Supporting Your Child through Year 9

Parental Engagement

Shelley College 2010-2011

Parental Engagement 

Research has highlighted that the parent-child relationship could be the most important factor in a child’s academic and social development.  Professor Tanya Byron reported:  Parental or carer engagement is key to a child’s

educational success, but many parents are struggling to get involved with their child’s learning.

  Just 16% of children actively share any information with

their parents about their school day. 43% of parents find it either difficult to extract information from their child about their day at school.

  31% of parents admit to feeling ‘excluded’ when their child

won’t tell them what they’ve done at school that day.

The “3 Year” Key Stage 4

Core Subjects – 3 Year GCSE

Grades (not levels) – all subjects

Marking & Assessment to GCSE criteria

Fulfilling Your Child’s PotentialSteps to successSupport the school in supporting your childDiscuss progress with themEncourage them to get grade 1’s

(outstanding) for their Effort, Homework & Attitude

Take decisive action when 3, 4 or 5 grades regularly crop up.

Come to Parents’ Consultation Evenings & Progress Review Days

Minimum Target GradesBased on Prior Attainment – SATs & Teacher

Assessments

They are the minimum level we expect the students to achieve

Students should aim to exceed their minimum target levels

What do Shelley College Reports look like?They match Predicted Grades against their

Minimum Target Grade in every subject studied

They report on students’ Attitude, Effort & Homework using a 1 to 5 Grading Scale:

1 – Exceptional 2 – Good 3 – Satisfactory 4 – Work to be done 5 - Poor

Subject MTG Predicted Grade

Effort Attitude Homework

English A A* 1 1 1Mathematics B D 4 3 4Science B D 4 3 4French B B 2 1 2History A C 4 4 4Art A A* 1 1 1ICT B B 2 1 2

Code What the code means

Z To memorise and review your work.

Y Classwork-ensure that all classwork is completed.

X Homework-make more effort to produce work worthy of your ability.

W Presentation-present your work neatly and thoughtfully.

V Organisation-ensure to meet deadlines

T Organisation-bring the correct equipment to lessons.

S Concentration-listen carefully when the teacher is talking and follow instructions thoroughly.

R Concentration-put more thought into your classwork

Q Determination-maintain the high standards that you have set yourself.

P Determination-make more effort to develop your work and your skills.

N Determination-revise thoroughly for tests and for examinations.

M Participation-make greater effort to answer questions; be involved in class activities.

L Behaviour-Work quietly, respect and do not disturb others.

K Participation-improve participation in extra curricular activities.

J Research-develop and make use of effective research skills to improve your understanding of the subject.

Areas for Improvement

Report DescriptorsCategory Grade

(1 to 5)Explanation

Attitude 1 Describes an exceptional student. This student demonstrates a real willingness to learn, is always polite & never argues or misbehaves.

Effort 1 Describes a student whose work ethic is exceptional. Content & presentation of work & participation of lessons would be the very best the students is capable of achieving.

Homework 1 Homework is always completed to the very highest standard & often involves independent study or research.

Reporting and Assessment – Year 9Academic Progress Review Days

November 26th April 15th

Monitoring Home November 5th April 1st July 8th

Options’ Evening March 16th (Forms to Tutor 21st March)

Parents’ Consultation Evening March 2nd

Year office intervention and support.

Intervention

Targeting underachievementLiaison with parents/carersInterpreting informationHighlighting specific studentsTracking underachieving students

SupportYear Office to overview progress of individual students.

Identifying students for each Tutor to monitor.

Use of outside agencies where necessary.

Monitoring attendance

MentoringAcademic monitoring

Direct 1 to 1 student support both academic and organisationalConvening meetings with Parent and carers

Linking Student, subject , parents and carers

ENGLISH

GCSEYear 9

Key skills:Speaking and ListeningReadingWriting

•No SATS•New Focus on GCSE from year 9•All study English Language and Literature over three years

New AQA GCSE Specifications

•Modular and can re-take units•Take Literature exams in year 10 and Language in year 11.•Start GCSE style work this term, focusing on a novel. • GCSE controlled assessments after Christmas.

English Language

Three units

Understanding non fiction texts Speaking and

ListeningUnderstanding spoken and written texts and creative writing

English Literature

Three units

Exploring Modern Texts Poetry Across

Time

Shakespeare and the Literary Heritage

The benefits of this new approach and specification

•Coursework not going home, where students could receive extra help. All written in school in controlled conditions. •Fairer system that encourages individual ideas.•Modular units can be taken early and re-taken. More in line with Maths and Science.•Start early and fine tune skills for GCSE, rather than continuing KS3 work.

