Letter to Year 11

Dear Year 11 Students, parents and guardians

Thank you for those of you who joined us yesterday for our virtual office. It was great to answer your questions in real time. In many ways this letter is a follow up to our discussions.

Please find here a link to our current Year 11 Mock timetable, which is now on our school website.

Key dates as of 11 Dec 2020:

• Wed – Fri 20 to 22 Jan: Language Acquisition Mock Orals
• Mon 25 Jan to Tue 2 Feb: Written Mock examinations
• Note that we plan to hold exams on Saturday 30 Jan. Year 11 students will have Mon 1 Feb as a day in lieu and will therefore not be required in school

Written examinations are scheduled in the afternoon and early evening to allow for other year groups to have possible face to face lessons in the morning. Once these students leave campus we will be able to facilitate the examinations in line with EDB guidelines, spreading students across our campus. Further, we are also following HK government guidelines which ask for restricted travel during peak times.

I would like to remind you that Mock Examinations are held to encourage students to revise actively, to identify areas of weakness or challenge, and with their teacher’s feedback, set targets as they approach their external examinations in the summer. Mock examinations are one of many assessments that are completed throughout 18 months of study, and as such form part of an holistic predicted grade. No particular percentage is given to these results to arrive at this grade.

Please find here a link to a list of subjects/examination boards for I/GCSE which is on our school website.

Each examination board approaches the recommendation of the UK Government differently. Hence when the government releases a statement through the OfQual department, each exam board takes time to interpret this and then release it’s own statement in response. Therefore you can obtain all information regarding June 2021 examinations at the following exam board websites:

AQA: https://www.aqa.org.uk/news/summer-2021-arrangements

Pearsons/Edexcel: https://qualifications.pearson.com/en/campaigns/summer-2021-exam-support.html?utm_source=homepage&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=GBSEGS0820SUM21

Cambridge: https://www.cambridgeinternational.org/covid/june-2021-exam-series/

However, if you have questions then we are here to help you. If you have a question about a specific subject then I suggest you email the subject teacher directly. If it is a more general question, then please email me.

Some points that we discussed yesterday in our virtual office session:

• The school has scheduled the exams at this time to allow flexibility – we can move these exams if necessary to after CNY, without impacting on student learning outcomes
• Students need time over the holidays to rest, relax and socialize as best as is possible with family and friends. Sleep is especially important if students are to retain skills/content/concepts in their long term memory
• Exam boards have made adjustments to assessment requirements across most subjects, and continue to make adjustments as COVID conditions continue. This is good for our STC students and has already relieved pressure and resulting anxiety. This also means that a large number of subjects will finish teaching of new content/skills/concepts earlier than normally so revision time will be increased

I will be in touch in the new year with any updates.

Importantly, I wish you and your families a safe and happy holiday.

With much appreciation and gratitude

Best regards

Kellie Fagan

Vice Principal