Assessment Point 1
Year 8
Parent Information
Booklet
This booklet contains details of the assessments that pupils will be taking over the next
couple of weeks. Most of these exams will be during assessment week (8th- 10th
December). Pupils will receive the details of when they will sit these assessments as it varies
depending on which class they are in. Pupils’ will sit the exams in the hall in exam
conditions.
Please contact [email protected] if you have any other queries
about the assessments.
This term in Science pupils have been studying Biology. Pupils have learnt about the
skeleton and muscles, bacteria, respiration, plants and photosynthesis.
For AP1 pupils will sit one paper which will last 60 minutes and have 60 marks
available.
Pupils’ assessments will include everything they have studied since September and
will assess them in a range of different ways:
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Short and extended answer questions.
Questions based on graphs.
Questions asking pupils’ to explain why things happen and how pupils’ are linked
together.
How your child should revise:
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Complete weekly revision homework in pupils’ revision pack, using their notes
to support them.
Use pupils’ notes from lessons (in their books)
Learn spellings and meanings of keywords
Use online resources like BBC Bitesize. Find it by searching on Google for ‘BBC
Bitesize KS3 Science’ and click on the relevant topic.
Reflect on previous assessment feedback, and focus on those areas for
development.
How you can help:
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Quiz pupils on keywords and definitions from their science book.
Ask pupils to explain concepts and what they have been learning.
Ask pupils to describe the practicals they have carried out, what they found out
and what the variables were.
Help pupils review their mastery quizzes and marking feedback to focus on
areas for development.
In Mathematics this term pupils have studied the following topics;
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Addition and subtraction of fractions
Mixed and improper fractions
Negative numbers
Factors and multiples
Prime numbers and prime factorisation
Sequences (including the nth term)
Algebra (including simplifying, brackets, equations and substitution)
For AP1 most pupils will sit 1 exam paper but some pupils will also sit an extension paper.
The main paper will last for one hour and pupils will not be allowed to use a calculator
for it. The extension paper will last for 30 minutes. Pupil’s assessment will cover everything
pupils have studied since September and may include some work that pupils should have
consolidated in Year 7.
How your child should revise:
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Look through the notes from their exercise book.
Complete the revision booklet that they have been given in class.
Log on to www.mymaths.co.uk for which they have a username and password. We
have set pupils lots of revision tasks online which pupils can complete. If pupils need
help there are also online lessons to go with each task that will explain the Maths to
pupils.
Practice their times tables.
How you can help:
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Looking through pupil’s exercise book and testing them on the material they have
covered in class.
Asking pupils to show you how the website www.mymaths.co.uk works and which
units they will be re-doing as revision.
Asking pupils to create 10 of their own questions and explain how to answer.
Testing pupils on their times tables.
This term in French pupils have been studying ‘ Mon collège’ and have been studying time,
school rules, school uniform and how to give opinions and justifications about school
subjects
For AP1 pupils will sit 1 paper which will last an hour. The paper will consist 2 parts: a
translation section and a reading section.
Pupils’ assessments will cover everything we have studied since September.
For the reading paper, pupils will need to read a text and then answer some short and
extended answer questions in English. Pupils will also need to search for certain French
expressions in the text.
For the translation section, pupils will need to translate 3 paragraphs into French,
thinking carefully about verbs, word order and adjective agreements.
How your child should revise:
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Use notes in their exercise books
Practise the key grammar points
Learn spellings and meanings of key vocabulary
Complete the AP1 revision booklet provided as home learning
Create a revision mind map on the vocabulary of the topics above provide as home
learning
Review their mastery quizzes and marking feedback to focus on areas for
development.
How you can help:
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Test pupils on the key vocabulary from the topics above (cover the English, get them
to read the French and then tell you what it means in English)
Ask pupils to teach you the new vocabulary that they have learnt and what it means in
English
Use the AP1 revision booklet to test pupils learning
Encourage pupils to talk through the work they have done in their exercise book
Since September pupils have worked on two topics in Music: ‘Using the Axis of Awesome’,
where pupils developed their keyboard technique by learning to play a pop song which used
four chords, and; ‘Setting the Scene and Filling your Composition Toolbox’, where pupils
learnt about how composers create different atmospheres in film music, and used those
ideas to create their own pieces.
Pupils have already completed their practical assessment for AP1, with a
performance of their Axis of Awesome pop song. Pupils were assessed on:
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The accuracy of their notes and hand position.
Performing in time.
Working well as part of a group.
In the written part of their assessment pupils will be assessed on:
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Pupils’ ability to evaluate their performance by recognising what went well and what
they need to improve on, and how they can do this.
Pupils understanding of treble and bass clef notation.
Working out chords in different keys.
