Revision and Exam PreparationMonday 26th March, 2018

Mr S Moore Assistant Headteacher i/c KS4Miss P Challis Deputy Head of KS4Miss O De Groot Head of MathematicsMs S Wood Head of KS4 EnglishMr D Flanagan Head of Science

Dare to be Great

Key Dates

• Parental Permission for Structured Revision Wednesday 28th March

• Easter revision classes Tuesday 3rd April – Friday 13th April

• GCSE Art Exam Tuesday 1st - Wednesday 2nd May

• Year 11 Final House Assemblies and receipt of hoodies Friday 11th May

• Structured Revision begins Monday 14th May

• First hall-based GCSE exam Monday 14th May

• Sixth Form tasters Monday 25th – Tuesday 26th June

• Year 11 Prom Wednesday 27th June

• GCSE Results Day Thursday 23rd August

It is only natural to feel under pressure when you are being

tested or challenged. Ultimately, a bit of pressure is what

enables us to perform. How you handle that pressure though, is

really important for your emotional well-being.

Exams….they are part of learning

Support networks at Queens’

Form Tutor / Head of House / Deputy Head of HouseSubject teachers / Head of Department

Mrs Foweraker (Student Support) – South ReceptionMiss Challis – North Art Department

Mr Moore – South

• If you’re worried about your child’s exams and the marks they might get, imagine how overwhelming it might be for them. Preparing for and sitting exams can be a very pressured time, and then, once the exams are finished, it's a countdown to the results which can be equally stressful for everyone.

• As a parent you can really help your children through this time, just by being there for them and encouraging them to talk about their feelings and fear. Here are just a few ideas to make exam time that bit more bearable.

How can I help my child through the revision and examination period?

• Make sure they have a comfortable place to work.• If you do not have a suitable spot, make it easy for them to study

elsewhere, like the library. The school library is open on a Saturday morning from 10 – 2 on the 21st and 28th April.

• Establish a revision routine and be prepared to re-arrange the family’s schedules and priorities.

• It is never too late to study, revise or ask for help.• Don't go in for bribes; encourage them to work for their own satisfaction.• Schedule small and frequent rewards for the effort they are putting in.• Suggest a special evening or day out as it could give them a treat to look

forward to.• Be calm, positive and reassuring and put the whole thing into

perspective.• If you are worried about your child and exam stress, please do not

hesitate to contact their Head of House or Form Tutor.

• If you haven’t, start doing something about it now by planning ahead. The Easter holidays present the ideal opportunity not only to rest and recharge, but also to get ahead in your revision.

• Take time to devise a revision timetable for each day of the holidays as we have shown you. An example of a timetable is included in your revision packs.

Have you started revising yet?

Revision Packs and Twitter

• Revision packs will be handed out at the end of tonight’s talk. Please take one, and make sure that is in the House coloured folder.

• Revision packs contain revision cards, highlighter pens and an example revision timetable format.

• Please also access the Year 11 Twitter account at Year11@Queens’for revision guidance and links to useful sites.

• Click on the ‘Following’ tab to access department Twitter accounts.

Maths Revision

HIGHER

FOUNDATION

Tiers and Grading

Facts:• 50% of Higher Paper is Grade 7-9• Same proportion of students to

achieve a grade 4 and above that got a C and above in the past.

Different Topics in Maths

• Number 15% (20%)

• Algebra 30% (25%)

• Ratio, Proportion and rates of change 20%

• Geometry and measures 20%

• Probability & Statistics 15%

Greater Emphasis on this being incorporated in other topics.

Greater emphasis on PROBLEM SOLVING and MATHEMATICAL REASONING

A garden is in the shape of a rectangle, ABCD, and a semicircle.

AD is the diameter of the semicircle.

Carol is going to cover the garden with fertiliser.

A box of fertiliser costs £4.99

Carol has been told that one box of fertiliser will cover 12 m² of garden.

(a) Work out the cost of buying enough fertiliser to cover the garden completely.

