This evening is NOT intended to…Tell you how to ‘train’ your child to ‘pass exams’

Raise your stress levels by instilling fear about the future

Encourage you to do your child’s homework for them

Patronise or criticise your parenting!

….We aim to provide young people with the skills to acquire powerful knowledge; knowledge that takes them beyond their own experiences and enables them to be socially mobile….

….. Learning needs to continue outside of the classroom and students need to understand that to be successful learning needs to be part of their life, not simply something that is “done to them” in school. ……………… (classroom handbook)

….but aims to ensure that we are working ‘together’ in partnership

‘We believe that homework is an important part of school life, helping students to achieve their potential, and develop crucial learning habits. Such work should be designed to be an effective and beneficial part of and aid to the learning process and should reinforce the achievements of the child.…

In line with the move towards a linear examination system some of the set homework will be designed to encourage students to review, revise and revisit material covered in lessons as part of a five year ‘learning journey’.

(from website)

Why we should focus on years 7- 9

What positive study habits we should encourage

How we encourage and support good study habits

Supporting positive study habits at home

Why is it important to focus on years 7- 9?

Supporting positive study habits at home

Coursework +16 hours of exams

Pass/fail

A-U grades

No real ‘science’ behind how we learn

Technology…….?

You’re stressed? Get on with it!

Results-in an envelope, shared by word

of mouth!

Exams in the news? Nah…..

Post 16 plans? Hmm……..

….30 (or more) hours of exams (no

‘coursework’ as such)

Grades 1-9

A wealth of research evidence in schools-

neuroscience/pedagogy

Technology-access to exam board

sites/sharing platforms/instant revision

help/statistics/social media influence

‘GCSE exams harder/easier than ever

before!’

‘Only 3 students in the country will achieve

a grade 9!’

Post 16 plans? Careers advice/internet……

Look ahead to the near future……

35 hours of

exams?!!

English literature-

3 texts and no

book allowed in

the exam….

15 poems…any

one of them

could be the

focus of the

exam…3 sciences….!

90 words to do

with Buddhism..

Writing about a poem

I’ve never seen

before…comparing it to

another one I’ve never

seen before….

Memorise 19 maths

formulas (higher)

Or

Memorise 10 maths

formulas (foundation)

Romeo and

Juliet…any extract

could be the focus

of the exam…then

I’ll have to write

about the whole

play!

The linear examination system means the majority of students will sit over 30 hours of exams….how can anyone retain all this information?

Positive study habits play a vital part in keeping the path ‘clear’…

• Reviewing and revisiting learning

• Revising regularly-little and often

• Good habits-from year 7

The examination system has changed and will no doubt change again….but good habits:• Support effective learning for life

• Foster independence

• Help develop resilience to reduce anxiety and stress when the ‘going gets tough’

• Help home study and home learning become just part of the ‘normal’ routine

EEF toolkit

‘The research evidence shows that the impact of homework/home study/home learning , on average, is five months' additional progress.…….’

Any questions?

What are positive study habits?

Supporting positive study habits at home

What are positive home study habits?

• Readiness for learning

• Organisation and time management

• Understanding expectations

• Reviewing and revisiting learning that has taken place in the school day

How can you support positive study habits?

Supporting positive study habits at home

• It is well established that insufficient sleep is associated with reduced attention, impaired learning and poorer academic performance

• Young people who play video games regularly typically spend a third less time on homework than their counterparts who aren't gamers

• Heavy gamers get less sleep overall than non-gamers. Along with getting fewer hours of sleep overall, the quality of their sleep is often poorer as well

• By taking time away from activities that might help young people develop sustained attention skills (such as studying or homework), gaming can have the opposite effect

• ResearchEd group, which spreads education research among the teaching profession, says all the evidence points to ‘phones/online distractions harming learning

Controversially…..

