Welcome to the KS4 Parental Support Evening

Aim • To provide information and skills to support your sons and daughters in preparing for their examinations…. • To ensure the students of Howden School achieve the best possible outcomes in their examinations

Outline of evening 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

Outline of Key Stage 4 and revision Support for English- Mrs Collins Support for Maths- Mr Russell Practical support- Mrs Walker Identify areas of additional support- Mr Cannon

The government uses the gold standard of 5A*-C including English and Maths as its standard… so do we!

What we do • • • • • • • • • •

Track progress every 6 weeks: effort and progress Quality first teaching Intervention groups Mentoring where needed Coursework support sessions Exam support sessions Deep learning days focused on support Small group withdrawal sessions Assemblies- constant focus Rewards

Foundations of revision • Recently a boarding school in Scotland had to turn off its internet access after midnight. Why? • What implications does this have for us as parents/ carers?

What makes good revision? • Plan ahead-Before you do any work, sit down and plan what you are going to do between now and the exams • Gather all their material for the topic area and reduce them into brief, clear notes • Understand how their memory works Some of us are better at remembering things than others – repeat over a time frame…

Put aside specific hours in the day for revision • Set up a 'revision pattern' – where their mind expects to be revising and is therefore more receptive to the material • Find slots where there is “dead time” morning and at night • It may not seem ideal to you! We all have different patterns of learning

Take lots of breaks • Your mind can only concentrate well for short periods of time - the first 15 minutes of revision are thought to be the best. • Make sure they stop for a few minutes every 30 minutes or so. During their break, a good thing to do is to sit back for a few minutes, close their eyes, relax, and just think about the things you have just learnt.

Find a place • Provide an area where revision can take place • It should be away from disturbances • Does it have to be quite?

English Support Mrs Collins

Current Year 11: what’s next? Completed • All controlled assessments (worth 60%) • Some have completed the external reading examination (20%) Still to come • Targeted intervention • External examinations this January • English Literature external examinations

Current Year 10: Linear GCSE Year 10 • Complete 4 written assessments (40% of course) • Complete 3 speaking and listening assessments (20% of course) • Begin preparations for external examinations (40% of course) Year 11 • Take Reading and Writing examinations in November • After results, work either towards English Literature or work towards English GCSE

Supporting your child in English Intervention • Planned twilight sessions after controlled assessments; • DEEP learning days to secure target grade. Revision • Resources available on the School Website; • Literacy based activities given for homework; • READ!

Resources • Copies of the texts studied via class teacher; • MP4 versions of the texts to refresh preexamination / assessment; • Examinations for Unit 1 and Unit 2 on the School website.

How to prepare and revise… Reading: Read non-fiction texts as widely as possible; Re-read / watch texts studied; Familiarise yourself with the 4 question types for reading and the formats for writing. Attitude: Complete every homework task given; Actively take part in wider reading to understand the context for texts; Look at and, if required, respond to targets to continue to develop skills.

Look at the website for the Welsh Board: www.wjec.co.uk

Maths Support Mr Russell

Maths GCSE Modular Exam Structure

Prepare well for the Maths Exams • Work hard in lessons • Make good revision notes on key areas as they arise (in class books, posters, post-its etc) • Complete homework tasks conscientiously (set aside 30-60 minutes every day in the final weeks before the exam) • Highlight areas for improvement that arise from lessons, homework tasks and practice tests

Prepare well for the Maths Exams

• 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

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Make use of the many resources available: Revision Topic List Mathswatch Revision CD Practice Exam Papers and Solutions Our web site www.mymaths.co.uk Personal Revision Notes

Adopt a ‘can do’ attitude and…. practice, practice, practice…..

Practical Support Mrs Walker

Parents top tips- before • Agree a work life balance • Consider a reward structure • The simplest things often get in the way of starting revision… provide the files, dividers, wall-charts etc your child will need for revision period. • Help your child to plan their revision timetable, it is the single thing that will make the biggest difference

Parents top tips-doing the revision

• Support your child in sticking to their revision plan and keeping to the start and finishing times they have agreed. Don’t make treats dependent on certain results • Quietly top-up the ‘workbox’ with pens, rulers, paper pads etc • Be flexible • Be sensitive to the pressure your child is feeling. It’s the big picture that will count in the end • Keep up with regular ‘check-ins’ • Keep things in perspective

Additional Support

Additional support • Our web site • Exam timetable • Resources Pack- weekly and monthly planning sheets • Home/ School Desk top- trial log in to access My documents from home via internet • Our web site

Additional support • • • • • •

GCSE POD LoginInitial Surname and year of entry @howdenschool.net [email protected] Password- gcsepod

Eat properly • Before exams in a morning we are putting on exam booster session • At each session there will be food and drink available to support students • Subject staff to reassure students and in still confidence • Exam boosters in the afternoon without food/ drink

Let us know • We recognise that parents/carers are key in raising standards in “Team Howden” • We want to work more in partnership • We want to hear from you on how we can support you in supporting your son/ daughter better.