WELCOME TO THE YR 11 REVISION EVENING

Welcome by Ms Hill Yr 11 Learning Director Yr 12 to share with us their experiences Ms Arscott to share the theories behind learning Ms Mackinnon shares practical ideas on how to revise Time to put some of these theories into practice Time to start planning Ways to look after yourself when revising. Conclusion of the evening We will be available at the end of the evening if you have any questions. EVENING SCHEDULE

YEAR 12 INTERVIEW

1. WHAT STOPS US REVISING? (a) fear of failure (b) not knowing how to (c) concentration 1.Fear of failure 2.Not knowing how to 3.Poor planning 4.Poor concentration

THE PRINCIPLE: INTERLEAVING AND REPETITION When we learn something, we forget it When we revisit something we’ve learned repeatedly, we remember it better This is shown in the Ebbinghaus Forgetting Curve

INTERLEAVING VS BLOCKING “Blocking” your revision – focusing on one topic for a long time then moving on to the next topic – is inefficient. “Interleaving” your revision is far more effective.

INTERLEAVING AND CHUNKING For interleaving to work, you have to break down your revision into “chunks” It’s no good putting “Biology” into your revision calendar – you need to be specific GCSE Biology includes: – Health – Responses to the environment – Evolution – Ecology – Cells – Photosynthesis – Organisms and their environments – Protein functions and uses – Respiration – Genetics – Speciation

TIME TO GET ORGANISED.. How many days have you got from now til the start of term? Which days/half days do you have commitments that mean you can’t do revision then? How many subjects do you have? Which subjects are you weakest in? Which part of the day do you work best? If time….start fitting subjects in…!

THE PRINCIPLE: THE TESTING EFFECT Who will do better on the test in phase 3?

MEMORY IS THE RESIDUE OF THOUGHT..

List 1: hundred, rate, place, entirely, into, hold, thread, fleet, training, else List 2: cool, jump, country, about, window, match, melt, only, single, yourself List 3: corn, urge, diamond, welcome, aeroplane, fruit, race, winter, disease, camp

1. Condense 2. Memorise 3. Practise

1. CONDENSE -One pages summaries -Flash cards -Brainstorms -Start with the topics you are least confident in For revision to be effective, it must involve thought!

2. MEMORISE Take your flash cards/summaries and go over them – try a number of ways to take the information in. 1.Teach someone 2.Content tests/be tested 3.Work with peers

2. MEMORISE Mnemonics Learn Key words/definitio ns by heart Key bits up around the house in random places

2. MEMORISE Self testing is vital Try using a white board to test what you can remember! It is quick, easy and more fun than with a bit of paper

3. PRACTISE Now it is time to put all you know into practise! Most exam papers are variations of a previous question in a previous paper.

3. PRACTISE Checklist; 1.Have you got past papers for all your subjects that go back around 5 years? 2.Have you looked through those past papers and looked for common topics? 3.Do you know how to answer each style of question?

3. PRACTISE Simplify the question.. work out what it is asking you in more basic terms. Practise questions to time and take them to your teachers for feedback. Make a list of anything you struggled with over Easter ready to take back to your teacher to work on. Make sure there isn’t a question you can’t answer!

REMEMBER…. THE KEY TO PREPARING SUCCESSFULLY FOR EXAMS..

BLOOD FLOW THROUGH THE HEART

HOW TO LOOK AFTER YOURSELF DURING REVISION

DRINK PLENTY OF WATER AND EAT WELL Exercise – it helps to stimulate the mind and re-energizes the body Ensure you have regular breaks. Revise 45mins and then a 10 minute break Treat yourself when you have done a session, time on your mobile phone or a chocolate biscuit!

MAKE SURE YOU GET ENOUGH SLEEP