£ ......................................

(5)

Carol finds out that one box of fertiliser will cover more than 12 m² of garden.

(b) Explain how this might affect the number of boxes she needs to buy.

..............................................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................................

(1)

(Total for Question 24 is 6 marks)

Three Assessment Objectives

o AO1 – using and applying standard techniques (40% on Higher and 50% on Foundation)

o AO2 – reasoning, interpreting and communicating mathematically (30% on Higher and 25% on Foundation)

o AO3 – solving problems with a much greater focus on solving non-routine problems in mathematical and non-mathematical contexts – more focus on this than before (30% on Higher and 25% on Foundation)

Tips for Approaching Exam Questions

• Read question fully.

• Highlight Key Words.

• Think about the relevant topics that are associated with that question.

• Understand what the question is asking for.

• Annotate the question itself or draw a diagram if appropriate.

• Attempt the question! (You may get some marks)

• Write the answer and working clearly:- use side-headings for each stage- make sure you include units - write clearly what you are calculating e.g “Volume of prism” =- draw a conclusion if required

Things to Do

• Get motivated!

• Put your phone away whilst working

• Use Hegarty maths or you tube clips about topics that you are unsure about

• Ask your teacher if you are struggling

• Do past papers

• Use incentives

• Use a timer and set yourself mini goals

• Use revision lists and check topics off

Things to Avoid

• Reading a textbook, revision guide or exercise book as your only form of revision

• Using your phone as a calculator

• Checking answers as you go along

• Having the television on in the background

• Talking to your friends instead of revising

Revision Advice for Students• Use your mocks to identify weaknesses. Use the question analysis sheets to

help identify topics you are struggling with.

• Focus on making sure you understand all of topics by using Hegarty maths or textbooks.

• Practise exam questions by using a revision guide or website to access past papers and complete as many as you can. Try working under controlled conditions to assess how you perform.

• Focus on the new GCSE material and practise problem solving questions as there is a greater emphasis on this in the new GCSE.

• Mark your papers so you can identify your problem areas.

• Work on those problem areas so you can improve.

Revision Advice for Parents

• Set up a quiet working environment.

• Make sure they have all the equipment they need.

• Encourage them to do papers in a controlled environment.

• Be really supportive – even if you struggled with maths - don’t say you “can’t do Maths”!!

• Give them breaks in between revision sessions.

Exam Tips • Calculation errors (especially on a calculator paper)

• Missing key information in questions

• Not answering the questions asked

• Checking your answers with handy tips shown in class

• Look at the marks allocated and recognise how much working needs to be done.

• Show your working

• Write units with answer

• Round to the appropriate decimal place/significant figure

• Save rounding until the end (write out numbers to 5-6 decimal places until the very end)

• Number of marks allocated should be approximately the same as the number of minutes spent on that question

• Check calculator is in degree mode

• Know how to use your own calculator

Exam Question 5 schools sent some students to a conference.

One of the schools sent both boys and girls.

This school sent 16 boys.

The ratio of the number of boys it sent to the number of girls it sent was 1 : 2

The other 4 schools sent only girls.

Each of the 5 schools sent the same number of students.

Work out the total number of students sent to the conference by these 5 schools.

..............................................................

(Total 4 marks)

Exam Question

5 schools sent some students to a conference.

One of the schools sent both boys and girls.

This school sent 16 boys.

The ratio of the number of boys it sent to the number of girls it sent was 1 : 2

The other 4 schools sent only girls.

Each of the 5 schools sent the same number of students.

Work out the total number of students sent to the conference by these 5 schools.

......................................

