tackling revision together

Tackling Revision TogetherA guide for Parents/Carers and Students

It goes without saying, that getting started with revision can be the trickiest part of the whole process. There can be confusion over how, when and what to revise.

I hope this guide will provide you with practical advice on getting started with revision; techniques that can be used and dealing with exam stress, so that you and your child are fully prepared to “Tackle Revision Together”.

All children are different, so it follows that there is no single approach as to how a parent/carer can help out; look out for the “Top Tips for Parents/Carers” throughout this guide, which gives specific ideas of ways you can support your child.

If you have any questions about exams, revision or if you have any concerns please do not hesitate to contact us.

Kerry Tait Progress Manager: Year 11 “Be the Best, Believe in Better”October 2013

What is revision?

The word revision means: ‘re-looking’ at information you have learnt previously. The aim is that you know the information you will be tested on and can remember it for the exam. Knowing something depends on understanding it.

The aim of revision...

...is to reduce large amounts of information into a series of key points, which are easier to remember. At the end of your revision for each topic or sub-topic, you should aim to end up with a card or A4 sheet with the KEY points for that section.

The hardest part about exams and revision is … how to start!

Time Management

Why Time Management?

Time management is crucial to exam success. By planning your time effectively you can reduce stress and anxiety. You will also ensure that you complete enough revision whilst also having a social life.

Step 1: Prioritising

1. Writealistofeverythingyouneedtodo,includeschoolwork,coursework,

revision,birthdays,shopping,jobetc.

2. Lookatyourlistofthingstodo–ifyouhavedatesordeadlinestogowithyour

tasksputtheminthemargindownthesideofyourlist.

3. Colourcodeyourlist.Usingatrafficlightsystemgodownyourlistandputa

colourmark(orletter)nexttoeachone:

RED=Urgent,somethingyouthatwillmakeyoustopeverythingandfocuson

justthat.

AMBER=Notimmediate,butsomethingthatstillneedstocompletedwithin

theweek.

GREEN=Anythingwithalongerdeadlinethanaweekorsomethingthatcan

wait.

4. Onceyou’vecolourcodedyourlist,gothroughitandestimatehowmuchtime

youneedtodoeachthingandwriteitbytheside.

Top Tips for Parents/Carers

• Agree the balance between work and social life and stick to the agreement. Flexibility is key – if a special night comes up, make an agreement that the work can be made up at a specified time.

• All students will fall behind, feel demotivated or overwhelmed, and may struggle with the balance of social or work commitments and school demands at times. When your child feels like this talk to them about the issues, acknowledge their feelings and seek a sensible way of finding a solution; help them prioritise and if necessary contact Miss Tait to discuss additional support which can be offered in school.

• If students are saying they have no homework in Year 11 they are mistaken. Even if no homework has been specifically set, all students should now be revising for

the summer examinations.

Step 2: Organising Your Time

For this task you need to use the Revision Timetable templates (you can get copies of these from the Progress Managers office). It is important that you fill in all your activities such as your social commitments and school work. By doing this you can see where you have free time to enjoy with your friends and family or to use for revision.

1. Eating: Fill in on your planning sheet a time when you eat in an evening. Everyone needs to eat, it’s important for your body to function. You need to block off an hour of your time each evening.

2. Stuff you know that’s going on: Everyone has things they do each week, it might be football practice or watching a specific TV show; block this off on your timetable.

3. Socialise: Everyone is entitled to fun and to see their friends so block time in your week when you know that you’ll be seeing your friends. Make sure you do something fun to give yourself a break from work.

4. Your list of things to do: Use the colour coding to work out what needs to be done first, then look at the estimated time you need to do it and block off time in your timetable. (Think about when you work best – mornings or evenings. Plan your activities around your own way of working.)

7-8 8-9 9-10 11-10 11-12 12-1 1-2 2-3 3-4 4-5 5-6 6-7 7-8 8-9 9-10

Mon SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH HistoryCWK EAT History

CWKHistoryCWK

HistoryCWK

Tues SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH GeogCWK EAT Geog

CWKGeogCWK TV

Wed SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH Sport EAT SportHMWK

PHYSHMWK

ChemHMWK TV

Thur SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH Math Rev EAT Math

RevMathRev

EngHMWK

EngHMWK

Fri SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH SCH CWK EAT JOB JOB JOB JOB

Sat CWK JOB JOB JOB JOB CWK CWK BioHMWK

BioHMWK Mates Mates Mates Mates Mates

Sun Match Match Match Match EAT


• Discuss with your child what will be involved in the revision period and what your role could be.

