Success in Science GCSE

“Equipped with his five senses, man explores the universe around him

and calls it ‘science’”Edwin HubbleSuccess is the ability to go

from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm. Winston Churchill

This is hard. This is fun. Carol Dweck

There isn’t a person anywhere who isn’t capable of doing more than he thinks he can. Henry Ford

HELPING YOUR CHILD SUCCEED IN THEIR GCSE SCIENCE EXAMINATIONSExam BoardAll science examinations at George Green’s School are OCR Gateway. The exam specifications and past exam papers can be downloaded from: http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/by-subject/gateway-science-suite/

Key dates for your calendar: Mock exams for Triple Science, Core and Additional will take place early December 2015.

Final GCSE examinations are in May and June 2016. Controlled assessments must be completed by January 2016.

Tuesday 8th December Subject Exam Start Time Exam Finish TimeBiology Year 11 1hr 15 9am 10.15Chemistry Year 11 1hr 15 9am 10.15Science Year 11 1hr 15 9am 10.15

Thursday 10th December Subject Exam Start Time Exam Finish TimeBiology Year 10 1hr 15 9am 10.15Chemistry Year 10 1hr 15 9am 10.15

GCSE exam breakdown25% controlled assessment ( coursework)35% Unit 1 (Paper 1)40% Unit 2 (Paper 2) including 10 marks for section D (data analysis)

What we are doing in George Green’s Science FacultyQuality first teaching to ensure that your child learns and progresses during every science lesson.Period 7 on Mondays to support students in achieving at least their target grades.1 to 1 coaching. We now have an in house coach working with students to support them in achieving at least their target grades.

What we expect from your child100% attendance at school – if your child is not in school they lose hours of learning. If a lesson is missed your child is responsible for asking for the work to catch up.Exceptional behaviour – this contribute massively to the success of all students.Arrive on time to lessons. To come prepared for learning with the correct equipment100 % effort in lessons and in home learning.

Science exam command wordsMany students do not achieve their potential in science as they misunderstand the command words in the exam.

Calculate Students should use numbers given in the question to work out the answer. As stated on the front of the paper, students should always show their working, as it may be possible for the examiner to award some marks for the method even if the final answer is wrong. Students should always give the units when asked to do so. In the question a mark can be awarded for the correct unit/units, even if the calculation is wrong.

Compare This requires the student to describe the similarities and/or differences between things, not just write about one. If students are asked to ‘compare x with y’, they need to write down something about x compared to y, using comparative words such as ‘better, ‘more than’, ‘less than’, ‘quicker’, ‘more expensive’, ‘on the other hand.’Describe Students may be asked to recall some facts, events or process in an accurate way. For example they may be asked to describe an experiment they have done, or they may need to give an account of what something looked like, or what happened, eg a trend in some data.Use the information in the passage/diagram/graph/table to… The answer must be based on the information given in the question. Unless the information given in the question is used, no marks can be given.

Explain Students should make something clear, or state the reasons for something happening. The answer should not be a simple list of reasons. This means that points in the answer must be linked coherently and logically. Suitable linking words could be ‘so’, ‘therefore’, ‘because’, ‘due to’, ‘since’, ‘this means’ or ‘meaning that’. All of the stages/steps in an explanation must be included to gain full marks.State, give, name, write down Only a short answer is required, not an explanation or a description. Often it can be answered with a single word, phrase or sentence. If the question asks the student to state, give, or write down one (or two etc) examples, they should write down only the specified number of answers, or they may not be given the mark for some correct examples given.

Science Home Learning

Students are given weekly science home learning. This should challenge them and they may need to spend time researching a topic to be able to complete home learning to the expected standard. Home learning should take your child around an hour to complete if it is being done well. Home learning is recorded in the student planner so that you can check it.Year 11:Week 1 Thursday

Week 2 TuesdayThe home learning supports their classroom learning and your help in ensuring the home learning is completed aids your child to succeed in their science learning.

For home study to be effective Students should be revising all year round to best prepare themselves for their GCSE examinations. There are lots of excellent resources to make learning fun. BBC Bitesize is excellent for revising and has lots of interactive activities.• http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/subjects/zrkw2hv• http://www.planet-science.com/categories/parentsteachers/science-resources

/2012/04/online-gcse-revision-resources-.aspx• http://www.s-cool.co.uk/• http://revisionworld.com/gcse-revisionSAM learningRevision guides (all students were given these last year)