GCSE PREPARATION

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GCSE PREPARATION

• A workshop and presentation for parents/carers of
  Year 11 students

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What the students say!

• Keep your nose out coz its so annoying
• Stop nagging
• Leave us alone if s/he left me alone I might
  actually do some revision
• Keep the house quiet and siblings under control
• Dont force us to make a revision timetable
• Money/biscuits to revise please!
  Y12

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The count down to GCSEs

• How many weeks to go?
• Study leave?
• Study rooms on exam days
• Examination calendar
• Examination boards
• Results day
• HJM

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What the school is doing

• 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
• The PSHE programme /assemblies have already
  looked at revision techniques and styles
• HJM

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What the school is doing

• Subject teachers will make students crystal clear
  of what is exactly required in each subject
• During study leave, teachers are not on hand to
  give instant advice. However, if a student has
  problem at this time, they should try and contact
  the teacher at school to arrange a good time to
  come in
• HJM

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Put your child in charge

• Give them choices
• Allow them to work out strategies
• Talk through their plans with them to allow them
  to reflect on them/modify them
• Group revision sessions
• SCW

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The conversation

• Why should you revise?
• Where should you revise?
• When should you revise?
• How should you revise?
• How often should you revise?
• SCW

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They dont do it the way we did!

• Silence? i-pod?
• Sitting at a desk?
• Computer access?
• Use of internet?
• On their own?
• Clock?
• Lighting?
• Phone?
• Food?
• Y12

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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
• Take a break, All work and no play
• Begin revising as early as possible, the more
  they do the easier it becomes. Optimum is 6-8
  weeks
• JCD

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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
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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
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How can you improve this even more?
If you break up a 2-hour session, into 4 shorter
sessions, each of about 25-minutes, with a short
planned break between them, then it is even
better. Compare the next 2 graphs
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One solid session
4 shorter sessions The yellow area shows the
improvement.
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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.
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However,
if they quickly re-revise after 10 minutes, then
it falls more slowly! This is good. Analyse the
new graph
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Even better,
if you quickly re-revise again, after 1 day, then
it falls even more slowly! Good ! Analyse the
new graph
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And even better still,
if you quickly re-revise again, after 1
week, then it falls even more slowly!
Great! Analyse the new graph
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So the best intervals for topping-up, by
reviewing or briefly re-revising are

• 10 minutes
• 1 day
• 1 week
• and then 1 month
• JCD

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What you can do to help

• Plan around your child e.g. family activities
• Cut back on some extra-curricular activities
• Encourage a balance between revision and social
  life
• Treats e.g. food, Neighbours at lunchtime
• Motivation goals and ambitions
• Short term/long term treats
• Rewards for revision and not results
• Y12

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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 Mrs. Hanhams pass
  go green envelope
• SCW

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On the exam days

• The night before, make sure they have put
  everything they need in their school bag like
  extra pens and pencils, calculators and maths
  equipment.
• If they have a mobile phone, remind them not to
  take it with them into exam room
• Make sure the alarm is set so theyre not rushing
  and have time to eat breakfast.
• Say Dont panic, dont worry - just do your
  best. Tell them to say it to themselves during
  an exam.
• Arrive at least 10 mins early
• Illness and late arrival
  SCW

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In the exam I just went blank!

• Revision literally means re-looking at
  information thats already been learnt
• How can a student improve their recall so they
  can apply what they have learnt?
• What educational psychologists say
• HOOKS
• SCW

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Reinforcement

• We learn only 10 of what we read but we learn
  95 of what we teachwhat does this mean?
• SCW

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.and finally!

• Count the days to the final exam
• ..because this time next year you will have
  already have had the January modules and about to
  embark on the summer AS modules.
• This is the beginning not the end!
• SCW