Leadership Message
We’d like to start the newsletter by thanking everyone in the Noadswood community for their support this term. We’ve had so many brilliant things happening within school that we have showcased each week in our weekly newsletters, and we’ve been so pleased with how well our students have engaged with an incredible range of opportunities and experiences. Not to mention the hard work, the effort and the resilience so many have shown. You'll see, again, throughout this newsletter how brilliant school is when so many people show up as their very best selves every day. We applaud everyone and thank you, wholeheartedly, for your support, challenge, care and interest in all we do.
In this vein, as we write, we are super excited to see lots of you at our Festive Concert on Wednesday 13th December in the school hall – doors open at 5:00pm. We have 56 or so young people involved in this concert and they want to see you there, their friends, families and Noadswood community members, whoever you are! We’d also like to thank our Art department for a super year 11 trip to the Tate Modern this week – the students did us proud, too, no matter the slow London traffic tried to do to squash the mood.
We would like to remind all families that on Friday we will have an early closure of 12.30 pm, throughout the day your children will be involved in lessons, assemblies, and tutor group parties. If your child has a specific SEND need and may feel overwhelmed by the changes to their day, M17 and other safe spaces will still be available to all students in the normal way.
Please also remember that we are a redbox school and so if your family requires any period products for the holidays, they can collect these in the normal way from the medical and ELSA rooms as well as M17 and the year leader offices.
Thank you for all of your support of our lovely library this term. If you would ordinarily make a donation to charity rather than writing Christmas cards please do consider donating to our lovely library. We have a wish list with Darling Reads an independent book store, you can buy a voucher or a specific book:
The list was created based on requests from our students and our lovely library team. If there’s one you’d like to add on please do get in touch. Don’t forget to pop into the library to take out a book or dvd this holiday. If you are stuck on choice, ask our fab Learning Resource Manager, Mrs Eldridge or one of our super library leaders.
We’d like to remind you of a message from last week's newsletter- we know that the festive period can bring a range of stresses, pressures and worries and so it’s important that all of our community, adults and students alike, know where they can turn to for help and support.
The following websites are offer a variety of support and signposting:
If you have any concerns or worries regarding your child, please do reach out to your child's year leader. We hope that whatever your plans this holiday, that you have a restful and enjoyable break with your families. If you need us over the break, please mark an email urgent and send it to info@noadswood.hants.sch.uk We’ll be monitoring this email address throughout the break but please note other colleagues will be on annual leave. They will respond to any questions raised upon their return on Wednesday 3rd January when school will re-open for the Spring term.
We wish you all a happy, safe and loving festive season – we will be thinking of everyone.
Best wishes, and now over to the rest of the school.
Kathryn Marshall and the Noadswood Leadership Team
Pastoral News – Year 7
What an incredible first term we have had – I can’t believe how quickly this term seems to have flown by! It seems crazy to me that we are a third of the way through this year already. I have had the pleasure of popping into lots of lessons, giving out good news notes and Golden Tickets for our superstar learners. It’s so lovely to hear regularly as a Year Leader that staff are struggling to choose just one student to reward and can they have extra! It just shows how brilliantly our students are doing daily, that staff need extra rewards for those going above and beyond in their learning. Noadswood staff have been so complimentary about how well they are doing, embracing all the new skills and challenges over the course of this term.
The Year 7 choir have been working hard with Miss Marshall to prepare for our annual Christmas concert. I can’t wait to see the Year 7’s showcase their hidden talents next week.
We have continued to develop our sporting prowess with matches home and away experiencing both wins and losses. If you are interested in getting involved, please do ask your tutor about which days the clubs are on!
A huge thanks to Miss Fitzgerald who organised the Christmas Market trip to Lille which many Year 7’s attended. They were brilliantly behaved and represented our school perfectly.
We celebrated the end of a brilliant first term with a festive lunch, where all Year 7 pupils had lunch together with music, laughs and great food. It was so lovely to see them enjoying themselves and having some festive fun. We also had a raffle where one person from each tutor group won a festive mug!
Miss Ebblewhite, Mr Payne and Mrs French
Pastoral News – Year 8
A busy half term, visiting lots of Year 8 lessons and hearing more nominations from teachers for outstanding effort with many more Gold Stars awarded. The Tutor Group Quiz each Friday has been going strong with Miss Skinner’s tutor group currently in the lead, but who will win the final ‘Christmas themed’ round, taking place this week?
