Dear Y11s, Welcome to your second issue of ‘The Final Count-

down’. This information booklet is produced to help you in the

lead up to your exams, which are now less than

4 school weeks away! This issue is an Easter holidays

‘revision special’. You have a significant period of time off

school before the summer term starts—no doubt you will have

loads of homework to do for your subjects, but it is essential

that you start on your revision during this time too.

You will also find the ‘You Raise Me Up’ nominations where you

vote for staff along with ‘The Praise Board’, where staff vote

for you. Will you be nominated this time?

19 School Days Until the Final Exams! 29th March 2012 Issue 2

The role models for this issue are:

Luke ‘ for consistent effort and an

extremely positive attitude’; Emily

‘for working really hard in Business

to achieve her targets showing de-

termination and persistence’; and

Tom and Elise for organising the

helpers for the open day and being

‘a pair of superstars’! Well done!

English Revision

Mondays—for resits and

Thursdays—see Mrs Latham

before if you want to drop in.

Maths Revision

Every Thursday from 3-4pm or make ar-

rangements/drop in throughout the

week for help.

ICT & Business

Catch Up

Every Monday

DT Catch Up

Every day after school except Fridays.

See your teacher for more details.

Geography

Starting after Easter.

Art

Every Monday

and drop in

through the

week.

History

CA resits.

See Miss

Bentley for

details. Revi-

sion twice

weekly after

Easter.

Science

Every Wednesday, see your

teacher to arrange other

nights of the week.

BTEC

Thurs-

days

H&SC

Blue Mondays 3-4pm

Mrs Kendrick would like to praise the vast majority of Year 11 who are doing really

well—on track in subjects or doing something about it if you’re not—remember it’s up

to you to take responsibility and get back on track! I don’t get to speak to many of

you, but I know who you are—KEEP IT UP! Not long to go so make the most of it!

I would like to nominate Bethany Airey, Paige Strong, Ellie Marshall, Fahima Khatun,

Abdur Shakir, Nicole Fernley, Ayesha Khanom, Becky Lee, Natasha Player, Chloe

Oates and Louise Sparrow for working very hard to get their work up to a distinction

level. Well done!!!! You are a pleasure to teach!!!! Miss Lorenzen

Mr Beech would like to nominate my triple science students: Jake Kay, George Hodgin

and Mark Lowe, as well as Ayman Jani and Ashley Kelly for really thorough, independ-

ent work which resulted in accurate, interesting and informative presentations to the

class, where they essentially taught a section of the syllabus to a high standard. They

had excellent resources and a mature response to class questioning.

I would also like to mention that there has been a much improved attitude from Shan-

non Hulme in form. All my form are well turned out and equipped on a daily basis. They

show interest in the form activities and are always pleasant and polite, especially

Matthew Birch, Bethany Airey, Liam Griffiths, Paul Ashley, Michael Gould, Millie Row-

botham and Rasel Noor (too many others too!).

Also, well done to Jake Kay for being the biggest improver in science exams in triple

science, achieving A* in recent exams. Improvement also seen from Luke Brailsford

who attends revision out of self-motivation to increase his already good grades.

Ashley Kelly - for being amazing! Paige Strong – for working really hard in RE. Pat-

rick Taylor – for working hard and making me laugh. Aysha Utsho – working hard and

trying her best all the time. Tom Miles – for generally being lovely and working hard

in RE. Mark Lowe – for always working hard. Daniel Mohammad – for always working

hard. Holly Leigh – for always working hard and trying her best. Belinda Bayley –

even though she doesn’t have confidence in herself, always trying really hard. Chloe

Oates – for always working hard. Luke Brailsford – even though he doesn’t shutup in

lessons, producing excellent answers in mock exams. Ross Sleigh – working hard and

having a brilliant mock exam result. Josh Selby – working hard and getting a brilliant

mock exam result. Emma Thomas – always working really hard in RE. Tashpia Tashnim

always working really hard in RE. Amina Khanam - always working really hard in RE.

