Pathway to Success 2 nd December 2016 Dear Parents/Carers, Year 11 Pathway to Success This is the next edition of a new regular email to Year 11 parents. Every two weeks we will send out this bulletin with details of support offered over the coming weeks. As you would expect it is very important to make sure that students continue to complete coursework and attend any necessary extra sessions. Hopefully this email will help you as parents and carers to encourage your son or daughter to make the most of what is on offer. Year 11 have made a positive start to their final year of GCSE studies; many students have displayed a fantastic work ethic and understand that this is a very important year in their young lives. As part of meeting the challenges of Year 11, I would ask that you encourage your child to act upon any advice or information received in the fortnightly emails. The impetus is now on them to put their best effort into achieving the results to which they aspire. Thank you for your continued support and please do not hesitate to contact me with any concerns in this vital year. Kind Regards, Sally Jones Mrs S Jones Head of Year 11 General The Year 11 Pre-Public Exams (PPEs) and under way and will continue until Tuesday 20 th December. Students should be following their revision timetable to prepare thoroughly and carefully. Subject teachers are also guiding the students on both the topics & skills required for the exam, and the most appropriate methods of revision for their subject. These are formal exams to be taken in public examination conditions, with access arrangements/concessions applied as already agreed for a range of students. Please find attached the overall exam timetable for your information. Students have now also received a personal detailed exam timetable. These exams are a vital step in identifying strengths to be built upon and weaknesses to be addressed prior to the final public exams in the summer.
Apply to the Sixth Form Applications are currently open and live and the deadline for submission is the 6 th January. To apply, follow the link - http://apply.crispins.co.uk/ The new Sixth Block is under construction and we are very excited about this new project. Business Studies DT- Engineering DT Food Technology Year 11 Business Studies students should be making revision notes from the blue booklet for the forthcoming PPE and revising all key terms for people and business. All Year 11 BTEC Engineers have had a detailed email on the work they need to upload to the VLE by Monday. Please ask your child to share this with you. Some students are struggling with the standard required. The exemplar work in the email they received should make this clear. Again we will work through Tuesday lunch for those students who found time management a struggle. Work that should be completed. 1) Planning sheet for PCB 2) Testing circuits and components 3) Evaluating Bread board Vero board and PCB. This work must be uploaded to the correct section in the VLE. Dates for all future practicals are as follows: Idea 5 group 1 will be on Tuesday 6 th December Idea 5 group 2 will be on Wednesday 7 th December. Students have one more idea to cook but due to the PPE exams they will be completing this next year. DT Graphics Miss Smith s Graphics group Controlled assessment: As you are aware, the Year 11 Graphic Products class are currently working on their controlled assessment. Whilst marking their work, it appears that not all areas of work are complete, therefore could I please ask that your son/daughter attends catch up
sessions until the work is complete. These sessions will be after school on Tuesday and Wednesday until 4.30pm and will begin the week commencing 12 th November. It is strongly recommended that students attend the sessions to ensure they reach the very best of their ability and target grade. All work must be completed by Wednesday 14 th December. PPE Preparation: Practice exam questions have been sent home to students for them to complete as personal study. Students are to ensure that they begin revising and complete the tasks set so that we can identify areas for improvement. BBC Bitesize and Technology Student are good websites that can be used for revision. Study guides are ready for purchase from Miss Smith, week commencing 20 th November. DT Textiles After school club will be on Thursdays it will become compulsory if work is incomplete. To support PPE preparation, there are lots of resources on the VLE in the technology KS4 area. These include PowerPoints, clips, links, past papers and lots more! Drama English 1. Write your live production notes on A View from the Bridge 2. Create your own Live Production Notes Template 3. Revise Section A 4. Revise Section C on AVFTB We had have several queries from parents asking if there are any books that they can buy that support the course. Students may find the CGP range of texts useful for revision and the website is easy to use. Plus there is an area for parents. GCSE AQA English Language For the Grade 9-1 Course (ENAR41) AQA Anthology of Poetry Power and Conflict For the GCSE grades 9-1 Course (ACHR43) Unseen Poetry Exam Board AQA The Poetry Guide For the Grade 9-1 Course (EUAR42) There are also books supporting the Literature texts. French and German For languages, students now need to revise vocabulary for the reading and listening PPE s. They can find a vocab section at the end of each module in their textbook or use their Quizlet accounts. Geography Year 11 Geographers have now concluded their controlled assessments in lessons, but catch-up is available on Wednesdays after school for any incomplete work due to absence or trips.
