1. Kilwinning Academy S4 News
August 2010
Welcome to our S4 Curriculum Bulletin
In our recent visit by school inspectors we were praised for our effective partnership
working. In the report it was noted that parents were asking for more information
about how to improve the education of their youngsters and how to provide more
homework support. We are taking steps to raise attainment in partnership with parents
by promoting more active learning. We hope that this publication is helpful to parents
and students as they work towards certificate exams.
Our exams last May delivered a
good set of results for many of our
Standard Grade students. 89%
achieved 5 Standard Grade passes
or more. It is our constant desire
to drive up the level of results and
our Headteacher, Mr Armstrong,
has met with all Principal Teachers
to discuss ways of achieving this.
We have used CATs (Cognitive
Abilities Test) in S1 and S2 to
indicate how we should expect
candidates to perform in their
exams in S4 and experience has
shown that these have proved
quite reliable. We now intend to
set more accurate targets, using
CAT results, to help motivate
pupils. Targets will be discussed
with pupils and shared with
parents. We will also be
continuing to track pupils’
p e r f o r m a n c e a g a i n s t
expectations. Pupils will be
helped to close any gaps through
comments and advice. Clearly, it
is important for pupils to accept
some responsibility for their own
learning and improvement by
acting on their teachers’ advice.
Maths
Each pupil has a Homework Booklet
containing Homework Exercises for
each topic/chapter covered. These
exercises should be completed in
pupils’ homework jotters and are the
minimum homework requirement.
Each pupil also has a
notes jotter. The
introduction of each
topic includes a
written note of
explanation and
worked examples
which each pupil
should have copied
into his or her jotter.
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2. English
Pupils who
will be sitting
the Standard
Grade exam in
2 0 1 0 a r e
working on a folio of Writing and
Reading answers at present. Five
pieces of their best work will be sent
for external marking in the New
Year. Pupils will have the
opportunity to redraft and improve
existing work.
Pupils who have already completed
the Standard Grade course will be
working on the component units of
the Intermediate level course this
session. Where appropriate they may
also be working at Higher level.
French
Standard Grade:
• Preparing for Shopping Topic Test
• Starting Restaurant Topic
Evidence required for the completion
of these topics: Oral exam and
written folio piece.
Both these tests are
internal assessments
set by SQA and
count towards the overall Grade
therefore it is crucial that pupils
work to their maximum potential.
Pupils also have homework booklets
on each topic, the deadlines for
completion being set by their class
teacher, according to pace.
Intermediate 2:
• NAB exams in Listening and
Reading to be completed. These are
crucial, as pupils cannot be entered
for the exam in May until they have
achieved passes in these Units.
• The Personal Communication
NAB will also be done by Christmas.
Again, this is a crucial element to the
exam and must be passed before
entry to the exam in May.
• Redrafts of the written element of
the exam will be completed and this
can be learned off by heart for the
exam. Don’t waste this
opportunity!
Art & Design
The next two months
will see our students
a t a l l l e v e l s
continuing to work
on their expressive
units in class and
preparing for their 5
hour, Expressive
Practical Prelim.
The deadline for completion of their
expressive unit is the Christmas
Holidays, and students should be
nearing completion of their work for
the research and investigation stage
of this unit. Development studies are
also underway, with students trying
out different compositional ideas and
experimenting with a range of media.
They may be asked to complete
some of this work at home.
S4 Art and Design students will also
sit a Design Critical prelim which
they are currently preparing for in
class. They will be expected to
discuss the work of 2 designers in
this exam.
Computing Studies
Classes are
n o w w e l l
through the
course and are
c u r r e n t l y
working on two
main areas:
knowledge and
understanding of the use of
computers in industrial and
commercial activities and the
completion of their practical abilities
folders.
Assessment of the knowledge and
understanding aspect is covered by
two multiple choice tests; one prior
to the October break and one after.
The Computing department will
issue interim reports giving the
results of these tests prior to prelim
exemption. The current practical
work should be complete prior to the
Christmas break and will be the final
element of each pupil’s practical
folio. This means that the practical
ability grade (PA) in the prelim
report will be an accurate measure of
the grade passed onto the exam
board. In the build up to the prelims,
classes will have weekly homework
based on past papers.
Accounting & Finance
and Administration
The class is currently working hard
to complete the theoretical aspects of
the course so that the prelim exam
that they sit in November/December
will be complete and not have
sections omitted. In order to prepare
fully for the prelim examination
homework, based on past papers, is
being issued regularly and pupils
should find that this, if completed
well, prepares
them for any
questions that
they will face in
the prelim or the
real exam in
May. The
p r a c t i c a l
element of the
assessment will
be done after
Christmas.
