Year 10: Key Dates

Open Evening (early finish): Thursday 26th Sept Training Days (school closed to students): Friday 22nd November 2019 Monday 25th November 2019 Monday 20th January 2020 Parents’ Evening: Thursday 23rd January 2020 School end-of-year exams: w/c 15th June 2020

Welcome to our

Year 10 Information

Evening 2019

Year 10 Information Evening

Introductions & ‘housekeeping’

Mr C Burns Headteacher

This evening:

• Welcome & Introduction: Mr C Burns (Headteacher)

• Careers/post-16 Ms C Slack (post-16 co-

ordinator)

• Frog VLE Mr R Jones

• Academic organisation: Mr R Jones (Deputy

Headteacher

• English: Ms R Mekonnen

• Maths: Mr G Williams

• (+Duke of Edinburgh)

• Science: Mr E Cowen

Year 10 Information Evening

2019 tonight’s slides will be published

on the school’s website

Careers & Post-16 in Year 10

Mrs Slack

Careers & Post 16 Advisor

CAREERS LESSONS

• Employability skills

• CV writing

• Preparation for interviews

• Guest speakers

START WEBSITE

DEEP LEARNING DAY

COLLEGE TASTER DAYS

• Experience College life

• Take part in lessons

• Meet tutors

• Ask questions!

OTHER SUPPORT

• Stockport Family 1-1 careers guidance for

students who are unsure about their future

choices

• Mrs Slack - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday

• Prospectuses in the school library

REMEMBER

• Attendance

• Timekeeping

• Behaviour

• Attitude to Learning

Frog: Priestnall’s Learning

platform

Mr R Jones

Deputy Headteacher

Timetable,

Calendar and

Homework; all in

one place: the

Frog App

Available on Apple

and Android

devices

‘How to’ Frog App

On the App Start-up screen,

enter the school’s Frog

website address:

vle.priestnall.stockport.sch.uk

This provides access to

Priestnall’s Frog site

‘How to’ Frog App

Log in using your

personal credentials (single log in per family)

If you have forgotten

these, please contact

the school office

Homework

and

notifications

via the App

Homework

and

notifications

via the App

Homework

and

notifications

via the App

View homework

by due date

Curriculum &

Assessment Mr R Jones

Deputy Headteacher

Year 10 Academic Organisation

• Option block classes are mixed-ability and comprised of students from x- and –y halves of the year

GCSEs: A changed Landscape

• ‘Reformed’ GCSEs in all subjects

• ‘Strengthened’: harder!

• Emphasis on recall of knowledge – then application

• ‘Numerical’ , 9-1 grades at GCSE for these subjects

• 2017, 18 & 19 English & Maths GCSE results from the new courses- clarification of expectations & grade boundaries. Results in other key subjects in summer 2018 & 19. Some courses had first results in summer 2019

GCSEs: Target Grades

• Based on statistical probability of outcomes from Key Stage 2 (Year 6) SATs – as previously

• Greater tolerance within the targets given relative uncertainty of final outcomes on most reformed GCSE courses

• Targets remain a key indicator of potential/expectations

• Will be revised from Y9 provisional ones as required

Reporting • Interim (half-termly) reports will include

personalised Action Points from each subject – along with Working at Grades and Attitude to Learning judgments

• Reports published on-line via the parent portal on the Frog VLE

• Parental log-ins to access reports and other key information

• If you don’t have your log-in to Frog, please contact the school office

Specimen Y10 Interim report: Published in November (start of year ), April (mid) & July (end)

Year 10: the foundations for success

• Academic Review • The work done in Year 10 is vital

for success at the end of Year 11! • Good habits for classwork,

homework/independent work and being organised are essential

• Year 10 will fly past and solid foundations

need to be in-place for Year 11 • Year 11 is not the place for catching-up…

English

Mrs Mekonnen Literacy Coordinator

Language and Literature

All students in all ability groups are taking

English Language and English Literature

with AQA.

There are two exams for each GCSE

thus four in total.

English Language and Literature

Exams

The ‘new’ GCSE – reminder of the main

changes for the 2021 exams: • The final award will be a number between 1 and 9 (9 being the highest)

rather than A*-G.

• There will be no tiers of entry.

• Students will be expected to read more challenging unseen and

previously studied texts.

• Students will, for both Language and Literature, have to study texts

from the nineteenth century.

• The duration of the examinations has been extended, the longest

being 2 hours 15 minutes.

