For those students hoping to study A Levels or IB at our International Sixth Form please see the information below that has been provided by our subject teachers. This information has been specifically aimed at enabling students to be able to back-fill any potential knowledge gaps that they may have given the difficult circumstances of the past year.
Further information on bridging work for Y11 students looking to prepare for Sixth Form studies can be found here .
Business
What is “profit” and how is it calculated https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jg3w4wDlS0
Economics
How does the economy “work” / circular flow of income https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SkQzTyHuP2g
Finance
How does the government get its money? Pages 84-87 of the ‘Your Money Matters’ document which is also available in the Downloads section to the left of the page.
Media
For Media studies there are some industries that we have not been able to cover in any real depth this year. Having a working understanding of these industries would be beneficial when it comes to justifying the reason certain choices are made in media products at sixth form level.
Students have done a fair amount of work this year on visual media, but less so on print/digital counterparts. Investing time into learning about the newspaper, magazine, comic and advertising industries would be beneficial.
The websites below give students a foundational understanding of these industries.http://www.mediaknowall.com/gcse/advertising/advertising.php https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/guides/zqrdxsg/revision/1
As with everything in media, students having examples of their own to draw upon is essential. Try to find a media product from each industry and annotate it to highlight how it meets or subverts the codes and conventions of that industry. For example, a newspaper making use of a masthead and a headline or a website including advertising banners to sell products.
Geography
Fieldwork and cartographic skills. Due to Covid-19, our students have missed the opportunity to learn out in the field. A priority for our Year 11 into Sixth Form geographers is to watch the Oak Academy Fieldwork lessons at: https://classroom.thenational.academy/units/fieldwork-2-case-studies-8744 . During their sixth form studies students will need to devise their own fieldwork, collect primary data and analyse it. Having a basic understanding of this will be an essential skill that students will need to transfer to their own research question.
There is a downloadable booklet that students can work their way through that complements the Oak Academy lessons:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/19oTdKtX7BtI2ufBKd6joxAEF7ZGDB5fR?fbclid=IwAR2cCNGqYqK7pGvpDd9Gz6djnUnYvzE-HGYeyA49RbQMkwyQBUUfCOsCYpo
History
One of the main ways that students can consolidate their knowledge and skills is by accessing the Oak Academy resources produced by history teachers on the topics on the course: https://classroom.thenational.academy/subjects-by-key-stage/key-stage4/subjects/history Although all prescribed content was covered, more depth of knowledge could be gained, as well as a focus on analytical and evaluative skills. The following site provides helpful information on this in preparation for further study:https://www.historyskills.com/source-criticism/evaluation/
Religious Studies
Due to lost curriculum time, year 11 Religious Studies students did not cover the final topic in the usual depth and have not been examined on this in their assessment weeks.
Links to the BBC Bitesize guides to this topic are below:https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/zm2kscw https://www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize/topics/z66wvk7
Some of the Oak National Academy lessons on this topic may also be helpful to students:https://classroom.thenational.academy/units/human-rights-2ff3
Art
Please look at this link to the Royal Academy. You’ll find lots of interesting videos – some are virtual tours of exhibitions, some are interviews with different artists and some are about how to create different artifacts – including how to make paper. Choose the ones that interest you, sit back and enjoy watching them. https://www.google.co.uk/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwiM8-_b8djwAhVWFEKHd5mCjAYABAAGgJ3cw&ae=2&sig=AOD64_2ZYqkVcCy3WUQBq87BQrXJdV7ytg&q&adu rl&ved=2ahUKEwiT8ufb8djwAhWTmxQKHfzcCucQ0Qx6BAgCEAE
Textiles
Draping/Moulage – How to create a 3D garment out of a sheet of fabric. Look up ‘Fashion School with Nick Verreos’ on youtube. Experiences of gallery visits, exhibitions and museums – Once things open up over the summer it would be a good idea to go and see some work. We suggest The V&A, The fashion and Textiles Museum, Warner Textile Museum Braintree, however, we fully encourage visits to the Tate and National gallery as influences can be found from anywhere within the arts.
The bridging task will also help students to develop a more personal style of working.
Maths
We have a summer work pack for A Level students that we expect them to complete:http://www.aesessex.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/AES-Maths-bridging-work-2021-vs2.pdf
In addition, we are providing a Bridging Day on Monday 5th July for students wishing to pursue A Level Maths at AES that are predicted to achieve grade 7 or below for GCSE Maths.
IB students should refer to this document: https://www.aesessex.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2021/07/IB-bridging-work.pdf
Physics
Due to the COVID restrictions this year we have not completed as many experiments as we would like and therefore you are possibly missing the practical and analytical skills which will be needed for further study in Physics.
Please use Isaac Physics: https://isaacphysics.org/pages/pre_made_gameboards#gcse_to_alevel to complete the GCSE to A level transition activities A1-A7 along with the practise activities on significant figures.
You can also use the Isaac Physics GCSE tutorials and associated practise questions for any areas where you do not feel you have a full understanding of a topic as all concepts covered at GCSE will be built upon in sixth form. https://isaacphysics.org/pages/gcse_topic_index
Biology
Due to Covid restrictions you have not needed to revise the Ecology topic . It is important that you are able to carry out the maths skills associated with this topic. To help you with this work through the following oak academy lessons.
https://classroom.thenational.academy/lessons/maths-skills-cmt3gc https://classroom.thenational.academy/lessons/sampling-required-practical-1-6rwkjc https://classroom.thenational.academy/lessons/plant-diseases-and-deficiencies-part-2-71h32t
You could also work through some of the other oak academy Ecology lessons to check your knowledge and understanding of this topic. https://classroom.thenational.academy/units/ecology-a6da
Chemistry
Ensure you have essential key Chemistry skills at your fingertips by working through these Oak Academy review lessons.
Bonding and structure review Quantitative chemistry review Formation of salts
Also, practise balancing symbol equations with this simulation:
https://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/balancing-chemical-equations
Languages
English
Please see the document in the Downloads section on the left of this page from the English department on the webpage. This document contains links to many useful resources to help you to revise the GCSE skills necessary for smooth progression to the AL or IB courses.