An extreme or irrational fear of something Phobia An extreme or irrational fear of something

The fear of enclosed spaces Claustrophobia The fear of enclosed spaces ©Flickr/telwink

Mysophobia The fear of germs ©Flickr/Schwachs

Arachnophobia The fear of spiders ©Flickr/Digimist

Coulrophobia The fear of clowns ©Flickr/_gee_

Face your Fear!

Testaphobia The fear of exams ©Flickr/comedy_nose

Fear makes the wolf bigger than he is. German Proverb

Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering. Yoda

One young person who was anxious, described the anxiety as a “wall”…so we built a wall from toy bricks We then asked her to “reframe” to think about the situation differently…  

What is stress? Stress is the way our body responds to challenges and gets us ready to face them with attention, energy and strength – so stress can be positive as it helps us stay alert, focused and motivated However, it can become a problem and start to affect our mental health and physical wellbeing when our stress is greater than our ability to cope The important point is that we learn how to recognise our own stress triggers and responses, so that we can develop skills to help manage these.

SLEEP and exercise!

Good study environments away from home!

Healthy diet, active mind!

There will always be distractions! They need a quiet place to study, sitting comfortably. The desk should be well lit. Background noise kept to a minimum. Avoid studying in an area where there will be distractions (like televisions!) Remove distractions (phones)

Revision: planning (not cramming!) Memory cyclic learning need to go over stuff three times Revision timetable & all the resources you need Learning check list for all subjects Understanding how to make the most of the time available…

Our memories are phenomenal. *Human beings, across all ages, abilities and education levels, have the common experience, and fear, of having an inadequate or bad memory. *Practically everyone has had the experience of turning a corner and suddenly recalling people or events from previous times in their life. A single smell, sight or sound can bring back a flood of experiences thought to be forgotten. This ability of any given sense to reproduce perfect memory images indicates that if there were more correct 'trigger situations' much more would and could be recollected. We know from such experiences that the brain has retained the information.

Starting early (scientifically proven) Re-learn a topic Go over the topic again The next day Go over the topic again Crunch time Every day a week before the exam A week later Go over the topic again Go over the topic again A month later

What do students need to be doing now? They should ensure they: Check their class notes are complete, particularly if there have been absences. Know which exam board and specification they are following for each of their subjects. This allows students to find the correct online past papers. Understand the structure of the exam: how many questions they will need to answer and how to allocate their time to each question. Understand exactly which skills each question is assessing. Look carefully at their timetable, and know when, and in what order, their exams are taking place.

Work out the available hours in the week

Put in your social plans, rewards + mealtimes Lie in Lie in Gym Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Gym Breakfast Breakfast Tennis Clarinet See Gran Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Hair-dressers Piano Visit Sarah Gym Gym Film night Film night Gym Gym 7 hours a day x 7 = 49 hours a week

Spread the first subject out through the week Lie in Lie in Gym Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Gym Breakfast Breakfast French French Tennis French French French Clarinet See Gran French Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch French French Hair-dressers French French French French Piano Visit Sarah Gym Gym Film night Film night Gym Gym French = 12

Add your second subject Lie in Lie in Gym Breakfast Breakfast Breakfast Gym Breakfast Psych. Breakfast French Psych. French Tennis Psych. French Psych. French French Clarinet See Gran French Psych. Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Psych. Psych. Psych. Psych. French Psych. French Psych. Hair-dressers French French Psych. French French Piano Visit Sarah Gym Psych. Gym Film night Film night Gym Psych. Gym Psychology = 14

Maths = 23 Add your final subject Breakfast Lie in Lie in Gym Breakfast Breakfast Gym Breakfast Maths Psych. Maths Breakfast French Psych. French Tennis Psych. Maths Maths French Psych. French French Clarinet See Gran Maths Maths Maths Maths French Psych. Maths Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Lunch Psych. Maths Maths Maths Maths Maths Maths Psych. Psych. Psych. Maths French Maths Psych. Maths French Psych. Hair-dressers French French Psych. Maths French French Piano Visit Sarah Maths Gym Psych. Gym Film night Maths Film night Gym Maths Psych. Gym Maths This should be seen as a ‘working’ document. Maths = 23

Revision Techniques

How to revise There is no right way to revise Everyone is different Try different methods to find out what is best for you

Revise?!?! Try and divide your revision into three different phases: “Prepare It!” - where you get all your stuff organised “Learn It!” - where you do things which will help you to remember what you need to know “Test It!”- where you find out what you know and what you need to revise again. It’s always best to use a range of different ways to revise – sitting on your bed reading through your books is not enough!

Use Revision Checklists or Syllabuses for each subject as a starting point. Look at what you need to know and try to identify any gaps in your knowledge. They can be easily found online or your teacher can get them for you.

Audit yourself!

A common mistake: People often spend more time revising for things they are good at instead of revising for things they find difficult.

Read This is important in some subjects where a depth of knowledge or interpretations are important such as History or English. It’s important that you take clear, concise notes from what you read! School Revision booklets are available from teachers and/or Revision guides on Amazon

Make posters of key notes, facts and equations and stick them around the house where you can see them.

Reduce/ condense your notes! Step 1 – start BIG (A3) Step 2 – reduce/condense (A4) Step 3 – reduce again (revision cards)

This techniques is very helpful for MFL. Record yourself reading notes to listen to. Most iPod touch and iPhones have a free voice recording software and there are so many free online programmes like ‘audacity’ Just type voice recorder into Google. The creative amongst you could create a song of your notes! Or a play list with you speaking over the top. This techniques is very helpful for MFL.

Create memory aids such as diagrams or mind maps There are loads of free online mind mapping tools

Create memory aids such as mnemonics Order of colours in the rainbow, or visual spectrum: (Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, Violet) Richard Of York Gave Battle In Vain. Order of taxonomy in Biology: (Kingdom, Phylum, Class, Order, Family, Genus, Species) Kids Prefer Cheese Over Fried Green Spinach. Type ‘mnemonic generator’ into Google

Timelines, key words, key equations can all be learned easily by using this method.

Get a parent, sibling or friend to test you! Turn your huge amount of revision notes into small and easy to handle revision cards. Even better….. Put a question on the front of your card and the answer on the back (in note form). Get a parent, sibling or friend to test you!

Collaboration Study with a friend or a parent and test each other’s knowledge, but remember you are meeting to revise rather than to chat! I have seen facetime work very well for students who are revising from their own study areas.

Do exam questions and papers under timed conditions You can get these online or from your teachers. You can also download mark schemes to give you the answers and examiners’ reports which point out common errors.