Dear Parent/Carer
Year 11 Autumn Term Grade Card
Your child’s Year 11 Autumn Term Grade Card has been posted out today, as well as student mock timetables and revision/topic Lists. As always, if you have any questions regarding any of the information that has been posted out today, then please contact your child’s Head of Year, Form Tutor, Subject Teacher or relevant Head of Faculty or Department.
Year 11 Mocks
Due to school closure, as previously communicated, we took the decision to reschedule and condense Year 11 mocks. To confirm, Year 11 mock examinations will start on Monday 22 January 2024. 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.
During assemblies we will continue to ensure students are well prepared and supported for these mock examinations. In these assemblies we will reaffirm where students can go for support, and share the expectations that we have for our students over the course of the mock examinations. These expectations are in place to ensure that all of our Year 11 students are as prepared as possible. Finally, the assemblies will also include revision tips and advice, as well as signposting students to useful websites.
Whilst we stress the importance of your child taking any 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 students in ensuring that we support and prepare them as best we can as they continue with their studies throughout Year 11.
If you have any further queries about the forthcoming mocks, or what support is available for your child, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Head of Year, Form Tutor, Subject Teacher, or relevant Head of Faculty or Department.
We aim to issue students with their results from their mocks later in the Spring term. Further information regarding dates will be published on our website.
Organisation and Support for Year 11
In order to support and prepare our Year 11 students for the January mock examinations, and ultimately the final GCSE examinations next summer, a reminder that 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.
- 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 Art students, there will be time set aside for the pre-release of ‘live course work’ as happens every year, which counts towards students final Art grade. Students will be informed by their Art teachers regarding dates and times.
- For Modern Foreign Language students, there will be additional support/practice regarding speaking assessments. Students will be informed by their teachers regarding dates and times.
- For Geography students, there is an optional breakfast revision club running every Thursday from w/c 27 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 are well underway, and are proving to be 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.
Period 7 will continue into the week commencing 15th of January 2024. This includes MFL after school speaking exams, Drama rehearsals and Art support sessions.
There will be a continued planned programme of support for our Year 11 students after the mock examinations 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.
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 emphasise 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 challenges of GCSEs next summer.
Yours faithfully,
Mrs C Smith
Deputy Principal
Mr C Mason
Head of Key Stage 4
Mr A Cleland
Head of Year 11
Miss N Clark
Head of Year 11