Year 10

This page has been put together for parents of new Year 10 students, to provide the information you will need to understand and support your child’s learning at this crucial stage in their academic career.

Year 10 is a fantastic year group and we look forward to working with them over the next two years. They have a great opportunity to open up many exciting pathways by studying for and achieving excellent grades in their GCSEs. We look forward to working closely with students and parents to help them to do the very best that they can.

Mrs Cragg- Head of Year 10 - craggs@chancellors.herts.sch.uk

Supporting Good Study Patterns

We expect every student to complete 2 hours of homework every night from Monday to Thursday, and 4 hours over the weekend.

Students should have their homework timetable in their diary, and use them to plan their tasks and ensure that they are fully organised the week. Parents and carers are expected to monitor their child’s homework through Show My Homework, and also how they use their diary.

Please ensure that they are spending sufficient time studying. It would be useful to help your child to devise a revision plan that structures their time effectively. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact the form tutor.

Homework will not always be in a written form. As we approach the mock and official GCSE exams, it will often be a form of revision. Private study time is allocated during form slots and students should use this time effectively.

We believe that setting high expectations for all students is fundamental in enabling them to achieve, enjoy and excel. This also develops a lasting, positive attitude to learning.

This table is a rough guide into ensuring you are completing and covering all aspects of their learning.

Monday	Tuesday	Wednesday	Thursday	Friday
Maths	English	Maths	Option 4 (Lesson 2)	English
Option 3 W1 (Lesson 4)	Option 1 (Lesson 3)	Option 1 (Lesson 5)	Option 2 (Lesson 5)	Option 3b (Lesson 3)
Option 4 (Lesson 2)	Option 3a (Lesson 6)	Option 3 W1 (Lesson 6)		Option 2 (Lesson 5)

 

Form Time

Form tutors are here to offer support to your son or daughter on a daily basis and should be your first point of contact for any questions or concerns. The Head of Year, Mrs Cragg, along with the KS4 Pastoral Team, support our form tutors in dealing with any issues.

This year we have ensured that the Year 10 morning Form Time slots are spent in a really valuable way, either extending revision skills or focusing on academic or career paths. This is an essential part of the school day and students are expected to come to registration prepared. Students should always have a reading book or better still, revision or work to do. This valuable time provides an opportunity to work independently while the form tutor can discuss any issues, achievements and targets with individuals before the start of the school day. One form time a week is dedicated to PSHE. 

Form tutors will work with students on a range of activities such as researching future careers, investigating resilience and perseverance, creating a revision timetable, exploring learning styles, independent learning and a variety of revision strategies. These activities have been designed specifically for Year 10, to support and prepare them for the future in areas that their subjects may not cover.

Year 10 assembly takes place on Monday mornings.

Year 10 – Key Staff

Miss Hutson   hutsone@chancellors.herts.sch.uk	10A
Mr Waldron  waldrone@chancellors.herts.sch.uk	10B
Mr Godwin   godwinc@chancellors.herts.sch.uk	10H
Miss Harris   harrisr@chancellors.herts.sch.uk	10M
Mrs Manton   mantonb@chancellors.herts.sch.uk	10S
Mr McGowen    mcgowend@chancellors.herts.sch.uk	10W
Mrs Ranjit   ranjitr@chancellors.herts.sch.uk	10Y

 

Head of Year 10 - Mrs Cragg - craggs@chancellors.herts.sch.uk

Head of KS4 - Mrs Antwi – antwis@chancellors.herts.sch.uk

Report System

The best indication for how your son or daughter is doing at school is their report.

Each term a current working grade, end of year projected grade, and a descriptor of learning grade will be issued.

The current working grade refers to the level the student is attaining when the report is issued:

• Green highlights that they are working hard and above target
• Yellow shows them meeting their target
• Red highlights that they are not meeting target and further work is needed to raise the standard of work

Please take the time to discuss these reports with your son or daughter and support them to work hard to improve on any areas for development. There is a clear correlation between attitude to learning and attainment, so please encourage your child to consistently aim to achieve the highest descriptor of learning grades in all their subjects.

Recently, the GCSE grading system has changed, with a numerical system now replacing the previous A-E grading. Although the A-E system cannot be exactly translated into the new 9-1 system, this is a rough guide to go by:

9 – A** (20%)

8 – A* (40%)

7 – A (40%)

6 – B (Top 2/3 of Bs)

5 – C/B (Top 1/3 of Cs/Lower 1/3 of Bs)

4 – C (Lower 2/3 of C’s)

3 – D

2 – E

1 – G/F

Attendance

Research clearly shows that achievement is directly linked to attendance, and it is absolutely vital that students attend school at all times, apart from in extreme circumstances. Students with a high level of attendance invariably perform better in class and in examinations. Put simply, your son or daughter’s attendance will affect the number of GCSEs in which they make the expected level of progress.

In 2015, 94.3% of students across the UK whose absence was 6.5% (missing two weeks or less of school in a year) gained five or more A* - C grades at GCSE.

Only 44.6% of students whose absence was around 10% (missing four weeks in a year) gained five or more A* - C grades at GCSE.

With an attendance record of 90% across the year, that student would have missed the equivalent of one half day a week. This is a huge amount of work missed and does not give them the best opportunity to succeed.

This really does highlight the direct impact that excellent or poor attendance can have on the qualifications that will stay with your son or daughter for life.

Controlled Assessments

Controlled assessments have replaced coursework at GCSE level, and are part of the assessment scheme in some, but not all, subjects.

The main way that controlled assessment differs from coursework is that the final piece is produced under closely supervised conditions. In some subjects this may mean writing up the final piece in class over the course of one or more lessons monitored by their teacher.

Supporting materials including the students’ own notes may be used during writing up, but not a complete draft. Subject teachers will give further details about how controlled assessment is carried out in their subjects.

Careers Advice & Work Experience

The focus of our careers work in Year 10 is for students to learn about themselves - their skills, qualities and strengths - and also the world outside of school. Every Year 10 pupil has the opportunity to choose their own work experience placement, and in June 2021 they will spend a week with an employer developing their ‘employability skills’ and gaining hands-on experience in a workplace of their choice.

Useful websites for Year 10s for career inspiration and ideas:

www.ychertfordshire.org- Youth Connections

www.plotr.co.uk - discover and explore exciting careers

www.icould.com - real stories to inspire your career

www.futuremorph.org - career opportunities in Maths, Science and Technology

Visit the careers page for lots more information and please feel to get in contact should you have any questions.

Extra-Curricular

Teachers are always on hand to support students if needed, and most subjects already have after school or lunch time help sessions in place. We aim for each subject to offer a time where students can attend drop-in or structured sessions to get support with any areas of their subjects that they are unsure of, or require a little extra guidance.

Please refer to the website for the support sessions available for specific subjects.

Important Dates for your calender:

Parents Evening - Week of 21st November to be confirmed.

Year 10 Mocks - 2 weeks: MAY 2023 1/5/23 & 8/5/23

Work Experience- 12th-16th June 2023