As we come to the end of another academic year, it is well worth highlighting that the beginning of the next is always an important time for those students who return to The Friary in Year 10 as they will be embarking on the journey towards their GCSEs. Although a number of subject areas have already started delivering content for examination and vocational courses, all subjects begin the process in Year 10.
We want to do everything we can to support our students in making the transition from Year 9 into Year 10 and, as part of this, we will be providing materials for the students to access over the summer break to gain further insight into the content of the qualifications that they will be studying. The majority of our subjects will be making reading, research and/or practical tasks available on Show my Homework. The tasks are not compulsory and are not intended to be submitted or assessed, they are simply going to be made available should any of our Year 9 students wish to gain a head start on their studies for Year 10.
Whilst we want to support students in making the best progress possible during years 10 and 11, it is also important that students have a long rest and get the opportunity to spend some quality time with family and friends; this is why the students can choose for themselves how much or little they do. The materials will be available to download by Friday 20th July. We would certainly not recommend students complete all of the tasks and spend hours and hours doing so. A good way forward might be to have a look at some of the materials for subject areas where progress has been not been as strong this year. The materials will also provide an opportunity for students to find out a little more about some of the ‘new’ subjects that they may have opted for next year, such as Engineering, Business Studies or Hospitality and Catering.
Jason Cain, Assistant Headteacher, said: “ We have set transition activities for our Year 11 students to complete in order to prepare them for the next phase of their education in the Sixth Form for some years now. Whilst the move from Year 9 to Year 10 is a very different matter, we feel that it would be beneficial for students and parents to be able to access a range of tasks and activities to support the transition process over the summer break. There is certainly no expectation that our students will spend hours of their summer working and this is why the tasks are optional and not assessed. It is important for everyone to take some much needed downtime, however, just having a read through a few of the materials or having a go at a research task will certainly create a solid foundation to begin new courses in Year 10 and minimise the ‘summer dip’ that we’ve heard so much about in recent years.”
