October 2019
Dear Students/Parents/Carers
Please find attached the schedule for the Year 11 mock exams, which will take place between Tuesday 19 November and Wednesday 3 December 2019.
The aim of the mock exam period is primarily to help students to plan and refine their approach to the real summer exams. All students will have a mock preparation lesson this week in which they will begin to create their own revision schedule for use at home. The mock exams provide an ideal opportunity to go through this revision planning process and to evaluate it, so they can more effectively study at home between January and the start of their real GCSEs.
Of course, the mock exams also provide valuable feedback to students and teachers about what material still needs to be learnt and provides the opportunity to experience and get comfortable with a condensed period of high pressure exams in large venues.
The mock exam schedule aims to provide a balance between providing time for independent revision and retaining as much normal lesson time as possible. To achieve this, we have planned 4 days of study leave within the mock exam period.
The 4 days of study leave are the Tuesday and Wednesday of each of the first two weeks, shown on the attached schedule in yellow. On these days, students will only need to come into school for their exams and for the morning revision session at 830am, though students can revise in the Learning Resource Centre when they are not in exams if they wish. Students should arrive at 130pm for their afternoon exams.
The morning revision session will take place in the Main Hall, and the aim is to provide a short burst of last minute revision in a familiar space with friends and subject teachers around. This worked well last year in helping students to begin the morning exam in a relaxed and focused way.
The exams that take place during the 4 days of study leave are English, Maths, Science, and the Languages. These exams will take place in the large exam venues, such as the Sports Hall and Lecture Hall, and students must wear full school uniform for the exams. Students will receive a personalised exam timetable for these subjects by Monday after half term, giving details of venues and precise timings for each of these examinations.
All other exams will take place in normal lesson time, as shown on the schedule in blue. Students will know which subject they take in each of these slots and will go to their normal classroom to sit their exams, unless otherwise directed by their teacher. Textiles, Fine Art and Photography students will have a full day exam, as shown in the schedule from Monday 2 December.
Students have already received an assembly with details of the mock period and information about effective strategies for revision, and they will spend more time looking at these in their mock preparation lesson this week.
Sixth Form Colleges will be interested in the results of mock exams as part of their application process, and we will report the results home at the start of January to assist those discussions.
We expect all students to revise thoroughly and to do their very best, and we wish them every success.
Please see the schedule below.
Yours sincerely
Mr P Pease
Deputy Headteacher
Study Leave on 19th, 20th, 26th and 27th November
| Period 1 | Period 2 | Period 3 | Period 4 | Period 5 / after school | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Monday 18 November (Week A) | ||||||
| Tuesday 19 November | 8.30am Revision Session | 9.15am Maths (Calc)1 hr 30 mins | 1.45pm Science 1 hr 45 mins or 1hr 15 mins | |||
| Wednesday 20 November | 8.30am Revision Session | 9.15am English Language P1 1hr 45 mins | 1.45pm German (Listening and writing) 2hrs 15 mins or 1hr 45mins | |||
| Thursday 21 November | D |
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| Friday 22 November | C | |||||
| Monday 25 November (Week B) | B | |||||
| Tuesday 26 November | 8.30am Revision Session | 9.15am English Language P21hr 45 mins | 1.45pm French (Listening and writing) 2hrs 15 mins or 1hr 45mins | |||
| Wednesday 27 November | 8.30am Revision Session | 9.15am Maths (Non - Calc) 1 hr 30 mins | 1.45pm Spanish (Listening and writing) 2hrs 15 mins or 1hr 45mins | |||
| Thursday 28 November | A | |||||
| Friday 29 November | ||||||
| Monday 2 December (Week A) | Textiles Full Day | |||||
| Tuesday 3 December | Photography Full Day | |||||
| Wednesday 4 December | Fine Art Full Day | |||||