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ol Aims of tonight

• How can we support, encourage and enthuse young people to achieve their full potential?

• How are GCSE’s examined in 2014-16?

• What does the school do to support pupils through Year 10 and 11?

• What can parents do to help their children through the GCSE’s?

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Part 1 - How can we support, encourage and enthuse young people to achieve their full potential?

The ContextYour child has to be in Education or Training until the end of the academic year they turn 18 (July 2018)

The vision…All pupils at the end of their GCSE studies make

ambitious, suitable and realistic post-16 choices through an atmosphere of mutual support based on excellent exam results, quality career advice and outstanding pastoral care

• Happy• Safe• Achieve

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ol The problems….

• Education Maintenance Allowance abolished; however, students still have to stay in ‘education or training’ until the end of the academic year in which they turn 18

• Tuition fees at university• Youth unemployment consistently in the

news• Cuts in youth service provision• Demonisation of youth in the media• Gaining a ‘C grade’ in English and Maths

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What next?...The Ashcombe Sixth Form• Realistic chance of ‘E grades’• 40 GCSE points and a good reference

A*=8A=7B=6C=5D=4E=3F=2G=1

• However, if a student is following a ‘short course’ points are halved (e.g. half history)

• Important to consider that English (Language and Literature) and Science (Science and Additional Science) have two examinations when counting points

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ol A-Levels at another college

• Commonly 5 A*-C, usually including English and Maths

• Excellent reference

• Attendance (and punctuality) print out

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ol NVQ’s at a local college

• Commonly….• Level 1 – no formal qualifications• Level 2 – 4 D’s• Level 3 – 4 C’s

• Be aware some students may be completing a Level 1 course on ‘day release’

• Excellent attendance• Quality Reference

• All have ‘specialism's’, e.g. Merrist Wood (outside) and NESCOT (employment-focussed skills, including apprenticeships)

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ol Apprenticeships

• Local companies approach the school offering apprenticeships

• Seeing a rise in this (at 16 and 18) due to current economic climate and success of schools annual careers fair

www.apprenticeships.org.uk

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How can we support students emotionally?

• The dilemma

• How do we encourage, challenge and support yet avoid alienating, threatening, stressing or ‘doing for’?

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ol 13 years ago…….

• Exploring the world• Wanting to please • Mood swings• ‘Social Learning’• Affectionate

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How did we support our children when they were in Year 1?

• Sit and read• Ask “What new things did

you do today?”• Children bombard us with

questions• Excitement• Enthusiastic• Why is this?

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ol The dilemma of a parent

• “The problem is he’s not stressed enough.”• “I’ve told her this is your last chance.”• “I don’t know what more I can do- nothing

seems to get through to him.”• “She doesn’t seem to care about her

exams.”

• “However much I tell her that she is doing well, she still says she is rubbish.” (often a forgotten problem with high-ability pupils who have low self-esteem)

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How do you help to motivate students?

• Major concern- • Should you interfere and tell pupils to work

yet run the risk of confrontation?• How do you encourage children?

• One of the major questions we get asked by parents

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The complexity of being an adolescent

• Stress and mental health issues are bigger issues than apathy

• Recent Study- 20% of children have a mental health problem in any given year, and about 10% at any one time.

• In an average secondary school with 1000 students- 100 mental health problems including depression, self harm and eating disorders

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The pressures of being an adolescent

• A time of great challenges• Frightening• Exciting

• Real fear of failure• Frightened of not meeting expectations of family,

school and friends• Pressures of alcohol, drugs, media, consumerism,

sex• Social media• Contradiction between young people who grow old

earlier without a clear moral compass and identity• More child than adult

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ol Role of education in mental health

• Evidence that constant emphasis on exams and results can create a tired and stressed out group of pupils

• Danger- burn out of some- successful can be unfulfilled as constantly striving for next challenge-

• Alienation of those that perceive themselves to have failed

• Part of Ashcombe ethos- commitment to sustainable learning

• Avoid doing 12 or 13 GCSE’s- used advice of Cambridge

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ol What are Year 10’s like to teach?

• Most of our teenagers are a pleasure to teach (even if they do not always show these qualities at home!...)

