BARKING ABBEY SCHOOL WELCOMES YOU TO THE YEAR 8 PARENTS INFORMATION EVENING

1
BARKING ABBEY SCHOOL WELCOMES YOU TO THEYEAR 8
PARENTS INFORMATION EVENING

• HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD
• THROUGH OPTIONS AND SATs

2

• THIS EVENING
• PUTTING YEAR 8 INTO CONTEXT
• THE TWO-YEAR KEY STAGE 3 OPTIONS AND SATs MR
  PACK AND THE CAREERS DEPARTMENT
• SUPPORT VIA THE PASTORAL SYSTEM
• MENTORING IN YEAR 8, PLUS AFTER-SCHOOL LEARNING
  OPPORTUNITIES
• MR MCARDLE AND MS PALRAY

3
THE CONTEXT OF BARKING ABBEY SCHOOL
4
2008 EXAMINATION RESULTS
END OF KEY STAGE 3 SATs PERCENTAGE OF STUDENTS
ACHIEVING LEVEL 5 OR ABOVE
YEAR 8 2008 ENGLISH 77 National Average
73 for Year 9s MATHEMATICS 77 National
Average 77 for Year 9s SCIENCE
72 National Average 71 for Year 9s
5
2008 EXAMINATION RESULTS
GCSE 5 A-C PASS RATE
NATIONAL AVERAGE 55
BOROUGH AVERAGE 53
BARKING ABBEY 77 (1997 39)
6
2008 EXAMINATION RESULTS
GCSE 5 A-C PASS RATE INCLUDING ENGLISH AND
MATHS
BARKING ABBEY 65 ALL SAINTS 55 ROBERT
CLACK 45 JO RICHARDSON 40 SYDNEY RUSSELL
36 DAGENHAM PARK 35 EASTBURY 31 WARREN 30
EASTBROOK 27
7
2008 EXAMINATION RESULTS
A LEVEL
NATIONAL AVERAGE PASS RATE 97 BARKING ABBEY
PASS RATE 98 A/B Grades 47 A Grades
21 (All up from last year) 650 now in the Sixth
Form Centres of Football, Dance, Netball, Golf
and Basketball Excellence
8
FEEDBACK FROM LAST YEARS YEAR 8 9

• YEAR 8
• Meetings between Head teacher and 15 small groups
  of 6 students
• All 90 of the sample spoken to preferred the
  current structure of taking SATs in Year 8 and
  said they had no difficulty doing the work
• All 90 said they preferred to choose their
  Options in Year 8
• YEAR 9
• All 90 preferred to have started GCSEs in Year 9
• All 90 said that they had coped with the work in
  Year 9 without any problems
• All 90 said they had enjoyed the year and that
  the year had gone really quickly!

9
FEEDBACK FROM YOU!
YEAR 7 PARENTS LAST YEAR Most parents thought
the mentoring system was good and works best if
there is a good relationship with the mentor The
vast majority of parents thought their child had
settles into the school well and had made
progress both socially and academically No
serious bullying was reported squabbles between
children were felt to have been handled
well Questionnaires from the summer now being
collated and will be fed back to you via the
Newsletter
10
THE YEAR 8 SATs (END OF KEY STAGE 3)

• Tests from 5th to 8th May, 2009
• Results should be in towards the end of the
  Summer term.

11
BUT!

• Success depends on
• Revision
• Homework
• Attendance and punctuality
• Commitment and hard work
• OVER THE NEXT TWO TERMS!

12
THE OPTIONS PROCESS (1)

• THE MAIN ISSUES
• 1. Reasons for choosing subjects and subjects
  which are oversubscribed
• 2. Relating choices to possible careers
• 3. Parents must be closely involved
• The vast majority of choices will be met, but the
  school must have the final say
• Choose a broad and balanced variety

