Ideas to help support your child Exams Ideas to help support your child

Aims To highlight some key dates How to prepare Learning styles Revision strategies

The language of learning I can’t do it. I’m not clever enough. It’s OK, I am really clever. Challenge these phrases – they have no place in a child’s language. Success comes from a result of hard work, sustained effort and dedication.

Key Dates What are the key dates that you need to work towards? February half term - 16 – 20th February Second mock exams 23 Feb – 6th March Easter holiday 6th -17th April May 5th English GCSE exam

This means….. 52 school days

Useful documents Final GCSE calendars After school revision schedule

How much revision? From 3pm to 10pm there are 7 hours. Have to fit in meal time, time to relax, see family. However it seems reasonable to expect that for the next 52 school days they should be able to fit in 2 – 3 hours of revision a night. This would mean 156 hours of revision on school days alone.

Some student statements I work better with the TV on But I have to work on the computer I must listen to my music when I revise I’m going round to Bernard’s house to revise I’ve already done it. (Some of these might actually be true)

Why is it so hard for the adults? You have to tread the fine line of supporting, nagging and demanding. You need to be aware of what they need to do so that you can keep a watchful eye. If they do not do it then you must step in – it will benefit them in the long run.

How to use the 52 days? A key measure is to write a revision timetable. There are lost of ways to do this – you can make them personal but this is a method that will be shared with students.

Let’s have a go

Learning styles Lets do the questionnaire

Three types Visual Learners – like to use pictures, diagrams, films Auditory Learners – Hearing things or speaking Kinaesthetic learners – Doing, moving, experiencing things

Really important to be aware of the style that best suits you. It can be different for different children in your family so what worked for one may not work as well for another.

Revision strategies So you have a plan, you know the style that best suits you to learn so what now? You must know what to revise. Topic checklists, exam board specifications tell teachers and students what might be on the exam. Encourage your child to demand these from their teachers.

Strategies There are many different things that you can do to re-visit topics covered in class. Again it is important for the student to try different things and go with the ones that they find most successful.

You could try … Reading through class notes or a revision guide This is not very active and studies show that this takes a lot longer to get into the deeper parts of the brain.

Reading notes out loud and recording them. Having a recording of a question and answer session. Play them back in the car, when out with friends or when going to sleep.

Talking Talking is great because you cannot speak unless you know what to say! Students can talk to themselves Students can ask each other questions (they could record these) Parents can ask students to explain a topic – does not matter if you are unaware of the details – ask the student and if they don’t know they need to find out.

Make a film Easy to do and also a lot of fun. Students can film themselves presenting a programme, act out an event or make a film.

Linking points Write down all the words related to a topic you can think of. Select three at random See how you can then link them to each other.

Detente M.A.D Castro Iron curtain Khrushchev Churchill Stalin Apollo-Soyuz Spies SALT 2 1979 Cuba Space Race Berlin wall ICBM’s Brain Drain SALT 1972 MIRV’s Hot Line Marshall Plan Gary Powers – U2 Secret Speech Time to react Truman Doctrine Warsaw Pact ABM’s Helsinki Agreements NATO Hungarian Uprising 1956

Past Papers For each subject at GCSE there are past exam papers. They can be found on the web and in school. The more students do then the better prepared they will be for the real thing.

Pressure and stress Likely that your son/daughter will put themselves under more pressure than you ever will. Guide them and support them. Be interested in what they are doing and know their timetables.

Thank you for coming