1. Keep calm and revise

2. Year 10 Mock Exams in Maths and Science are March 21-24
Y10 English Mock Exam is July 4
Year 11 GCSE Exams start Fri May 27 Students are on study leave from June 6

3. WHY? REVISION To help remember something you’ve learned before.
To make it stick in your mind for longer.
To work out something you’ve found difficult before.
To be prepared for a test, exam or interview.
To do as well as you can in a test, exam or interview.

4. Planning REVISION For example: When to revise?
School
Homework
First make a list of any commitments that take up your time.
Sport
Family
Leisure
For example:
Babysitting
Work

5. REVISION
Planning
Now work out how much time you have 3 x weekdays = 3 x 45 mins 6 hrs 45 mins Weekends = 2 x 1 hour 6 hrs + Over 3 weeks 12 hrs 45 mins If you are revising Maths, Biology, Chemistry and Physics, that is 4 subjects. So, you could allow at least 3 hours per subject, to divide between different topics.

6. When? REVISION Use your planner! Use a calendar too Chunk your time
Write down what topics you will revise on which day, and for how long
Use a calendar too
So your family can see when to let you get on with it!
Chunk your time
Research shows we focus better and are more motivated when we break tasks down into chunks
Plan blocks of 30 mins with 5 min breaks between
Vary the topics – it’s more interesting
Allow time at the end of a session to review/read over/check through everything you have covered

7. What? REVISION Ask your teacher! Make a hit list
Maths have provided a topic list – see the print-out
For Science, revise Unit 1 for Biology (B1), Chemistry (C1) and Physics (P1)
Go through your books
Look at the Maths and Science homepages on Learning Space
Use MathsWatch, Kerboodle and Sam Learning
Make a hit list
3 topics you feel least confident about, or seem the least familiar
Study these topics first and allow more time later too

8. Look at the subject homepage on ELE

10. Use the Specification sorter to find your course details, then look them up on the exam board website. There will be mark schemes and past papers to work through.

11. REVISION TECHNIQUES
And what we learn

12. Mood and learning
Memory traces – a change in nerve cells or brain activity when memories are stored
Memory decay – fading or weakening of memory traces
Disuse – a theory that describes the memory traces weakening when memories are not periodically used or retrieved
Availability – memories that are stored
Accessibility – memories that are stored that can be retrieved when needed
Memory cue – a stimulus that enhances the retrieval of an associated memory
State dependency – body state influences outcome. If you can match your learning state to your retrieval state memory improves.
Intereference – tendency of new memories to impair the retrieval of older ones, and the reverse

13. How much do you forget? ie: what can you recall, when?

14. How much can you recall if you review?

15. So, how do you do it?

16. Strategies for Visual Learning
Visual cues
Colouring in
Noticing shapes
“see the page”
Spider diagrams (mind mapping)
Concept maps (mind mapping)

17. How to mind map?

18. Strategies for Auditory Learning
Play a particular piece of music/song for a specific topic.
Say things out loud
Record and playback
Tell someone else
make up songs/rhymes

19. Strategies for Kinaesthetic Learning
Active writing
Make notes
Cut up to form ‘jigsaw’
Sort out
Make Flash cards

20. Tricks of the Trade - Revision
Making it stick

21. Remind yourself-again and again
Revise something one night (eg:I hour)
Read through it the next day (eg:15 mins)
Take another quick look next week (eg:10 mins)
Keep "topping up" until the night before the exam

22. "Look, Cover, Write, Check" read it hide it write it out
check to see if you got it right.
(This technique is good for spellings, diagrams, equations and lists of facts etc.)

23. Remembering labelled diagrams
Draw a copy of the diagram - but without the labels
Fill in the labels from memory

24. Highlighting Highlight key words / key ideas
Makes it easier to revise later, plus scanning through your books looking for the key stuff helps you to remember it.
Use different colours for different categories

25. Make a summary of the information
Try to get the whole topic onto one side of A4 paper.
It's the act of making the sheet which fixes the information in your mind.
Use "spider diagrams" - they really help to show what's in a topic.
Now try reducing it even further onto a post-it note!

26. "Flash Cards" Put topic headings on one side Details on the other Or
Questions one side
Answers the other
These can help you to remember facts and equations.
Carry them with you, and look at them when you have a spare moment (lunch queues, break times, on the bus...).
Look for online apps to create flash cards.

27. Make "jigsaws" List things on a sheet of paper Cut the paper up
Jumble it
Then sort it out

28. Here's a jigsaw example…..
Mouth Grinds up the food
Oesophagus Connects the mouth to the stomach
Stomach Adds acid to the food to break it down
Duodenum Connects the stomach to the small intestine
Liver Makes bile to break down fats
Small Intestine Absorbs nutrients into the bloodstream for transport around the body
Large Intestine Recovers water from the digested food
Rectum Waste is stored here, ready to leave the body
Anus Waste leaves the body
This works for Kings, Queens , dates, who did what in a play, all definitions, and much more.

29. Work out "what could they ask me about this?"
E.g: a question about acids and alkalis
you'll be expected to know about the numbers on the pH scale
the colours that Universal Indicator goes
what "neutralisation" means, etc.

30. Practice on real exam questions
The more you can try, the better.
You wouldn't expect to do any other performance without a realistic rehearsal, and this is no different. ?

31. Be clear about what you're expected to know
If not - how do you know if you've revised it all?
Check with your teachers if you're not sure.
Go along to any revision sessions that you can.
Get different teachers to explain any confusing bits- they may explain it in a different way.

32. Identify your strong and weak areas
Go through your exercise book or revision guide
Put Green blobs beside stuff that you're happy about
Red blobs beside the bits you find more difficult.
Now you know what to ask your teachers about at those revision sessions.

33. Work with somebody else
There's an old saying:
"the best way to learn is to teach".
If you can explain stuff to somebody else, then you know that you've got it straight yourself.
“I know”
“You’re very clever”

34. Parents are the.. Attendance officer
Provider of toolbox – quiet space, pens, paper……
Banker – paying for the tools, revision guides
Study buddy – showing an interest in the subject, helping with(not doing) homework, testing you when you ask for help
Entertainments officer – finding out about TV, films, theatre, exhibitions that are relevant to the courses they are studying
Sound board and adviser – helping them break work into chunks that are manageable, keeping a subtle eye on progress, celebrating achievements and seeing positives when things go bad
Project manager – agreeing homework rules and revision (they won’t work if they’re imposed), setting a realistic timetable, providing a balance between work and ‘fun stuff’, showing a flexibility in revising plans when needed
Go between – nipping problems in the bud
Information finder and interpreter – there is a lot of information and help out there

35. Most of all, as a parent…..
…..your chief role will always be that of the person who cares most in the world, champion of their needs and admirer of every achievement.
The most important role you will play is that of the person who will love them and be proud of them whatever happens.

36. Be positive – it will all help! Happy revising and good luck!
Make a plan
Stick to it!
Keep reviewing your work
Be positive – it will all help!
Happy revising and good luck!