Transcript Here - Chelsea Academy

How to support your child during
their GCSEs
Session aims:
• To provide parents with a range of
practical strategies to help students to
revise for GCSE exams
• To raise awareness of / discuss the key
issues surrounding revision and exam
preparation
Icebreaker
Activity: sort the cards into two groups
• How to revise
• How not to revise
Structuring revision sessions
Structuring revision sessions:
• Try to work in 2 hour sessions
• Have aims for each session
– What subject?
– Which units of work?
– What resources are needed?
• Students test themselves / parents test
them
Resources
Resources:
• Know what to revise and how to revise
for each subject
• Be able to access a bank of past papers
and their answer booklets
• One good revision guide, CD or aid
(possibly a website) per subject
Resources – key websites
www.freeexampapers.com
www.aqa.org.uk
www.edexcel.com
www.ocr.org.uk
www.samlearning.com
Revise by ‘doing’
Revise by ‘doing’:
• Common misconception – reading and
re-reading = effective revision
• Read material once
• Read again, this time making notes
• Now apply the knowledge
• Do a related exercise from a revision
book / a past paper
Other popular revision strategies
Other popular revision strategies
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Draw ‘spider maps’ / spidergrams
Use big flip-charts to make notes
Put post-it notes around the house
Make notes to summarize longer texts
using revision cards
• Highlight key words in texts, then write
onto revision cards (again, this is doing
something, not just reading)
Memory Techniques
Memory Techniques:
• Acronyms, e.g. NATO – North Atlantic
Treaty Organisation
• Picture stories – drawing pictures to
represent a story / sequence of events
• Mnemonics – Make up a silly sentence
to help remember something, e.g.
NATO – No Action Talk Only
Creating the Right Atmosphere
Discussion: what would create the
wrong atmosphere?
Creating the Right Atmosphere:
• Keep noise to a minimum
• Remove all key distractions
• Listening to music while revising? Very
debatable!
• Provide water / favourite snacks for
revision sessions
Music and TV
Will this help or hinder them?
Tackling excuses
Question…
What are the most common excuses
students give at home for not doing IL or
revision?
Here are a few of our favourites…
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My work is on the computer
The printer was broken
What IL?
The library was closed
I did it, but it’s at home!
Here it is (student hands you a memory
stick)!
• Didn’t you get the email?!
• I lost my bag
Dealing with excuses:
• Keep track of the excuse with a date and
time
• Agree a solution
• Always follow up!
• Call the Academy to check out the story
• Get in touch with teachers via email
• Play the game – it’s a battle, it’s about
getting the work done
• Remember, knowledge is power!
Identifying Stress:
• Difficulty getting to
sleep or difficulty
waking up in the
morning
• Constant fatigue
• Forgetfulness
• Aches and pains for
no apparent reason
• Poor appetite
• Social withdrawal
• Increased anxiety and
irritability
• "Flying off the handle"
• Increased heart rate
• Migraines/headaches
• Blurred vision
• Dizziness
• Loss of interest in
activities
Avoiding Stress
• Start early – less revision per day = less
stress
• Build upon the things you do know, don’t
panic about the things you don’t know
• Focus on one thing at a time – your planned
revision session. It is counterproductive
worrying about everything all at once
• Don’t worry about what you haven’t done for
two years – that’s gone. Focus on what you
are doing now
What should you do before the end of
term?
• Ensure your child has a copy of their exam
timetable
• Check the exam timetable and ensure that all
subjects are on there and that they are
entered for the correct tier. Also check the
spelling of their name, date of birth and any
other info. Don’t worry about exam clashes we are aware of them and will inform you of
the time change very soon
What should you do before the end of
term?
• Are they up to date with all their controlled
assessments? If they miss the deadline, there
are no second chances
• Ensure they have applied to colleges and sixth
forms, as well as the CA sixth form, and you
are aware of what you they aiming for this
summer
What should you do before the end of
term?
• Are they up to date with all their controlled
assessments? If they miss the deadline, there
are no second chances
• Ensure they have applied to colleges and sixth
forms, as well as the CA sixth form, and you
are aware of what you they aiming for this
summer
Planning for the Easter break
Planning for the Exam Season
• Ensure you know when your child’s exams are
and that they are on time
• Ensure they have the right equipment
• Ensure they are getting enough sleep, rest and
nutritious food
• Please let us know if your child will not be able to
collect their results
Session aims:
• To provide parents with a range of
practical strategies to help students to
revise for GCSE exams
• To raise awareness of / discuss the key
issues surrounding revision and exam
preparation