Dear parents and carers,
As we begin Term 3, we thought it would be a good time to write to you with key information regarding the overview of Year 11, the key dates and events and share some information about how you can support your child as they navigate the coming months leading to their summer exams.
Key Dates:
Parent/Carer Evening – 25th January 2024
This will be an opportunity to speak to your child’s teachers regarding their progress and attainment in their subjects and discuss ways to prepare for the second set of PPEs (Pre-Public Examinations). A letter explaining how to book your appointments will follow.
Pre-Public Examinations 2: Week beginning 5th February to 26th February
Students will have the opportunity to take exam papers in the hall under exam conditions. Please find the PPE timetable attached to this letter. Subject teachers will be helping to prepare the Year 11s for these exams. Whilst the PPE exams are during these dates, the MFL speaking exams commence from the 29th Jan.
Year 11 Photos – 19th March
Photographers will be coming in this day to take the whole year group photo and some individual pictures as well. Please make sure that students are in outstanding uniform.
GCSE Exams – 9th May
The formal GCSE exams will begin on 9th May. More details will follow nearer the time, but your child should expect to be in school full time until the end of the exam period as there will be no period of study leave.
Prom: Thursday 20th June
The prom is traditionally the last event our young people attend as part of our community and is a lovely celebration of their time with us. More information for the prom will follow in due course.
Exam Results Day: 22nd August 2024
We will send information about your child’s results day closer to their completion of examinations, but this is the set date for results to be collected. If you will be on holiday at this time, it is possible to arrange for someone else to collect them with your permission.
College applications
We have been very impressed with how proactive our Year 11s have been applying to colleges for their next step of education. Our tutor team have been supporting the year group with college applications and interviews have now started. Please ensure that your child has applied for a college place as soon as possible to ensure they get onto the course that they want to be on. If you require help with this, please contact your child’s tutor. Bridgwater and Taunton College and Richard Huish both have upcoming Open Events, these dates can be found on their websites.
Revision Programme – Tutor Time
During Tuesday and Thursday tutor time students have the opportunity to read or revise. Please help your child to ensure they have a book or appropriate revision work with them for these sessions. Phones will not be allowed to be used during these sessions.
Period 6 Revision Support Programme
There are revision sessions on offer in a variety of subjects after school and we are also making a revision space available for independent study to support completion of homework and revision activities. A further letter will be sent home with more information about these sessions.
Supporting your child at home:
Revision
There are various ways you can support your child over the coming months in preparation for their exams. None of them include needing to know or understand the subject content yourself! The main thing is to support them in finding a routine that is consistent and works for them. They should be building habits of independent study throughout the week and should aim for bite-size chunks of revision of about 20-30 minutes at a time.
By starting their revision now, they will be able to review subject content studied in Year 10, for example, which they may be less familiar with, and it is this process of forgetting, reminding, and forgetting that moves knowledge into the long-term memory where it sticks. If they leave their revision to the weeks or couple of months prior to the exams, it becomes very stressful for them to cover all the knowledge required.
Often, teachers will be setting homework which is in fact revision and so by completing these tasks, they are preparing for their exams.
Sleep and technology
Finally, as a parent of a teenager myself, I understand the challenge of trying to ensure they spend less time on their phones or games console etc. but it is important that they start to develop the habits of minimising distractions while they study and use the technology as a reward when they’ve completed their work.
Also, removing technology from bedrooms can also support a good night’s sleep which is crucial for academic performance and focus. You can always blame school for the suggestion!
Attendance
Finally, we cannot stress enough how important it is for your child to attend school every day to support their progress and attainment. The biggest factor in limiting a student’s potential is if they miss learning and fall behind. Occasionally, students may feel a little unwell or anxious about attending school but often ensuring your child has good attendance in school is generally the best thing that they can do to avoid feeling overwhelmed and stressed. However, please do not hesitate get in touch for further advice and support.
Mental Health and Emotional Well-being:
If you need support with issues around mental health and well-being, we can guide and signpost students about where to get support and help. It is important to understand that some pressure and stress is inevitable with exams, but this can be managed with preparation and help from both school and home. If you need further information, please contact school.
Equipment:
Students all need equipment for their lessons every day and especially for exams. As a minimum, students in Year 11 should have a pencil, black pen, ruler, and highlighter and ideally, they would have a maths set – including a protractor, compass, and a mathematical calculator so that they are used to how this equipment can be used and will perform better in the exams as a result.
We hope although this is a long letter, it is also useful to have all the key information together in one place. We will send updates over the coming months to ensure you are fully informed and look forward to working together to ensure your child completes their Year 11 with us successfully.
Yours faithfully
Pete Cammish