• Provide the environment necessary for success. Ideally students need a quiet, well-lit place to study with interruptions kept to a minimum when they are working.

• Help your son/daughter to plan their revision timetable.

• Provide favourite snacks and water for revision periods.

• Encourage morning revision when the brain is more receptive and discourage studying right up to bedtime.

Step 3: Planning your time

Although you have now identified when you are going to complete certain tasks, it is important to know exactly what you hope to complete in that time. You must set yourself targets for each session. For example, if one hour is set aside for English controlled assessment – which bit do you actually want to complete? If it is Maths revision – what exactly do you need to revise?

1. Pick 3 or 4 of your working sessions.

Think about what exactly you want to achieve in them. (Look at the topics you need to learn. There will be some you know better than others, take the ones you feel less confident about.)

2. Start setting yourself SMART targets.

(eg. Subject –Maths. Topic – Algebra. Target – In the next hour I will know how to simplify an algebraic equation. I will be able to answer the questions in my revision guide.) SMART targets should be:

Specific Measurable Attainable Realistic Timed

= know exactly = can you assess how you’ve done? = is it reasonable? = Don’t plan too much = 40-45 minutes per block/activity


• Support your son/daughter in sticking to their revision plan and keeping to the start and finish times they have agreed. Praise them when they do it, and use a reward structure. Rewards do not have to be financial or very big – talk to your son/daughter about what they would value – an extra night out, an extension to the time they can come in, a trip with friends, etc. Little and often (for small achievements) is more motivating than one big reward for good results in the future.

• Be sensitive to the pressure they are feeling – let them know that if they are really not up to it one day, it isn’t the end of the world.

Step 4: Using the time

You will be unable to revise solidly for a full hour – your brain stops taking in the information after 20 minutes so you need to structure the hour. It should look something like this…

5 mins 20 mins 5 mins 15 mins 5 mins 10 m

Exercise Study Break Review then study Break Review

You should go through this process every week. Check what deadlines you have coming up and factor them into your plan. Make sure you plan for all exams, homework and coursework.


• Encourage your child to take regular breaks during long periods of revision.

• Keep up with regular ‘check ins’ – show an interest in how the revision is going, talk through any difficulties and be prepared to help them reschedule their planning if necessary.

• Give plenty of praise and encouragement.

• Don’t expect them to study all the time as taking some time out to relax will have a positive effect on their work.

Revision Techniques Active revision means involving your eyes, ears and hands in a variety of ways. Revising actively is the best way to make sense of the material you’re revising and also helps you to remember it.

Active methods of revision include: writing revision notes, reading notes aloud, recording key points onto an iPod, MP3 or phone, discussing topics with a friend, testing yourself, getting others to test you, rewriting notes, doing examples, trying past papers and using revision websites; use as many of these methods as you find useful.

Top Tips for Parents/Carers• Support your child by choosing one good revision guide for each subject. These

are available from school, many departments create their own. Subject teachers will be more than happy to point the students in the right direction.

• Don’t worry if their revision techniques seem strange or unusual.

Revise with the exam in mind

Get hold of the syllabus for each subject from your teachers. The syllabus tells you the depth and understanding required for particular topics. You could use this as a basis for organising your revision.

An important revision method is going over past papers. You can write complete answers or outline answers using your revision cards or notes. Writing an outline answer means putting down just the main ideas and points without writing full sentences or all the details.

Writing your own revision notes

In writing revision notes you are picking out the most important points and trying to reduce the amount of information to a more manageable amount.

Traditional revision notes

• Choose a topic or part of a topic which you want to revise. Look at ‘bitesize’ chunks of work and don’t try working with too large a topic at a time.

• Read through the notes you have on that topic. As you are reading ask yourself, ‘Do I understand this?’

• When you feel you have understood the topic, go back and pick out key words and phrases that trigger off your memory, also pick out any important diagrams, tables, graphs and formulae.

Pay attention to these points:

• Use your own words

• Make sure your notes are well spaced out

• Use large writing and capital letters

• Make your revision notes interesting by using colour, boxes, circles, underlining, abbreviations and so on.

Making revision cards

• Revision cards are usually postcard size. You can make your own by simply cutting a sheet of A4 in four.

• They can be carried around in a pocket or bag and can be used wherever you’ve got a spare moment.

Pay careful attention to the following points:

• Always draw a margin down the left hand side of each card, about 3cm from the edge. This is useful for adding extra notes when you need to.

• Always write the subject in the top right hand corner of the card.

• Always put a title at the top of the card.

• Develop your own method for numbering the cards.

• Cards covering the same subject or topic should be kept together.

