Carer English GCSE Revision Sessions

22nd April 2016 Dear Parent/Carer English GCSE Revision Sessions. It has been good to see students at revision sessions to date, including the two days in the Easter holidays. However, there are some students who have not attended any sessions yet and I would encourage them to come along; the first Literature exams are only just over a month away. Therefore, I attach a timetable of the revision sessions we are running, during this term. We are asking students to sign up on the board in the English area so that we have an indication of expected numbers. If a session attracts more than 30 students, we will try to organise a further session. We will also be keeping a register of attendance. In previous years, we have found that the final session before an exam has been heavily oversubscribed and the effectiveness of these sessions has suffered as a consequence. We want to encourage students to start revising now, and not see revision as something they can only do at the last minute. Therefore, the number of places in the final session before an exam will be capped at 30 and places allocated to those students who have previously attended revision. We do understand the pressure on students with the number of after school sessions available, so we have tried to offer a range of evenings and teachers and realise that they cannot be at all of them. Students must prioritise their attendance at revision sessions by need rather than subject preference. In addition, please note that we run two lunchtime meetings. “Poetry Lunch” is open to students in sets 1-3 who are taking English Literature. Attendance at this session builds students’ reading skills in order to deal with the unseen poem aspect of the Poetry exam. There is also a year 11 English Clinic on a Monday lunchtime; this is a “drop in” opportunity for any student who wants some extra advice, a quick five minute coaching session on a specific text or skill, a chance to have verbal feedback on a piece of work or a time to pick up past papers. Finally, a reminder of the dates of the English exams:  Edexcel English Literature Understanding prose (sets 1-3) 23rd May (am) (set texts: Of Mice and Men and either Animal Farm (set 3) or Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde (sets 1&2)  Edexcel English Literature Poetry (sets1-3) 27th May (am) (set text: Edexcel Poetry Anthology)  Edexcel English Language (sets 1-5) Tuesday 7th June (am) (set text Of Mice and Men) Yours sincerely, Mrs J Holroyd