notices

Our week of Year 10 mock examinations will begin on Monday 25th April, straight after the Easter holidays. This week of assessments will provide our Year 10s with their first authentic experience of revising for and completing exam papers. Mocks also provide teachers with greater understanding of where individual students are in their journey towards achieving their potential, helping them to identify gaps in both knowledge and skills. It is important that students approach them seriously and feel prepared to demonstrate their best work. Please therefore find links to some important information to help you support your child.

• • Revision guidance: this letter was sent home in March and explains the importance of these exams as well as guidance for helping your child prepare
  • The Year 10 mock week timetable (please note that students have been issued a more detailed version via the Year 10 Google Classroom and will receive individual timetables, seat numbers and rooms during the week commencing 28th March)

• GCSEPod – Online Revision Platform
• Effective Learning Strategies
• Wellbeing – How to Manage Stress

There will be some changes to lesson times, breaks and lunches for Year 10 students during this week. 

• The day will be divided into 3 exam sessions (9-10.45am, 11.15-1pm, and 1.40-3pm)

• Half of the students will sit their core exams (English, maths or science) in Session 1 and the other half in Session 2, depending on their class

• All students with access arrangements will sit their morning exams in the Session 1 slot to allow them to use their extra time

• Break will begin earlier at 10.45am, allowing students with an exam in the second session to have break and line up at 11.05am

• Lunch will run early and be extended, from 1pm to 2pm, so that students with exams in options subjects can line up ready for them trom 1.40pm

• Students with clashes in the afternoon exams will sit 3 exams on these days, one in each session (we will ensure that breaks are given between exams)

• Students will be in their usual timetabled lessons when not in exams

• Where students finish exams within 20 minutes of the end of the school day, they will be allowed to go home early (or to wait in the Zone if they use the school bus). If you do not wish for your child to be allowed off-site before 3pm, please contact me.

We appreciate your support in helping your child to prepare effectively and appropriately for these mock exams.

We will be holding an online Year 7 Progress Evening on Wednesday 27th April 2022 from 3.30pm until 7.30pm. This will take place using video calls with your son/daughter’s subject teachers using the platform School Cloud.

The evening will provide an opportunity for you to discuss your child’s progress with their teachers. It is our hope that every child’s parent/carer makes every effort to attend so that we are working together as a team to support your child with their learning. Appointment times for teaching staff can be booked via this link, which you will also find on the school website home page: https://redmooracademy.schoolcloud.co.uk

• Booking opens on Wednesday 30th March and there will be instructions to follow on screen to make your appointments
• On the day, once logged in you will see a notice that you have upcoming video appointments and under this the details of the event, along with a Join Video Appointments button.
• Press the button to join your appointment. From here you will be connected to each teacher automatically, one after the other, at the right time for each appointment.
• Each consultation will last for 5 minutes 40 seconds, with a clock showing how long is left. There will be a 20 second gap between each appointment. 

If you wish to discuss any more general issues regarding your child’s health or wellbeing, please get in touch with your son/daughter’s tutor or the relevant member of staff:

Mrs D Buckingham Head of Year 7 dbuckingham@redmooracademy.org 

Mrs O’Keeffe/Mrs Constable  SEND team: lokeeffe@redmooracademy.org

Ms Wilson/Ms Thomson Pupil Premium team: pupilpremium@redmooracademy.org.uk

The platform allows you to turn off your device’s camera if you would prefer the meetings to be more like traditional phone calls. 

Please see the attached picture guide giving a step-by-step guide to how the system works. A more detailed guide can be found at: SchoolCloud – How to attend video appointments. If you experience any problems making your appointments through the new system, please contact the school office.

We look forward to seeing you online on Wednesday 27th April.

As part of our preparation to get our Year 11 students ready for the final GCSE exams, they will sit a second set of mocks in English, maths and science. These will take place during the week beginning Monday 14th March. There will be 8 exams in total and details of the paper titles and lengths can be found in the timetable below. Please note that the timings of the school day will be adjusted during this week with an early lunch for Year 11s from 12.20pm. 

These assessments will help teachers better diagnose the gaps in students’ knowledge and skills so that the crucial final weeks of curriculum time can be best spent for all learners before exams begin in May. They will also provide students with an opportunity to demonstrate their progress from the mocks in November. As previously communicated, these assessments might also be used as evidence in the very unlikely event that Covid-19 prevents examinations from taking place nationally and a Teacher Assessed grading system becomes necessary. Therefore, it is important that students prepare to give their best performance and use the next four weeks wisely. 

Experience tells us that independent learning is most effective when parents support by:

• helping to create the time for dedicated study – for example, you might support your child in making and sticking to a revision timetable 
• ensuring the environment for study is right and all distractions are removed 
• encouraging children to work independently on their revision for a minimum of two hours each day, making use of the resources provided by their teachers 

If you have any questions then please do not hesitate to contact me. 

Kind regards,

Mrs K. Nichols
Assistant Principal

The Skills Network provide fully funded, level 2 professional development courses in a wide range of different areas. The courses can be accessed by anyone over 19, living in England and are all Ofqual accredited. The Skills Network have created a Redmoor URL for any member of our school community to easily access and apply for the courses on offer. There are lots of different courses that may be of interest to you and your family. The application process takes less than 15 minutes. To apply you will need your NI number, ID and proof of address.

The courses are all:

• Level 2 qualifications (equivalent to GCSE 9-4 or A*-C)
• Last between 8 to 12 weeks 
• Delivered online or paper based on request
• Distanced learning completed in your own time 
• You will have access to tutor 

Find out more here: 

https://redmooracademyfullyfundedcourses.theskillsnetwork.com/

Redmoor Fully Funded Course List and Application Site