Home Economics
Home Economics (F/G/C):
Preparation for prelim examinations
(written and practical) is beginning.
Pupils have study notes in their class
folders and jotters, which will help
them prepare for written
examinations. Practical prelim
examinations will be published 2
weeks prior to the examination.
Pupils should be encouraged to
practice skills and timing at home.
All pupils have been given the
opportunity to purchase text books
for their own use. Class text books
are available for reference in school
only.
Hospitality (Intermediate 1): All
pupils are in the process of
completing the final unit of work:
‘Organisation of
Practical Skills’.
Assessment for this
will take place
b e f o r e t h e
Christmas Break.
Practical prelim
examinations will
take place in November/December.
Pupils will require to prepare a 2
course meal within 1.5 hours. This
will be published 2 weeks prior to
the examination. Pupils should be
encouraged to practice at home to
improve their practical skills.
Using a homework diary regularly helps with study planning and can be useful to keep a record of achievements!
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3. Religious Studies
The next few weeks will see us
getting Investigation drafts on their
way to completion.
This involves ongoing research into
personally selected topic. It is worth
33% of the total grade. First draft
due end November, final report due
end January. All pupils following S
Grade RS have folders and
instructions. Materials are available
for borrowing as
required. A letter
will be sent home
explaining this in
detail. Please sign
and return the tear
off slip.
In Issues of Morality the nature of
morality is explored, considering
what makes an action right or wrong
and whether morality depends on
religious authority, tradition, custom,
self-interest, or its impact on others.
We will look at general principles
and values from Christianity and
Islam. There will also be a closer
examination of specific moral issues
and religious responses arising from:
• sexual morality:
freedom and responsibility in
relationships between sexes,
• the taking of life:
• war,
• abortion,
• euthanasia.
All pupils will develop evaluation
skills thinking through different
opinions on moral issues, weighing
up the evidence and drawing
conclusions. Please see the revision
advice on page 4!
Biology
Standard Grade
Biology pupils
are working on
the fourth topic
of their course,
The Biosphere.
Each pupil has a
yellow homework Study Guide,
containing the homework exercises
for the Topic. These are set at
roughly fortnightly intervals. Pupils
have notes, summary booklets and
summary pages of the study guide to
help with completion.
Intermediate 1 Biology pupils are
working on the unit, ‘Growing
Planet’. Homework is set about
fortnightly in the form of write on
sheets.
All pupils should be spending time
on general revision of notes etc. for
forthcoming prelims. Useful
revision techniques include mind
mapping, making their own flash
cards, constructing and labelling
diagrams, working on examples from
past papers or revision books or even
discussing Biology terms with
friends and family. Just reading or
copying from notes is rarely
effective. The BBC Bitesize
Revision materials available on the
internet (http://www.bbc.co.uk/scotland/
bitesize/) are an excellent aid to
revision for Standard Grade pupils.
Pupils will be working on techniques
and investigations which are
compulsory if they are to achieve an
award in their final exam. Good
attendance is particularly important
at this time to avoid missing any of
these practical assessments.
Chemistry
S Grade pupils are
working towards
completing topics 8
to 11 in time for
the Prelim examination. Each pupil
has been issued with a cd rom
containing a full set of revision
materials and homework exercises
for the complete Standard Grade
course, also available on the school
website.
Int 1 Chemistry pupils are working
on the final two sections of Unit 2,
Fuels and Plastics. All pupils have
revision notes in their class jotters
and they shouls take these home for
revision. Homework exercises are set
in the form of write on sheets. Each
pupil now has a revision and
homework cd rom for the complete
Intermediate 1 and Access 3 courses.
These are a valuable tool which will
ensure that any gaps in notes that
have arisen due to absence can be
addressed and pupils can make sure
that they revise thoroughly.
As Prelims approach, pupils should
be revising past topics. Many
revision techniques have been
demonstrated and pupils should be
using a variety of strategies to revise.
Past papers are a good source of
questions to improve exam technique
and there are a number of websites
for Chemistry revision. Among the
best are BBC Bitesize Revision at
www.bbc.co.uk/education/bitesize
and www.evans2chemweb.co.uk
Physics
T h e
T r a n s p o r t
t o p i c i s
a l m o s t
complete and
pupils are
due another
end of topic
test as well
as preparing
for prelims.
Other topics
include studies in Energy and
Electronics as well as a look at Space
Physics. Pupils will also soon have
started a complete course revision
programme (extra homework!)
