Welcome Parents / Carers of Year 11 students Year 11 Parents Forum (Revision) January 2019

A workshop and presentation for parents/carers of Year 11 students GCSE PREPARATION A workshop and presentation for parents/carers of Year 11 students JXD - Good Evening and thank you for coming This evening is planned to provide both parents and students with information about preparatiion for GCSE’s To help with the presentation we have some year 12 students on hand who have more recently gone through exactly what you are going through now and you will have the opportunity to ask them questions at the end.

Aims of the session To provide you with practical tips to support your son/daughter in their preparation for GCSE exams. To provide you with information on how to support your son/daughter in their revision for Maths/ English & Science CLO

Friday 18 January – Mocks Results Day/Monitoring reports Thursday 14 February – Full Written Reports Thursday 28 February – Parents Evening Thursday 28 March – Monitoring Report Monday May 13 – GCSE Examination start Thursday 27 June – Prom Thursday August 22– GCSE results day

Study rooms on exam days Examination calendar Examination board The count down to GCSEs How many weeks to go? Study leave? Study rooms on exam days Examination calendar Examination board Year 12 - There are approximately 13 weeks left to the first exam Study leave; the date is still to be confirmed but this is a privilege and both attitude in lessons and mock results will act as indicators as to whether a student is granted study leave. It is down to them to prove that they are mature enough and responsible enough to work independently and plan their revision effectively. Student should be starting to plan revision, there is an exam calendar outside the staff room and students should ensure that they know when their exams are as well as the exam board. They will of course get their own copy of when their exams are in due course

What the school is doing... The PSHE/Assembly Programme All subjects will carry out revision sessions once the syllabus and coursework has been finished Work is done on past papers and exam technique in subjects GCSE POD and other similar resources All subjects have uploaded revision materials on school website ELB -We have already provided the learning performance workshops which were well received Over the next few weeks students will receive revision workshops in some subject areas A large majority of subjects are already providing extra opportunities for revision at lunch times and or after school Point 2 and 3

What the school is doing... Subject teachers will make crystal clear, to students, what is exactly required in each subject Period 6/Weekend lessons/Easter During study leave, teachers are often available to give advice. If a student has a problem during study leave, they should contact a teacher at school to arrange a good time to come in ELB - Again after the course is completed teachers will make it crystal clear to students what is required Students will be issued with the gaining a grade A Booklet which has tips to improve in each subject During study leave students can still gain advice - Advice – could come from any member of the dept Possibility of timetabled subject workshops partic for late exams

Learning Performance Techniques: How to Revise: Highlighter pens for Key Words Spider-diagrams and flow charts Mnemonics Suitable educational internet sites with animated diagrams e.g. YEAR 12 - The learning performance workshops covered a variety of revision techniques and all students were provided with a booklet. Students should be encouraged to revise in a variety of methods and this includes more modern methods of using the internet.

Put your child in charge! Give them choices Allow them to work out strategies which best suit their preferred learning style Talk through their plans with them to allow them to reflect on and modify them Suggest and monitor group revision sessions ELB

Current Workload 2 hours per night at the moment. 4 hours over the weekend Increasing work at weekends as exams approach. Statement: “I don’t have any homework” ELB - At the present moment whilst subjects have not finished the syllabus students should still be completing the standard amount of homework consisting of 2-21/2 hrs per night and 5hrs at the weekend. As the exams approach the amount of work at the weekends should increase to incorporate revision. If students are saying they don’t have homework then they are wrong and need guiding towards preparation for controlled assessments and starting revision.

The most effective revision time The concentration span in minutes of a person is their age, plus or minus one. This means that the concentration span of a 16 year old is 15 to 17 minutes – bitesize chunks Take a break, “All work and no play…” Begin revising as early as possible, the more they do the easier it becomes.

How should they revise? If you just sit down to revise, without a definite finishing time, then your learning efficiency falls lower and lower, like this: Knowing how long you will be revising for makes revising more effective

How can they improve this? If they decide at the beginning how long they will work for, with a clock, then as the brain knows the end is coming, the graph rises towards the end ELB

How can you improve this even more? If you break up a 2-hour session, into shorter sessions, for example 17minutes, with a short planned break between each session, learning is more efficient. Compare the 2 graphs: ELB

The Curve of Forgetting! How often should they revise? Look at the graph below: It shows how much your brain can recall later. It rises for about 10 minutes …and then falls. ELB

if they quickly re-revise after 10 minutes, However, if they quickly re-revise after 10 minutes, then it falls more slowly! This is good. Analyse the new graph: ELB

if you quickly re-revise again, after 1 day, Even better, if you quickly re-revise again, after 1 day, then it falls even more slowly! Good ! Analyse the new graph: ELB

if you quickly re-revise again, after 1 week, And even better still, if you quickly re-revise again, after 1 week, then it falls even more slowly! Great! Analyse the new graph: ELB

When to Revise? 10 minutes 1 day 1 week …and then 1 month So the best intervals for ‘topping-up’, by reviewing or briefly re-revising are: 10 minutes 1 day 1 week …and then 1 month

When freshest tackle the subject that they find hardest. START WITH THE HARDEST When freshest tackle the subject that they find hardest. ELB - When planning your revision as well as looking at the exam timetable you should plan revision for the hardest subjects first,

What you can do to help... Plan around your child e.g. family activities Cut back on some extra-curricular activities If financially possible, suspend part-time jobs GET THE BALANCE RIGHT! Year 12

What you can do to help... Treats e.g. food, TV at lunch Motivation – goals and ambitions Short term/long term treats Rewards for revision and not results ELB

Dealing with Stress Healthy diet – proper meals especially breakfast Exercise Sleep Avoid high doses of caffeine Relaxation exercises Coping with ‘absolute terror/panic attacks’! Look forward with optimism ELB

On the exam days The night before, make sure they have put everything they need in their school bag : like extra BLACK pens, pencils, transparent pencil-case, calculator and maths equipment. If they have a mobile phone, remind them that anyone with any electronic device on or off found during an examination will be considered to have cheated Make sure the alarm is set so they’re not rushing and have time to eat breakfast. Say: “Don’t panic, don’t worry - just do your best.” Tell them to say it to themselves during an exam. Arrive at least 10 mins early Year 12 Illness and late arrival – phone school as early as possible, do your best to come in

‘In the exam I just went blank!’ Revision literally means ‘re-looking’ at information that’s already been learnt How can a student improve their recall so they can apply what they have learnt? ‘MEMORY HOOKS’… SEE IT HEAR FEEL IT – LINK INFORMATION TO A SONG, OBJECT PLACE TO JOG THE MEMORY

Reinforcement ‘We remember: 10% of what we hear, 20% of what we read, 50% of what we do, 75% of what we discuss and 90% of what we teach.’ Year 12

…………….and finally! Year 12

Some very happy students at 10am on Thursday 22August 2019 The result… (in 2013) The result… Some very happy students at 10am on Thursday 22August 2019 Good luck! SHE and pass to ALG

Any questions? Thank you for coming JXD