As Year 10 students work through the first year of their GCSE/BTEC courses, please continue to support us by discussing your child’s academic progress and attitude to learning at home. You have live ClassCharts information to focus on and will also receive two Year 10 school reports (one in early February and one in mid-May). There will be one Year 10 Progress Evening on 23rd May 2024.
To support your child’s academic progress, please also ensure that your child attends school every day. Our experience at Redmoor – as well as the national data – proves that there is a significant correlation between absence and exam results. Students with poor attendance will fall behind their peers and find it very difficult to achieve their target grades. If your child is at school, giving 100% and making the most of the opportunities available, then they have the greatest chance of achieving strong results in the summer.
Supporting Independent Revision At School
Our brilliant library is open after school every day until 4pm for independent revision. It is stocked with all revision guides and resources, as well as laptops with internet access. Year 10 and Year 11 students are welcome to attend and make the most of a quiet, focused area to study in.
Study Space also remains open in IT4 Monday to Thursday from 3pm to 4pm. This is an IT suite where students can work on their homework tasks and receive help from supervising staff members if they need it.
Supporting Independent Revision At Home
Students should be working on homework for a minimum of an hour every day in Year 10, but in addition to this they can also complete independent revision to accelerate their progress and cement their knowledge.
Through our PSCHE programme and in class, we have supported students in understanding what effective revision is. Students have learnt about our key strategies (Cornell notes, mind-maps and flashcards) and have created revision resources for many subject areas by now. There should be no student without the understanding or ability to make a start on their own independent revision. However, further tips for parents and carers can be found on our school website in our Effective Learning Strategies section.
All Year 10 students have access to the GCSEPod library of over 6,000 ‘Pods’: 3-5 minute videos designed to deliver knowledge in short bursts. GCSEPod makes learning and revision much more manageable: every Pod is mapped to an exam board and contains all the right facts, quotations, keywords, dates and annotated diagrams that students need for GCSE success – all neatly organised into topics and exam playlists.
Your child can browse the GCSEPod library and create their own playlists – just as they would when they’re listening to music. In fact, one of the best things about GCSEPod is that students can download any Pod to a mobile device, so they can watch them at any time, in any place, with or without internet. It’s like they’re carrying a whole set of textbooks in their pocket!
GCSEPod is crammed with brilliant features, from GCSE-style assessment questions and Check & Challenge knowledge quizzes, to revision skills support and help with dealing with exam-related stress.
We recommend that you talk about GCSEPod with your son or daughter – check that they’ve successfully activated their account and encourage them to make use of this amazing resource throughout their GCSE journey. Please visit www.gcsepod.com/parents
Many of our students also have their own revision guides (see below for our recommended list) and can use these to create their own resources.
Year 10 Recommended Revision Guide List
Experience tells us that homework completion and independent learning is most effective when parents support by:
- helping to create the time for dedicated homework and independent study – for example, please support your child in making and sticking to routine for homework (you could use a timetable like the one attached here)
- ensuring the environment for study is right and all distractions (including social media!) are removed
- encouraging children to work independently on their homework and revision for a minimum of an hour every day.
