1. Welcome to the Year 9 Curriculum Evening Key Stage 4 2018-2021

2. Outline GCSE Assessment schedule Exams & Controlled Assessments (CA)
Study Tips
Monitoring & Tracking
Reporting
Higher Tier or Foundation Tier at GCSE
Revision & Preparation

3. GCSE Assessment Schedule
GCSE is primarily assessed by external Examinations at the end of the course and in some subjects by an element of Controlled Assessment
Students will be completing a short course GCSE exam in Religious Studies at the end of Y9
Students will be completing their full GCSE exam in Religious Studies and IGCSE English Language at the end of Y10
Where they remain; Each CA is worth a particular % of the full GCSE, final certification will take place in the Summer of Year 11
Some subjects Ma & RS are assessed by exam only, in these subjects the specification has been organised into distinct units which can be examined separately, refer to Ma in Assessment schedule hand out.
Others have a Controlled Assessment element, this replaces coursework due to issues regarding plagiarism and each subject has different requirements, refer to Sc ISA.

4. Exams & Controlled Assessments (CA)
Each Exam/CA will require the necessary amount of preparation.
Teaching will move on to the next topics in preparation for the next CA
If students are unsure about requirements of any Assessment they must approach their teachers for support and direction
Preparation: revision, organisation, determination, persistence.
Get it right now as the course will move on.

5. Study Tips PRACTICE MAKES PERMANENT
ATTEND MATHS HELP SESSIONS: Tuesday to Friday 8:00am to 8:30am; Tuesday 3:30pm to 4:30pm and Thursday 3:30pm to 4:15pm
Ask questions as often as necessary
Learn the TIMES TABLES
Know the NUMBER BONDS to 20
Seek extra help on trickier topics
Attention levels at maximum
Concentration levels at maximum

6. General considerations
The Homework timetable can be used as a template for organisation
In KS4 homework is set with duration of up to 45 minutes per homework. 
Your son may finish a particular homework within that time frame; that is excellent news as he has clearly understood the task set and has been able to complete the work independently.  However, any remaining time (of the 45minutes) can  then be used in any of the following ways:
Review previous work in that subject,
Make some summary notes on recent topics,
Learn key spellings,
Learn key facts,

7. Test himself on the facts he thinks he knows,
Read through his notes,
Read through any set texts,
Re-read any set texts,
Do some past paper questions,
Organise next week’s independent work,
Teach you the recent topic to demonstrate understanding,
Make a power point presentation on the topic,
Make some summary notes on not so recent topics,    

8. Monitoring & Tracking
As your son completes Internal Assessments his progress will be monitored by Mr McGinty
Any student causing academic concern will be given the necessary attention to ensure he understands what needs to be done
Depending on the nature of the concern parents may be contacted
Parents are encouraged to register any concern they may have about their son’s progress,

9. Reporting
To keep parents appraised of their son’s progress through Key Stage 4 (KS4) Interim Reports are produced at Christmas and Easter. These reports include an end of year Minimum Expected Grade (MEG) and comment from your son’s teacher regarding the likelihood of meeting his MEG.
Parent’s evening takes place during the Spring Term and a full report is produced at the end of the Summer term in Y9 & Y10.
A current grade is also included in the full report so that a reality check is made.
A full report replaces the interim report at Christmas of Y11
Explain how the Bench Mark grade is aquired.

10. New Grading System

11. Phasing of Subjects
GCSEs have been changed in three phases – phase one subjects include English Language, English Literature and Maths. These subjects will be available for first teaching in September 2015, assessed from Summer (Current Y13.)
Phase two subjects include sciences, History, Geography, languages, Art and Design, Music, Drama, Computer Science, Physical Education and Religious Studies. These subjects will be available for first teaching in September 2016, assessed from Summer (Current Y12)
Phase three subjects including Design and Technology, will be available for first teaching in September 2017, assessed from Summer (Current Y11)
Current Y9: All subjects will be certificated with the new GCSE 9 to 1 grades.

12. Minimum Expected Grades
Median (middle person) achieves a 5 in Y11 in Geography: Hence our minimum expectation will be a 5 in Y11. in Y9 & Y10 these number grades will be sub divided into say; 4-, 4 & 4+

13. Higher Tier or Foundation Tier at GCSE
Only MFL, Maths and Science will retain GCSE Tiers
Higher Tier students access grades 4 to 9
Foundation students access grades 1 to 5
The Head of Department will make a judgement as to which tier your son will be entered for after the first set of mocks in Y11. Evidence from previous performance coupled with current progress is used when making the judgement. We want the best grade possible.

14. Revision
Purpose: To be prepared in sufficient time to enable students to achieve their full potential
Organisation is the key element of an effective Revision Timetable
Students need to realise that they are the ones who will benefit from their efforts
Revision lists for internal assessments will be distributed a month in advance of the assessment
Revision tasks will replace the normal homework tasks once the revision window opens
If you fail to plan you plan to fail!

15. Revision Power Point Summary
Download from school website:
{Click on School Info link, then click on Exams link}
Section 1: Retention
Section 2: Developing a method
Organising yourself
Time-table
Time-table examples
Section 3: Session outline/structure
Section 4: Other considerations

16. Thank you for your attention.
Any Questions?
If you have any concerns that occur to you later this evening please do not hesitate to contact Mr McGinty.