6th December 2023

KS3 Parent Information Event

an Online Cotham School Event


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Welcome Video

Key Staff

Year 7 Team:

Year 8 Team:

Year 9 Team:

Subject Course Videos

Computing & IT

English

Food and DT

Humanities

Maths

MFL

Performing Arts

PE

Science

Art

Key KS3 Documents

Curriculum Booklets

Year 7 Curriculum Booklet

Year 8 Curriculum Booklet

Year 9 Curriculum Booklet

Assessment Calendars

Year 7 Assessment Calendar

Year 8 Assessment Calendar

Year 9 Assessment Calendar

Helpful Online Portals

Digital Learning Platforms Support

Preparing for Assessments

CLICK HERE TO ACCESS!!

Online Learning: Platforms

As a subscriber, your child now has access to GCSEPod’s library of over 6,000 ‘Pods,’ 3-5 minute videos designed to deliver knowledge in short bursts. GCSEPod makes learning and revision much more manageable: every Pod is mapped to an exam board, and contains all the right facts, quotes, keywords, dates and annotated diagrams that your child needs for GCSE success – all neatly organised into topics and exam playlists.  

One of the best things about GCSEPod is that you can download any Pod to your child’s mobile device, and then they can watch them at any time, in any place, with or without internet. It’s like they’re carrying a whole set of textbooks in their pocket! Make sure you download the GCSEPod app from the App Store (Apple and Android are supported) to access this feature.

GCSEPod also has the ability to identify knowledge gaps and automatically send playlists to help fill them. After completing any homework set on GCSEPod, your child will get a personalised “Boost Playlist” of Pods relevant to their identified areas of weakness. We strongly suggest you encourage your child to review these playlists regularly as this will speed up their progress. 

We recommend that you talk about GCSEPod with your son or daughter – check that they’ve successfully activated their account and encourage them to make use of this amazing resource throughout their GCSE’s. Once they’ve activated their account, they can browse the GCSEPod library and create their own playlists – just as they would when they’re listening to music.

For more ways to support your child using GCSEPod, please visit www.gcsepod.com/parents where you’ll find lots more information and resources.

Your child has already been registered with GCSEPod, if your child can’t remember their username and password, please ask them to contact Mr Ahmed (ahmedf@cotham.bristol.sch.uk). 

You may be aware that many Faculties are using SENECA Learning to support our students’ digital learning.  Seneca offers high-quality free online learning courses for students to study from a computer, tablet or phone.  The courses are suitable for students aged 13 and above and cover KS3, KS4 GCSE and KS5 A Level subjects.  

Parent Accounts

SENECA also provides free parent accounts. The free parent accounts allow you to track your child’s learning and help make conversations about school and learning easier.

SENECA’s parent accounts also allow you to learn alongside your child if you wish to do so. This might be helpful in supporting you to work with your child on areas of their school work that you are less familiar with.

We are aiming for more parents to create a parent account as this will enable us to access further opportunities from SENECA and the Department of Education which will help all students at Cotham.  We are aiming to have 200 parents and carers create accounts so that we can link more closely with SENECA.

You can sign up for a free SENECA parent account here: app.senecalearning.com/parent

Seneca have made this handy 2 minute video to help you get started.

Or you can read how to get your free account if you’d prefer.

If you have any questions about how SENECA works, you can get support from the SENECA team using the live chat on their website or you can email them at learnmore@seneca.io.

Tracking Home Learning with Google Classroom

Google Classroom email summaries for parents and carers

Google Classroom email summaries for parents and carers have now been enabled.

If you were receiving the summaries last year the emails will automatically resume. If you are a new parent for a new student, you will receive an email invitation via the email account that the school holds on record for you. You have 120 days to accept the invitation before it will expire.

When you accept the invitation, you can select whether you have a daily or weekly summary of all the work set for your child and the status of all tasks set.

If you have misplaced the invitation link, please email us on GCSupport@cotham.bristol.sch.uk with the name of your child and their tutor group and we will resend the invitation to you.


Visit the Google Classroom page on our digital platforms portal for more information  about how to use Google Classroom. 

Helpful KS3 Links

Books for Parents

Come and see some of the books that we are recommending to parents to help you support students at home during the GCSE years:

A Parent’s Guide to The Science of Learning: 77 Studies That Every Parent Needs to Know

Supporting parents in the quest to help their children learn as effectively and efficiently as possible. 77 of the most important and influential studies on student learning are translated into easily digestible overviews. This book will develop parents’ understanding of crucial psychological research so that they can help their children improve how they think, feel and behave in school (and, indeed, in life).

Click here for the Amazon Link

CGP KS3 Revision Guides 

Click Here  | Amazon Link


Help and Support with Student Wellbeing

Help and support can be found here, if you are worried about your child: