St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School Curriculum Guide

St Bernard’s Catholic Grammar School


Curriculum Guide
Key Stage 4 – Y10
2018/19

September 2018
Dear Parents,
In order to keep you fully informed about our curriculum, we have compiled a list of the topics which your child is expected to cover in each of their subjects. In addition, during the school year they will be introduced to certain principles which will develop and strengthen their capacity to learn.

Students in Year 10 should expect to receive approximately ten to fourteen hours of homework per week.

Our aim is to inform you of what your child is doing in order to help him to fulfil their potential at school and in the world in the future.

In Key Stage 4, students take a range of academic subjects. The core curriculum consists of English Literature, English Language, Mathematics, separate Sciences and Religious Education. Students will also opt for a Language, one of the Humanities and one of the ‘emerging technologies’ (Product Design, Graphics, Art or Computing). Some students will also follow the Further Mathematics and Mathematics and Statistics courses.

Supporting students in their GCSE studies is crucial; often students do not know how to revise the material they have studied in class. The latest research by cognitive psychologists gives six evidence based areas of practice that students should focus on to in order to develop their learning. These six areas (most effective first) are:

• 
  Retrieval practice
  
• 
  Spaced practice
  
• 
  Dual coding
  
• 
  Interleaving
  
• 
  Using concrete examples
  
• 
  The use of elaboration.
  

The ‘Leaning Scientists’ website contains downloadable materials to explain each of these strategies, and also blogs to help parents support their children and blogs to support the students themselves. They also provide videos which explain each strategy in easy to understand language. You can help your child by discussing how they can use each of these strategies to develop their learning.

Yours sincerely

Mrs D Seagrove & Mr R Watson