Last Monday it was a pleasure to bring the year group together for the first ever Noadswood Festive Lunch. Many students and staff enjoyed the festive dinner cooked by our brilliant catering team from Caterlink, with decorations made by Art Club and singing along to some classic festive tunes. I may have made an appearance as a Christmas Fairy with wings and pink tutu, but we didn’t test out my flying skills. Then we had the festive raffle with someone from each tutor group winning a prize. I hope those mugs hold good hot chocolate in these dark winter evenings!
Last Wednesday many members of the year group and their families joined us for the postponed Celebration Evening. This event celebrated their achievements in Year 7, with each subject nominating a student for outstanding effort, outstanding progress and outstanding achievement. Well done to everyone on your awards, but especially Isaac on the Year Leader award and Bobby, Ryley, Beau and Alex on their Headteacher awards.
Plans for Activity Week July 2024 are developing, and we have secured a Year 8 visit to Paultons Park and a day at Calshot Activity Centre, along with First Aid skills and a Sports and Arts Day. Further information to follow in the new year. Wishing all of Year 8 and their families a lovely Christmas and best wishes for the New Year.
Miss Rawlinson and Mrs Wyse
Pastoral News – Year 9
It has been a really positive term for Year 9 and it has been an absolute pleasure walking the school and dropping into so many lessons, all of which have been focused, calm, and purposeful. So many teachers have complimented me on the year group’s conduct and citing what a pleasure they are to teach.
It was my honour to speak at my first celebration evening as Year Leader, recognising pupils from all areas on their progress and effort. A true delight! I look forward to recognising more of the year group at our end of term assembly.
The festive lunch saw over 200 of the year group sit down together to eat a meal, sing along to festive tunes and win a few prizes. Although a little raucous at times, to see so many smile faces will stay in my memory for a long time (even if a few pretended to be too cool for such things).
We have seen sporting success in and out of school, including the winning of medals and progression to next rounds. The new batch of Junior Prefects are fully embracing their new role including giving tours of the school and soon to be supporting our young pupils with their reading.
A personal highlight for me is the quiet determination so many have shown to come in daily and just get on, often overcoming difficult personal challenges. This has contributed to a growing positive culture.
I’d like to take this opportunity to thank you for your support in supporting the year group. I look forward to another positive term next year.
Mr Wilkinson and Mrs Wyse
Pastoral News – Year 10
Year 10 have continued working on their new GCSE courses and it has been great to see the progress that they have been making.
This half term we introduced Work Experience to the year group via assemblies and parent information evenings. Work Experience is a great opportunity for students to gain an insight into what it might be like when they join the workforce. Students have been very proactive already at sourcing suitable placements and getting things organised.
I was lucky enough to be treated to an early Christmas lunch back in November when I was invited to join the Year 10 Food Tech classes as they prepared and cooked Christmas dinner for a large group. Not only did this give them a great experience of catering for large numbers, but they also developed their teamwork, communication and organisational skills. I thoroughly enjoyed my lunch, especially my chocolate brownie and ice cream.
The whole year group also got to join in the festivities last week when we all came together in the hall, with some enjoying a lovely festive lunch prepared by our catering team. The raffle was a hit with one student from each tutor group winning a chocolatey treat and 3 members of the year group taking home a festive mug. It was lovely to see everyone socialising together and enjoying the atmosphere.
Last week also saw a number of students attending the delayed Celebration Evening. This was a privilege to be at with so many of the year group being recognised for their effort, progress and achievements last year; they all thoroughly deserve the recognition and reward. Special congratulations go to Leona Pack for receiving the Year Leader Award for last year and to Arla Ferguson and Mia Smith on their Headteacher Awards. Well done to everyone who was nominated.
The Year 10 team wish all of our Noadswood families a wonderful break and look forward to welcoming you back in 2024.
Mrs Way and Miss Fitzgerald
Pastoral News – Year 11
It has been another busy and action-packed half-term for Year 11. The focus when we returned from the half-term break was well and truly on the mock GCSE exams.
For three weeks the pupils conducted themselves really well and the feedback from Mrs Cacchi was all very positive – the only thing that might be needed is to ask Father Christmas for a new fully stocked pencil case as lots of stationary had to be loaned out in order for some pupils to sit their exams. The results from most of these exams have been shared with the pupils and there have been lots of highs and a few lows. A number of pupils achieved Grade 9’s in a number of subjects which is really pleasing and there were the disappointed few who did not get what they wanted. The focus now is on what is needed for the next round of mocks in February 2024 and making the most of the after school revision sessions when we return in the New Year.
