BARKING ABBEY SCHOOL WELCOMES YOU TO THE YEAR 8 PARENTS’ INFORMATION EVENING

1. BARKING ABBEY SCHOOL WELCOMES YOU TO THEYEAR 8 PARENTS’ INFORMATION EVENING HOW TO HELP YOUR CHILD THROUGH OPTIONS

2. THIS EVENING PUTTING YEAR 8 INTO CONTEXT THE TWO-YEAR KEY STAGE 3 (The PowerPoint will be available on the school website)

3. THE CONTEXT OF BARKING ABBEY SCHOOL Mr Lloyd

4. 2013 EXAMINATION RESULTS GCSE: 5+ A*-C PASS RATE (inc English and Maths): NATIONAL AVERAGE: 59% BOROUGH AVERAGE: 60% BARKING ABBEY: 65.4%

5. 2013 EXAMINATION RESULTS GCSE: 5+ A*-C PASS RATE: BARKING ABBEY 88.4% BOROUGH AVERAGE = 80%

6. 2013 EXAMINATION RESULTS A LEVEL A* - E Grades: 99.4% A*- C Grades: 74.1% Average Points Score Per Entry: 221.6 (National = 212) Over 600 in the Sixth Form

7. SPORTING SUCCESS Centres of Football (Boys and Girls), Netball, Golf & Basketball (Boys and Girls) Excellence Barking Abbey selected as the first Regional Institute of Excellence by British Basketball £400,000 grant from the Football Foundation for all-weather surface at Lower School New dome structure to provide more indoor facilities at Upper School

9. The Bane of our lives – the internet! Our e-safety work: E-safety committee (staff, police officer, students) E-safety and Acceptable Use policies Smart filters on internet and email access Staff training on e-safety E-safety assemblies with all year groups Police Officer works closely with families experiencing e-safety issues Police monitoring of social network sites Posters on display around the school All students given e-safety guidelines E-safety lessons in ICT and PDC falzona@babbey.bardaglea.org.uk odwyerc@babbey.bardaglea.org.uk

10. The Bane of our lives – the internet! https://onlinefamily.norton.com Control which sites your child can visit Control the time your child spends on the internet Easy to set up Easy to monitor Gives you instant information about each child’s use of the internet Can be used across all the computers in the home One parent bans her child from social network sites and his mobile phone and his PSP during term time. He got an A* in his Maths GCSE at the end of Year 10

11. Dear Mr Lloyd,Following last week’s meeting at Longbridge Road, you gave a presentation on the benefits of Norton Online Family.Well what a God send and thank you very much! I have for a long time been waiting for something like this to be availablebut never thought of searching for it myself, but I have now installed it at home on all 3 computers, much to the displeasure of my son in Year 9! It is so easy to use, and has some brilliant features, like, automatically blocking unsuitable sites and words or phrases, and best of all,the timetable of use you can set up for each child! I have limited my children to 2 hours per weekday on the computer which is sufficient time to complete homework or recreational use.  Instead of sitting at his pc desk, my son is now, completing his homework straight after school, watching a bit ofTV with the family and playing football outside with his brother. Yes, there have been moans, but I can honestly say I have taken back control.

12. THE OPTIONS PROCESSMRS GLENDINNING

13. THE OPTIONS PROCESS (1) • THE MAIN ISSUES • 1. Reasons for choosing subjects and subjects which are oversubscribed • 2. Relating choices to possible careers • 3. Parents must be closely involved • The vast majority of choices will be met, but the school must have the final say • Choose a broad and balanced variety

14. THE OPTIONS PROCESS (2) Problems every year caused by: - not finding out enough about the subject - doing the subject for the wrong reasons - “my friends are doing it” - “I don’t like that teacher” - Most common reason given for wanting to change subject: “I don’t want to do this any more because I didn’t realise what it was going to be like”

15. THE OPTIONS PROCESS (3) The new curriculum A positive and genuine alternative Work Experience College Placements Vocational courses

16. THE OPTIONS PROCESS (4) The Core Subjects: English, Maths, ICT, PDC, PE, Science (Double, Triple or BTEC) Choices: Art, Graphical Art, Building, Business Studies, Drama, PE/Sport, Media Studies, Dance, Music, RE, Mechanisms, Resistant Materials, Engineering, Electronics, Graphics, Food Technology, Textiles, Child Development, French, Geography, History, Fast Track History/Geography, Sociology.

