Dear Parents and Carers,
Year 11 have now completed the first of their two full terms with us this year, providing us with an opportunity to reflect on progress since September 2024.
Many students put a lot of time and effort into revising for the mock exams in the first two weeks of this half term. As students recieved their results from these mocks, it was pleasing to see so many happy faces. Many students reflected on their current attainment and what ‘next steps’ are needed to achieve their future goals, something that is important to continue to move forwards.
Our focus in the new year will be about ‘revising smarter, not harder’, ensuring students are preparing in a productive and sustainable way for the final term and a half. The GCSEs start on 8th May 2025 and the final exam is on 18th June 2025 and the Year 11 team will be providing all students with a personalised timetables for the GCSE exam period closer to the time.
Please take the time to read the following key updates, to familiarise yourselves with what will be happening for year 11 over the next term.
Kind Regards,
Mrs Farnie
Deputy Headteacher - Academic
Year 11 do need some time to rest over the Christmas break, spending valuable time with family and friends. However, it is also important that, with a three week break from being in school, students complete regular smaller tasks to recall key knowledge ready for learning and assessment in the new year. Research has shown that regular small chunks of reviewing learning will have the greatest impact on a person’s retention, not 2-3 hours the night before an exam.
I would recommend using GCSE Pod and Sparx maths as starting point if your child is unsure. Both of these use their school details and their Microsoft 365 log in.
Whilst assessments are done regularly in class to inform staff about students’ progress through year 11 and to help inform their planning, we also complete formal mocks in year 11.
These second round of these will be held during the two weeks commencing 3rd February, students will be given the timetable in the new year. These exams will be sat in the school hall, under full exam conditions, with all access arrangements being put in place for those students who require them.
We would like students to become comfortable within this environment and believe that giving them these opportunities, will help prepare them for the final GCSE exams in May and June. It also allows us the time to put any further access arrangements in place should they be needed.
If you feel your child may be eligible for access arrangements, not yet in place, please contact our SENDCO, Mrs T Marks to discuss on tmarks@nottinghamfreeschool.co.uk
It is important students take these mocks seriously, they will be retained as official evidence of students progress should it be needed, this is in line with DfE and Ofqual guidelines. In addition, as we receive college application reference requests, these mocks will provide us with the predicted grades.
Please note some of the more practical subjects do have to hold mocks outside of this time for example art, food, drama, music and Spanish speaking – students will be given plenty of notice for these.
Our first year 11 Parent Teacher Meetings happened on Thursday 5th December, and it was pleasing to see so many of you there. These events provide you with an invaluable opportunity to talk directly with teachers about how to support your child’s achievement within a subject.
A further evening of Parent Teacher Meetings will happen on Tuesday 25th March. The booking system will once again be through MCAS. If you do not have a log in please email contact@nottinghamfreeschool.co.uk for support.
You will receive two further report cards this year, these will be in the weeks commencing; 24th March and 28th April. These will tell you your child’s current working grade, a predicted grade, the grade your child should be targeting and their attitude towards their learning in each subject.
Your child's attendance was reported on their recent Report Card 1, uploaded to MCAS.
Please take the time to discuss your child's attendance with them and remind them of the following.
Attendance in year 11 and student outcomes are directly linked. Compared to those students with over 95% attendance, previous year 11's at Nottingham Free School whose attendance was:
Every lesson missed by your child creates a gap in their knowledge, this missing piece of information could be the key to those few extra marks in the exam which tips them over to the next grade. Our teachers carefully plan their time with year 11 and often do not have time to repeat content. Attending a lesson when a child has missed the previous lesson can impact on their motivation, confidence and enjoyment of the learning.
Please refer to the following link from the NHS when deciding if your child is well enough to attend school Is my child too ill for school? - NHS (www.nhs.uk)
We are pleased to be able to provide intervention sessions for students. When deciding who requires intervention, or the best time for them to receive intervention, we consider a number of factors; whether intervention now or closer to the exams would be most beneficial, putting them with the most appropriate group of students, which topics they need support on within a subject. Therefore, please be patient, as although we would like to have all students receiving intervention straight away, we do have to lots of factors and students to consider when ensuring they all get the best deal possible.
Some examples of the current intervention’s students have been invited to:
If a student feels they are struggling in a subject, please ask them to speak to their class teacher and find out what they could be doing differently, or in addition to, their normal practice. Our class teachers are always happy to help and sometimes a small tweak can make a huge difference.
Subject teachers will start to put on subject boosters for year 11 over the coming weeks. When things become a little busier we will look to put a two-week timetable on, to allow students to attend as many as possible. For now, the following are available before and after school:
Silent study will continue after Christmas. We have been really pleased to see the dedication of some students in attending these sessions and look forward to more joining us.
The sessions run every week at the following times:
If students wish to attend, they should come to the library with homework or revision materials. Students will be expected to work in silence throughout, with a 15 minute break in the middle, and there will be some access to computers. They will receive a REACH! token for each 45 minute session they attend, so they are also welcome to come after subject boosters. These tickets will go into a draw for some amazing prizes.
Please encourage your child to use this facility. We will be speaking to some of our year 11 families to strongly recommend attendance to these sessions, to support certain students in reaching their potential.
Please continue to complete your online applications, the deadline is 31st January 2025. Interviews will commence after this date.
Please remember our subject blocks are written based on your child’s applications. Therefore, if you would like their combination of subjects considered in the setup of next year’s 6th form, it is really important they make the application deadline.
Careers Interviews:
All of our year 11’s receive a careers interview from a trained advisor. They will have the opportunity to discuss the career they are thinking about going into, the types of qualifications they may need and the best places to gain these qualifications. If they are not sure on a career just yet, they will still receive lots of advice on possible next steps and keeping their options open.
Open Days:
Please ensure you attend sixth form and college open days. Please see individual websites for information, or speak to your tutor or Mrs Barrett if you are unsure.
Useful links:
If you need any further careers advice please contact Mrs Barrett at pbarrett@nottinghamfreeschool.co.uk
Nottingham Free School
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