SUPPORTING YOUR DAUGHTER
IN YEAR 11 EVENING FOR PARENTS AND CARERS
September 2015
YEAR 11
BE BRILLIANT
Key Dates
Work Experience - 28th September
Sixth Form Open Evening – 11th November
Parents’ Evenings - 22nd October, 23rd March
Mock Exams – 2nd November, 22nd February
Mock Results Days – 10th December, 22nd March
Reports issued - 21st October, 26th January, 29th April
GCSE’s written papers begin – 16th May
Easter Revision during Easter Holidays
Pupil 8
PE Yr10T3
Sci : Core Target
Sci : Core Yr10T2
Sci : Core Yr10T3
Sci : Additional Target
Sci : Additional Yr10T2
Sci : Additional Yr10T3
RS Target
RS YR10T2
RS YR10T3
C
C
C
B
B
B
B
B
B
B
C
C
Pupil 2
Pupil 3
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
Pupil 4
C
C
D
C
C
D
C
C
C
Pupil 5
B
B
C
B
B
C
B
C
C
Pupil 6
C
B
B
Pupil 7
B
C
C
B
B
B
C
B
C
C
B
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
C
M
P
P
?
P
P
M
M
D
D
M
D
M
C
M
P
M
Info Sys (Funct Skills)
ICT Yr10T3
ICT Yr10T2
ICT Target
Helth & Social Care Yr10T3
Helth & Social Care Yr10T2
Helth & Social Care Target
BTEC Art Yr10T3
M
BTEC Art Yr10T2
BTEC Art Target
Art : Short Course Yr10T3
Photography Yr10T2
Photography Target
Art : Short Course Yr10T3
Art : Short Course Yr10T2
PE Yr10T2
Pupil 1
PE Target
Assessment
• ALL THAT DATA!
• EFG
Estimated Final Grade
• KSTG Key Stage Target Grade
FS
FS
FS
FS
M
FS
FS
Attendance
• Good attendance is directly linked to good achievement
• Government data shows that only 35% of pupils with poor
attendance (less than 85%) achieve 5 GCSEs, including
English and Maths, at grade C or above
• However, for pupils whose attendance is 95% or more this
figure rises to 73%
• ‘It’s only one day’
• On that one day you might miss:
Only one day...
• Important notices about projects/events in tutor time
•
•
•
•
•
for the rest of the week/month
Period 1: Introduction to a new topic in English;
Period 2: Explanation of a new concept in Maths;
Period 3: An important experiment in Science, on
which your later work is based
Period 4: 12-20 new words/phrases in a foreign
language plus a grammatical concept
Period 5: A demo in food tech showing what you
are expected to do in the next lesson
Attendance
Natalie was in Year 11 last year.
Her attendance was always around 90%.
She thought that this was pretty good.
However …….
90% attendance means that she was absent from
lessons for the equivalent of
one half day every week.
Percentage Attendance Weekly
90% =
80% =
½ day
1 day
Percentage Attendance Termly
90% = 1 week 2 days
80% = 2 weeks 4 days
Percentage Attendance Yearly
90% = 4 weeks
80% = 8 weeks
Miss Chapman
What we aim to do to help your
daughter achieve
• 1. Teach different ways to revise.
• 2. Some students will receive a Mentor.
• 3. Ensure there is regular feedback given to you
regarding how your daughter is progressing. Mentoring
will help this, as will parent mail. If you are not signed up
to this then please let us know at the end.
• 4. Help your daughter to produce a revision timetable.
• 5. Help with college applications.
• 6. Ensure they get the opportunity to meet with the
careers advisor.
Top ten tips for parents
• 1. Make sure you daughter attends school every day and
arrives on time.
• 2. Check their planner and show my homework weekly, if
you have any concerns e.g. No homework then contact
their form tutor.
• 3. Create a revision timetable with your daughter (we will
look at doing this in form time at school also)and ensure
they stick to it. The mocks after half term. They should be
revising now.
• 4. Help your daughter to organise a work area, ensure
they have all the stationery they need.
• 5. Have clear expectations of how much work they
should be doing each night/week.
• 6. Discuss with your daughter if the TV/music helps or
hinders them. On the whole I would say a quiet space is
needed. There are some good revision apps available
but unless you definitely know they need their phone/Ipad/laptop etc, they should probably not be working with
them.
• 7. Put key dates/exams in your own diary/ calendar so
you can support before the ‘panic stage’.
• 8. Time your daughter answering questions, timings in
exams can be key to success.
• 9. Choose one good revision guide for each subject. Ask
your daughter to check with their teachers that it is the
best one.
• 10. Ensure they eat a good breakfast before their exams
and have a bottle of water with them.
Organisation
Weekends
What your daughter needs to do
• 1.
• 2.
• 3.
• 4.
• 5.
Catch up on any missed work.
Start revising now.
Ensure she comes to school fully equipped and
ready to learn.
Ask their teachers what they need to do to
improve their grade.
Ask for past papers/exam questions.
• 6.
• 7.
• 8.
• 9.
Know how many minutes per mark are needed for
each exam.
Be positive: It is not too late, they need to talk
to their parents and teachers if they are worried.