• When asked they virtually all want to do well

• All need support to reach these ambitions

• All are going through an extremely volatile and complex period of life dominated by a fear of failure

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ol Fear of failure

• Adolescence- “Brain thrives on challenge, closes down on threat. When we experience anxiety, fear, self consciousness or any strong emotion, our neurons get flooded with electrical signals, so there’s not enough capacity left to process what is going on in the moment. We literally stop hearing and seeing what’s around us.”- J Ratey- Neuroscience

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ol How do we respond to criticism

• “People reacted negatively to criticism more than half the time and reacted positively to criticism just once out of thirteen times. In other words, the most likely response to criticism will be a negative one, the next most likely is no impact, and the chance that criticism will be helpful is about once every three weeks, if you dished it out every workday.”

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• Brain flourishes if rate of success to failure is 4:1

• Talking about success/ getting it right increases the likelihood of reoccurrence

• Three key features-• Children need to feel safe• Children need to be challenged• Children need high expectations

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What is a solution focussed approach?

• Introduced to the school by Henry Kiernan• All pupils want to do well• All children have strengths• All children can achieve with the appropriate

support, nurture and understanding• Working together we can achieve much

more• Expectations of success by all is critical to

achieving it

• Look to the future rather than the past

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ol Principles of this approach

• Students, parents and teachers have capacities to resolve difficulties

• The solution to the problem lies within the person

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ol Key principles of this approach

• Big problems do not need big solutions

• We need to catch hold of what is already working

• It’s important to have a clear sense of where you are heading

• Carry on doing what works

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ol Social Discipline Window

Do To Do With

Do Nothing Do For

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ol Do To (punitive)

• Detention • Sanction • Home- grounded, telling children of career

options, option choices,• Theme - Young people feel put upon

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ol Do for (permissive)

• School- excusing, too much support,

• Home- homework done by parents,

• Theme- young people avoid taking any responsibility for their actions

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ol Do nothing (neglectful)

All people give upAllow young person to make own mistakes“Its up to them now”Laissez faire approach to weekends

Theme- young people lack boundaries

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ol Do with (restorative)

• Students have a stake in choice• Career and option choices made

individually but in discussion with parents• Parents engage with children in relation to

work but work is completed by children• Encourage but not pressured

• Theme- most successful approach

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ol What are the questions we ask?

• What's gone well this week?• What score would you give yourself for the

past week? (0-10 scale)• Why?• What score would you like to be?• How would you get there• Who will notice?

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All pupils want to do well in some way

• We can all forget this- school, society, friends and family

What can we all do

• Listen• Remember all want to do well• Recognise the positives and praise• Always have positive expectations

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ol Pupil ownership

• Without pupils being involved conflict can develop

• “You must do some work?”

• School and work can become the way young people choose to hurt parents when troubles arise

• By all working together with an expectation of success the school becomes a shared aspiration

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The exam boards

Have you got the following?

Specifications,

Assessments (past exam papers),

Exam reports

Part 2- How are the GCSE’s assessed?

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ol Public Examinations:

What?

4 examining boards:

1) AQA• www.aqa.org.uk• Then follow ‘subject finder’:• There are links to

Specifications (the syllabus)Assessment materialNotice boardExaminers’ reports

Art, Computer Science, DT, English, History (1/2), Maths, PE, Science

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ol Public Examinations:

What?

2) Edexcel• www.edexcel.com/• Then Qualifications / GCSE’s from 2012• When you reach subject page, select

correct qualification and scroll down to find specification, assessment material and examiner reports

Drama,Music

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ol Public Examinations:

What?

3) OCR• www.ocr.org.uk• Then subjects and choose relevant GCSE• Useful documents

Datasheets, Factsheets, Overviews & Info packs Information Briefs Markschemes and materials Specifications and Syllabuses Specimen assessment materials Student Guides and Materials

Geography,History,RS

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ol Public Examinations:

What?

4) WJEC• www.wjec.co.uk• Select subject from drop down menu

forSpecificationExaminers reportPast Papers

MFLCatering

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ol Controlled assessment

• Different to coursework as work is completed in a controlled environment during lesson time

• Some preparation will need to be completed as part of homework

• Are on-going and will be part of lessons throughout year 10 and 11

• Will come at different times of the year for different subjects

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ol Frequently asked questions

What happens if the pupils miss / are late / clash for a Public Examination?– Clash: tell us as soon as possible

(although we try and identify them); – specific arrangements will be made on

an individual basis

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Frequently asked questionsWhat happens if the pupils miss / are late /

clash for a Public Examination?– There are strict regulations about what

we can do for pupils who are late; if problem ring school immediately and get into school as quickly as possible

– If pupils do not sit exam, no marks unless there is a doctor’s note given to us

– If pupil is unwell, the best approach is to come in and sit the exam, and then we can put in Special Consideration report (v. helpful if this is supported by doctor’s note - can be obtained after the exam)

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Part 3: What do we as a school do to support

• Targets• Realistic targets based on Key Stage 3

performance• 8- A*• 7- A• 6- B• 5- C• 4- D• 3- E• 2- F• 1- G

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ol Why do we have targets?

