SUPPORTING YOUR CHILD THROUGH GCSES

YEAR 10 INFORMATION EVENING

WHAT IS THE AIM OF

TONIGHT?Summarise the research

into how best to support children in

important examinations

Provide practical suggestions for the

time leading up to the exams

WHAT ARE PARENTS MOST CONCERNED ABOUT?

More than half (52%), would like more help and advice on how to support their children through their revision.

Nearly a quarter (24%) of British parents polled for 5 live said their own mental health had been affected by the pressure of their children's exams.

"I couldn't help academically because he knows much more than me - I was no use to him,"

A quarter also said they had often lost sleep worrying over children's exams.

Two in five parents (42%) said not knowing how to help their children with revision made them feel as if they were "not good enough as parents".

"It's hard as a parent because you're not quite sure how productive the time is, if it's effective revision, whether he's procrastinating and not really revising."

"I can't help her very well academically... you feel the pressure on yourself. The system's changed so much over time - they learn things differently."

SOME THINGS YOU CAN’T CHANGE!

40 YEARS OF EDUCATIONAL RESEARCH TELLS US THAT PARENTS AND PEERS ARE THE 2 MOST IMPORTANT INFLUENCES IN A CHILD’S PERFORMANCE IN SCHOOL

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH

PARENTAL AND FAMILY ATTITUDES ABOUT LEARNING ARE ONE OF THE MOST SIGNIFICANT FACTORS THAT INFLUENCE A CHILD'S ABILITY TO SUCCEED IN SCHOOL. WHEN CHILDREN KNOW THAT THEIR PARENTS EXPECT THEM TO ATTEND SCHOOL CONSISTENTLY, EARN GOOD GRADES AND COMPLETE THEIR HOMEWORK, THEY FREQUENTLY LIVE UP TO THOSE EXPECTATIONS.

SUMMARY OF RESEARCH

"The essential ingredient is to communicate the value of schooling, a message that parents should be sending early in their children's lives and that needs reinforcing over time."

“Researchers found that children from poorer backgrounds were not predisposed to work less hard, but parents' attitudes were most important, making more of a difference than schools themselves.”

Most teens say the best thing parents can do to help is to try not to strike up conversations when they are busy but instead just leave them alone until they're ready to talk, or better yet keep siblings out of the way too... except when it comes to bringing in regular refreshments, cooking their favourite meals or giving them something to look forward to when it's all over.

SO WHAT ARE SOME PARENTS DOING?

NEARLY A THIRD (31%) SAID THEY HAD OFFERED THEIR CHILDREN MONEY AS AN INCENTIVE TO REVISE IN THE HOPE OF BOOSTING THEIR GRADES.

BBC Poll 2017

Exam revision students 'should smell rosemary for memory'

Those exposed to rosemary had on average an improvement of 5% to 7% in results

4th May 2017

Rosemary sales surge during exam season

Holland & Barrett says there has been a 187% increase in sales of rosemary essential oil compared with last year

17th May 2017

SOME PRACTICAL TIPS

SOME PRACTICAL SUGGESTIONS▸ Talk to your child about exams and exam pressure

▸ Help establish a meaningful revision timetable and help your child stick to it

▸ Know your child’s exam timetable

▸ Be organised on exam mornings

▸Occasionally sit with your child while they study and get involved in testing them

▸ Encourage good routines - sleep, relaxation, study

The most accurate predictor of a student's achievement in

school is not income or social status but the extent to which

that student's family is able to:

• Create a home environment that encourages learning

• Express high (but not unrealistic) expectations for

their children's achievement and future careers

• Become involved in their children's education at

school

What Research Has to Say

• Children tend to achieve more, regardless of ethnic or racial background, socioeconomic status, or parents' education level.

• Children generally achieve better grades, test scores, and attendance.

• Children consistently complete their homework.

• Children have better self-esteem, are more self-disciplined, and show higher aspirations and motivation toward school.

• Children's positive attitude about school often results in improved behavior in school.

• Junior high and high school students whose parents remain involved usually make better transitions and are less likely to drop out of school.

What Research Has to SayWhen parents get involved….

ThePsychologyofLearningMissJones

DirectorofPupilProgressforYear10

A NEW KEY STAGE = A NEW PHASE OF SCHOOL LIFE

Workfull-time

Join some of the armed forces

Continue their studies at St Cyres

New Key Stage – Key Stage 4 - external qualifications (mostly GCSEs) that will give your child opportunities and open doors to the rest of their life

AttheendofKeyStage4yourchildwillbeableto…

Beginacollegeapprenticeship Continuetheirstudiesatcollege

Begin a workplace apprenticeship

KS4 – WHAT’S DIFFERENT?

