Posts Tagged ‘GCSE’

School performance 2011 – The truth!

Monday, February 6th, 2012

Last week, the Department for Education published data on more than 3,300 secondary schools’ GCSE and A-Level exam results. Now parents have more information than ever about how their child’s school is performing, this is an increase of data of 400 per cent than in 2010.

Performance tables for 2011 now include:

  • level of performance of disadvantaged children.
  • if pupils with high, middle and low achieving results continue to make progress.
  • how many pupils entered into the core academic subjects that make up the EBacc.

Sadly, the 2011 GCSE results reveal that hundreds of secondary schools are failing to help pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds achieve their full potential. Children on free school meals or in local authority care are approximately half as likely to achieve the national benchmark of five A* -C grade GCSEs including English and maths compared to their peers.

Nationally, only one in 25 disadvantaged pupils managed to secure good grades in a combination of English, maths,  languages, history or geography, and two sciences. This compares to the national average of nearly one in six.

For the first time, the tables highlight how pupils have progressed since they left primary school. This year’s statistics show that thousands of previously high achieving pupils are being failed by their secondary school:

  • 8.600 pupils, 4.9 per cent, who were excelling at the end of primary school, then failed to gain five A* -C grade including English and maths.
  • 45.6 per cent of pupils, some 120,000, who were at Level 4 at Key Stage 2 failed to make the expected amount of progress, to five A*-C grades including English and maths, at secondary school.
  • There are now 107 secondary schools below the national minimum standard.

A secondary school is below the floor standard if:

  • fewer than 35 per cent of pupils achieve the basics standard of five A* to C grade GCSEs including English and maths.
  • fewer pupils make good progress in English between KS2 and KS4 than the national average.
  • fewer pupils make good progress in maths between KS2 and KS4 than the national average.

Find out how your child’s school performs here.

If you feel that your child may need some extra help, consider finding a private tutor. We have hundreds of testimonials that prove that private tuition really does help improve grades.

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Signs that may indicate your child needs a private tutor.

Thursday, August 11th, 2011

Many children who are struggling at school will suffer in silence, consequently their parents are unaware of their child’s needs. Keeping a close eye on your child’s reactions and behaviour can be the best way to monitor possible underlying problems with school work. Below are a few key signs that may indicate your child needs help.

1. Your child refuses to talk about school. If your child is struggling with school work they won’t usually want to talk about it with you. Children may do their very best to avoid talking about school.

2. Lack of interest. A happy child at school will be willing to comment on what they have been doing at school but a child that is struggling will show no enthusiasm for any particular subject or project they are doing at school.

3. You child is frequently off “sick”. This could be a sign that indicates that your child does not want to face their problems at school. Missing school will only make matters worse.

4. School reports or marked homework go missing. This is a clear signal that your child is scared of the possible consequences when you find out about your child’s failure at school.

5. Your child starts behaving badly. Negative feelings can manifest themselves in many ways -  from changes in general attitude to using foul language or drug taking and truancy.

We would like to stress that the above are only possible indications that your child is struggling at school. In some cases the reasons could be due to low self esteem or bullying. In either case your child needs help. Try to talk to your child in a non aggressive way, stay calm and if you think that your child will perhaps communicate better with another person – be it a close family friend or school teacher, consider that option first.

If after talking with your child there is a clear indication that he/she needs help, consider finding a private tutor. Recent research shows that private tuition can improve grades at GCSE and A-Level. Private tutors can provide your child with new ways of learning and retaining information, many private tutors use different learning techniques and also tailor-make their tuition experience to the child’s particular needs. A good private tutor can gradually build a trust relationship with a child, which in turn will boost a child’s confidence and self esteem. The end results will be better grades and a happy child!

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5 online resources for IT tutors

Wednesday, March 3rd, 2010

It is absolutely crucial to have a solid set of IT skills in today’s marketplace. Those who study the subject at GCSE level or above are doing themselves a great favour – especially with the number of jobs available in the sector these days.

The subject is often referred to as ICT, especially at GCSE and A-level.

