Description
ABOUT THIS CONFERENCE
The focus of this student revision conference, refreshed for 2024, is to support students in securing Grades 4 and 5 in their GCSE Mathematics examination. Students will develop the skills required for problem solving approaches; enabling them to access problems; have the skills to meet the challenges of answering Grade 4 and 5 questions and be able to present their solutions to examiners clearly.
KEY FOCUS AREAS
- A fast-paced day to keep students engaged and motivated: take away the most crucial strategies for exam success
- Develop high quality examination technique, understanding and confidence
- Gain first-hand guidance and advice from a subject expert, unpicking and addressing how to ensure students achieve those crucial 4/5 grades
- Have the opportunity to ask questions directly to the subject expert
- Take away conference notes with revision guidance that really works
- Can be tailored as an in-school conference
- Student workbook to allow application of skills, knowledge and understanding throughout the sessions and beyond
PROGRAMME
Welcome and Introductions with problem solving challenge
10.00am – 10.15am
Key overview for securing Grades 4 and 5
10.15 – 10.40am
- Explore high quality revision tactics with our examiner and look at what worked in previous years’ exam answers
- Where did students struggle in 2023
- Obtain expert guidance on how to be awarded maximum marks for working out and answers
- Gain knowledge of how to develop answers to pick up crucial marks
- STUDENT ACTIVITY: using examples of student answers, this is a hands-on practical marking activity with the students becoming the examiner
Pythagoras’ Theorem and Trigonometry
10.40 – 11.20pm
- Get to grips with these challenging key topics
- Explore how to spot hidden applications and break them down
- Top Tips to secure full marks quickly
- Avoid the pitfalls from previous students
Break – Submit your questions to the experts
11.20 – 11.40am
Area and Volume
11.40 – 12.20pm
- Discover what the examiners are looking for and what not to do
- Examine how to accurately carry out procedures that need multi-step solutions
- Review and remember the important key facts, terminology and formulae
- Practice application of approaches to the more complex area, surface area and volume problems – including in contexts and reverse problems
Averages – Mainly The Mean
12.20 – 12.50pm
- Ensure fluency and understanding when problem solving with the Mean from frequency tables and grouped frequency tables – not just the basics
- Tackle those tricky Reverse Mean problems with ease
- Unpick the use of algebra within Mean problems and other average problems
Lunch
12.50 – 1.30pm
Question Box for the presenters – prize for best question
1.30 – 1.45pm
Problem Solving and Reasoning – communicating mathematically
1.45 – 2.30pm
- Excellent examiner guidance on developing reasoning and an algebraic approach to coherent solutions – “Someone has to read your working!”
- Get the hang of those nasty wordy problems with various linked mathematical skills
- Constructing chains of reasoning
- Improve student inference skills and conclusions
- Develop understanding of the use of algebra in solutions and spot when it can be used
- How to present solutions clearly with good mathematical structure for multi-step problems
- STUDENT ACTIVITY: Workbook challenge – strategies to tackle more complex problems using example responses.
Other key areas to ensure securing grades 4/5
2.30 – 3.00pm
- Quick fire hints and tips for more of those crucial areas to secure those crucial grades 4/5
- Sequences, Graphs, Compound Measures, Transformations, Bounds, Angles and more
- Explore Ratio from every angle and ensure you can identify the best approaches to secure full marks efficiently
- STUDENT ACTIVITY: Examples of the common misconceptions and errors that students make – and how to avoid these!
Final Top Tips from and close
3.00 – 3.15pm
- Final Top tips and expert advice
- “Getting ready to achieve your Best Grade” – what students should do after today!
