9 into 10 Preparation
June 2014
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Year 10 Preparation tasks for Maths
•Tasks that Year 9 pupils can complete in preparation for September.
Pupils should visit the MyMaths website, and with their log-in, access the levelled
booster packs. They should complete the pack aimed at the level they acquired at
the end of KS3, and in addition, attempt the level above.
After you log in to the main site, and enter
your personal login details you will see this
page.
Click on MyLevels
Click on level required e.g. Level 5 and the
‘traffic lights’ will appear.
Click on the grey ‘not attempted yet bar’
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
A list of Level 5 topics will appear. Click on
any to access the lesson and the online
homework for that topic
If you are unsure of the topic, then go
through the online lesson
...or, try the online homework first and
see how you get on!
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Don’t forget to click ‘Mark
it’ so that you know how
you’ve done!
•A list of materials or equipment that you will need for Maths at GCSE.
•A basic geometry set – ruler, protractor, pair of compasses
•A scientific calculator – preferably a Casio (available to purchase from their Maths teacher
if desired). If you already have one from KS3, there is no need for a new one.
•Relevant reading materials, programmes on television or computer programmes that they
can access.
MyMaths website, as above.
www.mymaths.co.uk
Login: olchfa
Password: triangle
Individual logins should already be known by students – if they have forgotten, they need
to ask their current Maths teacher before the end of term.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Hints and tips that will help you to be successful in Mathematics.
Learn your tables! If you know they are a weak area, make this the
summer you really crack them! There are plenty of free Apps out there to
help you!
Make sure you have all your equipment for every maths lesson
Learn all the formulae you encounter
As you move from topic to topic, keep going back and practise previous
topics – keep it all fresh!
Always attempt all your homework – if you fall behind, it is very difficult
to catch up. Also, it helps your teacher to see where you have gone wrong,
and help put you back on track
Be proactive in your learning – if you need extra help...ask!
Revise thoroughly for all tests – this will help everything stay fresh in your
mind, and will give you a true indicator of areas you need to work harder
at.
When you are revising make sure you
1. look at and work through all the worked examples you’ve done in
class
2. Try class-work and homework exercises again
3. Make up a mini-test for yourself where you have mixed up the
topics
4. Get someone to test you on your formulae
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Science
What will I need?
You will need to bring a pen, pencil and ruler to every lesson. You will also
need a scientific calculator (the one you use for Maths will be fine) and this
should also be brought to every lesson. Some highlighters and colour pencils
would also be useful to help emphasise key points in your notes.
Key Words
There are some key words that you will need to be familiar with when you start
your GCSE course in Science. Try to spend some time going through the
words to make sure you understand what they mean. The examination
vocabulary will be relevant to all your subjects not just Science.
Reviewing the basics
As part of your preparation you could look at the BBC Bitesize website for Key
Stage 3 and work through some of the units to revise the basic ideas you will
need as you start the course.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/science/
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Science cont....
Researching what you will be studying
The examination syllabus lists all the topics you will be studying and give
you an outline of the key ideas you need to learn. You could spend some time
looking at the different units to see what is ahead.
The syllabus you need to look at will depend on which Science option you
have chosen:BTEC Science- Edexcel –Principles of Applied science
http://www.edexcel.com/migrationdocuments/BTEC%20Firsts%20from%20
2012/BF029943-Specification-BTEC-Level-1-2-First-Award-Principles-ofApplied-Science.pdf
Double Science- WJEC
http://www.wjec.co.uk/uploads/publications/16052.pdf
Triple Science- WJEC (Biology 4480, Chemistry 4490, Physics 4500)
http://www.wjec.co.uk/uploads/publications/16052.pdf
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Science cont....
External GCSE Examinations
The examination dates are not finalised yet but the times of year for them are
below:
BTEC Science-
One 1 hour examination in March or June 2015
Double Science- Three 1 hour examinations in June 2015 and three 1 hour
examinations in May/June 2016
Triple Science- Three 1 hour examinations in June 2015, three 1 hour
examinations in January 2016 and three 1 hour examinations in May/June 2016
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
English
Pupils need to spend some time researching titles and deciding which texts
you may consider reading over the summer. This kind of research will help
you engage with the subject and help develop your research skills.