17. THE OPTIONS PROCESS (5) • PLEASE REMEMBER: • Year 9 will still be a transition year where students may be able to change their options if: • They have a very good reason • There is space in the subjects they want to change to

18. THE OPTIONS PROCESS (6) • THE MAIN PEOPLE TO TALK TO: • Mr Edwards - in charge of the Options process • Mrs Webster – Options process co-ordinator • Mr Duddridge and Mrs Cassell • Year 8 Co-ordinators, and your child’s Mentor • Mrs Jarvis or Mrs Glendinning • - Careers Advisors • 4. Subject teachers • 5. Mr Lloyd - Head teacher

19. THE OPTIONS PROCESS (7) THE TIMETABLE OF EVENTS W/B 5th January 2014:Options Booklet issued 14th January 2014: Option Information Evening and Careers Fair 14 February 2014: Final date for return of Option Choices

20. HOW CAREERS WILL HELP IN THE OPTIONS PROCESS

21. CAREERS GUIDANCE SCHOOL CAREERS ADVISERS MRS JARVIS MRS GLENDINNING - Individual guidance appointments offered to students - Parents may attend or phone us at school - Available at Options Evening - Pupils can email us (via school email) with queries

22. Options Talks - Small groups - Importance of Maths and English - Keep options open/balance as may change career ideas several times - University Entry Requirements: Many prefer traditional academic subjects e.g. sciences, humanities, languages - Career choice: check for subject requirements - Some subjects can be started from scratch at sixth form/college

23. YOUR ROLE Identify STRENGTHS and WEAKNESSES, INTERESTS Look at CAREERS INFORMATION TOGETHER and check the qualifications required

24. USEFUL WEBSITES Google: national careers service - Use Job Profiles for qualifications needed for jobs - Click on Young People tab / Career guides / CV and interview skills - Freephone number for advice: 0800 100 900 Google: Kudos (by Cascaid, licence code: examtest54) - to generate career ideas or check qualifications for jobs For details and further info please look at the school website under Departments/Careers

25. PASTORAL SUPPORT Mr Duddridge - Pastoral Co-ordinator

26. Attendance We are very proud of the fact that we have very few instances of truancy. Attendance is checked daily by office staff & parents are contacted. We have a dedicated Access & Attendance Officer. From 1st September 2013 Headteachers are no longer allowed to approve holidays during term time, only in the case of exceptional circumstances will leave be approved. This does not apply to Leave of Absence for the observance of Religious Holidays.

27. mentoring • Mentors will help recognise students strengths. • Mentors will give advice about appropriate courses. • Mentors will guide in setting student targets.

29. SETTING TARGETS Targets can be enforced at home: Students need to be spending at least 45 minutes on each piece of homework. Students need to set aside 30-45 minutes each day for general reading to improve their literacy. Parents can monitor the quality of their child’s work by checking their exercise books. Parents should regularly checking the Learning Journal and e-portal. These can be used as a valuable link between home and school.

30. FUTURE EVENINGYear 8 Parents Evening 3.30 – 7.30 – Longbridge Road Thursday 12th December

31. In Summary The main aim in Year 8 is to give students a foundation for learning and achievement, in preparation for their GCSEs and examinations at K.S.4 We will achieve this by: Pupils being able to access the curriculum. Pupils developing the skills to be independent. Pupils feeling supported. Pupils feeling part of a community. Pupils enjoying their learning.