How can you support at home?Organisation and time management

• Stick to a routine• Build in ‘treats’ and celebrate success• Promotes independence and self regulation• Essential life skills

• Quiet space• Communal space for reluctant

learners• Be the homework ‘project

manager’

Organisation and time management• A3/A4 sheets of paper• Alarm clock / watch• Calculator• Calendar / Wall planner• Coloured pencils• Diary• Felt pens / Sharpies• Folders/ files• Highlighter pens• Index cards / revision cards• Notebooks• Pinboard• Post it notes…………..

Understand the expectations • Homework statement/ethos • Links to website about

reviewing learning habits• Homework rota

Understand the expectations

Calendar-exam dates

Understand the expectations-Go4schools

On a practical level: keep up to date!

• Important information from teachers

• Homework/revision tasks• Exam timetables• s.davies@chapelhigh.org.uk

Communication

Staff email addresses

Communication

In school we: • Revisit and review learning-M.A.D memory in lessons• M.A.D marking• ‘Learning for Life’ study skills sessions-all year groups

Reviewing, revisiting and revising

M.A.D. Memory!Learn-remember-retrieve!

• Short activity• Students have to recall information from previous

lessons• Quick fire questions/quiz/challenge grid……• Repetition of learning ‘makes it stick’ • Keeps the pathway clear!

How can we do this at home?• Ask your child to teach you something

they are learning at school

• Go through their books and help them to organise books as useful revision tools-number pages/label information

• Highlight key words and test spelling

How?At home you can: Mindmaps:

• Organise information

• Summarise topics• Great for revision

But one of the most important issues….

Word list: a student sitting 10 GCSE exams in 2019 would have faced……

Tier two words (academic language words)• 1133 unique words across all their exam papers

Tier three words (subject specific words)• 803 unique words across all their exam papers

Transmitted

Iteration

Anomaly

Correlation

How?In school we support literacy:• Words M.A.D in lessons and tutor time• M.A.D marking• Promote reading in a variety of ways…..

Words Make.A.Difference.

Function and Structure• What are the meanings of these words?

• Can you use these words in a sentence?

• Which subjects have you seen these words in before and do they have a different meaning?

• Books, books, books! Reading material around the house

• Audio books

• Remind children of the pragmatic benefits of reading-life prospects

• Limit screen time

• Have fun with words…games…. ‘Word a Day’ apps

• Primary school-spelling strategies (L.C.W.C/mnemonics/words within words…)

‘Surveys reveal that a third of parents do not recognise that they have the most important influence on their child’s language and literacy development. ..’

How can you support literacy at home….

“According to UNESCO the biggest single indicator of whether a child is going to thrive at school and in work is whether or not they read for pleasure. Pleasure can’t be taught. Pleasure can only be shared. When my Dad took me down the park, with a football, he did not say, “Right son, I’m going to teach you some basic ball skills, work on general fitness and spatial awareness and if you’re really good, then in a few years’ time, we’ll have a game of footy.” No, he played footy with me. The fact that he was having fun too was really important.” (Frank Cottrell Boyce)

Model the behaviour….

Homework resistance!

• Encourage completion of homework/revision at a communal table. Be around to help alleviate the loneliness that some children feel-and to prevent procrastination

• Ask your child to unload their bag and talk through the day and any homework set

• Help your child make a "Done/To Do" list

• A weekly timetable and routine is helpful

• Ask your child to put homework tasks in the order he/she would like to do them. Encourage them to explain their thinking — fostering a sense of control

• Use a timer. Challenge your child to estimate how long an assignment will take, and ask if he/she wants to set the timer for that full amount of time or less

• Monitor, organise, motivate, and praise the homework effort as each piece is done.

Homework and literacy help at home:

Importance of Having Books at Home

National Literacy trust

Visuwords

BBC Bitesize

Reading Rockets

Five from Five

The Learning Scientists

Homework help for kids

Mindmap maker

In summary…why establish positive study and revision habits?• Look ahead-this is a journey, not a last minute scramble!

• Promotes independence-it’s their homework (not yours!)

• Reduces the homework ‘battle’

• Becomes part of the normal routine

• Helps to keep the ‘knowledge path’ clear

• Supports good mental health-promotes consistency• and reduces anxiety and stress in the long run….