In addition to this, you should be regularly reading the newspaper. The
English department recommend a quality broadsheet (along with weekend
supplements) but tabloids are better than nothing.
You can also collect cuttings of articles that interest you over the summer,
ready for discussion when you undertake group work during the first few
weeks of Yr10.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
English Continued....
The BBC Bitesize website has an excellent English section:
English Language:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize/english/
Look at the KS3 section, this will be a great reminder of what you should
already have mastered! Mrs. Salmon recommends the writing section.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/ks3/english/
Don’t use the KS4 English Literature section until you know which texts you will
be studying.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
English Cont......
Though stories are as old as human life itself, the novel, as we know it today, became
established in the late seventeenth and early eighteenth centuries.
The following list includes a range of titles ranging from old favourites to newly
published novels.
Enjoy a good read with:
Eighteenth-Century Novels
Daniel Defoe (Robinson Crusoe, 1719). This book is thought by many to be the
first English novel.
Mary Shelly (Frankenstein, 1818)
Charlotte Bronte (Jane Eyre, 1847)
Bram Stoker (Dracula, 1897)
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
English cont....
Twentieth-Century Novels
James Joyce (A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, 1916)
Aldous Huxley (Brave New World, 1932)
Daphne du Maurier (Rebecca, 1938)
J.D. Salinger (The Catcher in the Rye, 1951)
Daniel Keyes (Flowers for Algernon, 1959)
Harper Lee (To Kill a Mockingbird, 1960)
Truman Capote (In Cold Blood, 1966)
Pat Barker (Regeneration, 1991)
Khaled Hosseini (The Kite Runner, 2003)
S. Limb (Girl, 15, Charming But Insane, 2004)
Owen Sheers (Resistence, 2007)
Laurie Lee (As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning, 1969)
Louise Lawrence (Children of the Dust, 1985)
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Health and Social Care
Health and Social Care Year 9 into Year 10 pupils
•The recommended reading for the single and double award is OCR Health and
Social Care for GCSE by Hilary Thomson and Sylvia Aslangul. It is not an essential
buy, but very useful.
•Pupils studying the Single Award in HSC will need to buy 1 ring binder.
•All pupils should try to regularly collect the South Wales Evening Post. Bring
these into school in September (often excellent topics for discussion of a HSC
nature that can also help with the coursework tasks) Pupils should also keep up to
date with BBC news information relating to Health and Social Care.
•All single and double award pupils need to attend a nursery within the local area,
preferably during your work experience placement in addition to one full day with
Health and Social Care.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Health and Social Care cont...
•If you attend a nursery as a group, one of you needs to ask for a
prospectus from the nursery to bring back to class.
•When attending the Early Years Setting all pupils should take with them the
questionnaire; see Mrs. Scordino.
•Pupils need to be aware of a few key terms in Health and Social Care
An early year’s service is a nursery, children’s centre or primary school setting
that focuses on children from 0-8 years.
A service user is the child or parent of the child who goes to that nursery
school.
A service provider or practitioner is the person who provides the service, the
teacher, a nursery nurse, a classroom assistant.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Music
GCSE Music Preparation Tasks
•Completing these tasks will give you a great head start to your GCSE in Music.
Prepare a solo or group piece to be performed in September
•This could be a piece that you know well or a new one that you’d like to learn.
•Ideally, it needs to be Grade 2 or 3 standard
•Of course, it can be a song if you are a singer
Compose a piece of music that could be used to advertise the new iPod ‘Nano’
(Go to www.apple.co.uk to see the product)
•Think about the style of music that would suit the product. Use the elements of music to
help you create an effective piece:
•Pitch – high or low notes?
•Duration – long or short notes?
•Dynamics – loud or quiet?
•Tempo – fast or slow?
•Timbre – which instruments?
