Dear Parent/Carer,
We have taken the decision that the year eleven mock examinations will start on Monday 22nd of January and will be condensed into one week. This is a week later than originally calendared. This adjustment will give staff and students an additional week of lessons and preparation time. Our teaching staff are absolutely confident that students will be ready and well prepared for the rigour of these examinations.
Organisation and Support for Year 11
We are all pleased to say that the safe reopening of the school, albeit phased, is well underway and attendance is very good. We are keen for all students to catch up quickly with any missed learning. In order to support and prepare our Year 11 students for the January mock examinations, and ultimately the final GCSE examinations next summer, we are undertaking the following:
- Assemblies for all Year 11 students explaining the purpose, support and expectations for all of our Year 11 students leading up to, and during, the mock examinations.
- All Year 11 teachers will be planning a programme of teaching, advice and support in the lead up to the examinations, ensuring any gaps in learning from remote learning are addressed in lessons. Your child will be given revision materials by their class teachers, to support with final mock revision topic lists; in addition to the revision guides that your child was given in Year 10.
- We will post out specific revision details with a copy of your child’s personal mock examination timetable in good time before the end of term.
- A ‘Learning to Learn’ revision programme has taken place in Personal Development lessons at the start of the year.
- Maths lessons during registration have taken place since September and will continue throughout the year.
- For Geography students, there is an optional breakfast revision club running every Thursday from w/c 27th November. Interested students should speak to their Geography teacher if they would like further details, and enter via their usual Year Team entrance if choosing to attend.
- We are really pleased to announce our programme of compulsory Period 7 sessions is due to start Monday 27th November and to continue for the two weeks back after the Christmas break before the beginning of the mock examinations. Please note that due to other events calendared, Period 7s will not take place on 29th November, 6th December or 14th December.
- The 5-week programme of compulsory Period 7 revision sessions prior to the mock examinations will be a mixture of subject specific revision, led by a subject teacher, some self-supported independent revision and study where your child is expected to bring in their own study materials and some ‘subject specific revision events’ for a larger group of students. Attendance to period seven sessions is compulsory for all Year 11 students on these days, school for Year 11 students will not finish until 3:30pm. The Period 7 sessions take place in a range of classrooms across the school depending upon the type of Period 7. There will be three Period 7 sessions per week taking place on a Monday, Wednesday or Thursday, excluding the dates listed above. All students will receive a personalised timetable for Period 7, which will include all of the specific details for your child.
- Our compulsory Period 7 sessions have proved very successful, particularly in terms of ethos, attitude to learning, and preparation for examinations. Attendance to all Period 7 sessions is not optional. Attendance will be monitored and full attendance to every session is expected. Students will receive extra Praise Stamps for attendance to the Period 7 sessions and these will contribute to the PRAISE reward system. Three Planner comments are given for an unauthorised absence from a Period 7 session.
- If there is an extenuating circumstance why your child is unable to attend a particular Period 7 session, then please contact Miss Clark or Mr Cleland (Heads of Year 11) in advance of the session and the absence from Period 7 may be authorised on that occasion.
- Your child’s Subject Teachers and Heads of Faculty/Department are in the process of finalising the nights available and which students to be selected. In most subjects it is targeted students. If your child is identified for more than one subject, we will look at current and predicted progress against the end of Key Stage Target, and will also ensure the recent time away from school is factored into any planning.
- We will also hold a full Year 11 examination briefing assembly in December prior to the mocks so that Year 11 students understand what is expected of them. We will issue students with their results and grades at a mock examination results’ assembly in February.
There will be a continued planned programme of support for our Year 11 students after the mock exams as we progress throughout the spring term and on to the final GCSE examinations in summer 2024. This will include further compulsory Period 7 sessions for targeted students immediately after the Year 11 mocks, and for all students after the February Half Term break, and after Easter in the lead up to the final GCSE examinations. We will write to you again with further details of this.
Our Sixth Form team will be writing to you about our Sixth Form Open Evening, which this year is taking place on Wednesday 6th December 2023. This will be an ‘in school, face-to-face’ event and our Year 11 students will be able to find out about all of the courses and opportunities for them in our Sixth Form. Wherever possible we would expect all of our Year 11 parents/carers and Year 11 students to attend this event.
We will also be writing to you about our Year 11 parent/carer subject teacher evening which will take place on Thursday 14th December 2023.
If you have any further queries about the forthcoming mock examinations and support for your child, please do not hesitate to contact Mr Mason (Head of KS4) or Miss Clark or Mr Cleland (Heads of Year 11).
As we have said in previous correspondence with you, whilst we stress the importance of your child taking any mocks or assessments seriously, preparing for them as best as they can and striving to achieve their best, we equally stress the importance of health and wellbeing. We are fully committed to supporting all of our students, particularly those who are sitting public examinations this year, and ensuring that we support and prepare them as best we can for the challenge of GCSEs next summer.
Best wishes,
Chris Mason
Head of Key Stage 4
Jesmond Park Academy
Jesmond Park West
Newcastle upon Tyne
NE7 7DP