In addition to the mock exams lots of subjects have been working hard in lessons to complete their respective NEA’s (or coursework!) which all count towards the final GCSE grades next year. Design Technology, Food and Nutrition and GCSE PE are all subject with fast approaching deadlines so if pupils have any queries about what is expected, they need to go straight to their class teacher.
Outside of the classroom there has been lots going on too. The PE fixtures calendar has again been busy with Year 11 pupils involved in lots of things. The football team played their final ever Noadswood fixture away to Bay House in Gosport and were unlucky to lose the game 4-2. The season was capped off on the journey home with a quick stop into McDonalds where the players all began to reminisce about the past five years of Noadswood football teams.
The U16 basketball team have played lots of games, winning their first of the season to get them off to a great start and have since played some extremely good basketball against some tough opponents – at the time of writing they sit in the middle of the table with 2 wins and 2 losses.
There was also the annual district Cross-Country event at Gang Warily - special mentioned to Jake Willard who put in a great performance and finished in 3rd place.
The Prefects have all been involved in fundraising this half-term and the recent auction was a massive success that raised nearly £1000, so huge congratulations to all the pupils who supported this brilliant event.
There have been two trips for Year 11 this half-term - GCSE PE to Wembley to watch England v Malta and the Art Trip to the Tate Modern and Frameless exhibition. The football game despite some bad traffic was big success and England won the game comfortably. The pupils had a great time and for many it was their first visit to our National Stadium. The Art department always run fantastic trips and once again this was the case. The cultural experience it gives pupils is phenomenal and the opportunity to go and see such unique and thought-provoking pieces of work is a great life-experience for them. Thanks go to Mrs Brown for organising this.
The final two weeks of term didn’t slow down and on 6th December Awards Evening took place. Being able to acknowledge so many different pupils from so many different subjects is so pleasing and goes to show that all that hard work does pay off! We hope you all enjoyed your prizes along with the recognition on the night.
The Festive lunch has to be one of the highlights of the term. Lots of pupils really making the most of the opportunity to sit down and enjoy their roast dinners along with lots of festive tunes along with a few early Christmas gifts. It was unbelievable how much passion and enthusiasm were shown for the games of “pass-the-parcel” and the pride on peoples faces when they unwrapped a Terry’s Chocolate Orange was great to see. The prize draw for the festive mugs was also a hit, so hopefully they are all being put to good use too!
Overall, a fantastic half-term for Year 11 who now can all enjoy a well-deserved Christmas break. When we return in January there will be less than six months left at Noadswood so be ready to hit the ground running!
Mr Marsh and Miss Fitzgerald
Attendance Matters!
As we draw the Autumn term to a close, I wanted to draw your attention to your child/children’s attendance.
You may have seen in the national press various articles and headlines relating to declining levels of school attendance and the impact this is having on attainment, progress and outcomes.
We’ve certainly faced our own challenges with attendance and we’re working on various strategies and projects to support those students who are struggling to come into school on a regular basis. We’ve been holding individual meetings to identify the barriers to school attendance and have been visiting students at home when things have got really tough.
We’d love for you to take a look at your child’s attendance – you can do so via classcharts. What’s their attendance figure?
Of course, we know that there are a whole host of genuine reasons why a student might be absent from school and so we want you to look carefully at your own circumstances.
An attendance figure of below 95% means that you are persistently absent from school and - quite obviously perhaps - if you’re not in school, you’re missing out! You’re missing out on key input from your teachers, the support that you might be receiving from our pastoral team and that all important social interaction with your friends, peers and staff.
Emerging research is showing that one of the biggest influencing factors on school attendance is the sense of belonging they feel at school. We want to make sure that you/your child feels safe, valued and welcomed when they arrive to school and throughout the day. We also want to make sure that we know, as early as possible, if they’re struggling in any way whatsoever.
We’ll be talking to all staff and students regarding attendance in the new year and challenging each student to see how they can either continue with or improve their attendance figure.
If you’ve got any particular worries or concerns, please do get in contact with us, either via your child’s tutor/Year Leader or directly to me.
