Date 2019 Dear Parents/Carers,

Year 11 Pathway to Success

This is the first edition of a regular email to Year 11 parents. Every two weeks we will send out this bulletin with details of support offered over the coming weeks. As you would expect it is very important to make sure that students continue to complete coursework and attend any necessary extra sessions. Hopefully this email will help you as parents and carers to encourage your son or daughter to make the most of what is on offer.

As part of meeting the challenges of Year 11, I would ask that you encourage your child to act upon any advice or information received in the fortnightly emails. The impetus is now on them to put their best effort into achieving the results to which they aspire. Thank you for your continued support and please do not hesitate to contact me with any concerns in this vital year. Kind Regards, Mrs Katy Tavaga Head of Year 11

General Learning Bursary

If your son/daughter is in receipt of the Pupil Premium Grant they are entitled to support in buying equipment to support their study. To find out more please see here or email hudsonj@crispins.co.uk

Pathway to Success

For regularly updated information regarding key dates, events and news, please refer to the following:

www.crispins.co.uk/sixth-form/ twitter.com/crispins6thform

Sixth Form

St Crispin’s Sixth Form

As you make headway into Year 11, you will now start deciding upon your future pathways and making your applications to the Sixth Form. We realise such decisions can be overwhelming and so we are here to support you ensuring you have the best possible stepping stone to your future.

You can look forward to seeing more of the team in assemblies where you will find out about the subjects on offer to you as well as a bit more about the application process. You will of course also hear from those that know the Sixth Form the best: our wonderful students!

Date for Your Calendars: Sixth Form Open Evening, Thursday 7th November

You are all warmly invited to our Sixth Form Open Evening. During the evening you will have the opportunity to hear from the Sixth Form Leadership Team and learn about the plethora of opportunities we provide for you. The evening also provides an ideal opportunity to visit departments and learn more about some of those subjects you have never experienced before such as Psychology and Applied Science. If you have any questions at all about the Sixth Form in the meantime, please come and speak with one

of the team. We look forward to seeing you in assemblies and during our open evening.

The Sixth Form Team

Mrs Collett

Head of Sixth Form

colletc@crispins.co.uk

Mr Yeatman Deputy Head of Sixth Form

Mrs Lightfoot Sixth Form Administrator

yeatmanc@crispins.co.uk

lightfootl@crispins.co.uk

Ms Pearson Raising Standards Leader

pearsons@crispins.co.uk

Mrs West

Assistant Head of Year 12

westk@crispins.co.uk

Mrs Kirby Assistant Head of Year 13

kirbyf@crispins.co.uk

Business

Computer Science

Full details of the course content have been made available to students and can be accessed at: AQA Computer Science This site will be used regularly by students in lessons as a checklist for work done and to aid revision for tests and the forthcoming PPE. Revision materials for the course will be accessible through our subscription to the online revision site SMART Revise

Full information available at : Smartrevise In addition the students have been granted access to the Computer Science VLE courses: Moodle For those students aiming for the very top grades at GCSE – the A level computer science VLE has been made available at: Moodle Computer Science Students have been invited to try the worksheets and use the excellent presentations to support their learning of the topics.

GCSE Business Students need to look at the examination pack which was issued over the summer and repeating any tests that they did not do as well in. Mark schemes are with the pack.

Drama Rehearsals - Mondays after school all the spaces are protected for exclusive use for y11. Although they can of course use spaces at other times. - students should be rehearsing for at least 1 hour per week at this stage in the course and these rehearsals are for Component 2 of the course - devising (40%) of GCSE. Personal study - the main focus of personal study this half term is their Devising Logs which is worth 30% of their GCSE. The grade they receive for this piece of work will have large impact on their overall grade. Students have been sent presentations, examples, checklists, and teacher feedback. It is essential they meet their devising log deadlines in order to receive the feedback they need to improve. Intervention/catchup and revision - every Wednesday lunch time students will be able to go to the drama study room and receive teacher support with their current programme of study or revision. As the term progresses this will become more targeted and parents will be informed of any further intervention recommended for their son/daughter to help them with their progress.

English Year 11 are currently studying their Shakespeare examination text. Whist we supply copies of the text for use in class which students can annotate, these copies do not have a glossary or any notes. If, therefore, students want to buy their own copies, we usually use The Cambridge School Shakespeare edition. 11X1 Mrs Rankine/Mrs Delves Macbeth 11X2 Ms Handyside Macbeth 11X3 Mrs Harvey/Mrs Collett Macbeth 11X4 Mr Lilley/Mrs Darke Macbeth 11X5 (set 2 in reality!) Mr Beavis Macbeth 11Y1 Mrs Taylor/Mrs Collett Merchant of Venice 11Y2 Mrs Rankine/Mrs Delves Macbeth 11Y3 Mrs Darke Macbeth 11Y4 Mrs Sharma Romeo and Juliet

There is a trip to see ‘An Inspector Calls’ at the Oxford Playhouse on Friday 18th October. This is an evening performance. There are still a few tickets left. Details can be found on the school website.