Technical
C r a f t a n d
Design: Pupils
should have
completed their
Design folios
by the October
Holidays. They
have now begun
working on Final Projects . They
will also be studying for the
knowledge and understanding exam.
Some work for this will be given as
homework.
Graphic Communication: Pupils
should be working on units 4 - 8.
this term folio work will be mostly
computer based using D.T.P., C.A.D.
and C.A.G. Pupils will also be
studying for their knowledge and
interpretation exam in class and
some of this work will be backed up
with homework assignments.
Leckie and Leckie have published
course notes for both Craft and
Design and Graphic Communication.
These provide excellent support and
give pupils the opportunity to
practice skills and work on
knowledge at home. They are
available in most good bookshops
and online.
Keep track of important assessment dates with a calendar - check exam dates at www.sqa.org.uk
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4. Geography
We are currently completing the
Settlement unit and assessment.
After the assessment is completed
and returned the pupils will
undertake a target setting exercise
with their teacher. They will have
two targets agreed with their teacher
to work on up until prelims in
November. A review of these targets
will take place after that time.
All classes will next be working on
the Natural Regions part of the
course which includes looking at 4
different regions in the world and
environmental
issues in these
areas. All classes
will be given
regular homework
to be completed in
their homework
jotter on this
topic.
History
Preparations for the prelim exam will
start soon. The first 3 topics of Unit
1c, Changing Life in Scotland and
Britain, must be covered in class
prior to the exam: Population, Health
and Housing. Staff will be
emphasising to pupils that revision
should be well
underway. The
first two units of
study: Unit 2b –
Britain at War
and Unit 3d –
Nazi Germany
should also be
revised by pupils.
The department
would encourage
pupils to attend
the inquisitor
club which provides History quizzes
related to factual revision. For more
information see Ms McLean room
A1.
PE STUDIES
Standard Grade PE pupils have been
making the best of our wonderful
end of summer weather (!) and have
just finished their outdoor block
comprising of football and hockey.
They covered tactics and strategies
within a game context.
The next block moves indoors with
Mr Adam’s boys on Basketball, Mrs
Lamont’s girls on Badminton and
Miss Lyall’s boys on Fitness.
The 4th year SGPE pupils now have
two practical classes a week and one
theory classroom lesson with serious
preparation beginning for the PE
prelim in November.
Music
Standard Grade: • All pupils study
2 instruments (Solo 1 – performed to
an external examiner in early March
2010. • Solo 2 – recorded in class
and internally assessed). • All pupils
to complete their own composition.
• All pupils to undertake a listening
paper during SQA exam diet.
Targets to be achieved before
Christmas:
• Pupils should record their Solo
instrument
• Completion of
i n d i v i d u a l
compositions
Intermediate 2: As
above except that
both instruments are performed to
the external examiner in early March
2010 and content and format of
listening paper is different.
Targets to be achieved before
Christmas:
• Completion of individual
compositions
• Instrumental programmes chosen,
approved and at an appropriate stage
of performance.
Although the priority is on the above
targets, the Listening and Solo 1
element will still be ongoing in class.
It is still expected that pupils
continue revising the Listening
concepts at home. A very useful
website is www.ltscotland.org.uk.
This site provides excellent material
supporting all the Listening concepts
covered in the course. Where home
practice facilities are not available
the music department is at students’
disposal at interval, lunchtime and
after school.
Revision
I n t e n s i v e
preparation for
prelims should
start soon.
U s i n g a l l
p e r s o n a l l y
produced notes
and/ or those
produced by
the staff, pupils
must spend
time committing all topics covered to
memory. The time this takes varies
for each pupil - this will be in
addition to normal homework!
Examples of how to streamline
information into manageable
personal notes for study have been
issued by many departments. Pupils
are expected to spend time each
week working through all handouts
supplied by departments to produce
their own. Parents can check this by
asking to see these for each topic.
Some parents find it helpful to keep a
record of revision progress. Pupils
should be memorising their notes for
‘bite-size’ tests on mental revision
and exam answers set by class
teachers. Parents can test this by
asking for an explanation of these
notes from memory - tick each point
they mention. Further revision of
missed items will improve success.
Supported study sessions will be
offered soon - pupils can benefit
from additional study hints and
advice after school. Mrs
Cruickshank will be distributing
sign-up forms soon.
Important Dates
• Prelims begin November
• S4 Parents Evening January
• SQA Exams begin April
Contacting school
KilwinningAcademy, Dalry Road,
Kilwinning KA13 7HD 01294 551316
contactus@kilwinning.n-ayrshire.sch.uk
www.kilwinning-academy.co.uk
Teachers are always happy to help students who have been absent to catch up with missed work
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