We are looking forward to learning the final few topics and will use lesson time to prepare for the PPEs in December too. To assist with this, there is a revision guide available, which we highly recommend. It is the companion to your son/daughter s homework workbook provided by school, as shown at Parents Evening. Topics that will be assessed in the 2 PPE papers will be: Geographical Skills and Challenges for the Planet; Coasts, Rivers, Population and Tourism. To help with your child s revision of the Geography GCSE, in conjunction with our lessons, the companion revision guide to your son/daughter s revision workbook is most useful. These can be found on Amazon and any book stores and cost 5.99. There is no obligation to purchase one, but they are excellent. The department has a small number of these workbooks available for students to borrow. https://www.amazon.co.uk/revise-edexcel-geography-geographical- Foundations/dp/1446905349 History Pupils should have received their revision guide and will be expected to complete AT LEAST one activity per week. This is detailed in the revision schedule and outlined by the teacher. The PPE (on 9 th December) will be on the Germany and Britain modules. The Germany exam will focus on ALL of the taught content, with a reminder that this paper is mainly focused on the skill of explanation (PEE). The Britain exam will focus ONLY on either the LIBERAL REFORMS or the SUFFRAGE movement. This paper is mainly focused on source skills (inference / purpose / reliability). Health & Social Care Students should collect their folder from ICT office and use this along with the revision guide that they were given last year (if they no longer have this then they can access it on the VLE link below). http://vle.st-crispins.wokingham.sch.uk/moodle/course/view.php?id=1188 Students can use the information to practice past papers on the VLE and also to make notes on topics that they have they feel they need to revise. http://vle.st-crispins.wokingham.sch.uk/moodle/course/view.php?id=1217
ICT Music Computer Science: All pupils have moved onto the second controlled assessment in lessons. However, work can still continue on the first controlled assessment every Thursday afterschool in IT2 with Mr Lowery. ECDL The students who are taking ECDL as an option are preparing well for their third exam and are on course to take the exam before the PPEs begin in December. Emails will be sent to parents with a specific date for the exam as soon as it is scheduled. Set works: A full PPE exam will test knowledge of all 12 set works, as well as a choice between 2 essays. Revision materials are available on the VLE; helpful material, and test exercises, can also be found at BBC Bitesize, by searching for a specific work, or at thestudentroom.co.uk (free access, requiring signup). Composition: Any controlled assessment time missed as a result of absence must be made up by arrangement with Mr Wolstencroft. After-school sessions are available on Monday, Tuesday or Thursday afternoons for the remainder of this term. Performance: Following solo performances from the 1 st /2 nd December, students should plan, and resource, their ensemble performances that will be prioritised in the New Year. PE Students will be given a copy of this revision guide. Students are asked to start making revision cards or notes on topics that they are unsure of and complete the tests on these sections.
Religious Studies Students should be beginning to prepare for their Religious Studies Pre-Public Exams. Whilst some lesson time will be dedicated to revision, and revision materials will be provided, students will need to build on this outside of class. Students will be sitting 2 Religious Studies papers and will be examined on the following topics: Ethics 1: Religion and Human Relationships Religion and Medical Ethics Philosophy 1: Belief about Deity The End of Life If students have any questions about this they should see their RS teacher or Mrs Benson at the top of the tower. Science Our exam bank is up and running with lots of smart revision taking place. For those not in the know, smart revision means identify a weakness using your PLC, make a flash card using our preprinted packs we emailed you (examples below) and testing yourself using the exam bank.
Revision sessions with Mrs Phelps take place every week, more next Wednesday lunch time! Tassomai - it's not too late to buy at the reduced rate. Just head over to Tucasi and pay online, then send your child to see Dr Rose for the access codes. Keep encouraging Year 11s to keep the progress bar blue.