Description

ABOUT THIS COURSE

This brand-new course for all teachers of AQA A-Level Biology will explore how you can turn the mistakes made in previous exam series into an opportunity for positive change moving forward, fully preparing your students for success in the year ahead and beyond. This interactive course will support and challenge teachers in equal measures.

You will leave with a thorough overview of the main lessons to be learnt from previous examinations and a wide range of ideas, methods and approaches to prepare students to maximise their potential in the 2025 exams. Emphasis will be made on the demands of the exams that are not met as well as they could be, and the implications this has for your A-Level teaching and learning.

BENEFITS OF ATTENDING

• Understand the main lessons to be learnt from previous examinations
• Gain an informed overview of key areas of concern
• Learn new and innovative ways to deliver areas that target these areas of concern
• Experience and try out novel pedagogy in the classroom
• Produce a strategic approach to maximise student success in 2025 and beyond

PROGRAMME

The Exam – Reflections and Approaches

10.00 – 11.00am

• Feedback from recent exams: what is it essential to be aware of?
• The main factors that affect examination success in all 3 papers and the challenges experienced by candidates
• Deep-diving problem questions from the exam papers
• How to engage students in the content of the course, and how to maximise their focus on what brings the most reward in examinations
• Reflections on recent mark schemes and what this means moving forward
• Starting to make a plan of action- what should we do? How should we do it?

Morning Break

11.00 – 11.20am

A Focus on Comprehension and Essay Questions

11.20 – 12.20pm

• How do students answer compared to what the exam board want to see
• Strategies to decipher and meet the demands of the questions
• Managing synopticity
• AO3 clinic- ways to fix the AO3 success rate in your school

Lunch

12.20 – 1.20pm

Short Answer Headaches

1.20 – 2.20pm

• Dealing with data in the manner that A-Level Biology expects
• Working with new and innovative methods to prepare students for data demands
• Deciphering where marks are lost
• Working on strategies to minimise the silly mistakes

Afternoon Break

2.20 – 2.30pm

Moving Forward and Maximising Success in 2025 and Beyond

2.30 – 3.30pm

• Summary of what we have learnt
• Producing a plan of action to maximise student success in 2025
• Specific lessons to be learnt and how to prevent them from happening again
• Ensuring whole department success – managing staff and developing a progressive teaching culture that organically learns and improves