Creating patterned notes

Some students find patterned notes more fun to do and more interesting to revise from. They are particularly good at giving an overall view of a topic and for showing links and connections.

To write patterned notes follow these steps:

1. Write the main topic in the middle of the paper and draw a ring around it.

2. For each key point draw a branch out from the main topic.

3. Write a key word or phrase on each branch.

4. Build out further branches and add details.

• add diagrams, pictures and symbols where you can.

• highlight links and connections

• be creative and personalise it

Mnemonics

Make up a rhyme to help you remember facts... 30 days has September, April, June and November

Silly Sentences

Great for remembering lists:

Mercury Venus Earth Mars Jupiter Saturn Uranus Neptune PlutoMy Very Efficient Memory Just Stores Up Nine Planetsor for remembering spellings - the sillier the better!Oesophagus One Enormous Smelly Old Pig Had A Giant Unbelievable Snout

Mental imagery

Link key words/facts to images – the more ridiculous the better. First you need to assign a number to an image. This will help when you need to learn a series of steps or objects in a specific order.

1. – gun – visualise the first item being fired from a gun

2. – shoe – visualise the second item wearing silly shoes

3. – tree – visualise the third item under a tree

4. – door – visualise the forth item with a door

5. – hive (bees) – visualise the fifth item with bees or a beehive

6. – bricks – visualise the sixth item with a pile of bricks

7. – heaven – visualise the seventh item with angel wings or something else associated with heaven

Here is an example of this strategy being used to help you remember the order of the electromagnetic spectrum.

• Gamma rays – imagine a bright neon ray being fired from a gun

• X-Ray – imagine a skeleton wearing a pair of bright blue sparkly shoes

• Ultraviolet – imagine a tree lying on a sunbed

• Visible light – imagine a door painted with a rainbow across it

• Infrared – imagine a bumble bee glowing bright red

• Microwave – imagine a house made of bricks where each of the bricks is a microwave

• Radio – imagine a radio flying away with large angel wings

Revise with friends

• Take full advantage of revision lessons at school. Your teachers are the best aid to revision you’ve got, listen to their advice and ask them lots of questions.

• Try organising a quiz with a friend. Before you get together write down 5 questions about a topic to ask each other.

• Ask family and friends to test you from your revision notes.

• Some students find it useful to arrange revision sessions with one or two friends who are doing the same exams. Before you get together, decide the topic you’re going to look at and decide how you’re going to revise it. As well as looking at individual topics, you can swap and discuss answers to trial exam papers.

Technology

• There are some great revision websites. Ask your teachers which ones they recommend or simply type the word ‘revision’ into your favourite search engine and see what comes up.

www.mymaths.co.uk please ask your teacher for the most up to date login details www.bbc.co.uk/schools/gcsebitesizewww.technologystudent.comwww.s-cool.co.ukwww.linguascope.com username: walbottle password: mflwww.kerboodle.com username: student password: walbottle organisation code: 1420getrevising.co.uk

• Some websites allow you to download audio revision topics to your iPOD or MP3 player.

• Try reading out your revision notes and recording yourself, put it on your iPOD or MP3 player, then play it back whenever you get the chance.

Test yourself

For important formulae, definitions, quotations, theories and ideas test yourself

regularly.

Other methods

• Write key points on sticky ‘post-it’ notes and stick them to things like a mirror, wardrobe, toilet door, stair banisters, kitchen cupboards and so on.

• Write giant-size notes on large sheets of paper and stick them up in your bedroom.

Using your revision notes

During a revision session

• Read the notes through, and as you do this try to recreate the whole topic in your mind.

• Place the notes face down and write out, or in the case of patterned notes redraw, what you can remember.

• Compare what you have written down to what is written in your notes and check for anything you may have missed out.

• If you have left out some important details, test yourself again.

During spare moments

• Carry some of your revision cards around with you.

• You can read them on the bus, in the car, during lunchtime or break, when you’re waiting in the corridor or during off spare moments at home.

• Ask friends, parents, brothers, sisters and anyone who is willing, to test you using your revision cards.

TRY OUT THE TECHNIQUES. USE WHAT WORKS FOR YOU. IT’S YOUR REVISION.

Stress Management What is stress?

Stress is the bodys normal response to a challenge, threat or excitement. The consequence of stress depends largely on how you interpret the physical symptoms – it can help motivate you or it can paralyze you -- the decision is yours.

It’s not unusual…

Feeling anxious or ‘stressed’ about work and exams is not unusual. At this point in the year pressures of coursework, homework and revision can seem daunting. But they needn’t. By taking simple steps you can help yourself to take control and begin to feel more confident about what you’re doing and where you’re going.