‣ Most of the subjects pupils study are the ones they have chosen

‣ Pupils will now be assessed externally for many subjects

‣ Some pupils will sit their first external GCSE exam in January

‣ All pupils will sit external exams in May and June

WHAT NOBODY WANTS TO HEAR AT THE END OF THIS YEAR OR NEXT…

I wish I had…

• Listened more• Put more effort in• Worked harder• Asked for help

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF LEARNING• Metacognition “thinking about thinking”

• Higher order cognitive processes

• Perception

• Attention• Memory

• Language

• Thinking

Memory as Information Processor:§ similar to a computer § write to file§ save to docs/flash drive§ read from docs/flash drive§ Recall the saved information

IT’S A LOT TO DO WITH MEMORY

THE LEARNING PROCESS:

Encoding

§ the processing of information into the memory system§ i.e. understanding new information/skills § Effortful Processing

§ requires attention and conscious effort

§ Rehearsal

§ conscious repetition of information

§ to maintain it in consciousness

§ to encode it for storage

RETAINING KNOWLEDGE AND SKILLS:Storage§ the retention of encoded

information over time§ short term memory is limited to 7

items (plus or minus 2) but we have the ability to store an infinite amount of information in our long term memory

WHAT’S THE PROBLEM THEN?

Retrieval§ the process of getting

information out of memory;§ we need to find ways to help

us retrieve information easily and quickly when required, for example in an exam.

PSYCHOLOGY TIPS TO IMPROVE LEARNING

• Learning styles • Maximise concentration• Limit Interference• REM sleep• Revise for set periods of time• Plan revision (timetable)Be aware that different subjects require different revision styles

CA/LJ

SLEEP IS STRONGLY LINKED TO MEMORY AND LEARNINGRecent evidence suggests a good night's sleep can improve learning. Researchers found that depriving students of sleep after learning a new skill significantly decreased memory of that skill up to three days later (Winerman, 2006). This shows that sleep serves to process and retain information learned earlier while awake.

EFFECTS OF SLEEP DEPRIVATION?

‣ Teenagers need around 9 hours' sleep and scientists have already warned that society as a whole has become "supremely arrogant" in ignoring the importance of sleep

‣ The first thing is that the brain's ability to process information begins to fall apart pretty quickly with lack of sleep and also our emotional responses, our empathy towards other people also begins to decline and our tendency to do stupid and unreflective things goes up with lack of sleep.

AVOIDING DISTRACTIONS?‣ Your children are the first generation to spend

their entire adolescence with smartphones

‣ A survey of 2,750 11- to 18-year-olds found 1 in 10 admitted checking their mobile phones for notifications at least 10 times a night. The poll was carried out by Digital Awareness UK and the Headmasters' and Headmistresses' Conference.

‣ The organisations warn night-time usage of mobiles means pupils are coming to school tired and unable to concentrate.

RECOMMENDATIONS?

‣ A "digital detox” - putting mobile devices away for 90 minutes before lights-out or keeping them out of the bedroom. No use of screens 90 minutes before bedtime

‣ Turn off notifications, or activate "do not disturb", "aeroplane mode" or mute settings. Reduce blue light exposure, which can disrupt sleep. For example, most Apple devices have the "night shift mode”.

‣ Encourage your child to use a screen time tracker apps, such as RealizD and Moment, that can showcase the amount of time they are spending on a device. Some of these apps allow usage restrictions to be put in place.

‣ Take a break from devices altogether or set times your child will turn their phone off

PRACTICALITIES

‣ Key dates

‣ iPads

‣ Attendance

‣ Punctuality

WelshBaccalaureateTheNewMeasure

Mrs BerryDirectorofFacultyforPSEandKS4

WBQ

GoogleClassroom

The changes aim to ensure that the Welsh Government focuses its schools accountability measures on attainment of qualifications that we know to be most valued by employers, post-16 and higher education providers as well as by learners.

The aim of the new measure is to incentivise schools to support and encourage every learner to achieve the very best grade they can in English, Maths, Science and their chosen range of qualifications, and to develop essential transferable skills through the new Welsh Baccalaureate.

The Welsh Bac measures are significantly more demanding than the current measures and represent a higher aspiration and threshold standard for learners in Wales

The key additional requirement is the development of essential skills that employers and higher education have told us learners need for further learning and for the world of work. The Welsh Bac will develop and assess these skills through a number of Challenge activities.

! Literacy! Numeracy! Digital Literacy! Critical Thinking! Problem Solving! Creativity and Innovation! Planning and Organisation ! Personal Effectiveness

TheSkillsChallengeCertificate

OverviewoftheWelshBacc

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun JulGlobal Citizenship (RE Lessons)

Enterprise and EmployabilityCommunity Challenge

Year10

Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun JulGlobal Citizenship (RE Lessons)

Individual Project

Year11

GradingoftheWelshBacc

Skills Challenge Certificate

Equivalent to 1 GCSE

Graded as:

A*ABC

Overall Welsh Bacc

Equivalent to 1 GCSE

Graded as:

P (Pass)F (Fail)

“TELL ME AND I FORGET, TEACH ME AND I MAY REMEMBER, INVOLVE ME AND I LEARN.”

Benjamin Franklin