• The Literature exams are all ‘closed book’, which means that students

will not be permitted to take a copy of the text into the exam.

English Language: 2 Exams

Both papers have a section on Reading

and Writing Paper 1: ‘Explorations in Creative Reading and Writing.’ 50%

Section A: Reading 25%

Four questions on one literature fiction text from either the 20th or 21st

century.

Section B: Writing 25%

One question, out of a choice of two narrative or descriptive tasks.

Paper 2: ‘Writer’s viewpoints and Perspectives.’ 50%

Section A: Reading 25%

Four questions on two texts, one literary non-fiction and one non-fiction.

One of these texts will be from the nineteenth century

Section B: Writing 25%

One essay question on a discursive task.

English Literature: 2 exams

Paper 1

A Romeo and Juliet

B Frankenstein or A Christmas Carol For both sections of the exam, students will be provided with a key extract from the

play/novel, which they will be expected to analyse. They are then required to links

this to the rest of the novel. There is no choice of questions.

Paper 2

A An Inspector Calls or Lord of the Flies

or Animal Farm For this question there will be no extracts, but there will be a choice of two titles.

B Poems from an Anthology

C Responses to Unseen Poetry

Re-reading Literature Texts

Students are reading their modern text in

class but re-reading is required in their

own time to fully familiarise themselves

with plot, character, theme and language.

Revision Guides for Literature

Revision guides are available from the Library

for Literature texts.

• An Inspector Calls or Lord of the Flies or

Animal Farm

• Literature Poetry

• Frankenstein or A Christmas Carol

Additionally there are Target 5 and Target 9

books for Language.

Thinking ahead for Language:

skill based exams

Practise annotating texts (newspapers, fliers,

leaflets etc) for:

• Writers’ arguments and how they try to

convince us of their argument

• Explicit and implicit meaning

• Language features

• How the same topic is dealt with in different

texts (on one of the Language exams a

comparison of texts on the same theme is

required)

There are more ideas in the booklet

Writing:

• Practise discursive and creative writing styles.

• Practise planning answers to sample

questions

• Revise use of punctuation marks

• Read non fiction texts

Again, there are more ideas in the booklet

Parental support is paramount and can be

demonstrated through encouraging your son or

daughter to read and by discussing their

reading choices or preferred genres.

Having access to a Broadsheet newspaper at

least once a week is beneficial in terms of

understanding current affairs and appreciating

good writing. Attending plays and productions is

another enjoyable social event that can

enhance English skills.

READ, READ, READ!

PiXLit App platform

Including:

A Christmas Carol, Frankenstein,

Romeo and Juliet.

Mathematics

Mr Williams Teacher of Mathematics

Assessment

4½ Hours (From 3½)

3 x 1½ Hour Papers

1 Non Calculator

2 Calculator

80 Marks per Paper

Terminal assessment in June 2019

Assessment

Higher (grades 4 to 9)

50% Targeted at Grades 7-

9 (A/A*)

50% Targeted at Grades 4-

6 (C/B)

Starts at Grade C (4ish)

rather than Grade D.

Foundation (grades 1 to 5)

25% Targeted at Grades 3-

5 (D/C)

25% Targeted at Grade 2

(E)

50% Targeted at Grade 1

(F/G)

How have we approached

the new GCSE?

• 3 Year GCSE started in Year 9.

• Extra lesson per fortnight in KS4.

• GCSE papers used for all internal exams.

• 3 full GCSE papers given in Year 10.

• Collaboration with other Stockport schools.

• Staff CPD including marking scripts.

Issues

• Most appropriate Tier of Entry for

borderline students?

• Crossover Topics.

• Grade boundaries?

• Access to ‘live’ scripts.

• Examiners report.

• Intervention every form time.

Y11 Summer GCSE Grade

Boundaries Grade Foundation Higher

2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019

9 190 202 198

8 157 170 167

7 124 139 137

6 96 109 108

5 158 169 184 68 79 80

4 122 136 149 41 50 52

3 90 101 111 27 35 38

2 58 66 73

1 26 31 36

Key Questions

• How do you know?

• Convince me/them.

• Explain why/how/why.

• What if…..?

Resources

Website:

www.vle.mathswatch.co.uk

Username: ddmmyyinitialsinCAPS@priestnall

Password: ddmmyyinitialsinCAPS

Homework tasks Homework deadline

When you score full marks on a question, it turns green.