Ayesha Khanom – always working hard in RE Miss Ripley

A huge thank you to my Yr 11 Catering group for their hard work during the controlled

assessment this term. Particular mentions for Natasha Player, Beth Airey, Emily

Watt, Emma Thomas, Kirstie Haigh, Holly Leigh, Josh Wright, Jake Thompson, Lewis

Williams, Becky Lee, Georgia Davies, Rebecca Henson, Elizabeth Stark and Chloe

Critchlow. Mr Ross

Mrs Gadsby-Mace would like to praise my year 11 GCSE Art group. They have worked

consistently hard for two years. They have a positive mature attitude – have just

completed their exam piece – definitely the best group I have ever had the pleasure

of teaching!!! Good luck to you all my darlings!!

Congratulations to the following people for working extremely hard on their GCSE Art

exam preparation: Amy Butler, Promi Begum, Liam Griffiths, Jake Kay, Aysha Utsho,

Rebecca Shaw. You should be very proud of yourselves. Mr Petrucci

I would like to praise 11Are1 for all being superstars this year! You are all an amazing

group of people and it has been a pleasure to teach you for the past two years. Thank

you for my gift! I wish all of my year 11’s every success in your final GCSE exams and

your futures-you are all beautiful people and I will miss you terribly!!! Good luck, con-

tinue to work hard (not long now!) and I will see you at Prom!!! Miss Speakes

Mr Rowe would like to mention my year eleven linear group consisting of Jake Thomp-

son, Wakia Islam, Fahima Khatun and Foyzol Miah for all the hard work and effort

they have put into maths in these past few weeks.

Mr Joshi would like to nominate Emily Leadbeater and Emily Moss for always working

hard in DT and getting on with it. Josh Degennaro for working hard and always listen-

ing to instructions. Has been the same since the beginning of Year 10.

Matthew Birch, Joshua Selby, Tara Cornwall, Ross Sleigh, Natalie Worthington and

Cara Coffey for putting in lots of extra hours after school to ensure they achieve an

extra GCSE in Music. All are working very hard and doing a great job! Mr Anthony

Miss Neill has lots of nominations: Sadiya Akhtar, Ayesha Bibi, Wakia Islam, Abdul

Karim, Khalid Mohammad, Phoebe Bradshaw, Ikram Khan, Syeda Khanum, Emily Lead-

better and Holly Leigh in Business Studies for getting all their coursework up to date

and completing it to a really high standard. My nominations for ICT are Chloe Critch-

low, Nicole Fernley, Wakia Islam, Sharon Kachikoti, Fahima Khatun, Rebecca Lee,

Rasel Noor, Natasha Player, Paige Strong, Emma Thomas, Myles Turner and Emily

Watt, you are all working really hard to make sure you complete your last assignment

to a really high standard, fantastic effort guys; it will be so worth it in August when

you get your results!!

I have to nominate Nazmin Akhtar and Salina Fakir for excellent attitude to learning.

Also Josh Selby for hard work in improving his coursework. Mrs Bowler

Well done to Kelsea Delaney for her continued effort with her Art and Design and

Technology coursework. Well done- I hope it is all worth it on results day! Elise Gal-

lagher and Rebecca Shaw– their amazing attitude and continued effort in their design

and technology coursework. It has been an absolute pleasure teaching you! both! Mrs

Brett

I would like to nominate in Business: Natasha Player- always doing her best and work-

ing independently. Daniel Selwood- consistent hard work and effort. ICT: Liam Grif-

fiths – biggest improvement since year 10;Paul Ashley, Ross Sleigh, Tara Cornwall,

Luthfa Begum, Whomara Begum, Bradley Palmer and Emma Jameson for consistent

hard work, effort and excellent behaviour. Heather Daniels, Elise Gallagher, Daniel

Selwood, Josh DeGenarrio- consistent brilliantness! I could nominate the rest of

both my Year 11 ICT classes as I enjoy teaching them all but the above pupils have

been brilliant since year 10 all day every day Mrs Mitchell

For outstanding effort, smiling and completing tasks/homework: Hamza, Ruman, Paul,

Emdadur, Saidul, Craig, Luke, Abdul, Foyzol, Sam, Bradley and Kyle. Miss Kelly

If you are not mentioned, you have the next few weeks to work

hard and make sure you are nominated in the next issue.

