Transcript Exam Success Can Be Yours

Year 11
Attendance – every day counts.
 2. Homework - Check their planner and SMHW, if
you have any concerns e.g. No homework then
contact their form tutor.
 3. Create a revision timetable with your daughter
(we will look at doing this in form time at school
also) and ensure they stick to it. The mocks are
after half term. They should be revising now.
 1.
 4.
Help your daughter to organise a work area,
ensure they have all the stationery they need.
 5.
Have clear expectations of how much work they
should be doing each night/week.
 6. Discuss with your daughter if the TV/music helps
or hinders them. There are some good revision
apps available but unless you definitely know they
need their phone/I-pad/laptop etc, they should
probably not be working with them.
 7.
Put key dates/exams in your own diary/ calendar
so you can support before the ‘panic stage’.
 8. Time your daughter answering questions; timings
in examinations can be key to success.
 9. Choose one good revision guide for each subject.
Ask your daughter to check with their teachers one
they recommend.
 10. Ensure they eat a good breakfast before their
examinations and have a bottle of water with them.
1. Catch up on any missed work.
 2. Organise her old books, notes etc so they are in one place
 3. Start revising – little and often
 4. Ask their teachers what they need to do to improve their
grade.
 5. Ask for past papers/examination questions.
 6. Know how many minutes per mark are needed for each
examination.
 7. Be positive; it is not too late. They need to talk
to their parents and teachers if they are worried.
 8. Have a healthy balance between work, sleep and a social
life.

Essential to plan breaks, time off and leave room for other
activities especially exercise
 Choose
a topic / word (use your text books or
revision guides for cues) and write this on one side
of the card
 Read the relevant part of your textbook or notes.
 Come
back to your cards and try to write keywords,
notes or definitions on them (this tests your memory)
 Why?
Summarising your knowledge is a really good
way to test what you know
 You
can then flick through the cards to help you
remember or use them to get friends to test you.
 The
process of summarising will help fix the
ideas in your mind.
 One sheet / card is much easier to revise from
and memorise than lots of notes.
 You can carry cards around with you to read.
 Use your cards or post-it notes for bullet
points, key phrases, important dates.
 Put them somewhere you will see them lots to
jog your memory – visualise them.
 Mind
mapping is one of the best ways to
capture your thoughts and bring them to life in
visual form.
 Mind maps can help you become more
creative and remember more.
 A mind map is basically a diagram that
connects information around a central subject.
 The combination of words and pictures is 6
times better than words alone.
 Start
in the CENTRE of a blank page turned
sideways. Why? Because starting in the
centre gives your Brain freedom to spread out
in all directions and to express itself more
freely and naturally.
 Use an IMAGE or PICTURE for your central
idea. Why? Because an image is worth a
thousand words and helps you use your
Imagination. A central image is more
interesting, keeps you focussed, helps you
concentrate, and gives your Brain more of a
buzz!
Use COLOURS throughout. Why? Because
colours are as exciting to your Brain as are
images.
 CONNECT your MAIN BRANCHES to the
central image and connect your second- and
third-level branches to the first and second
levels, etc. Why? Because your Brain works
by association. It likes to link two (or three, or
four) things together. If you connect the
branches, you will understand and remember
a lot more easily.
 Make your branches CURVED rather than
straight-lined. Why? Because having nothing
but straight lines is boring to your Brain.

 Use
ONE KEY WORD PER LINE. Why ?
Because single key words give your Mind
Map more power and flexibility.
 Use IMAGES throughout. Why Because each
image, like the central image, is also worth a
thousand words. So if you have only 10
images in your Mind Map, it’s already the
equal of 10,000 words of notes!
 If
you love listening to your I pod this might be
the best way to revise for you.
 Record yourself speaking your work. You will
be amazed how quickly it will go in.
 Think about how quickly you remember song
lyrics.
 If
you love singing or listening to music this is
a great way to revise.
 Think of catchy songs, or songs you listen to
a lot and change the lyrics to fit different
topics.
 Every time you hear the song you will
remember the lyrics you have changed. It
really does work.
 Listen
to the example that a year 12 group did
for revision on Stalin’s Russia.
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=my0lhGToX
WA
 Instead
of just reading your notes, read in order
to find out. The best way to do this is to look for
answers to previous exam answers.
 Time yourself writing answers to various
questions without looking at your notes.
 Why? You’ll find out which areas need more
work.
 This will also help with making sure you have
the timings correct for the exam, as well as
helping to increase your handwriting speed and
your ability to think and write under pressure.
 If
you have a partner you can divide the work up
and take it in turns to explain different topics
 This helps you to cover more ground more quickly
and if you get stuck on something, there is more
chance that your partner will be able to help you
 If you are working with someone else there is less
chance of missing out something really important.
 Getting someone else to test you will help you to
see where you need to focus more attention sometimes your partner can explain something in
a way that's easy for you to understand.
 Ask
your teachers for past examination
papers/questions. A lot of examiners do not
bother with inventing new questions, once you
have done three or four past papers chances
are that some of questions that come on the
day will look familiar.
 Find out how many minutes you need to
spend on each question and time yourself.
Even better get someone to time you.
 Hand in to your teachers to mark.
 For
those of you who are artistic and creative.
Draw storyboards of key events/sequences.
 In the exam you will be able to visualise this.
 This
works really well when revising
languages. Put the French/German word on
objects at home.
La chambre
Le robinet
La poubelle
Das
Wohnzimmer
Der
Wasserhahn
Der Mülleimer
 There
are lots of good revision websites
available.
 If you are someone who is likely to check
Twitter/ Facebook etc. instead then this might
not be the best method for you.
 Ask your teachers if there are any websites
they can suggest.
 http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesize
 www.mymaths.co.uk