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Exam preparation for GCSEs. Exam info. Year 11 timeline 2019. Make sure you know when your exams are! Exam Timetable. Easter holiday: 6 th - 22 nd April Final reports: 10 th May Study Privileges: 13 th - 24 th May Exams begin: 13 th May 9am May Half-Term: 25 th May- 2 nd June
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Year 11 timeline 2019 • Make sure you know when your exams are! Exam Timetable Easter holiday: 6th- 22nd April Final reports: 10th May Study Privileges: 13th- 24th May Exams begin: 13thMay 9am May Half-Term: 25th May- 2nd June Study Leave: 3rd June Yearbook collection: 14th June Last exam: 18th June Leaver’s Assembly: 19th June Prom:28th June Results Day: 22nd August 10am
Study Privileges? Study privileges will be granted to students who have an ATL of 1.8 or better AND with an attendance above 95%. This will be determined from the next report, you will get this at the beginning of May (teachers will be doing these at the end of April!) Study Privileges applies for the two weeks before May half-term. This means that for these days you don’t have to come into School when you don’t have exams and can instead revise at home. However in most cases it will be best to be in School and in your lessons to get help and support from your teachers.
No Study Privileges • Students without study privileges are expected to be in normal lessons when not in an exam. These lessons will be focused revision sessions to help you prepare. • If you do not have study privileges and do not attend lessons in those two weeks you may not be allowed to attend the Leaver’s Assembly or Prom.
What do I need to know for exams? • Be at your exam at least 15 minutes before the start • Bring the correct equipment- make sure you have everything you need as there may not be any spare, it must all be in a clear pencil case. Don’t forget any extra/specialist equipment you may need. • Bring a drink- but it can only be water with the label removed • Don’t take your phone or any other electronic device into the exam hall- make sure it is switched off and in your bag • Be in full School Uniform
What happens in the exam hall? • You will have a specific seat or section of the hall to sit in, usually alphabetically or by class • Once in your seat you must remain silent until you have left the hall- any noises or talking could get you disqualified • If wearing a watch you must take this off and put it on the desk in front of you- there will be a clock in the room for you to keep an eye on your timing. Digital watched must be kept in your bag. • Make sure you write your full name on the exam paper and make sure everything you write is clear • Writing should be in blue or black ink only, do not write using gel pens or highlighters and don’t use tipex- cross out anything you don’t want to be marked
Access Arrangements If you have extra time, a reader, a scribe or any other exam arrangements your exams might not be in the location on the main exam timetable. These will usually be held in D block. Your teachers will be able to tell you where your exams will be closer to the exams.
Revision Tips and Techniques There are lots of different techniques to revise. Now is the time to try out a range of techniques and see which ones work best for you. Remember that different people will find that different techniques work best for them. What revision techniques do you already use?
Chunking Chunking is breaking up a big piece of information into smaller chunks rather like steps in a ladder. It can be used for numbers and words. Often students use Bullet points to break up information. • Remember 4 words/numbers at a time • Revision max 45 mins. • Remember best before bedtime
Mnemonics Mnemonics help you to remember by using short words that stand for something to help you. Here is a Mnemonic for REVISION. Try as hard as you can to remember it. Rest Exercise Variety Imagination Structure Individual Ongoing Not too long
Flash Cards/Card Cover Produce Flash Cards of Key Words or Key Ideas with definitions and explanations on the reverse or underneath There are multiple ways to practice with cards: • Read the front of the card and test yourself- can you remember what you wrote on the back • Use a piece of paper and move down to reveal answers as you guess the contents. • Ask someone to read out the key idea and see if you can explain what it is, OR ask them to read the explanation and you tell them what the key word is • Use these as the only revision notes to help you answer exam questions. These techniques are very useful for checking that you know key facts.
Loci • Loci is the memory trick of memory masters. It involves thinking about a journey that you know well and the landmarks along the way. You then add in images to help you remember information. (They do not have to be famous, but things that you notice as you go by.) • It could be your journey to school every day, use key locations/landmarks to represent each stage in a sequence of events/steps
Mind Maps/ Spider Diagrams These are useful when covering a broader topic. • Start by putting the name of the topic in the centre of the page and draw arrows out to the most important sub topics. • Now add in any information you can remember that is connected to each of those topics. • When you’ve added all you can remember then use a revision guide/exercise book to fill in any gaps. Extra tip: A few days later get a blank piece of paper and see how much of the mind map you can make without looking at it.
