How to prepare properly for your exams!! Year 11 Getting Closer!! How to prepare properly for your exams!!

Where Are We?? Friday 5th February Tuesday 17th May (French) to Friday 24th June (Physics)

How Long to Go???? 14 WEEKS 11 WEEKS IN SCHOOL HALF-TERM: 15th – 19th FEBRUARY EASTER HOLIDAY: 24th MARCH– 11th APRIL

Payback!!! Most of you will complete your exams by Wednesday 15th June PARTY TIME!!!! In the meantime.......

Starting Points Be positive! Even if you have not worked as hard as you could have done so far, IT IS NOT TOO LATE. Get organised and stay in control!!

Hard Work!! It will require hard work to succeed. RED ALERT! Please do not be influenced by somebody who claims to have done no work, or somebody who always misses homework deadlines…….

To put it simply...... Do not be negative about what you think you can achieve. Revising thoroughly and receiving the help and support of the people around you will make all the difference. So, do not tell yourself you “can’t do it anyway” – that is just opting out!!

What are the Big Questions for Now? Do you have a copy of your Exam Timetable? (On School Website – Curriculum – Exam Dates 2015/16) Are your Subject Folders / Notes organised? Are you missing important notes? Are you aware of Syllabus Content / Key Topics? What are the Big Questions for Now?

Stating the Obvious Be present in school! You need to be here over the revision period. Listen in class and complete all your class and homework to the best of your ability. Make sure that your coursework is completed on time and, again, to the best of your ability. IF IT IS POSSIBLE TO COMPLETE COURSEWORK / PRACTICAL PROJECTS SOON – DO SO.

Create a Revision Timetable There is a template on the school website for you to use. By making an Action Plan you are in charge of your work and more likely to stay in control. Be specific: don’t just write in ‘maths’ – write in ‘maths, algebra’, for example. Remember that all ongoing homework will also be relevant to final exams

Revision Timetable At this stage smaller amounts of revision are likely to succeed – do not be too ambitious!! Aim to do 15 minutes revision each on two subjects per night for four of the five week days (= 8 slots) Or devote more time to subjects where you have greater difficulty or that have a higher amount of content.

Revision Timetable Use time at the weekend to review your revision through the week – 5 minutes on each topic = 20 minutes on Saturday and 20 minutes on Sunday) This review is crucial – it will embed your understanding Use weekends and holiday periods effectively (4 hour sessions per day – see revision booklet on website)

AVIODANCE TACTICS!!! DO NOT SPEND TOO MUCH TIME ON A SUBJECT THAT YOU ARE GOOD AT AND REALLY ENJOY TO THE EXCLUSION OF OTHERS!!!! FOR EXAMPLE, YOU MAY PREFER TO SPEND TWO HOURS ON ART RATHER THAN MATHS!!!

DO NOT GIVE UP ON ANY SUBJECT! “I only need Maths and English” “I’m so far behind in Science, I’ll write it off” “I can’t do Geography….I regret taking it”

Note Well! Do not overstretch yourself! This will lead to exhaustion and an increase in anxiety. Plan ahead, taking account of your other commitments. Plan a week at a time - review and adapt. Do not abandon the revision timetable if it does not work at first. Do not spend endless hours rewriting your timetable!

Revision Techniques One of he most effective methods is condensing your work into: Flash cards / Bullet points Mind Maps / Spider grams Visual cues Voice recording

Use your condensed notes for your REVIEW sessions By changing the format from the original into a form that suits you, you are giving your brain the best chance of processing the information.

Write down what you don’t know…! Here’s a good tip!! List everything that you don’t know about a topic / subject Work your way through that list Eventually reduce the list to ZERO!

Give yourself the best chance you can Attend revision classes offered by your teachers Ask for help! Make sure you devote extra time to those areas you find more difficult and, possibly, less interesting.

Give yourself the best chance you can Revise in a quiet environment. Close the door. Ask your friends not to call, text or contact you on social media – leave your iPhone somewhere else! X-Box – NO!!!!!! Time consuming. Tell your brothers and sisters to stay out! Eat, drink and sleep well. You brain needs and uses energy and burns calories. So feed it!

Give yourself the best chance you can Complete practice papers. Your teachers will be only too happy to mark them and give you advice. Work on exam technique as a key part of your exam preparation, especially: Time management Reading and answering questions properly

Some Encouragement A number of teachers have spoken at our Year 11 Study Skills sessions on Thursdays about good revision skills. They have all shared stories of their own school days and how much they struggled with certain subjects – often the subject that they now they now teach!

Finally….. “Minimum effort brings minimum results” “The harder I work, the luckier I get”