There are lots of good free resources on the net to help computer studies students. Here is First Tutors‘ pick of the bunch.

1.    The staff of St Columba’s High School, in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland, have put together a number of revision guides in PDF format for computer studies students of levels from standard grade (like GCSE) upwards.

http://www.west-dunbarton.gov.uk/education-and-learning/schools/secondary/stpeterapostle/stcolumbas/revision/computing/

2.    Another school comes to the rescue with some good revision resources for GCSE students. These revision guides come courtesy of Didcot Girls’ School in Oxford.

http://www.didcotgirls.oxon.sch.uk/depts/it/gcse/notes/main/index.htm

3.    Revise ICT really is a one-stop shop for computer studies, with pupils aged five upwards catered for with a host of quizzes, revision aids and links to computing stories in the news. A must-visit.

http://www.reviseict.co.uk/

4.    Dinesh Bakshi.com also brings together a wealth of quizzes, revision notes, revision worksheets and more for students of ICT at GCSE and A-level. Resources are split into eight logical sections, making it easy for students to focus on and improve any weak areas.

http://www.dineshbakshi.com/igcse-gcse-ict.html

5.    First Tutors has several useful books and practice papers that IT tutors can use in their lessons.

http://www.firsttutors.com/uk/resources.php

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Helping students prepare for GCSE and A-level coursework

Monday, November 16th, 2009

Students in their final year of GCSEs or A-levels will now be looking to begin the coursework component of their exams. While the UK system weighs heavily in favour of structured exams, coursework entries can make up to 25% of the final grade, and a strong performance here can make all the difference to final marks. How can you as a home tutor help your students create their best work?

Although necessary boundaries are in place, coursework offers the opportunity for students to explore and specialise in the areas which interest them most. At the outset discuss with your pupil what they believe these areas to be, and identify a topic that plays to both strengths and interests. Make sure the scope of the selected title is appropriate and realistic given the timeframe and word limits of the project. The best topics tend to be those with a relatively narrow focus, allowing the student to delve deep into a subject and acquire specialist knowledge in one area, rather than spreading themselves too thinly.

Private tutors should work through the criteria with students to make sure that they fully understand what is required of them. A strong appreciation of what an examiner will be looking for early on can help prevent wasted effort and needless research. You should help your pupils draw together a reading list, dividing possible sources into essential reading and those which will help provide background and context to the main thrust of the research.

GCSE and A-level coursework are golden opportunities to help your students develop their own study interests and show off their talents. A well thought out study plan will help them achieve their maximum potential and mitigate pressure when it comes to final exams.

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5 common grammatical errors

Thursday, October 8th, 2009

Private tutors don’t need to worry too much these days about checking their students’ spelling because most work is completed using programmes such as Microsoft Word that have built-in spell-checkers. As long as these are set to UK English (instead of the default American English setting!) they do a fairly thorough job of identifying and eliminating the mistakes.

Grammar, however, is a different ball game. Words that are spelled correctly can still be put together incorrectly in sentences.  GCSE and A-level students need to know the rules.

Here are the top 5 common grammatical errors that our private tutors find in their students’ work:

1)    Split infinitives. “To boldly go” is a split infinitive. “To go” is a verb in its infinite (i.e. unfinished) form, so even though it comprises two words they actually operate as a single unit. The grammatically correct rendition of the famous line should, therefore, be “To go boldly”.

2)    Confusion between “they’re”, “their” and “there”. The first means “they are”, the second means belong to them; the third is a location, e.g. “over there”.

3)    Changing tense mid-paragraph. A common mistake encountered by English tutors in their students’ creative writing. “Nick shouted at his wife. She starts to cry” is incorrect. “Nick shouted at his wife. She started to cry” is correct.

4)    “You’re” vs. “your”. The first is an ellipsis of “you are”; the second means that something belongs to you.

5)    “Could of” and “would of”. These are always incorrect. The correct expressions are “could have” and “would have”. (“Have” is an auxiliary verb.) The common mistake occurs because “have” sounds a lot like “of” when it is spoken, especially in its contracted form, e.g. “I could’ve done that”.

