Year 10 Parent Information Evening
If you did not attend the Year 10 Parent Information Evening, I have tried to present
here the information that was relayed to parents. Even if you did attend, there was
rather a lot of information to take in and as promised here are the main points.
The language of GCSE
In order to support your child through their GCSE years, it will be good to have a
better understanding of the language you will hear at parents’ evenings, read in the
Subject Information Booklet or hear from your child.
Exam boards
There is not just one exam board which runs GCSE exams. Your child will potentially
sit exams with four different exam boards: AQA, OCR, Edexcel and WJEC. You will
find details of which exam board is used in each subject in the Year 10 Subject
Information Booklet (each student has been given a copy of the booklet and it is
available on the school website). Heads of Department will have chosen the exam
board that they feel best suits our students in their subject.
Types of Assessment
External assessment – if a unit of work is externally assessed, this means an exam
will be taken in the summer exam period at the end of year 11.
Internal assessment – this assessment counts towards the GCSE but the
assessment is carried out in class at a time decided by the school between the start
of year 10 and the May of year 11. The name given to internal assessments is
‘Controlled Assessment’
Controlled Assessment (referred to as CA)
CA can be low, medium or high control. At the low control phase teachers can have
an input and support students. It is vital, therefore, that students take full advantage
of the support that can be given before the CA moves into higher control and no
support can be given by the teacher. This may mean that students will need to
attend lunchtime or after school sessions to catch up on any work that has been
missed due to absence or has not been completed as required in class. Students
must ask for help at the low control phase with anything they need support with.
All CA involves preparation at home, especially at the time when the topic covered in
the CA is being taught in school. Completing homework to the best level possible will
be vital. Students must not think that only the end preparation is the important bit.
Only with consistent effort and commitment over a period of time, will a CA reach the
highest grade a student is capable of.
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There are two ways in which marks are awarded for a CA:
Internally assessed and externally marked – the CA will be completed in school and
will be stored safely until the May of Year 11, when it will be sent to the exam board
for marking.
Internally assessed and externally moderated – the CA will be completed in school
and will be marked by the teachers in the department. In the May of Year 11 the
exam board will ask the department to submit the marks it has awarded for the
assessment. The exam board will then request a sample of the work, specifying the
names of about twenty students whose assessments they wish to mark. If the exam
board is satisfied that the assessments have been marked to their specification, the
marks of all students will stand. If the exam board feels that the marking of the work
for the twenty students is too generous, the marks of ALL students taking that
subject will go down.
This explains why when teachers report the grade they would award to a piece of
CA, they will say ‘subject to exam board moderation’ as they cannot guarantee 100%
that the mark will stay. Departments spend a lot of time marking CAs and they are
not just marked by one person in the department. Heads of Department will organise
their own moderation process, to ensure that there is consistency of marking across
the department and that marking is in line with exam board guidance. In our
experience, it is rare that CA grades are changed.
Where CA is externally marked, the department will mark the work when it is
completed and before it is stored. This is in order to determine whether a student is
on track to achieve their target grade. The grade awarded, however, will be by the
exam board.
Success in Controlled Assessments
 Encourage your child to take advantage of the help that can be offered by
teachers in the low control period
 Know which subjects are preparing for a CA and the date of the actual
assessment and help your child prioritise their workload (these dates will be
on the Year 10 parent area of the website)
 If you know that your child is not putting in the effort required at home, let the
teacher know. The teacher will find out when they mark the assessment but
this is too obviously too late.
End of module tests
Not all assessments will contribute to the GCSE final grade. Students will sit end of
module assessments which are designed to assess student understanding of a
recent topic and inform the teacher if any aspect of the work covered needs to be
revisited. These assessments give students practice in how to revise. In order to
cope with the amount of information they will need to revise for their exams at the
end of year 11, students will need to find out which revision techniques work best for
them.
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What can you do as a parent?
Year 10 and 11 can be stressful times for some students and getting your child to
commit to working at home can cause stress for everyone in the household. One tip
for taking the stress out of continually nagging your child is to agree how time will be
spent. Your child will need to accept that they will have to work at weekends. A grid
like the one below can be useful. With your child, first write in all the things they have
to do eg a football match or judo class etc. Then write in any family activities they will
be taking part in eg visiting grandparents, a family trip to the cinema. Next write in
any of their own social arrangements eg meeting friends. Then, looking at what time
is left, write in what home study will be done and when. Encourage your child to put
exact start times for when they will start homework. Students who use this kind of
planning effectively also plan in things like TV viewing, XBOX time. Having the
weekend planned in this way can also stop your child feeling that they have spent all
weekend working, as it will be very clear that they have not.