Mrs Loveday
Leavers 2023
In early November the hall was packed for an evening as over ¾ of the Class of 2023 and their guests returned to Noadswood to celebrate their GCSE results from the summer. Each student was presented on stage with their GCSE certificates; it was brilliant to see everyone back together and hear how exciting the last few months starting college and apprenticeships had been. Following this, each subject presented awards for outstanding achievement, outstanding progress and outstanding effort, congratulations to each and every one of you. A special congratulations to the House award winners James, Ronaldo, Amy and Jasmine, to Breanna for the Year Leader award and to Connor for the Headteacher award. Since then, many of the class of 2023 have already stayed in touch, sharing their experiences of the next stage and the exciting things they are up to.
Miss Rawlinson
Student Voice
The Student Voice team along with Senior Prefects worked very hard over the last few weeks to put together the Christmas Auction. We had donations from some local companies as well as bigger companies that families love to visit. Friends and family of Noadswood also donated some lovely gifts for us to sell on the tabletop sale. The bidding for some items was intense with lots of gasps in the room. In total on the evening, we raised a staggering £930.00 to go towards the funds for a new bike shed. A massive thank you to all that donated and attended the evening, see you all next year!
Noadswood Parent Staff Association
Please can we request….
If you could send into school any used Christmas cards. They can be given to Mrs Blowers or dropped in a box that will be in T21. Many thanks.
Also, the PSA would really appreciate any donations of gifts towards future raffles – if you receive any duplicate presents or would like to ‘regift,’ donations of gifts can either be handed into reception or given to Mrs Blowers, Mrs Rollett, Miss Ebblewhite, Mrs Woods or Mrs Western.
As ever, THANK YOU so much for your continued support. It is never easy to fund raise when you are a school, and this is especially difficult in the secondary sector of the education system. We do appreciate all your support throughout the year, whether it has been buying a disco or raffle ticket or entering the Noadswood School Lottery (drawn weekly), we could not do it without you!
We would like to congratulate Year 11 for taking their mock exams so seriously and working so hard. We have been really impressed with how they conducted themselves; well done to all.
We run revision sessions on a Tuesday after school; we cover both Language and Literature. If you would like to arrange a 1:1 session with your teacher to discuss your results, please do get in touch.
Year 10 have been studying Power and Conflict poetry this half term. Students have been annotating their anthologies beautifully. We are really impressed with how they have engaged with the poems!
We have had a very busy term, with our wonderful choir taking part in two festive concerts already - we sang at the Hythe Dementia Huddle's Christmas Party, as well as at Little Haven Residential home this last week. They were a credit to the school, speaking with lots of the audience after performing and singing their hearts out.
We have our much anticipated Christmas Concert this week, with a huge number of pupils taking part through music - some singers, instrumentalists, dancers and of course some rock bands! There is not an admission charge, so please come along and support us on Wednesday 13th at 5:30 in the school hall.
We feel very lucky to have a brand new set of iMac's for our music department. We are a term into using them now and the amount of amazing music tech we can use is astounding. We will continue to develop our skills in lessons, and in Tech Club (Tuesday after school) ... maybe we will have a few budding music producers in our midst!
Our Year 7s have almost finished their next projects. Mr Watkins' classes have been learning about Instruments of the Orchestra, with pupils making some really creative music for their different animals. Mrs Rees' classes have been busy making their own versions of Twinkle Twinkle - I don't think I've ever heard so many drum n bass beats being added to the well-known nursery rhyme!
Year 8 have had a blast African Drumming this term, learning how polyrhythms are made and how to incorporate them into a different genre song. We have also looked at Electronic Dance Music, using the iMacs to recreate a version of the Black Eyed Peas' I Gotta Feeling.
Year 9 have had a really tough job this term - group performance. It's always nerve wracking standing in front of peers and performing a song, but they have done us proud. We have had some excellent versions of Lewis Capaldi's Somebody You Loved, some fantastic renditions of Old Town Road and a beautiful performance of Halo by Beyonce, including a tricky piano line.
Our other year 9 classes have enjoyed a new addition topic - Film Music. We've got a great clip of Ready Player One and pupils have been creating the music to go alongside the clip. It's been great seeing our iMac's being used with our music software Logic Pro to create such impressive soundscapes.
Year 10 are due to start their assessments after the Christmas Holidays, and we wish them all the best of luck. They have also volunteered to be part of the Tech Team for the concert on Wednesday 13th, giving them some real-life experience into how the music industry works.
In the new year we will be auditioning for our school show Matilda the Musical Jr., and we look forward to getting started with that.
Wishing everyone a lovely break.
Mrs Rees and Mr Watkins
Year 7s this week have begun their Christmas practical's, with 7A having an hour-long Harry Potter-style Potions lesson.