Languages

Geography Year 11 have now begun learning the course for The World Around US exam paper, starting with Ecosystems of the Planet. They will then move on to People of the Planet after half term, and Environmental Threats to our Planet after Christmas. Year 11 will be completing Remember Me? revision worksheets as personal study this year, based on their work from Year 10, and these can then be used a giant revision cards when they come to revise.

In the lead up to the PPEs in December, students may find it useful to get a copy of the revision guide, however this is not essential, as students’ exercise books should be their best source of information. Please note that if you wish to buy any revision materials, then it must be for OCR A and not OCR B. Many thanks in advance for all of your support with Year 11 this year.

Fre

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Personal Study: Doddle tasks have been set for the whole half term to complete They need to keep practising their vocab on quizlet. Ensure that they are practising the questions for the various modules. Intervention sessions (Speaking) for targeted students will start next Thursday.

Span

ish

:

Conversation club starting every Thursday. Link for students to access and practise. Spanish Conversation

Ge

rman

:

Link for students to access and revise GCSEGerman

History This week we have launched the first of 3 revision guides for students (Cold War & Elizabeth). The department has created one guide for each of the 3 exams students will sit in the summer. We will hand the remaining booklets out at different intervals, so as not to overload students. Each week, starting this week, teachers will be asking students to complete some Personal Study from the booklet. Students are expected to complete one worksheet a week from the booklet. This involves recapping knowledge by reading fact sheets, and then completing a 10-question quiz. This week students should complete worksheet 2.1. We also suggest that every 2-3 weeks students attempt some of the practice exam questions in the booklet. These answers can be checked with their teacher. We have also launched our GCSE “Drop in Clinic”. Every Friday at lunchtime, a member of the history department will be available for students to catch up on any missed work, or simply for some extra support. Please do encourage your child to attend these sessions should they be absent from school, or are in need of a confidence boost. A letter has also been sent for those coming on the Berlin Trip. On Wednesday 2nd October there is the Berlin Trip Information Evening, which will be in the Lecture Theatre at 6:30pm. The talk will last about an hour and go through all the itinerary of the trip as well as recommendations of what to bring.

Health & Social Care

Deadline for unit 2 coursework is Friday 20th September. This is to be emailed to Mrs Pedder on this date.

Information Technology (Cambridge National)

Our ICT students are currently working on their coursework assignments –the deadline for their assignment will be the first week of December. Formal intervention sessions will be running on Tuesday’s afterschool in the Science Lecture Room, students will encouraged to attend in the near future if they are unlikely to meet their assignment deadlines. However, all students are more than welcome to attend and will be given support during lunchtimes and afterschool sessions by arrangement on other days. Students have both a PPE to prepare for in November and an exam on January 10th (R012 Understanding tools, techniques, methods and processes for technological solutions). They will also be given an opportunity to resit this examined module in the Summer term. Key resources:

We have prepared an online checklist for students, which can be found by clicking Checklist. They have used this resource in lessons, but should absolutely be updating their understanding as they revise at home. Students should pay particular attention to content marked (Exam? – Y) as this is content which will be directly assessed in their exams in January.

Hodder Education Textbooks – “Cambridge National Level 1/2 Information Technologies” (ISBN 978-1-5104-2327-5). Students can request to borrow these textbooks from our class set during the revision period, although care must be taken to make sure they are still available in lessons. It is recommended that students have bought a copy of this course book to use at home for their revision.

Revision materials e.g. flashcards, ring binders, plastic wallets can be provided to students free of charge on request. We encourage students to revise using a variety of styles, and not just reading and writing notes.

Key dates:

November 15th – Initial coursework assignment deadline (R013 Developing technological solutions)

End of November – Pre Public Exams

First week of December (date tbc) – Final coursework assignment deadline (R013 Developing technological solutions)

First week of January – Final countdown intervention sessions

January 10th – Externally marked exam (R012 Understanding tools, techniques, methods and processes for technological solutions) + Coursework submission deadline to exam board

June – Externally marked exam resits

Maths All students completed PPEs at the end of Year 10 and they should have been given their PPE papers back. Students also complete regular chapter tests throughout the year. Students should work through the topics they got wrong on the PPEs and/or through the chapter in which they performed poorly in the test. Important Dates Year 11 PPE’s - 27th November until 18th December GCSE Exams 2020 19th May 2020 Paper 1 (Non calculator) 4th June 2020 Paper 2 (Calculator) 8th June 2020 Paper 3 (Calculator) Students should ensure that they have a working scientific calculator and that they are regularly bringing it to lessons to practice using it. To revise these topics they have 4 options:

1. Use their online textbooks to go back over the topic on Kerboodle (institution code: lu1 ask your teacher for your login details)

2. Choose the online revision lessons and tasks on these topics on Mymaths (login: crispins and password: trapezium, ask your teacher for MyPortal login details)

3. Use the PiXL Maths APP which is now live and running. 4. Use Corbettmaths.com to search a topic, watch a video and complete exam style

questions. Booster Packs on Mymaths There are revision packs available on mymaths for all target grades. Please look at the Assessment and Revision section to use them.