Have a healthy balance between work, sleep and a
social life.
Consider whether they really need to use the
internet at the moment. Facebook, twitter and so on
are distractions which they do not need and will still
be there when they have finished.
• 10.
Think about the long term goal. Lots of girls
15/16 year olds do not know what they want
to do for a job. However they all want to have
money and be able to afford the things they
want. Better grades=more options in life.
Mrs Worth
How to Raise a Grade in Mathematics
• GCSE questions are predictable
• Most girls will be entered at higher tier
• Summer 2015 only 33% was needed for a C grade at
higher tier
• Concentrate on key topics
Cumulative
Percentag
e
Average
Percentage
of Marks
Target
Grade
AT
Topic
Topic
Top 10 Topics for Students Targeting a C
1Basic Number
Number
C
10.06% 10.06%
2Simplify (inc expanding)
Algebra
C
6.47% 16.52%
3Linear equations and inequalities
Algebra
C
4.89% 21.41%
Cumulative frequency inc box and
4 whisker
Data
C
4.31% 25.72%
6Probability
Data
C
4.31% 30.03%
7Transformations and symmetry
Shape
C
3.81% 33.84%
9Straight lines
Algebra
C
2.87% 36.71%
11Area and volume (inc density)
Shape
C
3.09% 39.80%
12Substitution (inc rearranging)
Algebra
C
2.59% 42.39%
13Factorising
Algebra
C
2.23% 44.61%
So What Can I Do As A Student?
• Evaluate your learning –what do and don’t you
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•
•
•
•
understand
Take every opportunity to finish tasks or attempt
challenges
When you don’t understand something ASK
Keep practising, do not READ a revision guide but do
questions instead
Show working out/ method
Make sure you have the correct equipment
What Support is Available?
• Maths clinic runs every lunchtime (except Tuesday
week 1)
• Anyone can come on any day
• Bring your lunch
• Bring your friends
• Nice and warm and dry
• Mymaths.co.uk
• Anyone can log on using username “frances” and password
“pentagon”
What Support is Available?
• Loads of great sites on the internet a quick Google
•
•
•
•
search will turn up literally thousands
Textbooks are on the VLE in Moodle
All pupils will be given a CGP book to use for
practising questions
Make sure you work through as many past papers as
possible, attempting as many questions as possible
We have old textbooks full of extra questions available
What Can I Do as a Parent?
• Monitor your daughter’s progress, ensure she seeks
help when it is clear she does not understand
• Encourage her to set up a regular revision schedule;
little and often is the best way to learn
Ms Fowkes
Regular Study time
• Study Hall – Fridays in the 6th Form Study Room giving
access to quiet area to work and computers. Some
Fridays we will have teachers present.
• Girls will be registered and given light refreshments, 2
stamps in their passports. There will be rewards/a draw
for girls who attend.
Easter
• Many subject staff offer revision sessions.
• These encompass both weeks.
• We strongly encourage girls to attend.
• We recommend that girls do not go on holiday over this
very important period just before GCSE’s commence in
May.
Digital Resources available from home
A summary of digital resources are listed in the
booklet.
Shortly you will find two documents on the website
namely a student and a parent ICT guide.
Contacting the school
Contact email addresses are in the booklet.
Regular Clubs and Support
Information can be found in the booklet and will
be published on the website.
Watch out for updates.
Before most of the written GCSE’s begin in
May teachers will hold additional revision
sessions to give students that extra boost and
encouragement.
Year 11 English
Mrs Dowie
Head of English
GCSE English
• Made up of 2 separate GCSE qualifications:
English Language
English Literature
• English Language sought by employers, colleges and
universities.
• Government expectation that students reach C grade or
above in English Language.
English Language – 2 routes
AQA Qualification
IGCSE Qualification
• 4 Controlled Assessments
• 3 pieces of coursework
(40%)
• Exam in reading and
writing (60%)
(40%)
• Speaking and Listening
exam (20%)
• Exam in reading and
writing (40%)
English Literature
AQA for all students
• 1 Controlled Assessment (25%)
• Exams on Prose, Poetry, Drama (75%)
What students need to do
• Catch up on any missing Controlled
Assessments/Coursework
• May need to redo a Controlled Assessment/Coursework
to improve and meet their target grade
• Have copies of the texts they are studying and read them
– not just once in class!
• Talk to teachers about their current grades and how to
reach their targets
Exam Skills – English Language
• Reading and writing are both assessed
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•
•
•
•
Key areas for improvement:
Spelling, punctuation and grammar
Proofreading
Expanding vocabulary
Reading a wide variety of texts – newspaper articles,
fiction, non-fiction (e.g. autobiography), blogs, online
news
Knowing what the question is asking, how to tackle it and
how many marks it is worth
Exam Skills –English Literature
• Reading and essay writing skills are assessed
Key areas for improvement:
• Proofreading
• Knowing the texts
• Structuring essays
• Learning the context of a novel, poem, play
• Being analytical in essays
Extra Help and Support
• Intervention for some students – timetabled lessons or
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•
•
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form time
Revision sessions run by the English Department
Seeking advice from the classroom teacher
Exam board websites – aqa.org.uk; cie.org.uk
The English Office