Bridging the gap to A-level - work for current Y11

[noblegiraffe]

A thread for suggestions on how current Y11 can best keep their hand in and set themselves up for the start of Y12.

For Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, CGP have made their ‘Headstart’ kindle books FREE

www.amazon.co.uk/Head-Start-Level-Maths-2017-2018-ebook/dp/B06XD29GX2?tag=mumsnetforu03-21 (this is the maths one, the science are in ‘what other customers buy’ list).

Lots of work for maths here: www.dropbox.com/sh/ppm47xsrvr054p3/AACmvv67MzUCX2foyJIMJpm-a?dl=0

Some maths youtube bridging videos here: www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLUNK8a8DSxXv6d9HxUuliXPZbySSeTTK-

www.nationaltheatre.org.uk/whats-on

The National Theatre are putting on a free production on their YouTube channel every Thursday 7pm. Good for English Lit and Drama students!

Some great A-level maths resources here: twitter.com/kscmaths/status/1242086529830354946?s=21

The early pure ones are reinforcing GCSE work so perfect for Y11. The TES links contain workbooks to accompany the Dr Frost PowerPoints (so the same content with space for them to annotate, write answers before checking).

If you don’t have a TES account, you can access the powerpoints here: www.drfrostmaths.com/sow.php?year=A%20Level%202017&term=Pure%201

@Newhouse76 I spotted this twitter thread of suggested reading for Politics. Plenty to be getting on with!

twitter.com/mini_lebowski/status/1244209250664144897?s=21

@FlyingPandas

Can’t speak for the psychology side but anything that keeps the maths skills ticking over for the next few months would be highly recommended.

Anyone thinking of doing sciences or social sciences really doesn’t want to let their maths get rusty! (And they should consider taking Core Maths if it’s not already on their radar).

@ladygracie my dd is also planning sports btec, she is moving for 6th form and current school have stopped all work.

It’s going to be a long 5.5 months

Thank you @noblegiraffe - and for all the recommendations. Definitely going to encourage DS to keep the maths ticking over!

Thank you @noblegiraffe. These will be very useful.

For transition between GCSE to A Level Maths

Maths 4 everyone

Rearranging the formula

Complete the Square

Quadratics and Simultaneous Equations

Some links don't seem to be working at the moment on the website but the worksheets are ideal for repetition and building of confidence. It is important to be fluent with algebraic manipulation skills prior to studying A Level Maths.

Jo Morgan of Resourcaholic is excellent.

Thanks to all for the suggestions.

The FE college I work for is producing packs specific to each subject to be sent out to schools so hopefully you may find as this progresses that schools recieve work from local colleges and sixth forms.

Can anyone recommend bridging work for Eng Lang, history and psychology?

Eng Lang - read anything by David Crystal, also Eats Shoots and Leaves to help with grammar, plus reading lots - fiction and non-fiction to prepare for some "writing in the style of" work.

Thanks @keiratwiceknightly

www.gov.uk/government/publications/gcses-as-and-a-level-awarding-summer-2020

Ds1 considering A'levels:
English Lit or English Lang
Business studies
Sociology or psychology

ICT

I would appreciate any advice on if any of those subjects are weaker than others?

Or is it overall a good combination?
Too weak? Is it strong enough?

Posted on the other thread for you oblomov

Definitely 4

Should be question marks there!!

Yes Piggy. In 'normal' years -
(Obviously not us. Now) they are asked to do 4 up until Xmas.

Ah, OK : makes sense!

For geoography and/or politics students, Prisoners of Geography by Tim Marshall is an excellent book on geopolitics, covering ten areas of the world.

Not read the whole thread, so don't know if any one has mentioned Crash Course videos on You Tube. They cover a range of topics - are very well made and a great resource for A Level.

Upthread someone mentioned myths as a good background for English Lit. They have a fantastic series on myths on there.

For any English Lit students, I recommend watching a good variety of productions of Shakespeare. OCR has a pre-1900 poetry and drama paper which always comes as a bit of a shock, even though they'll have studied Shakespeare at GCSE.

Try if you can to find out what your school does for its optional elements at A Level - we do the dystopian topic for example, so could suggest a really focused wider reading list to prepare for that.

Oh yes, the Crash Courses are great : if anyone is interested in film A Level, or as an EPQ , they are perfect and good fun, too.

Film is an excellent EPQ topic by the way : seen some great ones on politics and history as reflected in film and some really great ones on censorship and on costume and set design.