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Mr Beech ’helps out a lot with coursework’, ‘for being extremely supportive and

helping me achieve everything I wanted and more’, ‘a great teacher and very sup-

portive in class, helping me achieve the grades I want’, pushing me to my full po-

tential and supporting me through my GCSEs’, ‘brilliant science teacher, very ded-

icated and selfless in helping students in his own time’

Mr Travers ‘for making maths lessons easier and being a great all round maths

teacher’, ‘for being extremely supportive and helping me achieve everything I

wanted and more’, a great teacher and very supportive in class, helping me

achieve the grades I want’, ‘for pushing me to get a high grade, he explains the

really hard topics well and has made me want to do maths at A Level’, ‘for being

the best teacher I have ever had and always making us smile first thing in the

morning’, ‘for being a brilliant teacher and cheering the class up!’

Mrs Elms ’she is a nice teacher and helps me with my food tech’, ‘because she is

safe and helps you if you need it’

Miss Lorenzen ‘for helping me get the best out of my coursework’

Mr Bradbury ‘for always being so helpful in class’, ‘helping me with my ICT work

and making the lessons enjoyable’

Miss Ripley ‘being friendly and supportive and for giving excellent feedback so I

can improve my work’ ‘for always having a positive attitude and helping me get an

A in my RE exam last year’

Mrs Howard ‘for explaining work when I don’t get it and pulling up my grades

from an E to a C’

Mr Petrucci ‘helping me with my Art work a lot, giving me guidance’, ‘he’s been a

great help throughout my high school life also during my exam in Year 11. Thank

you Sir!’

Mrs Latham ‘continuously teaching our class the skills that we need to achieve

our grades’, ‘supported through exams and really helped with CW’

Mrs Johnson ’helping me improve my coursework’ ‘for helping me to try and get

an A on my Health and Social assessments’

Mr Shakarchy ‘helping me improve by a whole grade from a C to a B and for stay-

ing late after school to help’

Ms Wells ‘for being such a good form tutor and a good PE teacher’

Mr Eyre ‘for always pushing me to do my best, always in a good mood and never

make mistakes’, ‘for getting my grade from a U to a B and always helping me im-

prove a lot in maths’

Miss Mallon for always pushing me to do my best, always in a good mood and nev-

er make mistakes’

Mrs Gadsby-Mace ‘ working hard for all pupils throughout the exam and always

building up confidence in pupils’, ‘she’s always there for me, never stopped believ-

ing in me and got me my grades’

Miss Bentley ‘helping me improve my grade to an A and making History lessons

enjoyable even when I find it really difficult’, ‘making great revision packs and

being a brilliant teacher’, ‘great teacher, makes history fun’, ‘excellent history

teacher’

Miss Howie ‘for helping us get through our musical compositions for our Music

GCSE’

Mr Dolan ‘he is a funny guy and a great teacher’

Miss Parish ‘helping is get the grades we want’, I probably wouldn’t have got my

grades if Miss didn’t help and support me. Thank you!’

Miss Kelly ‘helping me so much in English’

Mrs Brett ‘helping me through a tough time, also supporting me through my GCSE

Art exam’

There are loads of on line resources you can use to help you revise and to

help you plan your revision. For example, revision timetables can be made

on line at www.getrevising.co.uk/timetable/exams. It is free to sign up—

you can add your exams and it generates a timetable for you. Alterna-

tively use the timetables at the centre of this booklet. Look at your last

issue for subject specific revision websites.

Plan your revision Make a detailed revision timetable on a large piece of paper

and post it up somewhere that everyone in your house can see it. That way,

everyone knows what you are meant to be studying and when. Strangely

enough, letting other people know your plans actually lightens the load, because

then it's not just down to you to motivate yourself. Adjust your timetable if

you need to.

Take lots of breaks Your mind will only be able to concentrate well for short

periods of time - the first 15 minutes of revision are thought to be the best.

