How to support your child

For a list of the dates and subjects for internal and external examinations please click here.  To access advice to pupils on preparing and completing examinations please use this link.

The descriptions of the various qualifications should give you an idea of the different styles of study and assessment your child may meet. Some qualifications award more of their final marks through exams - but even for GCSEs your child is likely to have to present a substantial amount of coursework. Find out what the mix is for each qualification your child is taking.

Coursework is different from homework, although to parents the activity may look much the same. The difference is simple - if it's coursework, the mark your child gets for it will count towards their final grade.

Please discuss with us the amount of homework and coursework your child will have to do every week because it will vary according to the ebb and flow of individual subjects and qualifications.

It is very important that pupils pace and organise their work through the two years. It is tempting to organise your child if you think they are not doing the right amount of work on time, but remember that your child needs to learn to organise their own work, and interference can sometimes be very counter-productive. It is more productive to help your child sort out the big picture. For example, you might look through the scheme for each qualification with your child, noting when they will have to hand in coursework, when they will have to sit exams or tests, and how much each of these is worth. You and your child could draw up a timetable covering the two years from 14 to 16 showing the critical points for each qualification. Your child is then free to organise their work week by week, but can ask for more help from you when they feel they need it.

Spelling and punctuation

Some parents who have been asked to look at their children's work wonder whether they should correct punctuation and spelling if the subject is not English.

When assessors are marking coursework and exam scripts, some of the marks available will be deducted for English errors - typically 5 to 10 per cent. This means that if your child writes incorrectly, they will lose a significant portion of the marks.

So in marking terms there is a limit to how much your child can lose with poor spelling, punctuation or grammar. If your child asks for your help with geography you will need to spend more time talking about the key concepts and knowledge for geography than about incorrect English.

But writing correctly is essential for English GCSE and it plays an important part in almost every job in adult working life. This is why the government has put a lot of emphasis on literacy for every pupil. So if your child is making a lot of errors they will need to spend some extra time improving their skills. Take advice from your child's teacher.

Using calculators

Another worry for parents is how much their child should be using a calculator. A general principle of maths teaching is that pupils should start by trying to do a sum in their heads. If that proves too difficult, they should work out the sum on paper or use a calculator. In these cases, pupils should still try to estimate a rough answer in their heads to give a check on whether their answer is accurate or not.

But calculators are important tools and the mathematics curriculum requires pupils to be taught:

Although pupils have to work without a calculator in one part of their maths GCSE, another part tests them on the requirements above. Your child's school will be able to advise you about which model of calculator it is best to buy.

Computers: to buy or not to buy?

The National Curriculum requires that all pupils be taught how to use Information and Communication Technology (ICT) to enhance their work between the ages of 14 and 16, as well as to learn about it in its own right. ICT is about much more than computers, but a common question for parents is whether their child will miss out if they don't have a computer at home - or have access to the internet.

ICT is similar to literacy. You can learn to read and write, then only ever read or write junk. But if you don't learn to read, you will certainly be cut off from a world of information and ways to present your own ideas. Your child may have access to a computer at home but if they don't use it for a good range of activities, the computer may benefit their leisure much more than their learning. A good range of activities would include:

Playing games and web surfing can achieve some of these aims, but on their own they are unlikely to achieve all of them. Your child will certainly learn through using the computer and internet access provided at school. Beyond this, quality is more important than quantity - a few well-spent hours on a computer in a public library, or at an internet café, may be a very cost-effective way to enhance your child's learning out of school hours.  Also, remember that there are computers available in the Learning Resouces Centre at the school which is open until 5 o'clock every evening (4.30 on a Friday).