YEAR 11 INFORMATION

EVENINGSeptember 29th 2016

A very warm welcome

◦ A new and exciting year.

◦ Working together as a community.

◦ High levels of support coupled with high expectations.

◦ Communication is the key!

◦ Every individual matters!

◦ We want to be the best by working together.

◦ Self-belief whatever your background and what ever hurdles you

face.

What are my expectations?

◦ Collective vision.

◦ Recognition, expectation, accountability, honesty.

◦ We support each other.

◦ We are honest with each other.

◦ We want to test each other to get better without the need to judge unfairly.

◦ Professional, robust, confident, collective determination.

◦ Gaining strength from each other to deal with problems head on, to celebrate success genuinely and to be the best.

◦ Clarity of purpose. Eg Staff better informed about the reasoning behind decisions. Staff feel part of decision making.

◦ Togetherness.

What are my expectations?

◦ The students:

◦ They are by far our best asset! We need to celebrate them more and

get them more involved. They have the best ideas!

GCSE/BTEC Results

Attainment

5+ A*-C (Inc Eng&Maths): 2016: 56%

◦ 2015: 46%

◦ 2014: 41%

◦ 2013: 55%

◦ 2012: 55%

◦ 2011: 49%

◦ 2010: 46%

◦ 2009: 35%

◦ 2008: 38%

◦ 2007: 38%

◦ 2006: 35%

◦ 2005: 39%

GCSE/BTEC Results

Attainment

◦ English and Maths A*-C: 62% (Valley Park: 58%).

Progress

◦ Progress 8: 0.22.

Context:

These schools ‘opted in’ for P8 last year:

◦ OPGS: P8: 0.11 Ofsted rating: outstanding.

◦ Gravesend Grammar: P8: 0.16 Ofsted (2015) rating: outstanding.

Year 11: The best approach

◦ Stay organised and set high standards. Be

proactive:

1. Speak to Mrs Mortley. Establish what you

want to do with your future.

2. Now you have a goal you can work hard to

achieve it!

3. Treat everything as an opportunity. Eg

mocks, coursework, controlled assessment

after school sessions, one to one sessions

with staff.

What we will do to help you

◦ Period 6

◦ Intervention form groups

◦ Holiday lessons: amazing record breaking attendance

◦ Listening to how to really answer exam questions

◦ Walking, talking mocks

◦ Monthly Mocks-revision

◦ Extra lessons during the day

◦ Revision organised way in advance

◦ Zero tolerance

You need to be on board!!

◦We are not interested in last year.

◦ If you were in trouble all the time or lazy

last year, we are only interested in

supporting you this year.

◦You have an advantage over last

year’s group:

◦The support started earlier than last

year eg intervention groups, more

formal Y10 mock etc.

◦You have shown you can achieve

higher grades.

◦We are even more determined!!

ExpectationsAspirational Targets

Key Stage 2 Level Minimum GCSE/BTEC Target

3 C, Pass, 4/5

4 B, Merit, 5/6

5 A, Distinction, 7/8/9

Minimum Targets

Key Stage 2 Level Minimum GCSE /BTEC Target

3 D/C, Pass, 3

4 C/B, Pass, 4/5

5 B/A, Merit, 5/6+

GCSE ‘LETTER’

GRADES TO

‘NUMBER’ GRADES.

MATHS AND

ENGLISH ONLY.

BTEC: Coursework. GCSE: Controlled Assessments

◦ Coursework/CAs can help boost grades. Make sure coursework is the

best it can possibly be!

◦ Keep asking your teacher how you can improve your coursework.

◦ Departments put on extra lessons for coursework/CA preparation. Find

out when these are.

◦ Make sure you are fully prepared for CAs:

◦ Take preparation sessions seriously as though they are the real thing!

◦ Be a perfectionist! Ask for detail on how you can make your coursework a

‘good’ target grade or higher!

◦ Check for CA dates and times.

Exam Preparation.

