Dear GA Family

During this Unit your child has been preparing for their first round of Mock exams which take place between 6th-17th of February, they have received assemblies on how best to prepare for these exams, timetables and assessment manifests.  This assessment will be an exam style assessment for all GCSE subjects and for those vocational subjects that are preparing for an exam in the next few months. The exam will be taken in the sports hall and this will be your child’s first experience of a GCSE exam style paper in exam conditions.

How can you help your child? 

Your child has been given an assessment manifest which outlines all of the content required for the GCSE.  Not all of this will be examined during this week and teachers have identified with students what topics to focus their revision on.  You could ensure that your child is completing the revision tasks outlined in this document.  Students are also able to write flashcards, and they write Cornell notes for their homework so using these to quiz your child would also be very beneficial.  We understand that households can be very busy and you may not have time to test your child and if this is the case we just ask that you support your child by checking they understand what it is they need to learn and they have the space to do this. 

How will you know how well they do in each assessment? 

The report will also have information about the grade that your child achieved in their exam style assessment which will give an indication on how well they are doing. Teachers will be able to give more specific feedback to your child so they know which areas they need to focus on for further revision 

What will the school do with the assessment scores? 

Once we have all the assessment information we will reset the classes to ensure the right students are obtaining the right support to progress even further as they enter the second twelve weeks of the school year.  You and your child will be told of any class movements and a conversation will be had with the Head of Year if there are any concerns.  Please note that your child will not be moved into a different option group any changes will only affect Maths, English and Science.

The dates for each assessment that your child will sit are on the next page of the letter and have been designed so you can easily display them in the house. 

If your child misses an assessment they will have to take it at a later date. 

If you have any questions around assessments at all please contact either myself (details at the bottom the letter) or Mr. D Parrott using the email dparrott@Gloucesteracademy.co.uk

Yours sincerely 

Mr W Meldrum 

Deputy Headteacher

wmeldrum@Gloucesteracademy.co.uk

Week B  Week 7	Monday 6th February 2023	Tuesday 7th February 2023	Wednesday 8th February 2023	Thursday 9th February 2023	Friday 10th February 2023
Exam Starts 9:00	English Language Paper 1 Time: 105 mins (1:45) Ex Time: 132 mins (2:11)	Maths Paper 1 Non Calculator  1MA1/1 H&F Time: 90 min (1:30) Ex Time: 112 minutes (1:52)	Science Paper  Biology & Chemistry Combined Time: 75 mins (1:15) Ex Time: 93 mins (1:33)	History Paper Making of America and Normans Time: 105 mins (1:45) Ex Time: 132 mins (2:11)	Science Physics 8064 H & F Time: 75 mins (1:15) Ex Time: 93 mins (1:33)
Period 9.25-11:15
Exam Starts 11:45	Religious Studies Paper 1 Christianity Time: 45 mins (0:45) Ex Time: 57 mins (0:57)	English Literature Power and Conflict Time: 55mins Ex Time: 68 mins (1:08)	Geography  Living with the Physical Environment Time: 75 mins (1:15) Ex Time: 93 mins (1:33)	Spanish Writing  Time: 60 mins (1:00) Ex Time: 75 mins (1:15)	Hospitality & Catering Exam Time: 45mins  Ex Time: 56 mins
Period 11:35-13:05
P5 14:15 Exam starts				Business Studies Paper 1 Time: 60 minutes (1:00) Ex Time : 75 mins (1:15)

 

Week A Week 8	Monday 13th February 2023	Tuesday 14th February 2023	Wednesday 15th February 2023	Thursday 16th February 2023	Friday 17th February 2023
Exam Starts 9:00	Art Exams 10A/C 10A/D	Speaking MFL	Speaking MFL	Speaking MFL	Spanish Reading & Listening  Higher Time: 95 mins (1:35) Ex Time: 118 mins (1:58) Foundation Time: 70 mins (1:10) Ex Time: 87 mins (1:27)
Period 9.25-11:15
Exam Starts 11:45					Community Languages Writing Exam Arabic 85 minutes Urdu 85 minutes Polish 75 minutes French 80 minutes Russian 85 minutes Portuguese 80 minutes Chinese 85 minutes
11:35-13:05
Period 5 & 6 14:05 - 16:05				Community Languages Reading & Listening Arabic 110 minutes (1:50) Urdu 110 minutes (1:50)  Polish 105 minutes (1:45) French 105 minutes (1:45) Russian 110 minutes (1:50)  Portuguese 105 minutes (1:45) Chinese 110 minutes (1:50)