P1, P2, P3Controlled
Assessment Linear Course
June 14 June 14 June 14 Year 10
25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25%
GCSEScience
B4, B5, B6 C4, C5, C6 P4, P5, P6Controlled
Assessment Linear Course
June 15 June 15 June 15 Year 11 GCSE
Additional Science25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25%
Dual Award Sciences (2 x GCSE’s)
Advice to Parents
Students will gain a GCSE in Science at theend of Year 10.
If students wish to retake this qualification inYear 11 they must redo all examined units inJune 2015. Only their controlled assessmentcan be carried forward.
Dual Award Science
Separate Sciences (3 x GCSE’s)
Unit 1 Unit 2 Unit 3 Unit 4
B1, B2, B3 B4, B5, B6 B7Controlled
assessment GCSE Biology
25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25%
C1, C2, C3 C4, C5, C6 C7Controlled
assessment GCSE Chemistry
25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25%
P1, P2, P3 P4, P5, P6 P7Controlled
assessment GCSE Physics
25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25% 60 min 25%
All examined units to be sat in June 2015 – NO RE-SITS
Course
Advice to Parents
Only Dual Award students will complete controlled assessments in Year 10
Practice Controlled Assessment (WB: 14th Oct.)Case Study – Vaccinations, Nanoparticles or Earthquakes
Real Controlled Assessment (WB: 18th Nov.)Case Study - DNA & Genes, Electric cars or Wind Power
Data Analysis – Strength of Polythene
Real Controlled Assessment- 2nd attempt (Spring term)Case Study - DNA & Genes, Electric cars or Wind Power
Data Analysis – Wind turbines
Advice to Parents
Students will complete a lot of the preparation for their controlled assessment as homework.
Support them with their studies by…
- ensuring they can plot a graph of their results;
- talking about the topic that they are researching;
- directing them towards useful websites, newspapers and magazine articles;
- checking their notes before the write-up session to make sure they are in good order.
Purchase a revision guide from school (£5 each).
Advice to Parents
Ensure your child can access the online homework website
Advice to Parents
Advice to Parents• Ensure your child can access past exam papers and the
syllabus either on the OCR website (www.ocr.org.uk/science) or on NorTLE.
Purchase a hard copy of the textbook.
Advice to Parents
www.oup.org.uk
Advice to Parents
Purchase a hard copy of the textbook.
www.oup.org.uk
Advice to Parents
• Any questions or concerns please contact the school.
- Mr Mark Warland (Raising Achievement Leader– Physics)
- Miss Amelia Richardson (Deputy Raising Achievement Leader– Biology)
- Rev. Christian Callan (Raising Achievement Coordinator Chemistry)
- Mr Graham Tulip (Raising Achievement Coordinator KS4 Science)
Tips for students in lesson
‘Use highlighter pens to identify key facts in your lesson notes.’
‘Stay organised – make sure your book is sectioned into different modules and lessons, with key information highlighted.’
‘Speak to your teacher when stuck. They are there to help.’
‘Focus on all your science subjects not just the one you find easiest or most enjoyable e.g. Biology.’
‘Make notes throughout the lesson on anything that is new to you. Don’t wait for instruction from the teacher.’
Tips for students when revising
‘Don’t leave revision till the last minute. Do a bit each night.’
‘Attend the afterschool revision sessions. They are always useful.’
‘When revising create a revision sheet to show the main topics in a module and how the are related. Use the syllabus to focus on the areas you do not understand.’
‘Buy the revision books, they don’t cost much and are a big help. The textbooks are also really useful, especially for catching up on missed work.’
Raising Achievement
Jim BalkwillAssistant Headteacher
• Attendance• Homework• The Planner
Attendance Matters
Homework
At Key Stage 4 students always have homework:– Learning– Reinforcement Purpose? Preparation– Research
If no formal homework is set in a subject:– 10 minutes per examined subject per
evening
The Planner
The planner is a very effective home-school communication tool, as well as an excellent student organiser:
• Organising the following school day/week
• Seeing what work/prep needs to be done
• Passwords for e-learning• Checking what lessons students have
had• Checking what homework needs
doing
Closing Comments
We hope this evening has been informative and useful for parents and students
Staff and students are available for questions and information
Please have a safe journey home
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