Supporting your child with exams
Supporting my child to revise
There are lots of different ways to support your child and every family is different. However some top tips are:
- Just taking an interest and asking questions about revision goes a long way!
- Make sure they have a set place to study, even a corner of the kitchen table can work.
- Ask them how they're revising and what strategies they're using: re-reading and highlighting on their own are not effective. See the revision strategies in the resources section below.
- Support them making a planner which has a balanced approach to revision including breaks and social activities.
- Quiz them using their flashcards.
Resources for parents
From the Sidelines is a brilliant website for families. They have 24 'Study Hacks' which cover creating the right environment to study, time management and productivity, strategies to revise effectively and look after their health and well being.
Environment
Study Space
Distractions/phones
Silent focus/music
Equipment Ready
Revision Strategies
Retrieval Practice
Flashcards
Brain dump/ Blurting
Look, Cover, Write, Check
False sense of Familiarity
Desirable Difficulties
Distributed Practice
Productivity
The Pomodoro Technique
Habit Stacking
Productivity
Study Planner
Wellbeing
Rest and Sleep
Motivation & Rewards
Night before an Exam
You can't fool your body
Set meal times
Stress can be Good
Hydration & concentration
Energy drinks
Movement and exercise
For each Study Hack there is a:
- A short video (less than 2 mins)
- A more detailed podcast (15-20 mins)
- An infographic - a sample is below:
Study Hacks
This Tassomai guide has useful tips for how to help revise different subjects:
This is another very good guide on 'How to Study' that you can share with your child:
Support available from school
There is a lots of support available in school. This includes:
- Additional intervention sessions/Lesson 6s. Students are invited to these based on the support needed.
- Completing practice exams.
- There is a lot of information (past papers, class resources, useful websites) available to students via Teams or Revision Hubs.
- A subscription to Pearson Revise Online. Through this students can access free online copies of revision guides for subjects studied with Edexcel or AQA exam boards. There are also quizzes and a planner tool.
- A short, weekly 'StudyEra' bulletin being emailed directly to Year 11. Some of the content is linked here.
Mental health and wellbeing
Exams can be a stressful time for young people - feeling a little bit anxious is perfectly normal and it's important to maintain a balanced perspective about exams.
However, if you're worried about your child's wellbeing there are lots of sources of support.
/Learning-Resources/Conquering_exam_stress__lessons_from_our_bodies.mp4