Managing your stress

One of the best ways to manage your stress is to make sure you are fully prepared. Use the information and techniques from the ‘Time Management’ section to plan the weeks ahead.

IF YOU’RE FEELING UNDER PRESSURE OR STRESSED, DON’T IGNORE IT. TALK TO SOMEONE.


• Be prepared to listen when they want to talk about problems as everything becomes more emotional and heightened during the exam period.

• A degree of stress is normal and actually necessary for successfully tackling exams. You know your child best and so if you notice any marked changes in behaviour talk to them.

Distraction techniques

One of the ways to stop stress is to distract yourself from whatever is causing the anxiety. Try using one of the following techniques:

Thought Stopping

When we become anxious we begin to have negative thoughts (‘I can’t answer anything’, ‘I’m going to panic’ etc). If this is happening, halt the spiralling thoughts by mentally shouting ‘STOP!’. Picture a road STOP sign, or traffic lights on red, once you have literally stopped the thoughts, you can continue planning, or practise a relaxation technique.

Use a mantra

Derived from meditation, a mantra is a word or phrase which you repeat to yourself. Saying something like ‘calm’ or ‘relax’ under your breath or in your head, over and over again, can help defuse anxiety.

Focusing

Looking out of the window, noticing the number of people with red hair, counting the number of desks in each row... all help to distract your attention from anxious thoughts and keep your mind busy. Mental games such as making words out of another word or title, using alphabetical lists etc are all good forms of distraction.

Bridging objects

It can help to carry or wear something with positive associations with another person or place. Touching this bridging object can be comforting in its own right, then allow yourself a few minutes to think about the person or situation which makes you feel good. This can have a really calming effect.

Self-talk

In exam anxiety or panic we often give ourselves negative messages, ‘I can’t do this’ ‘I’m going to fail’ ‘I’m useless’. Try to consciously replace these with positive, encouraging thoughts: ‘This is just anxiety, it can’t harm me’, ‘Relax, concentrate, it’s going to be OK’, ‘I’m getting there, nearly over’.

Top Tips for Parents/Carers• If your child is anxious or withdrawn, encourage them to talk to you or a trusted

adult, and let them know you are there for them and proud of them whatever. Talk about their successes.

• If your child is stressed, try to encourage them to take time out away from work, doing something that they enjoy. Exercise promotes hormones that actively counter stress, so try to encourage this. Ensure they eat well and let them know you are always there to listen. If you are concerned, contact Miss Tait to see what additional support can be offered in school.

General Exam Stress-Busting Tips:

Believe in yourself. You wouldn’t have been entered for the exam if you didn’t have the ability to do it. Therefore, if you prepare for the exams properly you should do fine, meaning that there is no need to worry excessively.

Don’t try to be perfect. It’s great to succeed and reach for the stars. But keep things in balance. If you think that “anything less than A* (or C or whatever your personal goal is) means I’ve failed” then you are creating mountains of unnecessary stress for yourself. Aim to do your best but recognise that none of us can be perfect all of the time.

Take steps to overcome problems. If you find you don’t understand some of your topics, getting stressed out won’t help. Instead, take action to address the problem directly by seeing your teacher or getting help from your class mates.

Don’t keep things bottled up. Confiding in someone you trust and who will be supportive is a great way of alleviating stress and worry.

Keep things in perspective. The exams might seem like the most crucial thing right now, but in the grander scheme of your whole life they are only a small part.

Top Tips for Parents/Carers• Respond positively when they ask for help. Ask exactly how you can help and if

you can’t help immediately say when it’s convenient.

• Keep up motivation and self-esteem by reminding them of how they have coped with difficult situations in the past, that the exam period will soon be over and by talking about the strengths and qualities that they have.

The day of the exam…

• Have a good breakfast if you can.

• Give yourself plenty of time to get to the exam room.

• Make sure you know where the exam is being held.

• Take everything you will need - extra pens, water, tissues - anything else?

• Go to the loo before the exam starts.

Top Tips for Parents/Carers• Ensure your child is prepared for the exam and talk through where and when it

is, what they need to take, etc. On the day of the exam, make sure they have a watch and supplies of pens, pencils, etc.

• On exam days, try to ensure they have a good breakfast (or suggest they take a banana or other source of energy food if they can’t eat first thing).

• Before the exam, remind them that you love and value them whatever happens. Remind them of any strategies they have for keeping calm and wish them good luck.

Use what works for you. Plan your time. Stay calm. Ask for help.

GOOD LUCK!

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