Pre Release Materials arrived in school !

As you know, we have an exam on June 28th (you DID know that didn't you....)

The PRE RELEASE materials have now been received in school, and we will be spending some lesson time looking at these, and also giving you a workbook to take you through them during the time that you are on work experience. We will be giving you a photocopy of the booklet for you to annotate over the next 8 weeks, and you will then have a clean copy in the exam (we will also be using the originals in lessons, as the maps and other resources are in colour, and you can't work as easily from a photocopy.

This will all be explained in the next Pilot GCSE lesson you have.

The booklet has a theme related primarily to MY PLACE, but there are some other sections relating to EXTREME ENVIRONMENTS and PEOPLE AS CONSUMERS, which is what we were expecting. These will be less important than getting to grips with the content of the booklet.

The booklet is quite a chunky piece of work, and has a context in a survey being carried out by a Year 10 class in Gloucester.
It has a series of sections, and we will be putting up a series of posts which contain activities which we think might be useful to complete when preparing yourself for the exam. I will also be going to a meeting of the other schools in Norfolk which do the Pilot where we will take a look at the booklet and suggest some possible questions or approaches to questioning based on their previous experience.
The key sections of the booklet, which will be explored in more detail, include:

a) an introduction to the booklet: it suggests spending around EIGHT HOURS working through the booklet - this time will be spent around half and half between class time and study at home using the booklet we will provide
b) suggested activities: these relate mainly to MY PLACE
c) KEY TERMS used in the booklet
They are:
KEY WORKERS: teachers, nurses, police and other people who are vital to a community
CONFLICT: when the use of land causes disagreement between groups of people

d) Resources on population change in England and Wales
e) Information on Gloucester and its redevelopment
f) OS extract of Gloucester
g) Details about a proposed site for new housing in Gloucester

There is a wide range of different TYPES of resources, which include:

• TEXT
• MAPS
• PHOTOGRAPHS
• POPULATION PYRAMIDS
• GRAPHS: Line, Divided Bar, Radial
• STATISTICS
• OS MAP and KEY
• NEWSPAPER ARTICLES
• ADVERTISEMENTS
• AERIAL PHOTOGRAPHS
• FIELDWORK DATA
  

You will need to be able to manipulate all of this data to answer questions.

An obvious line of enquiry would be to look at why there is a shortage of available affordable housing in Gloucester for key workers, and to look at the plan to build new housing, and

Also good to see some of Ian Murray's pictures from the GEOGRAPHY PHOTOS website being used in the book. We subscribe to this website, and you can use the photos if you wish in your work. See me for more details.

So, when you get the booklet, start reading and remember that you have a chance to get familiar with it - during the exam is NOT the time to start reading it for the first time !

I will be going to a meeting in Norwich in a week or so's time to discuss with the other schools who are doing the Pilot GCSE in Norfolk what particular themes we think are likely to be covered on the exam, and how best to prepare you.