It has been great to see students handing in their book reviews for our Science Book of the Term: ‘The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind’. All book reviews will be awarded 3 golden tickets and there will be a prize for the best entry.
RSHE
Noadswood made a huge leap forward in its student commitment to and involvement in inclusion this half-term. Following RSHE lessons on the nine protected characteristics, Mrs Loveday led an assembly focussing on the protected characteristics of the 2010 Equality Act and what we can do to include and celebrate people from different groups. Then students were invited to join a new ‘Inclusion Group’ of Noadswood students, who will meet regularly, with Mrs Sullivan, to look at how we will become more inclusive throughout the school. Noadswood has joined the ‘EARA’ group of Hampshire Schools, and our inclusion reps will play an important role in our work within this.
‘EARA’ stands for, ‘Equality And Rights Advocates’, and they have as their mission statement, “Challenge the way both students and teachers think and view our world and our fellow inhabitants and aspire to reduce the discrimination that students of different groups face at school, whether it be down to their race, sexuality, appearance or lifestyle.”
Six of our students recently attended an ‘EARA’ meeting at Horndean College, meeting students from other schools, to hear their initiatives and successes in getting their schools and students more involved. During the meeting, youngsters also explored human rights and heard a keynote speech from Dennis Smith, on what it was like growing up as part of the Windrush Generation.
After the meeting, our students discussed what the EARA groups at Bitterne Park School, Alworth School and Horndean College had done this year, and decided on a plan for feeding back to our new group. In the new year we look forward to more meetings with the whole team of student inclusion reps, to develop our plans and vision!
On a different note, amongst other topics in RSHE and alongside GCSE Citizenship, we have focussed on what it means to be a positive, proactive citizen. Mrs Blowers led the way, with her GCSE Citizenship group taking part in the UK Parliament Week activities. During their RSHE lessons, or during tutor time for year 11 Noadswood students then took part in voting in the UK Youth Parliament Elections. In this time, students discussed the value of voting, why it is important to use your voice in choosing who represents you, why it is essential that all people ARE represented and valued, and what characteristics and qualities make a person a positive role-model and good spokesperson for others. We looked at how our school through its initiatives already does so much, to make a positive difference to each other in the school and across the community. In these elections, it was particularly inspiring to see two former Noadswoodians actually standing to be Hampshire West Youth MPs- Briannah Butler and Ella Maher, from last year’s year 11. Hats off to them!
Students examined the manifestos of all candidates and then voted for them electronically. We are delighted to confirm that both of our alumni achieved success- Briannah was appointed Deputy Member of Youth Parliament, and Ella has been offered a seat on the Hampshire Youth Council. Young people across Hampshire voted in Sarp to be UKYMP.
The next stage is for Noadswood to take part again in the ‘Make Your Mark’ Campaign in the new year, during which time our students will vote for the issues that they identify the UK Youth Parliament should campaign for, and about which they should lobby Parliament, on their behalf.
RS/ETHICS
As many of our Noadswood families are preparing to celebrate Christmas, we think of everyone no matter how you are spending your break from school. Whether that be staying at home or visiting family.
We hope that you end 2023 well and look forward to a positive 2024.
It has been a busy time in MFL lessons, with students learning about Christmas customs in the country of the language they have been studying, as well as customs from around the world.
Regarding our Noadswood MFL teachers, our very own Mrs Goodacre delivered MFL teacher training to colleagues across the country in an online session on lesson starters – what a star! One teacher commented, ‘So many great and engaging ideas! Thank you!’
And indeed we here at Noadswood are grateful to the wonderfully positive contributions both Mrs Goodacre and Mr D’Arcy have made to our MFL teaching team since joining us in September.
Merci beaucoup! Vielen Dank! ¡Muchas gracias!
GCSE Citizenship
Active Citizenship. What does this mean? How can we be active citizens? These are questions that we address frequently in Citizenship.
At this time of year, we spend a lot of time thinking of others, so being active citizens is important at Christmas time.
The GCSE Citizenship students have compiled an ‘Activity Booklet’ for circulation. Full of Christmas trivia, puzzles, recipes and local things to do over Christmas. Please find the link below:
If you have time over the next few weeks, please think about being an ‘Active Citizen’. Can you take time to check on a neighbour or to help someone achieve something they might be struggling with? Think about others. Be kind, caring and helpful. Be the best citizen you can be 😊
Friday 17th November saw 48 pupils and 4 staff go to Wembley to watch England v Malta in a Euro 2024 qualifying game.