◦ Mocks are really important. Treat them like the real thing. Mock

Dates: 22nd November-5th December.

◦ Learn from your mocks. Don’t just accept the grade and move

on. Find out what you need to do to get a higher grade.

◦ Exam preparation is about knowledge and technique: Practise

papers, learn about question style, find out how mark schemes

work.

◦ Mock Grades will be given out in envelopes like the real thing!

Exam Preparation.

◦ Exams are getting more challenging.

◦ Despite this, the school’s results are fantastic so you can do it!

◦ But you will have to raise your game.

◦ Don’t be the student that got 179 points and needed 180 to get a

C in English! Grade Boundaries are rising. Assume you need the

next grade up.

◦ Students cannot drop courses in Year 11!!

Organisation +Determination = Confidence

◦ Confidence comes when you feel in control.

◦ Get mum and dad to help.

◦ They can help with your organisation eg check your bag/folders

each week to make sure your filing is organised.

◦ Get them to help manage your homework.

◦ Get them to help when you don’t understand.

◦ Get them to contact the school if you are worried about work or

falling behind.

Communication

◦ Never think you are pestering.

◦ Always make sure you have fully understood.

◦ Don’t let things fester.

◦ Parents: if you are suspicious your son/daughter is not working

hard enough you are probably right!

◦ Find time to sit down with your son/daughter and work with them.

Go through their work. Check they have completed work and

that it is accurate/correct.

Internet

◦ There are a wealth of resources.

◦ Organise your revision timetable now!! Mocks are not far away.

◦ www.getrevising.co.uk

◦ Sometimes visual resources help.

◦ Lots of websites, revision guides and other useful information.

◦ Revision Guide available.

◦ Look in Department pages on school website.

From a student’s perspective

◦ Work as hard at the start of the year as you work at the end so the

work load doesn’t build up.

◦ Build on your grades gradually.

◦ Get a revision timetable together at the start of revision.

◦ Take breaks every hour not every 10 minutes!

◦ Don’t be disheartened by lower grades-the only way is up!

From a student’s perspective

◦ Feel rewarded by good grades.

◦ Take it one assessment grade at a time. Work for good

assessment grades.

◦ Look forward to parents evenings!

◦ Past papers, past papers, past papers!

◦ When you revise, turn off mobile phones, switch off facebook and

concentrate properly!

Year 11 is over very quickly!

◦ Stage 1: Before Christmas

◦ Mocks

◦ If you leave it until January to focus, its almost too late!

◦ See Christmas Holidays as a chance to relax

◦ Stage 2: January to Easter

◦ Intensive preparation

◦ Take every chance to improve and stay organised. (Holiday revision

classes etc)

◦ Next grade up

◦ Stage 3: Easter to May ½ term

◦ Last chance re Exam technique

◦ Revision timetable

Beyond Year 11◦ 6th Form Opportunities Evening is: November 8th.

◦ Be sensible about your choices. Get lots of advice.

◦ Our 6th Form is now hugely over subscribed. Last year’s results were record-

breaking: 100% pass rate! (A*-C: 70%)

◦ Maplesden students get first choice over externals but entrance

requirements are challenging.

◦ 6th Form: Be careful. Check course entrance requirements. You can use

these to motivate you to achieve the right grades at GCSE! Have a plan B

re subject choice.

◦ English/maths GCSE at grade 4 now a requirement for all Post-16 students.

International Baccalaureate Careers Programme

◦ Employers involved in its construction.

◦ Recognised and valued by universities.

◦ Fantastic for students who want a pathway to employment.

◦ Ms Moody here to explain.

You can do it!!

◦ Recent employers interview day:

◦ ‘This is the best group of students we have ever interviewed at your

school’

◦ ‘We would happily employ the majority of them on the spot!’

◦ Year 11 is an intense, exciting and ultimately rewarding year.

◦ Blood, sweat and tears are likely but we will be here for you to

support you all the way so:

HAVE A

FANTASTIC

YEAR!