5 Ways to support your child
Encourage your child to read over their book work every night. We have a policy that students take their books home every night unless they are collected in for marking, so your child will usually have their book to read over.
Support your child to complete their homework on time and to a high standard.
Encourage your child to access the past paper materials on the school VLE under’ Science’. There is a pdf document for each unit with a huge number of past paper questions. The markschemes are also available on the VLE.
Ensure that they revise for exams/tests in plenty of time. ‘Cramming’ the night before is not encouraged. They should have a revision schedule and stick to it.
Purchase a Key Stage 4 revision guide from Mrs Mansfield or Mrs Litherland in the Science Prep room and encourage your child to use it. These revision guides cost less in school than in the shops and you can be assured they match the course and exam board your child is studying.
Curriculum
Year 9 Overview
Students start their GCSE course in Year 9.
All Year 9 students complete the following units:
Module B1: Understanding Organisms
Module C1: Carbon Chemistry
Module P1: Energy For The Home
Year 10 overview
Year 10 Core Science students study the units:
Module B2: Understanding Our Environment
Module C2: Chemical Resources
Module P2: Living For The Future (Energy Resources)
Students complete a piece of Controlled Assessment worth 25% of their GCSE Grade.
IMPORTANT NOTE: STUDENTS SIT A FULL GCSE EXAM AT THE END OF YEAR 10 ON UNITS B1C1P1 AND B2C2P2. THIS IS JUST AS IMPORTANT AS THE GCSE THEY SIT IN YEAR 11.
Year 10 Triple Science Students complete the following units:
Module B2: Understanding Our Environment
Module B3: Living And Growing
Module B4: It’s A Green World
Module C2: Chemical Resources
Module C3: Chemical Economics
Module C4: The Periodic Table
Module P2: Living For The Future (Energy Resources)
Module P3: Forces For Transport
Module P4: Radiation For Life
They also complete a piece of Controlled Assessment for each area of Science (3 pieces in total) which are worth 25% of the GCSE.
Year 11 overview
Students who are not following the Triple Science route start a new course in Year 11 called Additional Science. They cannot re-sit any of the Year 10 Core Science course.
The units they study are:
Module B3: Living And Growing
Module C3: Chemical Economics
Module P3: Forces For Transport
And
Module B4: It’s A Green World
Module C4: The Periodic Table
Module P4: Radiation For Life
They complete another piece of Controlled Assessment worth 25% of the GCSE.
Triple Science Students:
Students in Triple science complete the course with the final 6 units:
Module B5: The Living Body
Module B6: Beyond The Microscope
Module C5: How Much? (Quantitative Analysis)
Module C6: Chemistry Out There
Module P5: Space For Reflection
Module P6: Electricity For Gadgets
They then prepare for the examination by revising in class. They have 18 units in total that they will be examined on, so revision at home is vital.
Homework overview
Key Stage 3
In Years 7&8, students are provided with homework booklets based on the units they are studying in class. These booklets are also available on line??
The students are expected to complete a page per week in the homework booklet.
Key Stage 4 homework: Students are given past paper essay questions for homework. They are known as ‘6 mark questions’ and are a key part of the examination. Therefore, the homework will give your child practise at these mini-essay questions. It is crucial that your child uses their revision guide whilst completing these essay questions.
You r child may have a separate red homework book where homework is completed.
Assessment Overview
Year 9
Students will sit a ‘mid-unit test’ when they have completed half of a unit in class. They will be given a grade. They then are given an end of unit test once the full unit has been taught. These tests use past paper questions and are graded in accordance with GCSE grade boundaries, so they give a good indication of your child’s performance in the unit.
Students also sit a mock exam at the end of Year 9 on units B1 C1 P1.
Year 10
Students will sit a ‘mid-unit test’ when they have completed half of a unit in class. They will be given a grade. They then are given an end of unit test once the full unit has been taught. These tests use past paper questions and are graded in accordance with GCSE grade boundaries, so they give a good indication of your child’s performance in the unit.
Your child will also sit mock examinations in Year 10 on Units B1 C1 P1 and B2 C2 P2.
Your child then will sit the GCSE examinations in May and June for Core Science GCSE.
If your child is studying the Triple Science course, they will sit mock examination on units B1 B2 B3, C1 C2 C3 and P1 P2 P3.
Year 11
Students will sit a ‘mid-unit test’ when they have completed half of a unit in class. They will be given a grade. They then are given an end of unit test once the full unit has been taught. These tests use past paper questions and are graded in accordance with GCSE grade boundaries, so they give a good indication of your child’s performance in the unit.
Your child will also sit mock examinations on units B3 C3 P3 and B4 C4 P4. They will then be examined on these units in the GCSE window in May and June.
Revision Material for Year 10
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/levels/z98jmp3
http://revisionworld.com/gcse-revision Our students study OCR ‘B’.
Revision Material for Year 11
http://www.bbc.co.uk/education/levels/z98jmp3
http://revisionworld.com/gcse-revision Our students study OCR ‘B’.
Examination Dates 2015
Core Science B Year 10
Modules B1, C1, P1 Foundation 1 h 15 min Wed 20 May pm
Modules B1, C1, P1 Higher 1 h 15 min Wed 20 May pm
Modules B2, C2, P2 Foundation 1 h 30 min Fri 5 June pm
Modules B2, C2, P2 Higher 1 h 30 min Fri 5 June pm
Additional Science B Year 11
Modules B3, C3, P3 Foundation 1 h 15 min Tue 9 June pm
Modules B3, C3, P3 Higher 1 h 15 min Tue 9 June pm
Modules B4, C4, P4 Foundation 1 h 30 min Fri 12 June pm
Modules B4, C4, P4 Higher 1 h 30 min Fri 12 June pm
Triple Science – Year 11
Biology B
Modules B1, B2, B3 Foundation 1 h 15 min Wed 20 May pm
Modules B1, B2, B3 Higher 1 h 15 min Wed 20 May pm
Modules B4, B5, B6 Foundation 1 h 30 min Fri 12 June pm
Modules B4, B5, B6 Higher 1 h 30 min Fri 12 June pm
Chemistry B
Modules C1, C2, C3 Foundation 1 h 15 min Fri 5 June pm
Modules C1, C2, C3 Higher 1 h 15 min Fri 5 June pm
Modules C4, C5, C6 Foundation 1 h 30 min Mon 15 June am
Modules C4, C5, C6 Higher 1 h 30 min Mon 15 June am
Physics B
Modules P1, P2, P3 Foundation 1 h 15 min Tue 9 June pm
Modules P1, P2, P3 Higher 1 h 15 min Tue 9 June pm
Modules P4, P5, P6 Foundation 1 h 30 min Wed 17 June am
Modules P4, P5, P6 Higher 1 h 30 min Wed 17 June am