How can you help your child?

•Encourage your child to read and take them to the theatre.•We will study ‘Of Mice and Men’, ‘An Inspector Calls’ and ‘Romeo and Juliet’ over the three years, and a variety of poetry.•Use Kerboodle and moodle and www.aqa.org.uk•You can help with research for controlled assessments.

Mathematics at Shelley College

GCSE and beyond

Year 9 – Sept to Oct half termStudents will extend their knowledge in the

four main areas of the mathematics curriculum: Data HandlingNumberAlgebraShape and Space

There will also be a focus on making mathematics ‘Functional’

A key assessment will occur in October

The Maths GCSE PathwaysInformation gathered will help us decide as

to which pathway students should pursueThe Maths GCSE will be new for your

sons/daughtersThe main addition is that functional maths

skills (application of maths to the real world) will be embedded into the exams of the award.

Pathway 1 – Most AbleGCSE Mathematics andGCSE Statistics andAdditional Mathematics – (a Free Standing

Mathematics Qualification)Fits between GCSE and AS LevelRecognised nationallyWorth valuable UCAS points

Pathway 2 – Mid-abilityGCSE Mathematics andGCSE Statistics2 full GCSEs awarded by the end of year 11Students will have an added ‘string to their

bow’

Pathway 3 – Mid to low abilityGCSE Mathematics - covered over almost

three yearsFull support and time given to students who

find mathematics a challengeThis will ensure that students achieve their

best in the subject

How can you support your child?Encourage and help them to see the

relevance of maths in everyday life and the ‘real world’

Use a variety of websites and resources to support their learningwww.mymaths.co.ukwww.samlearning.comKerboodleBBC bitesizeThe Edexcel and AQA exam board websites

KS3>4 Science at Shelley College

KS3/4 Science

Transition Course

Modules in:Biology

ChemistryPhysics

KS3exam

GCSE Core Science21st Century Science

UNIT 1Modules in:

BiologyChemistry

Physics

GCSE Biology

GCSE Chemistry

GCSE Physics

Triple Science

Term 1 Term 2 Term 3

UNIT 1 exam(25

%)

GCSE module exam

UNIT 1(25%)

UNIT 1 exam(25

%)UNIT 1 exam(25

%)

Preparation for BTEC in Applied Science(Portfolio-Based Assessment)

What will our students end up with at the end of Y11?

Triple Science – 3 separate GCSEs in biology, chemistry and physics

Core Science + Additional Science / Additional Applied Science – 2 separate GCSEs in Science

BTEC First in Applied Science – Equivalent of 2 GCSEs in Science

How Can Parents Help?Encourage your Son/Daughter to use moodle (on-

line learning)

Encourage attendance at Specialist School events e.g. STEM/Astronomy Club/E-Team

Ask to See your Son/Daughter’s Tracker Document (in the front of the science exercise book)

E-mail: beaumontp@shelleycollege.org with any queries

Supporting Your Children through ICT

Shelley College WebsiteTwitter

Shelley College Parental GatewayParent MailBuy4School

Shelley College WebsiteInformation about the College, notices and

updates

http://www.shelleycollege.org

Shelley College TwitterShort Updates, reminders and

information about the College

http://twitter.com/shelleycollege

@shelleycollege

Parental GatewaySpecific Information about your children

available to you in real time via a secure online website:Attendance (am & pm)AttainmentMonitoringBehaviour

How do I access the Parental Gateway?Information is password protected – you will

shortly receive a user ID and password to access the site.

Visit www.shelleycollege.org and click on

How do I access the Parental Gateway?

Please be careful here.

Click Private Computer if you,

and only you, have access to it

Click here to change your

password

Type username and passwords

and click Log On.

What is in the Parental Gateway?

What is in the Parental Gateway?

What is in the Parental Gateway?

What is in the Parental Gateway?

Please be careful here.

Click Private Computer if you,

and only you, have access to it

You can control the dates you can

see here

ParentMailEmails and/or SMS Information sent directly

to you.Replacing postal and printed communications

Have YOU registered?Forms available tonight

Buy4School

Anyone can register as an individualLink yourself to Shelley College

Go through the Buy4School Gateway to buy online from the same companies you buy from now

Also some High Street Shops

YOU get money back on each purchaseSchool gets money from each purchase

http://www.buy4schools.co.uk/

Supporting Your Children through ICT

How else can we support you and help you support your

children’s learning?