KS3 and KS4 Pastoral Leader and Head of Year 11 Preparing for Exams Mrs D Jotham KS3 and KS4 Pastoral Leader and Head of Year 11 Ms A Pathan Vice Principal

There’s a million websites to help but how do you know which are any good? He always leaves everything to the last minute – one moment he has all the time in the world – the next it’s all stress and stropping because it has to be in tomorrow and he hasn’t got the stuff he needs to do it ….. I can’t stand the arguments and stress when I tell him exams are important and try to make him work – it always ends up with him saying it’s his life and slamming the door’ Surely she shouldn’t be going out again when she’s got exams coming up?

The Challenge... Understanding the long-term importance of doing the best they can Learning to shelve short-term fun at times in the interest of long-term benefits

How can parents / carers help? “Parents’ active engagement with their children’s learning is the most important long-term influence on academic success and behaviour” - research published by the Specialist Schools and Academies Trust. “Parental support is eight times more important in determining success than social class”. The findings also show that, contrary to many views, “students not only welcome their parents being actively involved in their learning but that it helped them raise their achievement” - Prof Alma Harris, Warwick Univ. EPRA

It doesn’t always seem that way…

That R Word… REVISION “10 hours of independent study / revision in one subject can make a difference of up to one grade to attainment”

That R Word… BBC Article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25626265 Everyone gets nervous as they prepare for exams but revision doesn't have to be a drag, so long as they do it in a way that works for them. Research has shown that bite size revision over a long period of time is more effective than cramming. BBC Article http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/education-25626265 All resources for revision are uploaded onto Firefly

Support them to ‘make a plan’ Some tips… Help your child to draw up a realistic timetable. Get them to switch between subjects to avoid becoming bored of a single topic. Remind them that the most effective way to revise is to concentrate on understanding and application rather than memorizing.

Make a plan

Exams and Stress A little bit of stress can be a good thing as it motivates them to knuckle down and work hard. But exams can make stress levels get out of hand, which can stop them from performing their best. So it's important to address it and get it back under control.

How to manage exam stress A break or a chat with someone who knows the pressure they're under will get things into perspective. Get them to avoid comparing their abilities with their friends. Those "Oh my God I've only read Macbeth 17 times" conversations are such a wind up. Everyone approaches revision in different ways, making a realistic timetable, sticking to it and revising using the method that works best for them are the key factors.

Brain Food Wholegrain - High energy slow releasing Essential Fatty Acids – (OMEGA 3)increase brain function. Oily fish, pumpkins seeds, soya. Berries – Vit C. Increases mental agility, improves short term memory Broccoli – Vit K Enhance cognitive function Bananas – Normalises Oxygen levels, increases mood. Sage – improve memory Eggs- cognitive performance ( Choline) Water – stay hydrated

In-school support… Subject Teacher Form Tutor Head of Year Mentor (staff and student) Will be on hand to offer support

Subject Specific Revision Sessions / Surgeries Extra sessions lunch time and after school - linked to loyalty scheme (pink cards) and posters showing times all around school (and emailed to parents). Some subject specific sessions running at Easter. May half term sessions (to be confirmed).

Exam Essentials Exam Hall Seating Exam entry statement Uniform including LANYARD

Exam Regulations The following items are NOT allowed in the exam room Mobile phones Smart Watches MP3 Player / IPod Labels on water bottles Has led to students being disqualified from exam and therefore having no grade in a subject.

Study Leave? Will there be study leave?

YOU’VE GOT A PLAN….NOW WHAT? How to maximise the learning from revision

Who do you think will do better? Student 1 Does fifteen hours’ revision; reading through her Revision Guide. Student 2 Does ten hours’ revision two hours making mind-maps two hours creating flash cards of key terms three hours writing timed essays two hours working through past papers and looking for patterns in the questions asked half an hour doing the hardest question they could find, half an hour talking it through with their teacher. Then they spend five hours shopping with their friends and watching television.

CONTENT SKILLS FEEDBACK

Break information up Scan the information and highlight the headings / subheadings. Under one heading, scan the passage and highlight the keywords. Only once you have done this tackle reading the whole passage

Be creative!

Be brave! Enter the LEARNING ZONE!

Using Firefly and online resources Using Past exam papers effectively

Value of using Past Exam Papers as basis for revision Practise Recognising the ‘topic’ being tested Looking at the number of marks allocated and using this to know what depth of answer is needed / how many steps in the calculation What sort of answer is expected Understanding KEY words e.g. discuss, compare and contrast, solve, simplify, evaluate, calculate, describe… Generating similar questions of your own

Use Past Exam Papers as basis for revision at home Do what you can with out looking things up Mark / hand in if appropriate Stick with the same paper and have a go at what you couldn’t do, or got wrong. Look things up using Exercise book Text book Internet Ask a friend Ask the teacher Mark it again Later come back to the same paper – can you now do those questions you had to get help with?

Starting point Past exam paper Mark it notes Revision guides Past exam paper Friends & teacher internet Mark it

Buy revision guides from the library and make notes from them Make a list of useful and memorable quotations for each character and theme in the texts you are studying Memorise the quotations: applying them in PETER paragraphs regularly will help to embed them Buy revision guides from the library and make notes from them Re-read all of the set texts Use BBC Bitesize to research the set texts Research the context (historical background) of each text Visit the OCR website and familiarise yourself with exemplar papers and mark schemes P – Point (the idea) E – Evidence (quotation) T – Terminology E- Explain (pick apart quotation & write about effect of language/structure) R – Relate (relate ideas back to the question & writer’s intention)

What did your parents do to help you? Made sure I was working, not getting distracted by checking on me Helped with organisation Made tea and toast when I needed a break Got me equipment and books Encouraged me to revise Helped with some subjects Made dinner, bought stationery, washed my uniform Cuddles! Left me alone

What could they have done better? Got more involved and showed they understood the pressure Let me off the chores! Didn’t pretend to know what I was working on Cared enough to make me do my homework and not go out every night Talked to me to see if I knew what I was on about They should have made me do more studying Left me alone totally