1. Bannockburn High School Exam Stress Techniques A Practical Guide for Students and Parents

2. How can I help my son/daughter deal with exam stress? The ROSE rule: Some children sail through exams with very little stress. In fact, some parents wish their children would get more stressed about exams! For others even small tests cause real anxiety. There are lots of ways to help your son/daughter deal with exam stress, from practical things like providing healthy food and helping him/her to getting organised, to actually supporting him/her with revision. This simple rule covers the four things your son/daughter will need to do prior to and during exam time: Revise and recap Organise time and work Sleep and rest Eat healthily There are also a variety of different techniques that your son/daughter can use to help them with their exam stress. The following slides will give them a guide as to what will help them most.

3. Before and During Exam Strategies Before the exam: 25-40 minute block sessions of study are best followed by a break of 10-15 minutes to keep the mind and body refreshed. Organisation allows the brain to understand and retain information. Colour-coding helps the brain to make sense of information. The use of graphics can help with the retention of information. A list of things “to do” is helpful. Some research suggests doing memory work and review just before going to bed is effective. Check your thoughts. Are they helping or hindering? See thought challenge slide later in this presentation. Check your behaviour. Are you avoiding study?

4. Before and During Exam Strategies In the exam: Use a body relaxation technique or diaphragm breathing to calm your body – use positive statements about yourself like “ I can do this”. See managing stress reactions slide later in this presentation. Be in the moment and try to focus on the here and now – not what has happened in the past or what you may think will happen in the future. When told you may start writing take a deep breath, relax your body and then say to yourself I am going to start now. This gives the control back to you. Always read the question carefully. Watch the time and always check your work if time allows. Try to relax after the exam before you start studying for the next exam.

5. My Relaxation Menu It is important to take time to relax and feel good while studying for exams. So you can do some of the following: Something social Something creative Something indoors Something outdoors Something active Something quiet This allows your mind and body to get appropriate rest and allows you to get the best out of the time you are studying.

6. My Relaxation Menu Laughter can be a way of relaxing and feeling good. Not only does laughter help us relax, but people who use humour to cope with daily stress seem happier and may even have higher levels of confidence that would have a positive impact in dealing with exams. It is thought that laughter helps us cope with difficult situations by suppressing the stress-related hormones in the brain. Laughter also releases brain chemicals called endorphins, the body’s natural pain relievers, which give us a warm, fuzzy feeling of wellbeing. Not only does laughter make us feel happy and relaxed, but it has health benefits too. Research has found laughter activates the immune system, enhances respiration and circulation, sends oxygen to the blood, and stimulates practically all the large organs in the body. So not only does laughter help us share fun with other people, it may really be the best medicine. Being able to look at things from different perspectives makes us more flexible thinkers and being able to use humour is useful when things get tough.

7. Managing Stress Reactions There are three managing stress reactions: Breathing Thinking Doing The next few slides explain how these can be helpful and which one or more may work best for you.

8. Breathing Breathing is Nature’s Tranquilizer! It depends which way of breathing works for you. Some people prefer short sharp breaths to calm themselves down while others prefer longer periods of breathing. One popular technique is Abdominal Breathing. This is when you breathe and your stomach rises instead of your chest. When this happens your lungs are expanding your diaphragm instead of your rib cage. When you practise abdominal breathing it slows down your breathing rate and this helps to relax your whole body. The process is as follows: Put one hand on your chest and one on your stomach and take a long slow breath in. As you inhale, focus on your stomach rising up and your chest staying still, then slowly breathe out. Repeat the process for another five breaths. At first, abdominal breathing can be difficult, but with practise you can learn to naturally breathe this way. Abdominal breathing is used by athletes prior to a competition and by singers during a performance.

9. Thinking Monitor your thoughts. Are they helping? Possible thoughts are: I can do this I have done enough, I am ok I can go in there and give it my best shot In three hours it will be finished and I will have tried my best. It is only one exam

10. Doing Fitting in time to relax is important in achieving good results in exams and doing some sort of exercise definitely helps. You could do the following: Go to the gym Go out a cycle or a run Go out a nice brisk walk Or if in doubt 20 star jumps as fast as you can!

11. Changing Unhelpful Red Thoughts to Helpful Green Thoughts There are times when all we can think of are Red (negative) thoughts, and it can be very difficult to find any helpful powerful Green (positive) thoughts. One way of changing a Red thought into a Green thought is to ask ourselves an Amber question. Red ThoughtAmber QuestionGreen Thought I made a mistake so Is that really true? AmI get lots of things right. I’m a failure.I making this out to be It doesn’t matter if I make one worse than it really is.mistake. I can learn from my mistakes.

12. Exam Stress Techniques I hope you find this presentation useful and it helps you to think more positively about your exams. Good luck and try your best!