For additional revision resources please look at the Stretch and Challenge section of the Maths KS4 webpage.

Music

Listening: Students should be addressing content they have identified independently following practice exam questions completed during class time. Helpful information on musical elements can be found online at BBC Bitesize, while skills-based content may be addressed by working independently using Auralia software. A letter to parents regarding renewal of the Auralia subscription should follow shortly, but current licences will remain active until 30th October. Composition: Once a brief for the first composition is chosen students should begin to research, and listen to music related to, their brief selection and chosen musical style. A free student copy of Sibelius software is available for download here. This should help to ensure that work on this coursework is ongoing between lessons throughout the year. Performance: Solo performance deadline: October 10th. For those who are not going on the Berlin trip with the History department, recordings will take place in school on this day, with the aim of these being submitted as the final solo performance. Times for each student will be allocated and shared once scheduled. A thorough practice regime should be followed with the emphasis on focused practice on the instrument and time spent daily, rather than all in one day at the weekend. A possible example for this is given below in the case of a grade 1-2 pianist for a 20-minute practice session: 10 minutes: Warm-up (eg. exercises/scales & arpeggios) and technical studies in support of pieces 10 minutes: Pieces (please note that ‘practice’ in this instance means more than a play-through of each piece) and highlighting areas for continued/renewed focus next time. Keeping a practice record to support this progress is likely to be of benefit. Suitable choice of music must be discussed with instrumental/class teacher. Students should ensure they are well-prepared in advance of the deadline and aware of lessons that require specific equipment (instruments, sheet music including accompaniments if applicable) to be brought into school. NB students are responsible for ensuring that their performances meet with minimum duration requirements when combined with their intended ensemble performance. This is a minimum of one minute of ensemble performance and a total time requirement of 4 minutes overall.

PE 1) Sign up to Seneca Learning website 2) If your Teacher has instructed you to do so, Join your class using the code/link that the

teacher provided 3) Select the AQA GCSE Course 4) Complete the Psychology section on Skills (sports psychology 6 Skills 6.1)

Religious Studies

GCSE Religious Studies - This term Year 11 students are studying the ‘Dialogues between Religious and Non-

Religious Beliefs’ unit. - Students should ensure they engage with feedback given in class and in their books and

act on this feedback to improve their answers to exam questions. - In addition to Personal Study tasks students should be reviewing and consolidating their

learning outside of lessons. - Once this unit is complete students will begin some revision work in preparation for the

PPEs. However students will also need to be revising for the PPEs outside of lessons. - The PPEs at the end of this term will include a 1 hour paper on Christian Beliefs and

teachings & Christian practices and a 1 hour Philosophy and Ethics paper with questions on the Dialogues unit and the Religion Peace and Justice unit.

- If students are looking to purchase a revision guide we recommend: ‘My Revision notes OCR GCSE Religious Studies (9-1)’

Amazon Revision Book

Science Wake up the impact of Tassomai Lots of our students have now purchased Tassomai, but the real impact comes from using it! Tassomai quizzes students on topic areas and help them to learn the right answers through repeated practice. We saw the impact of It on our students last year, but the greatest impact was achieved by those who had sustained regular use and completed around 80% of the course. Tassomai paces the work rate of students with the aim of them achieving around 80% by the exam, so if they get ahead, it asks less and if they get behind it asks more. It will also limit the targets to a maximum value in order to overload students. Students can keep track of their progress by completing a “daily goal” at LEAST 4 times a week. Depending on accuracy, a daily goal takes 10-15 minutes of practice. Please aim to help students get on track by encouraging them to find 10 minutes in their day to achieve their goal. Even if they do not complete the daily goal, they are still making progress and for those that might find it harder, it is worth reminding them of this. Our top performers this week are: Most progress in the last 7 days 1st Ben M – 6% 2nd Jordan J – 5.1% 3rd Esha – 3.6% Most daily goals 1st Tom H – 6!! 1st Will H – 6!! 3rd Louise B – 4 4th Olivia H – 4 Most accurate Void – The person who scored 100% has only answered 1 question! If you are the owner of these children, please pass on our congratulations! Getting ready for revision Help your child get their science revision resources in order… There are three stages to revision that we promote 1 – Identify your weaknesses and what you need to know Use our PLCs that students have been issued or print a fresh one from

Tiny (students will need to use their email log in) 2 – Use a source to revise from and make a revision aid Choose from Bitesize, Seneca, Revision books or Kerboodle online text book

Make a resource using our flash cards or mind maps (which can be purchased from our technicians printed or print your own at Tiny)

3 – Test yourself Go for the confidence building quizzes on Seneca or try real exam questions on our exam bank website – tiny.cc/eb2