Modern Foreign Languages

Choosing the right subjects for GCSE House Life

CARS

Your son/daughter will make initial GCSE choices in February so that next year’s timetable can be blocked From the Summer Term in Lower 6th, 6th Formers may be allowed to bring their cars to school if they and staffing planned. They will confirm their choices at have been granted permission by the Senior Deputy Headmaster. Permission forms are available from the end of this term. There is the opportunity to add the VLE. any supporting comments on both initial and final option-choice forms if you feel particularly strongly You may not travel in a car driven by another pupil unless we receive written (or email) permission from about the choices that have been made. Once the final your parents and the parents of the driver. options form is submitted, the allocation of options will be made based on the information supplied on Your parents have to give permission for you to travel with the parents/friend of another pupil. Organise the form. this in good time. Once choices have been made, the College reserves COMPUTERS/EMAIL the right to withdraw any courses for which there is insufficient demand. The four house computers are for academic work only.

We try to accommodate all subject choices within the prescribed framework. However, subjects are Please do not fiddle with any of the computer settings – if there is a problem please report it to a sometimes oversubscribed and availability of staffing member of staff. prevents additional classes. If this is the case, we will contact you to discuss alternatives. Save your work on to the school network - you will then be able to pick it up on any computer in school - or at home!

On the following pages, you will find more information about each subject, as well as some useful advice from You may bring your own device to school but it is your responsibility to look after it. the Head of Careers and Higher Education, Sharon Ink and paper are expensive - please do not waste them by printing out unnecessary stuff!

Allmark. These will help you when weighing up the various factors involved in making the most Access to your email address and the College network: appropriate choices.

Stephen Badger

Deputy Head (Teaching & Learning)

Your username for the school network will be your surname followed by your first initial. e.g. Joe Smith = smithj.

First and second initials are used in cases where the username is already in use by another pupil or staff member. e.g James Smith = smithja

Houseparents will be given a list of usernames and passwords for their pupils for the start of the academic year by the IT Office.

GCSE Reforms House Life

• All GCSE subjects are now graded and assessed using the new 9-1 structure; • 9 is the highest grade, awarded to the very best candidates in the subject. The official definition of a grade-9 candidate is that they will be ‘in the top 20% of those achieving grades 7-9 in the subject’; • In every subject, the content is more demanding and the assessment more rigorous than previously; • The assessment will be mainly by exam. In some subjects such as Drama and Art, other types of assessment will be used only where they are needed to test essential skills. For further information about assessment, please speak to the relevant Head of Department. Tiering of exams The new GCSEs are only split into foundation tier and higher tier if one single exam paper does not give all students the opportunity to show their knowledge and abilities. Consequently, exams are tiered in Biology, Chemistry, French, German, Maths, Physics and Spanish. New grading structure

When you first arrive at the College, in order to access the system you need to log onto a school computer. There are computers in your House, the library and the ICT rooms for you to use. 1. Log in using your username and the password given to you by your Houseparent. 2. You will now need to set your own password (Please note the criteria below for setting your password). You will be asked to enter the ‘old’ password (the one given to you by your Houseparent) in the top box. Then enter a password of your choice in the ‘new’ password box and again in the ‘confirm’ box. 3. Passwords must not contain any part of your username. They must be at least six characters long and there must be at least one CAPITAL letter and at least one number. 4. If you forget your password you can contact the IT Office for help. 5. The College has a BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) facility. Please refer to the College VLE for instructions on how to connect your device. 6. Current grading structure You will also be issued with a Printer/Copier PIN by the IT Office via your Houseparent. You will need this for printers and all copiers that have a touch pad attached.

9 is awarded to those pupils achieving what would currently be a top A*: perhaps at around 96%+ Schools are no longer assessed on A*-C statistics, but on ‘9-4’ statistics.

DAY PUPILS Under the updated structure, the ‘good pass’ for Maths and English is a 5, which is on the border between a C and a B under the old system.

9 A* 8 7 A 6 5 4 C 3 D 2 E F 1 G U U

DO NOT GIVE ANYONE ELSE YOUR PASSWORD There are a few things which are relevant just to day pupils: GOOD PASS (DfE) B 1. You should not be in boarders’ rooms unless you are staying overnight or you have specific permission. 5 and above = top of C and above 2. Don’t forget to sign out in person before you go home each day. AWARDING 3. We like our day pupils to stay on after school to socialise, take part in house activities and prep as often as possible. 4 and above = bottom of C and above 4. If you are going home with someone other than your parents you need to let us know. 5. There are evening events which you will be expected to attend—check the calendar regularly so that you know when these are.