Type your answer in the box given, then submit

If help is needed to answer the questions, use the video clips at the bottom of the page.

Using Mathswatch to revise/clarify class notes

Open videos

Choose the area of maths and the topic you want here

A selection of options will appear

Username: priest

Login: ddmmyyinitialsincaps

Password: ddmmyyinitialsincaps Website: www.methodmaths.com

Resources

• Revision Guides available from the library.

(new specification)

• Past paper booklets will be available after

Christmas.

Y11 Summer GCSE Grade

Boundaries Grade Foundation Higher

2017 2018 2019 2017 2018 2019

9 190 202 198

8 157 170 167

7 124 139 137

6 96 109 108

5 158 169 184 68 79 80

4 122 136 149 41 50 52

3 90 101 111 27 35 38

2 58 66 73

1 26 31 36

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH’S

BRONZE AWARD

Priestnall is a Duke of Edinburgh’s Award licensed organisation and we run the

Bronze Award for Year 10 students.

We recruit students via a letter of application during November, and if your son /

daughter is interested in applying for the award, letters on how to do this will be

available from Mr Carter at some point after half term. It will be fully

communicated to the students when these are available to collect.

In the meantime, everything you need to know about the DofE award can be

found on

www.dofe.org

We fully recommend that students become familiar with the 4 sections of the

award and the time commitments before applying. Thank you.

Science

Mr E Cowen Curriculum Leader: Science

EDEXCEL GCSE (9-1)

COMBINED SCIENCE (2 GCSEs) (all students who did not choose Separate

Science as an option)

• 6 Exams (B1/B2, C1/C2 and P1/P2) will be

taken in May/June 2021

• Each 1 hour and 10 minutes in length, with

each exam worth 16.7% of the Combined

Science GCSE grade. These exams can be

taken at the Higher or Foundation Tier.

• Mock Exams will take place in May 2020

EDEXCEL GCSE (9-1)

SEPARATE SCIENCE (3 GCSEs)

• 6 Exams (B1/B2, C1/C2 and P1/P2) will be

taken in May/June 2021

• Each 1 hour and 45 minutes in, with each

exam worth 50% of the Biology, Chemistry

or Physics Science GCSE grade. These

exams can be taken at the Higher or

Foundation Tier.

• Mock Exams will take place in May 2020

Exam Practice In Class

An EPIC lesson?

This year, in Year 10 we have an extra Science lesson per fortnight.

This gives all Combined Science students the opportunity to practice exam style questions and better prepare for the GCSE examinations in May 2021.

• interpret questions correctly • become familiar with key words and phrases

needed to gain marks • improve your exam technique • revise key concepts studied earlier on in the

course • review the Core Practicals and practise these

types of questions. • improve your literacy especially when answering 6

mark questions.

An EPIC lesson?

Parental Support is a website for homework, revision

& independent learning for Edexcel Science

• It is matched to the Edexcel specification so all material is relevant to your child’s Science course

• It includes a range of guided, interactive learning activities that include short and extended answer questions. It provides instant, automated marking and feedback as well as an online textbook

• There is also a tracking screen to show your child’s progress and attainment

Active Learn

www.pearsonactivelearn.com

Username = school log in (DOB and initials)

eg 100601AB

Password = Password01

Online Revision

Encourage the use of revision

websites/revision material creation

software/apps such as:

• www.pearsonactivelearn.com

• www.bbc.co.uk/revision

• www.savemyexams.co.uk

• www.gcsescience.com

• www.schoolscience.co.uk

Frog Science Website Log on to your child's account and select all subjects

• Copies of the syllabus

• Past papers and mark schemes

• Revision materials and exercises

• Key word lists

• Links to other revision sites like ActiveLearn and

Bitesize.

• Interactive Core Practicals

Revision Resources

• Revision summary sheets will be

distributed by teachers to summarise the

syllabus

• Revision Guides are available from the

school library at a cost of £5.50 each for

Combined and £3.00 for each of the

Separate Sciences

Extra Support from

School • Each Science teacher has set aside time

each week advertised as “Office Hours”,

when they will be available to provide

some help and advice for students (these

have been posted on the school website) • These sessions are to help with classwork,

homework, advice and guidance with exam

questions/technique

Final Advice

• Start revision now

• Over 20 topics in Year 10 alone!

• Set aside time each week to revisit the

topics they have already studied.

And finally…

Year 10 Information Evening 2019

Thank you

tonight’s slides will be published on the school’s website