(Total 4 marks)

REVISING FOR ENGLISH

STUDENTS WILL EVENTUALLY GAIN 2 GCSES FOR ENGLISH:ONE IN LITERATUREONE IN LANGUAGE

ENGLISH LITERATURE GCSE

PAPER 1: 2 HOURS:

‘MACBETH’ – SHAKESPEARE – 1 HOUR

POETRY ANTHOLOGY - 1 HOUR

PAPER 2: 2 HOURS 30 MINS:

‘AN INSPECTOR CALLS’ – J B PRIESTLEY – 45 MINS

‘A CHRISTMAS CAROL’ – CHARLES DICKENS – 45 MINS

UNSEEN POETRY - 1 HOUR

GENERAL REVISION

IDEAS

Read through summary sheets

Re-look at past essays, targets and

sample essays

Look at the SAMS online

Practise essays under timed conditions

Re-read the textsListen to audio

versions

Complete online quizzes

Create index cards summarising key

events, characters, themes and quotes

Mindmaps

Bitesize

Extract – 20 mins

Whole text – 40 mins (5 marks for

SPAG)

‘MACBETH’

Watch versions of the play on DVD

Revision videos and animated

versions on youtube

Select short passages (app.30 lines) and

practise analysing them using past questions

Access to teaching ppts on Googledrive

that include annotations and key

points

90 page revision pack created by the English Department including sample essays and notes on every theme and

character as well as quiz questions

Writing on individual poem –

20 mins

Comparing this poem with one other from the anthology – 40

mins

Context expected for both

POETRY ANTHOLOGY

Revision videos on several poems available on Queens’ website

Accompanying revision pack with quiz yourself questions to answer

Additional resources on the EDUQAS website

Creating thematic grids and mind maps to see how the poems could be linked

Write about the extract (15 mins)

and then the same theme/

character in the whole play (30

mins)

5 marks for SPAG

‘AN

INSPECTOR

CALLS’

Listen to the audio version created by the English

Department on Queens’ website

90 page revision pack created by the English Department including sample essays and notes on every theme and

character as well as quiz questions

Watch the BBC versions of the play available on itunes

Quizzes and resources available online

including Bitesize

Write about the extract (15

mins) and then the same

character/ theme in the

whole novel (30 mins)

Students need to include context

‘A CHRISTMAS

CAROL’

Access to powerpoints that include detailed annotation via

Googledrive

Watch the videos made by the English department on Queens’

websiteWatch film versions

90 page revision pack created by the English Department including sample essays and notes on every theme and

character

20 mins writing about

poem 1 in detail

40 mins comparing the

two poems

UNSEEEN

POETRY

Work through example

papers

Read as much poetry as you

can

Annotate unseen poems Revise key poetic terms

ENGLISH LANGUAGE GCSE

PAPER 1: 1 HOUR 45 MINS:

FICTION COMPREHENSION – 1 HOUR

NARRATIVE WRITING - 45 MINS

PAPER 2: 2 HOURS:

NON-FICTION COMPREHENSION -1 HOUR

2 PIECES OF NON-FICTION WRITING - 1 HOUR

GENERAL REVISION

IDEAS

Read newspaper and magazine articles

Read as much adult fiction as possible

Turn off spell checker

Re-do old practice papers and compare with sample answers

Keep a vocab/ spelling book

Handwrite all your work

Create plans for a range of stories and

non-fiction tasksEncourage students to read their work

aloud

Learn persuasive techniques –

FREDS SWEATI

Read the question carefully & highlight

key words LEARN THE TIMINGS!

Based on a 20th century

prose passage

Based on two

passages: one 21st

century and one

19th century on a

similar topic

AND FINALLY…

THE KEY TO ACHIEVING WELL IN ENGLISH IS:

1.LITTLE AND OFTEN!

2.READ, READ, READ AND THEN READ SOME

MORE3.READ THE QUESTION CAREFULLY TO ENSURE YOU

ARE RESPONDING TO WHAT IS BEING ASKED4.USE THE WHOLE TIME AVAILABLE TO YOU WISELY

GOOD-LUCK FROM EVERYONE IN THE

ENGLISH DEPARTMENT!