Saturday
Sunday
Morning
Afternoon
Early
Evening
Evening
Organisation is key
Losing work can be stressful, especially if it contributes to a bigger piece of work or a
CA. There needs to be a designated place where work will be kept at home. The
minimum would be a big plastic box where all work is kept, but some students prefer
a box file or folder for each subject. Never throw anything away until you have asked
if it is needed. What looks to you like a scrap of paper and a few notes could be
important. Forgetting to bring an exercise book will be a problem, especially if the
lesson requires students to use previous work and writing on paper increases the
chances of work getting lost, so encouraging your child to pack their bag the night
before will help.
Attendance
Government research and guidance indicates that attendance below 96% will affect
performance in exams and this has certainly been our own experience too. Missing
lessons will often result in work having to be caught up on, especially in the
preparation phase of a controlled assessment. Although parents have little control
over the timing of hospital appointments and orthodontic appointments, it is
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important that other medical appointments such as routine dental appointments and
doctor’s appointments that can be made after or before school, take place outside of
school hours. No child should attend school and pass on bugs that we all really don’t
want to get, but students will need to learn to cope with coming to school if they are
feeling slightly ‘under the weather’.
Homework
There is no such thing as no homework! Students must do a minimum of one hour
of work at home per subject per week. This may increase dramatically if your child is
preparing for a controlled assessment. If no specific task has been set or if students
finish the set task in less than an hour, time must be spent reading through work on
previous topics using a revision guide or their class notes. In the Subject Information
Booklet issued in October (also available on the website) Heads of Department have
specified which revision guide students should purchase.
These are suggested roles you will need to fulfil to support your child;
Project manager
It is not going to be possible for you to be there all the time when your child has
homework, but doing the following things will …
 Encourage your child to attend after school sessions. Anything that is
currently available will be on the website.
 Have a ‘to do list’ pinned on the fridge. Each day transfer the homework to the
‘to do list’ and write the due date. In this way your child can see the homework
list getting longer and it avoids the ‘oh it’s not due to next week’ comment
students will often use.
 Talk about what will be done the next night after school, so even if you are not
there your child knows what has been agreed will happen. Organising how
time is spent at the weekends is especially important.
Study buddy
 Revise with your child. You don’t need to know the answers, test them on
what is written in the revision guide.
 Get them to explain something to you
 Simply be near by
 Take them a drink or a treat
 Keep them going!
 If they get stuck and stressed you may need to take charge. If your child is
getting stressed about a piece of work or doesn’t understand a particular topic
you may need to tell them to leave the work and go and see their teacher.
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Agent (All celebrities, footballers and GCSE students need an agent!)
 If you know there is a problem let us know
 If it’s a subject specific issue contact the subject teacher
 If the problem is of a more general nature contact the tutor or Head of House
 Do not assume that just because your child has told you they have spoken to
a teacher that this is true
Stationery purchaser
There are all kinds of things your child will need when they revise, the things listed
below will be useful.
 Revision guides as specified by departments
 Printer paper
 Highlighter pens
 A4 notebooks for making notes
 Index cards
 Sticky notes
Sources of information
 Homework booklet
 Subject information booklet
 Learning and Teaching (an area of the school network that can be accessed
through the school website. Students will know how to access this and it is a
place where teachers can put useful information)
 Year 10 parent section of the school website
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GCSE ENGLISH
•
No more Controlled Assessments (previously worth 40%)
•
Graded 9 (highest) to 1 (lowest) instead of letters (A*-G).
•
Assessment is now by 2 external examinations at the end of Year 11, each
is worth 50%
•
Students will study a range of literary fiction and nonfiction to prepare them for
the final examinations (19th, 20th and 21st Century)
•
Speaking and Listening is now called ‘Spoken Language’. It must be taught
but has no weighting.
•
There is no longer a choice for students between Higher and Foundation tiers
– ALL students will sit the same paper
•
GCSE ENGLISH LITERATURE
•
No more Controlled Assessment (previously worth 25%)
•
Graded 9 (highest) to 1 (lowest) instead of letters (A*-G).