Can you think of any more common grammatical errors? Leave a comment and let us know!

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Teaching assistants ‘hinder children’s progress’

Friday, September 25th, 2009

A recent government-funded survey has revealed that pupils who receive classroom help from teaching assistants actually make less progress than those that don’t. The report explained that support staff tend to spend more time with the children than the teachers do, thus reducing their ability to learn.

However, the blame wasn’t aimed directly at teaching assistants, as lead researcher Professor Peter Blatchford explained: “This is not something that we should blame on teaching assistants – we are not saying they are a bad influence. It seems to be about the way in which they are deployed and the way in which they are managed. The main explanation seems to be that support staff tend to look after the children in most need. They can then become rather separate from the main curriculum. The more time pupils had with support staff, the less time they had with the teacher.”

The problem also lies with the educational standards of support staff, as many (roughly two-thirds) haven’t ever been educated beyond GCSE level.  Unison’s Christina McAnea told us: “Unison has been calling for better pay, training and more paid time for teaching assistants to do their jobs, for many years. Teaching assistants are not substitutes for teachers, but what they can do, given the right training and support, is help children with special needs to get the most out of school.”

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Why you should book your private tutor now

Friday, September 4th, 2009

As the autumn term approaches, thoughts turn to the year ahead. For many students this includes GCSE and A-level exams. This time of year is also traditionally one of the busiest for private tutors as well-prepared students, looking to avoid an end-of-year cramming session, begin to make enquiries.

As with everything else, it makes sense to plan ahead when it comes to finding a home tutor. Starting early obviously gives pupils the pick of the pool, as the best private tutors will be snapped up quickly. By working with a tutor from the beginning of the year, students also maximise their chances of scoring top marks in exams.

Student and tutor can work together to devise an achievable study plan that works across the year. A long-term plan minimises exam  revision pressure, especially for students taking multiple subjects, and helps clarify goals, aims, strengths and weaknesses.  In helping to identify any gaps in knowledge early on, it allows ample time to focus on these and compensate as necessary.

When looking for home tuition, students (and their parents) should spend some time thinking about what learning methods do and don’t work for them, and research potential tutors who may provide a good fit. A suitable private tutor should also be familiar with the curriculum the student’s school follows,

Finding the right tutor now will save endless stress and worry later on and can provide all the advantages necessary to excel in school and exams throughout the entire year.

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How best to judge ability at GCSE and A-level?

Friday, July 24th, 2009

It’s summer, and in the UK that means only one thing for many of our young people: the nervous wait for GCSE and A-level results. Their teachers and private tutors are arguably just as tense: those of us who have spent the last year coaching children in the techniques of the Maths GCSE or the English A-level are unlikely to get a good night’s sleep until we know whether our efforts have paid off.

But are exams really the fairest way to grade our teenagers? Certainly as private tutors a lot of the work we do (especially in the last term of school) is centred on exam techniques, yet every year the ‘exam culture’ debate rages on.

Some suggest that exam techniques should be taught in schools to a much higher degree. On the one hand, this would provide a strong basis for all students facing the rigours of exams, but on the other it could easily take time away from teaching core subjects.

So, what alternatives are there?

One option is an emphasis on coursework. This can give students the chance to shine without the pressure of a three-hour window to demonstrate their ability. A flexible system can allow pupils to choose their own topics and style, providing a more enjoyable learning experience. But does it penalise those students who thrive in exam conditions?

A second possibility is the eradication of testing altogether, instead providing certificates of achievement based on students’ continuous performance throughout the year, as assessed by their teachers. This sounds like a fair system, but it could be vulnerable to the subjectivity of the teacher, as well as the risk of human error.

As this year’s GCSE and A-level grades are eagerly awaited, the debate continues. What is the fairest way to judge the ability of our young people? An overarching focus on one evaluative method can lead to an unfair advantage for some, so is a mixture of both the answer? Or do you think your tutees would thrive if exams and coursework were to be removed altogether?

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