Identifying whether music is major or minor.
Analysing film music using key headings such as tempo and instrumentation.
How your child should revise:
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Completing the activities on their revision sheets.
Listening to a range of music and describing the pieces using the headings on their
revision sheets (Instruments, Key, Dynamics, Tempo, Pitch).
Using these quizzes to revise major and minor keys and bass clef notation:
http://eartrainingpro.com/exercises/major-and-minor-chords/start
http://www.musictechteacher.com/music_quizzes/aq_bass_clef_words/quiz.html
How you can help:
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Testing pupils on chords and notation using their revision booklets.
Asking pupils to analyse their favourite pieces of film music using the headings which
they have been given and then asking them to explain their answers to you.
Making sure that pupils complete the activities on the revision sheets, and mark them
in green pen using the answer sheets
Pupils have spent the past few weeks studying the Norman consolidation of England
and the Islamic Empire. Pupils have looked at the three different men who could have
been king in 1066 and why William won the Battle of Hastings. Pupils have also
investigated the different methods the Normans used to consolidate their power over
Saxon England. This term pupils have been learning about the spread of the Islamic
Empire and why people went on crusade to Jerusalem.
The first assessment will ask pupils about both these topics.
Pupils will be assessed on their ability to recall this information in a fact test and then
they will complete an extended answer paper asking them to show their
understanding on a number of key ideas from this unit.
How your child should revise:
Use the revision resources given in lesson and complete the tasks attached. Pupils
should use their booklet and exercise books to create a half page summary of what
they have learnt including key words, dates, people and key ideas.
How you can help:
General revision – you can read over pupils’ booklet and exercise books, making
sure all their improvements are completed in their book and they have used the
revision materials given to them in the week before the assessment.
Fact test revision – Encourage pupils to create fact files on the different methods
of consolidation they have studied. Create flash cards with facts on, which you can
use to test them and to go back through their books and learn their key words in their
glossary.
Extended answer paper – Review the model answers in pupil’s revision book,
read over their consolidation essay, midterm, spread of Islam essay and the reasons
why people ‘carried the cross’. Practice using the PEE colour codes to construct
pupils’ model paragraphs in the revision book.
In English this term, we have been studying The Adventure of Sherlock Holmes by Arthur
Conan Doyle. Pupils have also been improving their writing accuracy in Grammar lessons
and boosting their vocabulary and comprehension through Reading for Pleasure.
Pupils’ first assessment will be:
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To write an essay in response to a question on The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
Pupils will be marked for the quality of their response as well as the accuracy of their
writing.
How your child should revise:
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Complete the activities in the revision booklet
Read the three stories that we have studied again so they know where to find key
quotations (A Scandal in Bohemia, The Red-Headed League and the Blue Carbuncle)
Read over their notes in their exercise books and quotation hunter packs
Learn spellings and meanings of keywords in pupils’ glossary and vocabulary pages in
their planner
Have a go at the Sherlock Holmes quizzes at www.iamlearning.co.uk
Practise writing analytical paragraphs, using the examples they have worked on in
class to help them improve on their targets from the last assessment
Read through their spelling booklets, practising words they have spelt incorrectly
How you can help:
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Check that they are completing the activities in their revision booklet
Quiz pupils on keywords and definitions from pupils’ glossary and vocabulary pages
in their planner
Ask pupils to teach you the new vocabulary they have learned and what it means
Ask pupils to tell you about the sort of person Sherlock Holmes is in The Adventures
of Sherlock Holmes
Ask pupils to give you a summarised version of the three stories that we have studied
(A Scandal in Bohemia, The Red-Headed League and the Blue Carbuncle)
Ask pupils to tell you all they know about the Victorian era (the new police force,
crime, science and London)
Encourage pupils to talk you through the work they have done on The Adventures of
Sherlock Holmes in their exercise books
Ask pupils to teach you the new vocabulary they have learned and what it means.
This term in PE pupils have been learning about the different components of fitness as part
of their Health Related Fitness Unit. Pupils have successfully completed a range of fitness
tests, which have been compared to their Year 7 scores. Alongside this pupils have developed
an understanding of the differences between aerobic and anaerobic respiration, including the
different activities that require each. Pupils have also looked at the importance of setting
goals for their fitness and have used SMART targets to develop these.
How your child should revise:
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Revise the 11 components; identify whether they are skill or health components, the
definition for each, which sports require them, how to test each and how they can be
trained. Pupils should be able to link these to the practical sports they are currently
doing in PE and/or Enrichment.
Revise the difference between the two types of respiration and know examples of
athletes and activities that use each.
Revise what SMART stands for and how to ensure their targets meet these criteria.