Science

Science exams

Tuesday 15th May B1 Thursday 17th May C1 Wednesday 23th May P1

Monday 11th June B2 Wednesday 13th June C2 Friday 15th June P2

All exams for Combined Science are 1:15

All exams for Triple Science are 1:45

1. OFQUAL require the exam board to include a minimum of

15% of the marks from practical questions. According to the

examiner reports, these are the most poorly answered

questions every year.

2. OFQUAL also require a minimum of 20% maths content in

the combined science papers. For triple it is 10% in biology,

20% in chemistry and 30% in physics. However, simple

addition and subtraction cannot be counted towards this,

nor can simple extraction of data from a graph.

Therefore:

Working out the relative formula mass will not count, but calculating a percentage will.

Reading a number from a data point on a graph will not count, but calculating a gradient will.

This will mean that there will be more than 20% maths content in the papers, because the simple calculations will not count. THIS INCLUDES THE FOUNDATION PAPER.

For example – Graphs on enzymes action

3. Exam boards are allowed a maximum of 15% basic recall

questions so there will be more describe, explain and justify

tasks, particularly on the foundation paper. This is more than

schools are used to because they have previously included

quite a few name/state/list type questions.

We don’t expect this to affect the higher papers.

4. The 6 mark questions are all marked in the same way

now. There is a generic mark scheme across all these

questions on all exam boards. These questions are mid-

level questions and a level 4/5 student should be capable of

getting all six marks. The examiners emphasise that

perfection is not required on these. They are marked like this:

level 1 (1-2marks) Some relevant science content, attempts to link

ideas and apply knowledge/ carry out calculations but flawed

level 2 (3-4 marks) Relevant science content supported through some

links and application of knowledge, some logical connections, or if this

question involves calculations, a correct calculation should get 4

marks

level 3 (5-6 marks) A clear explanation supported with several links

and logical connections. If this question includes calculations then a

correct calculation is also needed. Students do not have to mention

every single thing to get 6 marks.

BULLET POINTS ARE ALLOWED (and encouraged) AS

ARE LABELLED DIAGRAMS AND TABLES in 6 mark

questions, if they support the communication of scientific

ideas.

QWC is about how scientific ideas are communicated and not the

quality of English, sentence structure and paragraphing.

For example, if a candidate includes incorrect spellings but does not

impair the reader’s ability to understand what is written, full marks will

still be awarded. So "plants take in sunlite and the chlorophil use it for

photosinthesis" will probably be fine as we can all understand what is

being said and it is scientifically correct.

However, we obviously do encourage correct “SPAG” and wildly

"creative" SPAG will detract from understanding and be self-

penalising.

New

Students are

not given the

reactivity series

any more

Q = It

charge current x time=

Queens’ is terrific7

V = IR

potential

differencecurrent x resistance=

Vegans in restaurants11

mass = density x volume

m = ρv My Dad’s van

18

There are revision materials and practise questions posted on real smart every week.

There are revision sessions Monday lunch time and afterschool on Tuesdays, Wednesdays & Thursdays

Science

Year 11 Structured Revision

• Last day of normal teaching timetable: Friday 11th May.

• Structured revision timetable begins: Monday 14th May, and ends on Friday 8th June.

• The timetable will be published to students and parents after Easter.

• Students wishing to revise at home must have parental permission and the deadline for this is noon on Wednesday 28th March.

• Students without parental permission will be expected to attend school as normal until the end of their exams.

Start and End Points

First GCSE Exams

Monday 14th May am RS & Computer Science.

All Year 11 in Tuesday 15th taking GCSE Biology Paper 1

Last GCSE

Tuesday 19th June Graphics & Monday 18th June German

All Year 11 in Friday 15th June GCSE Physics paper 2

Year 11 Prom

Hilton Hotel, Watford

Wednesday 27th June

7:30 – 11:30pm

Luxury Venue * Drink on arrival * Evening meal * DJ * PixPod

Invitation letters will be sent out before the end of term. Tickets available via WisePay for £35.00.

Thank you for listening

Any specific Q’s please contact the subject teacher or the HOD

Please pick up a revision pack as you leave!