Despite some horrendously bad traffic on the journey there, the pupils were in good spirits on the coach and did a fantastic job of getting from the coach park to the stadium in record breaking time.
Pupils were issued their ticket as they arrived at the stadium, scanned themselves in and made their way to their seats for an up-close view of the game, with our tickets ranging from rows 3-8!
An early own goal got the crowd cheering and before we knew it, it was half-time. Some second half substitutions increased the action on show and a second goal from Harry Kane brought a big sigh of relief as England saw the game out for a 2-0 win and confirmed their place at the top of the qualifying group.
Year 9’s and the National Archives
Over the course of this term, Year 9 students have been studying the First World War. This has led to an amazing opportunity where students were able to participate in a cutting-edge workshop organised by the National Archives at Kew, London. Students were given the perfect opportunity to further enhance their knowledge on life in the trenches – a gruesome icon of The Great War.
On the day, the students were confronted with a soldier from the First World War; his face was wearied by the conditions and cold. The pupils were given the chance to think of some questions they wanted to ask about the experience that soldiers faced on the Western Front. To further build their historical empathy and move away from the cold, hard statistics, the group was encouraged to think about the personal effect that the conflict had on the soldiers’ lives and the toll that trench warfare took. It also meant they were able to deepen their understanding of the conflict in its entirety, and look at it from an individual’s perspective, not just as a global event.
The conversation on the experiences of the soldier steered towards mental health, with many students questioning the psychological price that these soldiers would have paid and we were able to view the mental effect of the war through the eyes of the everyday British soldier.
The Year 9 group thoroughly enjoyed this experience and were left asking further questions relating to the soldier’s experiences whilst thinking deeply about the personal toll of the war.
Wednesday 15th November is the global GIS day and we celebrated it in Geography by looking at what GIS is and some of the different careers involving GIS. As part of this day, students looked at crime data in their Geography lessons and used Digimaps to map crime in Southampton. Students then had to think strategically, looking at how the emergency services use this data to deploy police officers and vehicles.
Some of our Year 9 students went along to the Ordnance Survey in Southampton for a GIS (Geographical information Systems) workshop. During the afternoon the students were given the opportunity to see how various data is presented on digital maps and how this is used in a variety of ways from deciding the location of housing developments to providing information for emergency planning. The students were also given the chance to use the ‘gridpoint gb’ app to explore the grounds and collect data. They were then shown how this data could be presented in Excel and imported into Digi maps, which is the digital version of OS maps. The students also played a game of Pictionary to refresh their knowledge of OS map symbols.
I would like to thank all students for their excellent behaviour and engaging in all the activities. They were particularly great at answering plenty of questions and earning themselves an OS pen.
Year 7 have had a busy half term developing their map skills; they have shown real grit and determination with this. We have also been really impressed with the time and effort that they have put into their first creative homework task this term. Students were set the task of covering their book using a geographical theme. Below are some excellent examples of what students produced.
Year 9 finished off their climate crisis unit this half term by carrying out some fieldwork in the school grounds. They had to investigate the environmental sustainability of Noadswood School and come up with a plan to improve the school’s impact on Climate Change. They produced some lovely maps using GIS to overlay their ideas.
Year 9s have now moved on to the Wild Weather unit and this week produced some great models to show atmospheric circulation. Well done Year 9, keep up the great work!
Year 10 continue to impress us with their committed approach to their GCSE. They have recently sat their first end of unit exam. Many students scored highly on this paper, and all students were reflective during our feedback session. They have used model answers effectively to identify what makes a level 3 response and they were able to reflect on their original answers and use their purple pens to make improvements.
Just as a reminder we follow the AQA exam board and would recommend the following revision materials. We would also recommend students get an A4 ring binder to bring into school so we can start to build up a portfolio of revision materials and exam practice questions.
We would like to congratulate all our Year 11s on how they conducted themselves during the mock exams. We have been really impressed with their mature approach and how committed they have been to revision. Many students have achieved well on these papers. The important part now is to engage in our reflection sessions and take on board the feedback provided. If you would like 1:1 feedback on your mock papers, please speak to your teacher to organise a suitable time.
A big well done to so many students across the two computer science classes. It has been really pleasing to see how much work was done by so many of the students and lovely to send out certificates like the one below:
A lot of work is still to come, but the Year 11 students have set themselves up well for their real GCSE exams in 2024. Well done for all those who put in a huge amount of work and for those who slightly missed their target, there are lots of support and revision sessions between now and the real exams.