•
Assessment is now by 2 external examinations at the end of Year 11.
•
Students will study a Shakespeare play, a 19th Century novel, a prose or
drama text and 15 poems from an Anthology provided by AQA.
•
All exam questions are ‘CLOSED BOOK’ (students cannot take any texts into
the examination room). They will need to know the texts well and need to read
them often over the 2 years.
•
There is no longer a choice for students between Higher and Foundation tiers
- ALL students will sit the same paper.
Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19th Century Novel (1 hour 45 minutes- 40%)
Section A: Shakespeare
Students will be required to write in detail about an extract from the play and then to
write about the play as a whole. Students are either doing ‘Macbeth’ or ‘Romeo and
Juliet’
Section B: The 19th-century novel:
Students will be required to write in detail about an extract from the novel and then to
write about the novel as a whole. Your child will study one of the novels in the list
below. The choice of novel will depend on the teacher, who will usually make a
choice in consultation with the class.
•
Jane Eyre – Charlotte Brontë
•
Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde – R L Stevenson
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•
A Christmas Carol – Charles Dickens
•
Great Expectations-Charles Dickens
•
Pride and Prejudice – Jane Austen
•
The Sign of Four- Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
•
Frankenstein – Mary Shelley
Paper 2: Modern texts and poetry (2 hour 15 minutes- 60%)
Drama (one of the following)
•
An Inspector Calls – J. B. Priestley
•
Blood Brothers- Willy Russell
•
The History Boys- Alan Bennett
•
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time (play script)- Simon
Stephens
•
A Taste of Honey- Shelagh Delaney
•
DNA – Dennis Kelly.
OR
Prose (one of the following)
•
Anita and Me – Meera Syal
•
Never Let Me Go – Kazuo Ishiguro
•
Animal Farm – George Orwell
•
Lord of the Flies- William Golding
•
Telling Tales- AQA Anthology
•
Pigeon English- Stephen Kelman
Section B Poetry: students will answer one question comparing one named poem
printed in the exam paper with one other poem from their anthology. (The poems
were written between 1789 and the present day.)
Section C Unseen poetry: Students will answer one question on one unseen poem
and one question comparing this poem with a second unseen poem
Some of the key skills needed: ability to compare poems, knowledge of poetic
terms, and understanding of poets’ intentions
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Please also note that 20% of the total GCSE English Language marks will be
allocated to the use of:
‘A range of vocabulary and sentence structures for clarity, purpose and effect,
with accurate spelling and punctuation'.
PARAGRAPHING is also an essential skill!
SPAG is worth 5% of GCSE English Literature
Total: 25% (and it’s not just English that is assessed for SPAG)
How we will support your child in English
•
We have planned the course carefully for the new specifications to ensure full
coverage of the 2 GCSEs over 2 years. We are a committed team of
specialists who love our subject.
•
We are in the process of creating a bank of GCSE resources for parents that
will be available on the school’s website to support with learning at home (e.g.
sample GCSE exam papers, mark schemes, key English terms, SPAG
resources, etc.).
•
We will carry out regular GCSE assessments, adhering to the AQA question
format used in the sample examination papers, and provide detailed feedback
to support your child in knowing their ‘next steps’.
•
Intervention will be in place for students requiring support.
What you can do to support your child
•
Encourage wide reading at home. Read texts together and ‘quality’
newspapers such as ‘The Guardian’ or ‘The Independent’. Discuss opinions
on the reading.
•
Read the set texts your child is studying so you can ask questions about the
characters, plot and themes. Watch the film (the version your child’s English
teacher recommends).
•
Use the GCSE English area of the school’s website to support your child
(exam papers, mark schemes, top tips etc.) Discuss with your child the targets
your English teacher has set in their Assessment Book.
•
Ask your child to read through their work with you, have a thesaurus and
dictionary to hand.
•
Purchase revision guides such as York Notes and the 3 GCSE set texts.
Use BBC Bitesize and the AQA website.
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MATHEMATICS
New GCSE from 2016
•
Graded 9 (highest) to 1 (lowest) instead of letters (A*-G).
•
Edexcel syllabus.
•
Students will now take 3 exams for their GCSE in Mathematics:
-
1 non-calculator and 2 calculator each 1 hour and 30 minutes long
-
Equal weighting (33% each)
•
More emphasis on problem solving techniques.
•
More content to be covered at foundation and higher.
•
Students will need to memorise formulae to use.
