ABOUT THIS COURSE
This NEW course will demonstrate how to guide your best students to achieve Grades 8 & 9 in future OCR GCSE Classical Civilisation examinations. Led by our experienced and successful presenter Alastair Thorley, the course will demonstrate teaching and learning ideas for both the Thematic Study and the Literature and Culture papers which will stretch and challenge able students and develop their higher level skills. The course will explore what is expected of high ability students and outline ways to build your teaching practice around this.
BENEFITS OF ATTENDING
- Focused on identifying the demands of Grades 8 & 9 and providing materials to help teachers prepare students effectively
- The course will look in detail at the different demands of the wide variety of question types in the new GCSE
- Questions will be analysed for “command words” which inform the students what will be expected of them
- Mark schemes and model answers provided by OCR will be analysed to identify and clarify the requirements of the highest levels
- Sample answers at Grades 8-9 will be discussed and marked
- Materials and teaching ideas will be provided that will allow teachers to cover the content effectively in innovative and student-friendly ways that push the highest ability students
| COURSE DATES | London | Friday 18 October 2019 London | Tuesday 4 February 2020 |
| WHO SHOULD ATTEND? |
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| COURSE CODE | 7456 |
| IN-SCHOOL | You can also book this as an In-School Course |
| INCLUDED |
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10.00 – 10.20am
Introduction
- What have we done differently this year?
- What will we do differently next year?
- What are our chief concerns ahead of the first exam series of the new spec?
- What can we do in the time we have left with the students?
10.20 – 11.05am
Grades 8-9: what do they involve?
- What difficulties do Grades 8-9 students have with GCSE Classical Civilisation?
- Analysis of the mark schemes and marked answers provided by OCR – what are the examiners looking for?
- Interpreting “command” words
- Grades 8-9: what are the differences between these?
- Key attributes of Grade 8-9 students in the classroom
11.05 – 11.25am
Discussion: coffee break
11.25 – 12.40pm
Teaching Paper 1: Thematic Study: key challenges for Grade 8-9 students
- Analysing higher tariff questions: where is an 8/9 achieved or lost?
- Creative approaches to learning the content-heavy course
- Moving from who?/what?/how? to why? and so what? questions
- A particular focus on the Extended Response Comparison questions
- Reviewing, marking and feeding back on specimen scripts
- Giving good quality, specific feedback to students
- Pushing beyond the syllabus to gain a deeper understanding of the lives and priorities of the ancient Greeks and Romans
- Revision tips to ensure top level students succeed in the exams
12.40 – 1.40pm
Lunch and informal discussion
1.40 – 2.40pm
Teaching Paper 2: Literature and Culture: developing a personal response
- Analysing higher tariff questions: where is an 8/9 achieved or lost?
- Teaching literary characters, themes and style
- Creative approaches to learning the literature in the necessary detail
- Moving from who?/what?/how? to why? and so what? questions
- Activities to encourage personal responses to texts
- A particular focus on the Extended Response questions
- Reviewing, marking and feeding back on specimen scripts
- Revision tips to ensure top level students succeed in the exams
- Key differences between higher tariff questions on the two papers
2.40 – 2.45pm
Discussion: afternoon tea
2.45 – 3.30pm
Tactics for close analysis of sources: stimulus questions, detailed response questions, significance questions
- Detailed analysis of questions and answers provided by OCR
- What does a grade 8/9 candidate need to do when analysing a provided source?
- Keeping Grades 8-9 students interested so that they continue with the subject
- Reviewing, marking and feeding back on specimen scripts
Alastair Thorley
Alastair is the Head of Classics at Stockport Grammar School. The school has a department of four full-time Classics teachers. He teaches Latin and Classical Civilisation at all levels of the school. After its introduction 14 years ago, Classical Civilisation remains strong at the school with around 100 pupils studying the subject at GCSE and 40 continuing to AS/A Level. Alastair has taught GCSE Classical Civilisation for 17 years. In the last three years 76% of his pupils have achieved either A* or A.
He currently marks the Epic and Myth paper for OCR and AS Classical Civilisation for AQA. Alistair contributed to two of the Bloomsbury/OCR A Level Classical Civilisation text books: “Invention of the Barbarian” and “Love and Relationships”.