Make sure you stop for a few minutes every 30 minutes or so. During your

break, a good thing to do is to sit back for a few minutes, close your eyes, re-

lax, and just think about the things you have just learnt.

Monitor your progress Create a check list of subjects/topics/themes/case

studies that you need to know. Categorise them into groups—those you know

well, partially or not well, use this as a basis for your plan. As you go through

each one cross it off so you can see your progress. Remember to revisit revi-

sion…..

...Understand how your memory works

If you learn something new, in general it will already start fading in your mind

after a few hours (unless it is particularly exciting). However, if you revise it

again in the next four hours, it will take about 24 hours before it starts to

fade. Revise it in the 24 hour period and it will last for four days, then one and

a half weeks, then one month, and so on. By setting out your revision schedule

to make the most of this (learn something, revise it again after a few hours,

revise it again in the next couple of days, and so on) you will be using the way

your memory works to your advantage!

Prepare your space Find a quiet place to study and make sure you are sitting com-

fortably; make sure your desk is well lit; keep background noise to a minimum, avoid

studying in an area where there will be distractions (like television!); have every-

thing you need to do your revision to hand before you start.

Start early Your brain is more receptive early in the morning, so start your revi-

sion first thing. You will feel a sense of achievement if you get to dinner time hav-

ing done a large amount of revision. If you set aside the same hours in the day you

will get into a routine for revision and you will be more likely to absorb the infor-

mation.

Limit what you do Don't feel that you need to revise a whole topic in one go. As

well as keeping a fresh head, going back the next day to finish revising the topic

will renew your knowledge and hopefully help you retain the information for longer.

Focus on the task at hand You should unplug your computer or laptop, as it's

simply too tempting to go the internet instead of ploughing through your exam con-

tent. It is also imperative to turn off your mobile phone (one distraction too many).

Eat well Your brain weighs only 2% of your total body weight, but uses 20% of

your body's energy—at rest! Fuelling it during revision and exam periods is very

important. The most important meal is breakfast—never skip this! Keep yourself

hydrated with bottles of water and eat foods high in protein such as fish, eggs,

meat and milk. You will need energy too in the form of complex carbohydrates

such as wholemeal bread, cereal and nuts. Avoid foods that give you a ‘high’ then a

slump in energy, such as biscuits, cake and caffeine (so tea, coffee, coke etc).

Mix it up Keep yourself more alert by changing revision methods during a session.

For instance, try switching from note taking to memorising; from reading to asking

someone to test you.

Sleep well Get enough sleep—at least 8 hours and keep your body clock as close to

school hours as possible—easier said than done in the holidays, but this can only

help your revision routine.

Think positive Don’t feel overwhelmed by revision and your exams. If you do what

is suggested in this guide, you’re well on your way to exam success! Any problems

you encounter with your revision, your teacher can help on your return.

Everyone has different revision techniques that work for them—what works

well for your friend may not work for you, so it’s important to try different

techniques, so you can select the most appropriate or a range, to help that

information sink in!

Index cards, mind maps and notes Use to record key points, include pictures,

colour, highlighting. Keep these to the point.

Learning posters and visual material Use pattern, colour, symbols and draw-

ings, cover key points and topics, develop diagrams for your course if relevant,

pin them up where you’ll see them often.

Key words, phrases, themes or concepts Use the course introductions, sum-

maries, key questions to: discover what’s key in each block; use two or three sen-

tences to define, add course example and diagram if relevant.

Teach someone Teach a topic to a fellow student or a friend, thinking it

through is effective revision, fill in the gaps in your knowledge as you identify

them. You retain more knowledge and understand better if you have to teach it.

Act it out Invite your friends over to act out events or

scenarios.

Test yourself When revising create a test for yourself

then answer it the following day or your next revision

session. Ask family members to test you too.

Record yourself Some of you will be audio learners—

record yourself and listen to your revision notes.

Come up with mnemonics

This allows you to remember information by turning it in-

to an easy to remember phrase or an acronym. There

are lots of mnemonic generators on the internet you

could use.

Illustrate—draw pic-

tures