How are we are preparing the students for the new course?
•
Scheme of work re-written to include new content.
•
Assessments re-written to reflect the change in style of the new GCSE.
•
Increased variety of work in lessons, encouraging deeper understanding and
ability to tackle unfamiliar problems.
•
Increase in ‘reading for meaning’ – extracting key information, and
understanding what the question requires.
•
Encouraging use of Mathswatch and MyMaths websites which have both
been thoroughly updated to match the new curriculum.
•
Staff training and development in department to include delivering the new
qualification.
What can students do to ensure success in this important year?
•
Students need to make sure they are fully engaged in their studies.
•
Students need to make sure they are frequently looking over their work to
make sure key methods and formulae remain fresh in their minds.
•
Complete all homework, to the very best of their ability. Any ‘spare’ homework
time can be used for reviewing/revising work.
•
Bring full equipment to every lesson.
•
Make sure they ask for help if they are stuck with any of the work.
•
Use the drop-in session on a Thursday after school for extra help.
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What can parents do?
•
Take an interest. Ask your child about their maths work.
•
Be positive about maths, and highlight when you use it in your everyday life or
at work.
•
Help them learn key formulas (these used to be provided for students but now
they need to learn them off by heart)
•
Make sure they complete homework to the best of their ability. If you feel able,
then help them when they are ‘stuck’.
•
Contact school if you have any concerns.
•
Use resources available online to support your child
Including www.mymaths.co.uk and www.mathswatchvle.com .
SCIENCE
Yr 9 – 10 students study Core Science GCSE
Students who have shown that they are working well, attending after school sessions
if requested to do so and we feel are showing the commitment needed, will take their
Core Science GCSE in the summer term of year 10. The advantage of this is that
they get 3 exams out of the way (bearing in mind they could have 20 exams to sit in
the summer of 2017) and they do not have to remember everything they have learnt
in Years 9 and 10 at the end of year 11. The content that is studied for the Additional
Science GCSE covers different areas.
25% Biology
25% Chemistry
25% Physics
25% ISA
Yr 11 students study Additional Science GCSE
They take their exams in the summer of year 11
25% Biology
25% Chemistry
25% Physics
25% ISA
How to achieve in Science
Excel in the ISA
The ISA is our practical exam. It is worth 25% of the course.
Whereas in the subject areas students study for 2 years for each exam, the ISA is an
intense and highly controlled examination day.
We are able to give a lot of guidance and so students typically achieve up to 3
grades higher than in their subject exams.
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The Science ISA day in Year 10 is13th October. Students must attend on this day
and the 3 lessons prior to the day when we give the training. Then it is all down to
effort. The ISA is not based on ability, it is not tiered. If a student tries hard they WILL
get a high grade.
Learn the content
All students have a revision guide that has been bought for them by the school and
was provided in year 9. Science is a very content rich subject. We learn NEW
content EVERY lesson. Lessons are about understanding the content. Homework is
set to begin the process of consolidating the learning. It is the work done at home,
that is not set as homework that really makes a difference.
The revision guide needs to be read. A LOT! It needs to be read before each
lesson, after each lesson and then frequently between the lessons and the exams.
This is where parenting comes into play the most – encouraging your child to go the
extra mile.
•
All students have a Doddle account. This contains a ‘resources’ section that
has animations that teach the content.
•
GCSE Bitesize contains AQA specific content, activities and tests.
Key points
•
Revision should not be learning.
•
Most students who do not achieve their targets only learn the content in the
revision period leading up to exams.
•
Learning is a continuous process that is best achieved at home under the
watchful eye of the parent/guardian
•
Revision is the final stage, going over work and relating it specifically to exam
style questions.
•
Teachers will be doing this in lessons now, in the lead up to the exams and
teaching students how to use mark schemes to check that they are best able
to convey their understanding
Help within school
After school support has already begun.
•
Chemistry teachers are available on Tuesdays 3 – 4pm
•
Physics teachers are available on Wednesdays 3 – 4pm
•
Biology teachers are available on Thursdays 3 – 4pm
•
Students should initially see their own teacher as they know them and their
needs best, however any teacher will be happy to help.
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Due to the overwhelming ‘yes’ vote at the Parent Information Evening, we will run a
'how to help your child revise in science' evening in the spring term. This will be key
in supporting your child with their science revision for their core science exam,
summer 2016.
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