Pupils should complete the revision booklet that they have been given in class. Use
the help sheet to support them with this.
Use the BBC Bitesize website to help support their revision of the components of
fitness, aerobic and anaerobic respiration, and using SMART targets.
How you can help:
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Continue to help pupils learn the components of fitness, including their definitions
and relevant fitness test.
Ask pupils how to use SMART to set targets for their fitness and training.
Ask pupils to name the two types of respiration used during exercise and to describe
their differences and application.
Encouraging your child to join a local sports club/team to help support their practical
attainment in PE.
Supporting pupils with the learning of key spellings and definitions in preparation for
both their spelling tests and their on-going attainment of the theoretical components
of the PE curriculum.
This term in PRE we have been studying a philosophical theme-the afterlife. Pupils have
studied different responses to the question, ‘what happens when we die?’ Pupils have
explored the concept of grief and how different people cope differently with the loss of a
loved one. Pupils have discussed potential evidence for the existence of an afterlife and
explored how convincing this evidence is and they have reflected on their own opinions
about what happens when we die.
The assessment:
Pupils’ assessment will focus on the content that we have been learning this term. The
assessment will have one essay question and pupils will be expected to use what they have
learnt to write a detailed and persuasive answer to this question.
How your child should revise:
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Reading over class work and home learning and making sure that they have
completed and learned from their improvements
Read through their PRE book and make sure they know the key words from their
glossary
Read the assessment question and success criteria and plan their essay
How you can help:
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Testing them on the key facts
Reading through their PRE reading with them and helping them to understand
anything they are struggling with
Timing them to write an essay in 45 minutes
This half term pupils have been focussing on human Geography. Pupils have completed one
unit on settlement, and another on migration. There will be 2 sections to pupils assessment;
one for each unit.
For each unit there will be a mixture of multiple choice, short and long answer questions.
Pupils will need to write PEE paragraphs as extended answers. The extended answers will be
focussed on our two cases studies; Dharavi and the migrant crisis. There will also be source
questions; we will give pupils photographs and pieces of writing pupils will need to read and
answer geographical questions about.
How your child should revise:
Use the revision resources given in lesson and complete the tasks attached. Pupils should
also check that all classwork is complete and any catch up work has been organised. Pupils
should also make sure their unit passports and all improves are completed. Pupils should
make sure they have a strong grasp of precise, numerical evidence for Dharavi and the
migrant crisis.
How you can help:
General revision – you can read over their exercise book, making sure their passport and
all their improvements are completed. You can also check they have used the revision
materials given to them in the week before the assessment.
Multiple choice and shorter answer questions–you can look at the information in
their book and test them on it. You could also ask them to explain the key terms in their
glossary.
Case study answers: Dharavi and the migrant crisis – you can test pupils on their
precise numerical evidence. You can also ask pupils questions and listen to them practise
developing their explanation of key problems and solutions. You might also ask them to
explain what a good quality piece of written work looks like in Geography, paying particular
attention to what a knock on effect is, and how to develop their explanation.
ART
In Art this term pupils have been working on the Formal Elements and Artist Alphabet
project. Pupils have learnt about composition, tone, texture, form and colour theory, and
have practised using these formal elements in
lessons.
Pupils have selected a word from the Artist
Alphabet and have been thinking about how they
will show the meaning of this word, through drawing and painting only the first letter. Pupils
are now planning how they will use the formal elements creatively in their final Artist
Alphabet letter.
Pupils’ AP1 will be made up of a practical assessment (their final piece) and a written
assessment.
In their practical assessment (Final Artist Alphabet letter) pupils
will be assessed on:
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How successfully they convey (show) the meaning of their word
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How successfully they use the formal elements in their piece
(composition, tone, texture, form and colour theory)
In their written assessment pupils will be assessed on:
Their knowledge of the formal elements (composition, tone, texture, form and colour
theory).
- Pupils’ practical demonstration of the meaning of the formal elements.
- Pupils’ ability to evaluate an Artist Alphabet letter (using the formal element words).
Pupils can prepare for their final piece by:
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Carefully reading and considering the success criteria stuck in their sketchbook.
Practising their skills and techniques that are appropriate for their letter (for example
tone and texture).
- Creating another test of their final piece on A4 (or A3) paper.
Your child should prepare for their written assessment by:
- Reading their glossary and revision help sheet carefully.
- Practising writing out the definitions of the formal elements (including all examples).
- Practising showing the meaning of the formal elements through drawing them (look
back over word in pupils’ sketchbook).
- Practising writing an evaluation of their test artist alphabet letter (or someone else’s
letter) using the formal element words and the success criteria (stuck in their
sketchbook).
You can help by: Testing pupils on their knowledge of the formal elements.
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