GCSE Success
This evening Student expectations Curriculum support Real student experiences
Engage
show Resilience
accuracy
Curriculum support Specifications and revision aids Walking / talking mocks and preparation Additional classes Outside groups Holiday programmes Saturday club
What will be available? Day / Time Before school Lunchtime After school Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday Art Comp Science Comp Science History Art Comp Science Business Geography Art Comp Science ICT Art ICT Saturday
Communication School website School calendar Assessment weeks OTF grades and marksheets Email My Child At School Twitter @BiddulphHigh
The views of some Y11 students from this summer
Flossie James Revise for mocks Let family know you would like stationary and equipment at Christmas! Start revising early Maintain habits of revising so it won t be too difficult Really graft around Easter time Freesciencelessons.com Practise papers!! Mr Bruff
Grace Blandford Start early with revision. Be organised. Ask for help if you need it. Use past papers. Make use of the time you have!
Evelyn Bailey Revise for mocks- take them seriously! Find a balance between work and fun Reward yourself Build up from around October half term; I went from 20 minutes to 1 and a half hours
James Copestake Lists of equations, quotations and short facts Get family and friends to test you on your knowledge Sam Learning and MathsWatch Go back to teachers if you do not understand Find the correct balance; leave time for yourself
Find a balance Jodi Meir
Results
English, Mathematics and Science Some subject-specific advice We will email out further advice each month as well as offering some parent drop-in sessions in many subject areas across the year.
GCSE Maths
The basics Basic numeracy skills - %, fractions, ratio, x, Problem solving practice Grade 4/ 5 topics need to be mastered Repetition throughout the year Resilience Knowledge and ability to recall formulae
Revision Resources CGP guides, workbooks, practice exam questions. Revision guides should be for GCSE Maths 9-1 Letts BBC Bitesize Flash cards available to purchase from school vle.mathswatch.co.uk videos, one minute Maths, interactive questions, worksheets. Excellent resource fully funded
Boundaries The grade boundaries for the OCR GCSE Maths exam in 2018 were as follows: HIGHER (out of 300 marks) 60 for GRADE 4 94 for GRADE 5 129 for GRADE 6 164 for GRADE 7 210 for GRADE 8 256 for GRADE 9 FOUNDATION (out of 300 marks) 146 for GRADE 4 187 for GRADE 5 N.B. These boundaries will NOT necessarily remain the same for 2019 but it gives you an idea of how many marks you need to pass.
STAY FOCUSSED! Nobody can afford to take their foot off the gas! Maths is the key to a successful future and therefore must be taken seriously. Everybody can be successful in Maths if they try hard, focus, practise, recall key facts and formulae and work, work, work. Last year, one of the school s top achievers performed 3 grades above his target in Maths. He began Year 9 in set 2, worked incredibly hard and moved up to set 1. He was focussed, diligent, conscientious. In terms of work, revision, preparation, you name it he did it! IT PAID OFF. He achieved a grade 8 (12 marks off a grade 9) despite the fact that his target grade was a 5! Aim for the sky, you can do it.
PARENTS Ensure that you son/ daughter is achieving 75% + on their weekly Mathswatch homework. Help them with their self-quizzing. They must have a minimum of one side of A4 in their practice books but you can also test them! Test them in the order that it is written, then jumble up the order. Help your child to create a well thought out revision timetable in readiness for the mocks (W/C 14 th January 2019). Ensure that revision includes actually doing Maths questions, not just reading through notes and examples. Not sure? Give us a call and ask. We can help!
Paper 1: Shakespeare and the 19 th Century Novel ( Romeo and Juliet and A Christmas Carol ) Paper 2: Modern Texts and Poetry ( An Inspector Calls, Poetry from the AQA Anthology, Unseen Poetry)
Re-read the texts as often as possible the more familiar you are with the texts, the easier you will find answering examination questions Use study guides or websites such as BBC Bitesize to revise Make cue cards of keys points on themes/characters/quotes to help you learn and ask others to test you Ask your teacher for examination style questions to be answering at home
Science at BHS All Year 11 students complete three Sciences: GCSE Biology, GCSE Chemistry GCSE Physics All with OCR Gateway Science.
Assessment All students are assessed by examinations, there is no coursework component. However, students have to complete a certain number of practical activities during their course called PAGs (Practical Activity Group), and the knowledge and skills they develop from these activities are tested in the written examination.
Mathematical Component All Science GCSEs have a far greater mathematical component than before, so understanding how to manipulate data and use formula is crucial to all students. There are no formulae given to students on the examination papers, they have to learn them.
Examinations and Grading Biology, Chemistry and Physics Have 2 papers per subject, making a total of 6 examinations in total. Each examination is 1 hour and 45 minutes long. Candidates will receive a grade of 9-1, for each GCSE, giving them 3 GCSE grades.
How to be successful Ask questions in class challenge your understanding. Get involved in practical tasks. Use revision guides to help: CGP revision guides in Biology, Chemistry and Physics can be purchased through school. Review your work regularly. Attend revision classes.
Thank you