•Texture – thin or thick?
•Structure – the order or plan of the music
•Silence – using gaps or rests to create impact in the music
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Music Continued
Listen to the following pieces of classical music on YouTube:
•Ask yourself – which instruments are used? How are the pieces similar to each
other? In what ways are they different?
•Symphony in C minor (1st Movement) – Beethoven
•Toccata and Fugue – Bach
•Hallelujah Chorus – Handel
•Greeting Prelude – Stravinsky (Which tune is used in this piece?)
•Hungarian Rhapsody No. 2 in C# Minor (Piano Version)– Liszt
•The Lark Ascending – Vaughan Williams
•Different Trains – Steve Reich
Use www.musictheory.net to revise/ learn basic music notation. You should
use the first six lessons. You can try any of the exercises that accompany the
lessons
Research film music written by Hans Zimmer. Listen to the music from ‘The
Dark Knight’, ‘Gladiator’, ‘Pirates of the Caribbean’ and ‘Inception’. All of these can
be found on YouTube. How does Zimmer create music that suits the film?
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Citizenship
Over the summer holidays find out about a political
party. You need to be able to tell Mr. Sanger about:
Who is in charge (not just the leader but also his main
colleagues)
What their ideas are (e.g. do they want to change the
welfare system, the NHS)
You can use the BBC site and quality newspapers
(Times, Guardian, Independent, Telegraph) for research.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Art
Natural Form work
1. Research Images of a range of Natural form images (a variety of natural
forms, close ups and from further away.
2. Pencil drawings (demonstrating tonal shade, texture and form)
3. Pen drawings
4. Artist research (Native American design, Hannah Davies (illustrator))
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Drama
Watching plays is the best preparation for a Drama course, if you have an
opportunity to see a play live on stage, take it:
Below is a list of suitable plays that you could see before September:
New Theatre Cardiff:
Rocky Horror Show 8th-13th July
Bristol Hippodrome:
Hairspray: 6th-17th August
Grand Theatre Swansea:
Murder in Play 24th-27th July
A murder has been arranged 7th-10th August
The Pitman Painters- 19th-24th August
Try watching: http://www.tv.com/shows/inside-the-actors-studio/
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Child Development
Preparation for year 9`s studying Child Development.
Coursework in yr 10 consists of studying a child under 5. (This task makes up 30 % of
your overall GCSE). It is important that you know the child quite well, so that you can
have more successful observations as a result.
To help get a “feel” for the subject consider some or all of the following:
•Accompany a child under 5 to various activities over the summer holidays, to begin to
understand the demands on a carer, to occupy a child or children under 5. The mum will
appreciate the extra help too! Keep a notebook/ diary of the activities.
•Babysit if possible.
•Watch relevant TV programmes or go to “4 on demand” to watch some episodes of
“One born every minute” or “Born to be different”.
•Compile a list of equipment that is needed for a newborn baby. Include pictures with
costs and give some reasons for your choices.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
• Angry Birds - Design an Angry Birds character.
Research - Look up images of all of the characters,
then draw your own. Don't forget to draw your name
on it in the Angry birds typeface.
• Research 'Happy Meals' during the summer, buy one
and keep all of the packaging that comes with it.
• This work will be collected in and marked in
September
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Product Design
Your first project will be to design and make a speaker/ amplifier for a
mobile phone. Over the summer your project is to investigate/
research existing designs of mobile phone speakers and amplifiers
and design a minimum of four ideas, one design must be developed
into 3D, preferably using Google Sketch-up. Google sketch-up can
be downloaded for free online. It is an essential tool in Technology.
Main project points:
1. Research/ investigation of existing mobile phone speakers/
amplifiers.
2. A minimum of four hand drawn design ideas, with notes.
3. One design developed into 3D, drawn by hand initially, then using
Google Sketch-up.
4. Presented on A4/A3 paper
5. Handed in, in September 2014.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Food
Cook basic dishes by following recipes from cookery books, as practise
and to gain more confidence in the kitchen. Take photos of your dishes.