HOW TO REVISE • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p60rN9JEapg • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=97Rs3oDzEtc
Find a space to revise The first step is to choose a location to create your ‘revision zone’. This probably shouldn’t be your bed, but a desk with plenty of space for revision guides, flash cards, pens etc. If you get distracted easily it may help to have this in a public space eg a table in your lounge/dining room so others can check you’re staying on task. If others in your home are likely to distract you make sure you let them know you are revising. Make sure you’re set up with all the revision materials you need, some water and a healthy snack to keep you going! If you’re not using your phone for revision, why not put it in another room to make sure you don’t get distracted.
Revision Folders • Be organised- set up different folders for each subject • See what revision you already have at school that you can take home and add to these folders • Revision isn’t done all at once, it is stage by stage over days or weeks
Stages in Revision The best way to revise is to do multiple things, more than one approachworks best! When revising you could do the following: 1. Read through your books/revision notes 2. If you do not understand something ask somebody or look up an explanation (youtube videos are great for this) 3. Create posters/mind maps to help you to organise information 4. Create flash cards with key points to condense the information and practice remembering it 5. Use past papers to practice answering exam questions
Make it memorable • Adding colour or using highlighters on your revision notes will make key ideas easier to visualise and remember • Display your revision notes in areas you are regularly, so you read them often eg, next to your bed, on the fridge etc. • Go back over it regularly- • the best approach is to do little and often, small amounts of revision from 20-60 minutes every day is best. • Try to test yourself on topics you revised a few days/weeks before by trying to make a mind map from scratch or testing your key words knowledge from flashcards. • Test yourself again a few weeks later by doing past paper questions
Useful revision websites and apps Websites: • https://studywise.co.uk/gcse-revision/ (Lists of different revision websites/resources for each subject) • https://www.thestudentroom.co.uk/gcse/ (study tools and forums for each subject) • https://www.s-cool.co.uk/gcse • https://www.bbc.com/bitesize • https://www.kerboodle.com (Science and Languages) • https://vle.mathswatch.co.uk/vle/ Apps: • Quizlet (create flashcards and use premade ones) • Gojimo (free quizzes with detailed explanations for wrong answers) • Memrise (great for learning vocab)
School based revision • Some subjects may have after school revision sessions, and most already have homework clubs • Speak to your teachers to find out when they are and you can plan these into your revision timetable • School revision sessions are great because you have a teacher to help you and you’re away from other distractions
After school revision • Science: : Tuesday in S5 (combined) and S8 (triple) • Science: Homework Club: Wednesday S7
Fighting procrastination • Rewards! Give yourself rewards for meeting revision targets (or asks friends/family for these too!) • Accountability- get someone at home to check how much revision you’ve done or ask you questions on what you’ve revised (this is great because it also checks if it’s been effective revision)
Producing a Revision Timetable There are lots of different ways you could set out your revision timetable. Here are some examples: Choose what you think works best for you. You can also do an online one to have on your phone: https://getrevising.co.uk/planner
Producing a Revision Timetable To help make sure you have enough time to revise for all of your subjects, a revision timetable can help. This also helps you to stick to your plan of revising. • First identify how many exams you have/ how many subjects there are to revise • You may want to break the subjects down into topics, especially for subjects that may have multiple exams • Schedule into your timetable activities that you know about eg, weekly clubs, a friend’s birthday, a family meal etc. • Schedule in breaks and be realistic about how much revision you will do at once- remember, lots of little chunks are better than one big one! • Spread your revision for each topic out equally over the weeks eg, don’t make one day just one subject and don’t do Maths for 2 days and run out of time for all your other subjects.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZTGBj7Zyvk • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RZ86OB9hw4
Don’t forget these important things • Get plenty of sleep • Eat healthily • Keep exercising • Drink plenty of water • Take breaks • Go outside/away from your revision area • Spend time with family and friends
Wellbeing websites http://www.youngminds.org.uk/for_children_young_people Young minds – a voice for young people’s mental health and wellbeing https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/e-wellbeingSelfReferral/ Free online counselling service for teenagers in Brighton http://www.gojimo.com/ Revision and tutoring app https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yF7Ou43Vj6c Youtube video of 5 ways of wellbeing https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7AgswlakjRw Youtube video of revision tips and beating stress https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fHfHSq7PVDU Youtube How to Beat Test Anxiety and Take on Exams Without Stress
