Year 11 Information Evening

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Year 11 Information Evening

• Preparing for Success

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The Year Ahead (Key Dates 1)

• 11th September and 18th September (Year
  Assemblies) Connexions Service will present
  information to the boys about sixth form options
  and advice on subject choice.
• 18th September (Evening) Information evening for
  parents.
• 26th September (Founders Day) Year 11 boys are
  not required in school on this day.
• 29th October MOCK EXAMINATIONS BEGIN. The mock
  examinations will begin just after half term.
• 1st November Year 11 Careers Fair (Holiday Inn,
  Sutton).
• 15th November Sixth Form Open Evening
  (6.30-8.30pm)
• December (End of term) Year 11 Full Reports
  (including teacher comments and targets) issued
  to parents.

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The Year Ahead (Key Dates 2)
14th January Preliminary Sixth Form options
forms issued. 17th January Year 11 Parents
Evening 25th January (Academic Tutoring Day)
Boys meet with senior staff in order to check
Sixth Form options choices prior to their final
submission. 4th February Final Sixth Form
options form issued to boys. 14th February
Final date for return of Sixth Form option forms.
9th May Examination leave for Year 11 begins.
30th June Year 11 work experience begins.
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POTENTIAL GRADES
Are these grades only used by Wilsons
School? No. These potential grades are calculated
by an external agency for the Local Education
Authority. All LEAs in the country are provided
with these grades. Most schools use them to
support their students. How are they
calculated? The Fischer Family Trust use your
sons prior attainment in SAT examinations, in
line with his date of birth and the type of
school he attends, to calculate subject specific
grades (English represents English Literature and
English Language). Do boys ever exceed grades
issued by the Fischer Family Trust? On occasion,
yes. They will most definitely not be used as a
cap on what your son can achieve all boys
should strive for the highest possible grades.
All of the staff at Wilsons strive to help them
achieve this as well.

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SIXTH FORM ENTRY REQUIREMENTS

• The normal requirements are
• That a candidate is able to demonstrate potential
  for study in his chosen subjects at A and AS
  level.
• That a candidate must normally obtain an A or A
  grade at GCSE in at least three of the subjects
  he wishes to study in the Sixth Form and at least
  a B in his fourth subject. (Please see below for
  special entry requirements to courses.)
• That the candidate achieves at least eight GCSE
  passes (Grades A - C) including English,
  Mathematics and a Science, of which a minimum of
  five must be passes at A - B.
• Places will be offered subject to availability on
  the candidates chosen courses.

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SIXTH FORM ENTRY REQUIREMENTS
Mathematics A minimum of an A grade is required.
Further Mathematics A minimum of an A grade
in Mathematics is required. French, German or
Latin A minimum of an A grade is required.
Science A minimum of an A grade in the
relevant separate science or A grades in Dual
Science Award. English Literature A minimum of
an A grade is required in English. (Other entry
requirements apply to subjects not taught at GCSE
level).
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Summary What will we do to support your son?

• Connexions Service presentations and 1-1
  Interviews (this term). Ongoing guidance
  regarding the Sixth Form Option process.
• PSHE programme focusing on revision skills.
• In light of the three year GCSEPlus programme,
  earlier mock examinations (October 29th onwards)
  providing boys and teachers with time to make
  good any areas of weakness.
• Mock Examination Results sent to parents before
  the usual Christmas report deadline (examination
  mark only i.e. without coursework weighting) to
  facilitate a dialogue with your son.

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Summary What will we do to support your son?

• Interviews, post mock examinations with the Year
  Manager (and or Deputy Head), boys and their
  parents who are
• Unlikely to meet the entry requirements for the
  Sixth Form.
• Not likely to achieve 5 A/A (if this is
  indicated as a possibility via their potential
  grades).
• Performing below their potential grades across
  the board.
• The aim of these meetings will be to decide what
  support your son requires in order to achieve his
  potential.

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Summary What will we do to support your son?

• Full Reports issued at Christmas (with a full
  range of progress grades used from A-G)
  including targets from subject staff.
• Full review of boys (those who received support
  after the mock examinations) in February in order
  to gauge progress made and any further support
  needed.
• Ongoing support and monitoring from Heads of
  Department and subject teachers. The Year
  Manager, assisted by the Year 11 form tutors,
  will maintain an overview of each boys progress.
• We will continue to provide your son with
  teaching recognised as outstanding at all
  levels by our recent Ofsted inspection.

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How can you help us to ensure that your son
achieves his potential?