Materials or equipment: Weighing Scales, a variety of storage containers
to bring food in/take food home in, a basic store of flour, sugar,
margerine, eggs.
Watch interesting cookery shows, Great British bake off, Masterchef,
Come dine with me etc. Use books and the internet to find recipes you
would like to make.
Top tips: Practise cooking at least once a week, be organised in bring in
ingredients to each practical session, BBC bitesize has good revision
materials.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
PE
Refer to the booklet on Moodle, which was also given out to PE students
during the sessions with Miss. Samuel.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Computing
Pupils should download VB Express
It is free and can be downloaded from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/eng/downloads#d-2010express
It would be a good idea to familiarise yourself with the program.
Try these tutorials...
http://www.schoolfreeware.com/Visual_Basic_2010_Express_Tutorials
_-_VB.Net_-_Beginning_-_Game_Programming.html
(there are loads of simple tutorials online – just search for VB express
tutorial for beginners)
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
IT
The Controlled assessment next year focuses on a music festival.
Pupils should collect original resources if they can. If you are going to a music
festival in the summer or camping or outside having fun take some pictures
that you may be able to use for your controlled assessment.
You could also record sounds and videos on your mobile phones.
Please make sure you transfer the files onto a memory stick for use in school.
If you have any questions regarding IT before the end of term please see Miss
Wilkes or Mr. Dunn.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Business
GCSE Business Studies transition Summer project.
The following should help to prepare you for the GCSE in Business Studies. Having the
correct skills are vital to any budding entrepreneur (business person!).
Your tasks for the summer will challenge you to identify these skills and prepare you for the
topics being covered within your course.
•Open www.youtube.com
•In the search bar type ‘Dragons Den UK’.
•Find and watch a range of examples of business ideas which have been pitched to the
Dragons.
Choose three and on a separate piece of paper carry out the following tasks:•Summarise the business idea.
•Outline the strengths of the idea.
•Outline the weaknesses of the idea.
•Would you invest in the project if you were a ‘Dragon’.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
History
Preparation for History GCSE
Research task – Pupils can research the following topics relating to the
treatment of Black Americans in the southern states of America during the
1920s.
•They should be able to define the terms segregation and the ‘Jim Crow Laws’.
• They should research the work of the NAACP and the UNIA in America during
the 1920s.
• Conduct some research on the Harlem Renaissance.
•Research the impact that the Great Depression of the 1930s had on Black
Americans
Films to watch – The Rosa Parks Story
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
History cont....
Hints and Advice – There are a few things that are very important if you
are to be successful in your study of History.
•Never fall behind with your work. If you miss lessons for any reason, you
must copy up immediately and in the correct chronological order.
•Always revise for every test and assessment. Doing this will make
revision for your final exams much easier as you will have already revised
the relevant course content several times before.
•Learn the correct technique for answering the different styles of
question.
•Be prepared to support your arguments with specific, factual evidence.
•Read around the topics studied in class to improve your understanding.
•Never leave a lesson without fully understanding the work, you must ask
for help if you are stuck!
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
What books can I buy?
You are lucky that a course-specific textbook has been written for both The Core and
Options paper. These are the textbooks that we use in school but we encourage our
geographers to buy their own copy to help them with revision / homework. The
photographs of the textbooks that you can buy are shown below along with their titles.
GCSE
Geography for
WJEC A - Core
GCSE Geography
for WJEC A –
Options Topics
GCSE
Geography for
WJEC A –
Revision Guide
Hint: Why not see if any Year 11s who have just finished studying GCSE Geography will sell you a copy
of their textbook for slightly cheaper?
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
Equipment:
All of your work will be completed in exercise books. You will be issued
with a new exercise book in September. For each lesson, we expect you
to bring:
•A fully stocked pencil-case (pen / red pen for underlining / pencil / 30cm
ruler / glue stick / compass / protractor).
•A set of colouring pencils (for diagrams and graphs).
•Your planner (for recording homework as well as consulting the world
map at the back of your planner).