13
THE OPTIONS PROCESS (2)
Problems every year caused by - not finding out
enough about the subject - doing the subject for
the wrong reasons - my friends are doing it -
I dont like that teacher - Most common reason
given for wanting to change subject I dont
want to do this any more because I didnt realise
what it was going to be like
14
THE OPTIONS PROCESS (3)
The new curriculum A positive and genuine
alternative Work Experience College
Placements Vocational courses
15
THE OPTIONS PROCESS (4)
The Core Subjects English, Maths, ICT,
Citizenship, PE Choices Double Science, Applied
Science, Biology, Chemistry, Physics, Art,
Applied Art, Graphical Art, Business Studies,
BTEC Business, Drama, PE, BTEC PE, Media Studies,
Dance, Music, RE, Mechanisms, Resistant
Materials, Engineering, Electronics, Graphics,
Food Technology, Textiles, Child Development,
French, Geography, History, Sociology, Leisure
Tourism,
16
THE OPTIONS PROCESS (5)

• PLEASE REMEMBER
• Year 9 will still be a transition year where
  students may be able to change their options if
• They have a very good reason
• There is space in the subjects they want to
  change to

17
THE OPTIONS PROCESS (6)
THE MAIN PEOPLE TO TALK TO 1. Mr Pack - in
charge of the Options process 2. Mr McArdle and
Ms Palray, Year 8 Co- ordinators, and your
childs Mentor 3. Mrs Glendinning or Mrs Jarvis-
Careers Advisors 4. Subject teachers 5. Mr
Edwards, Head of Upper School 6. Mr Lloyd - Head
teacher
18
THE OPTIONS PROCESS (7)

• THE TIMETABLE OF EVENTS
• 8 December 2008 Options Booklet issued
• 11 December 2008 Year 8 Subject Evening
• 28 January 2009 Option Information Evening
  and Careers Fair
• 27 February 2009 Final date for return of
  Option Choices

19
HOW CAREERS WILL HELP IN THE OPTIONS PROCESS
20
CAREERS GUIDANCE

• GROUP CAREERS INTERVIEWS
• SCHOOL CAREERS ADVISERS
• MRS JARVIS
• MRS GLENDINNING

21
CAREERS EDUCATION

• SUBJECTS ? SKILLS ? CAREERS
• SELF AWARENESS
• AWARENESS OF OPPORTUNITIES
• CAREERS RESEARCH
• USE OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
• THE REAL GAME

22
YOUR ROLE

• PARENTS HAVE INFLUENCE!
• WHICH WAY NOW? 2009
• PARENTS AND CARERS GUIDE 2009
• IDENTIFY STRENGTHS, WEAKNESSES, INTERESTS, SKILLS
• CAREERS INFORMATION

23
USEFUL WEBSITES

• www.connexions-direct.com/whichwaynow
• www.connexionsdirect.gov.uk/jobs4u

24
Setting Targets (1)

• Mentoring
• 22 experienced long-standing staff will mentor
  your child at least 12 times a year (2 occasions
  each half term).
• Each Mentor has been assigned 15-16 mentees
• Targeting
• SATS Preparation and Performance
• Option Choices and Career Pathways
• Issues that might emerge with peers , staff
  or learning.
• General academic progress/ behaviour/
  attendance and homework issues

25
SETTING TARGETS (2)

• Targets can be enforced at home
• Students need to be spending at least 45 minutes
  on each piece of homework
• Students need to set aside 30-45 minutes each day
  for general reading to improve their literacy
• Parents can monitor the quality of their childs
  work by checking their exercise books
• Parents can test their child at home on the
  contents of their work
• Parents should regularly check the Learning
  Journal. These can be used as a valuable link
  between home and school, for both parents and
  teachers

26
Revision Programme

• In the late Spring/early Summer Terms, lessons in
  English, Maths and Science will be devoted to
  revision and going through past papers.
• A revision timetable will be issued and students
  will be expected to follow it. Checklists will
  also be issued
• BBC will be showing at 2-4am Revise Wise
  Programmes in March 2008. Record them and get
  students to watch them at Easter!
• Citizenship and Mentoring will be giving students
  lots of strategies on Revision and Exam
  Techniques.

27
PASTORAL SUPPORT

• Mr McArdle and Ms Palray
• Pastoral Co-ordinators

28

• Thank you for attending this evening.
• We hope that you have found it to be helpful.
  It would be of great use to us if you could spend
  some time completing our response form.