• Allows pupils to have an idea of what they should achieve if they work reasonably well

• Allows the school to monitor progress

Issues• Stress caused by high targets• What happens if you feel the targets are too

low?• Can pupils become complacent?

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ol The Pastoral Team…

• Analyse data• Praise letters• Pastoral monitoring

• Constant thought about long term

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Who can you contact if there are any problems?

• ketley.stuart@ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk

• ashwood.ben@ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk

• panting.chris@ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk

• passwords@ashcombe.surrey.sch.uk

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ol Part 4- How can parents help?

• Encourage a sense of ambition- visits to college, University early

• Some courses increasingly looking at GCSE results- medicine and other university courses

• School visits to East Surrey College NESCOT, Guildford College, ‘Surrey Opportunities Fair’

• Work experience- plan early• Continuous informal discussion at home

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ol How do I start to work?

• Many pupils can find it very difficult to start

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PreparationSafe and comfortable environment

– Basic preparation:– Tidy room– Tidy desk– Filed notes– No TV– Sound?– Organisation helps relieve

stress

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Preparation

– Equipment:

New stationary

All files, books, paper, pens, calculator near you

Physiological factors

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ol Fronter

• Schools virtual learning environment• Pupils have passwords• Contact the school if you don’t have details • Online reporting• Past papers• Resources• Also resources on internet

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ol SAM Learning

• New, exciting on-line resource• Pupils have passwords• Contact the school if you don’t have details

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ol www.u-explore.com

• Username: AshcombeSchool• Password: AshcombeRoad

• Students have individual passwords

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ol Internet

• My maths• Username- ashcombe• Password- volume

• www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

• Past papers now widely available on net through visiting exam board websites

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ol I-tunes

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ol On-line documentaries

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Are your children members of the library?

• On-line catalogue allows books to be ordered from across Surrey

Are you in a book club?

• Could you read set text from the English course

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Books- Alistair Smith- Help your child to succeed?

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ol How do pupils revise?

• Yr 11 evening in March 2015 and 2016 specifically on revision- all welcome

• Can you get involved and support the process?

• Mini tests• Rewards• Short bursts of work• organisation

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Is the lifestyles conducive to work?

• School attendance and punctuality is key- 95% is aim

• Role of stress• Weekends

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ol Achievement motivation

• def An individual’s motivation to achieve for its own sake.

• Individuals levels of this are regarded as being fairly stable.

• Atkinson identified 2 types

• n.Ach• The motive to achieve success to gain pride

and satisfaction

• n.Af• The motive to avoid failure in order to avoid

shame and humiliation

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ACHIEVEMENTMOTIVATION

Personality

RewardsOn offer

IncentiveValue

Ability

ProbabilityOf Success

PastSuccess

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ol Characteristics of Naf People

• Avoid challenges• Take the easy option• Take the very difficult option• Take no responsibility• Give up if not successful• Take their time to complete task if at all• Seek situations requiring little challenge• Avoid personal responsibility• Do not want feedback on performance• Pessimistic • Avoids 50:50 situations

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Veroff’s 3 stages of achievement motivation

• The Nach approach develops in 3 stages– Autonomous competence stage

• A young performer is concerned with mastering the task e.g. simple throwing and catching

– Social Comparison stage• From the age of 6 youngsters not only perform the

skill but compare their efforts with others, e.g. so the length of a throw compared to a friends is important

– Integrated• More adult stage, all forms of internal and external

standards are used to gauge performance

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ol Characteristics of Nach People

• Enjoy competition• Welcome a challenge• Enjoy feedback• Take responsibility• Try harder after failure• Works to beat PB’s• High task persistence• Ability to complete task quickly• Willing to take risks• Optimistic• Confident

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How do I become a n.Ach? (Growth Mindset)

–Positive experiences –set realistic goals–establish a non-evaluative

environment– reinforcement from parents

and role models–develop high levels of self

confidence

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ol Role of males

• Education in south east often seen as female occupation

• Dad, • Uncle• Grandad• Friends

• Parents evenings• Sitting down and doing work together

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Main points

• Find balance between working hard and working too much

• Devise revision timetable for outside lessons

• "You can only do your best!“

• ‘Working With to (n) Achieve”