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
What can I do over the summer?
•Buy a copy of the WJEC Core textbook (as this will be the first textbook
you will use in lessons).
•The first topic you study will be “Living in an Active Zone – Volcanoes and
Earthquakes”. Keep an eye out for any news stories that relate to
earthquakes or volcanic eruptions that happen. Why not cut out these
news stories from newspapers as you come across them?
•Revisit your Year 8 booklet on Volcanoes and Earthquakes so that you can
“hit the ground running” with the basics of Plate Tectonics (e.g. the types of
plate margins / the parts of a volcano / the formation of earthquakes /
volcanoes). This will save you, and your Geography teacher, time in the
long run.
•Visit the Geography section of the school website. There is a host of
relevant information on here for you to look over. Get ahead over the long
summer break!
•Download some geographical apps (if you have an iPad / iPod / iPhone)
and try to improve your general geographical knowledge – e.g. where
places are / basic geographical information – There are lots of good
geographical games out there – find them!
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
GCSE Media Studies
Research task – Pupils must research the following terms in relation to Media
Studies:
•Stereotypes
•Representation
•Target Audience
•Demographic
•Genre
•Genre conventions
•Hybrids
•Mise-en-scene
•Technical Codes
•Audio Codes
•Narrative
Pupils should find appropriate examples to support the definitions and present
their findings as either a Powerpoint or in the form of an investigation. Pupils
should use the library but can also see Mr Thomas in Room 7 to use some
relevant text books.
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
GCSE Media Studies cont.........
Exam Topic – Television Drama – Crime
Suggested programmes to watch:
•The Fall
•The Following
•Hannibal
•Taggart
•Inspector Morse
•Midsomer Murders
•Poirot
•Foyle’s War
•Broadchurch
•The Killing
•Sherlock
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
GCSE Media Studies cont.........
Tips:
Pupils should be proactive in their study of modern media. It would be useful to
keep a scrapbook of interesting articles, reports and other relevant research.
Keep an eye out for any media based competitions. Many media institutions run
annual film-making competitions which will help to support your coursework
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
RS- short course
Religious Studies – Short Course GCSE
• Yr 10 topics: Religion & Conflict / Religion & Medicine
• Yr 11 topics: Authority – Religion & State
You may choose one of these three tasks to complete in
preparation for September. However, please feel free to do
more if you are interested!
Task1:
• Buy a newspaper.
• Read through and cut out any articles that relate to religion.
• To cover all the articles read, draw a table highlighting the following:
? What religion is being discussed?
? What is the article about?
? Does it give a positive or negative view of that religion?
? What impression has it left upon you after reading the article?
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
RS cont....
Task 2:
• Write one film review for any of the following films:
 Bend It Like Beckham (12)
 The Infidel (15)
 Four Lions (15)
 East is East (15)
 My Name Is Khan (12)
1. Write a brief overview of the story.
2. Explore the conflict/challenges experienced between the
religions portrayed and their adopted countries.
3. What suggestions do you have to develop interfaith dialogue
(i.e. how can we develop understanding and peace between
different faiths)?
4. In what light does this film portray ‘religion’ (positive OR
negative)?
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
RS cont....
Task 3:
• Watch 5 episodes of the news and write a
report covering the following:
? How many times is religion mentioned
regarding issues of peace, forgiveness
and conflict?
? In what context are the news stories
about?
? Is the reporting a balanced view?
? How is the audience left feeling about that
religion?
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014
RS cont....
Hints and tips that will help you to be successful in RS:
•Keep an eye on how religion is portrayed through the media – news papers
and the news in general. How is it explored or treated in film?
•Whenever you hear religion talked about reflect whether it is in a positive or
negative way?
•Engage with discussions about religion! Take your lesson home with you and into
your friendship groups to hear what other people think – challenge and be
challenged!
Equipment needed at GCSE:
•Pen (plus spare)
•Pencil & Sharpener
•Ruler
•Colour pencils
•Glue stick
C. L. Samuel, Olchfa School 2014