• Discuss his potential grades with him where
  does he feel confident? Where does he feel less
  so? What can he do to remedy this? Review this
  conversation after the mocks. Keep it positive!
• Consider the long term what are his aspirations
  post 16? What does he need to do now in order to
  achieve them?
• Support the completion of high quality coursework
  (using the coursework timetable as an indication
  of final deadlines).
• Avoid all forms of absence. Wherever possible,
  medical and other appointments should be made
  outside of school time. Holidays should, of
  course, be avoided at all costs.
• Help your son to create a clear and well thought
  through revision timetable for the mocks. Support
  his completion of 2 hours worth of revision per
  fortnight, per subject from now (over and above
  other work set).

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Revision How do I help?STAGE 1 Preparation

• Suitable Space.
• Complete sets of well organised and easily
  accessible notes and appropriate textbooks.
• Clear idea of what it is that needs to be
  revised.
• Past questions and mark schemes.
• Ignore the myths of others.

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Revision How do I help?STAGE 2 Planning
Revision



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Revision How do I help?STAGE 2 Planning
Revision

• There should always be a clear aim for the
  session I will be able to draw and label a
  diagram of the heart. I will be able to recall
  the key dates of the Russian Revolution.
• For each subject you should create a list of
  topics / sections and then rate yourself out of
  ten for each how far do you understand each
  topic?
• You should plan to produce something from all
  revision key notes bullet points. This is
  part of the process of committing material to
  memory.
• You should plan in your revision to go over all
  topics again a week, a month later, so that you
  are reinforcing the knowledge.
• Have a list of topics displayed on your notice
  board so that you can tick them off as you go
  along this will help you feel like you are
  getting somewhere.

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Revision How do I help?STAGE 3REVISION


Revision methods which are passive Ill read
through my notes Ill watch a DVD Ill look
at some exam questions are unlikely to be very
helpful at all. Four hours spent doing a variety
of the above is four hours badly spent!
Deciding which methods to use is crucial
everybody is different but unless you have a
genuinely photographic memory, reading your notes
will not get you very far at all. The brain plays
tricks! By looking at your notes / revision
guide / textbook create a spider diagram that
summarises all of the key points of a topic.
Colour code the points you have made (Green
Understood Amber Some uncertainties Red No
understanding).

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Revision How do I help?STAGE 3 REVISION

• Acronyms can be very helpful as memory joggers.
  Take the key stages in a process as a nonsense
  example remembering Wholly inadequate, needless,
  darned, outrageous waste of space is much easier
  to remember if thought of as W.I.N.D.O.W.S.
• For more complex points like scientific processes
  / historical processes create a series of
  pictures / cartoon strip to summarise and then
  post them up all over your room or anywhere where
  you spend a lot of time.
• Create a recording of your voice (or someone
  elses!) with the key points of a topic and play
  them to yourself when doing other mundane tasks
  (like washing the dishes?!).

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Revision How do I help?STAGE 4 TESTING

• Ask parents to test you on your knowledge using
  your key notes.
• Get together with friends for a set period of
  time and test each other (BUT you must be subject
  and topic specific. Otherwise, there is the
  chance for others to make you feel insecure by
  bringing in their own anxieties about topics that
  you havent revised yet!).
• Plan and or complete past examination questions.
• Create for yourself a genuine mock for each
  subject clear timing examination conditions.
  If you ask your teacher in advance, they are
  likely to be able to mark this for you as well.

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Revision How do I help?FINAL TIPS

• Dont leave all revision until the end and most
  certainly do not leave all of the difficult bits
  until the end.
• Dont use revision as an excuse for poor /
  incomplete homework. The topics covered in Year
  11 will also be on the exam papers.
• Dont revise and then immediately go to bed
  this is a common cause of sleepless nights as
  your mind is whizzing with information. Finish at
  a reasonable time and relax for an hour.
• Dont work 24/7. You will become anxious, bored
  and at worst completely disaffected. Take days
  where you dont do any revision.
• Dont allow topics to get on top of you. If you
  keep going back to something and you really dont
  understand it, then ask a friend or your teacher
  do not let your worries over one issue colour
  your attitude to an entire subject.

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Revision How do I help?TIPS FOR PARENTS

• ALWAYS HOMEWORK THE TWO HOUR RULE
• FOLLOWING THE GUIDANCE
• ASSIST (within reason!)
• KEEP A COPY OF THE REVISION TIMETABLE
• BE FLEXIBLE WITH SOCIAL ARRANGEMENTS
• MAKE YOURSELF AVAILABLE

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If in doubt?

• Talk to your sons subject teacher / Form Tutor
• Contact me either via e-mail or telephone.
• Boys at Wilsons achieve the highest possible
  standards. With a combination of hard work at
  home and focused work in school, your son will
  achieve his potential.