Post on 06-Jun-2020
GCSE REVISION 2018
ADVICE FOR PARENTS
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Contents
Contents .................................................................................................................................................................................. 3
Revision – Top Tips .................................................................................................................................................................. 4
Exam Tips: Advice for Parents .............................................................................................................................................. 5
Preparing to Revise ................................................................................................................................................................ 7
Revision Timetable Templates ............................................................................................................................................. 8
Revise areas of Weakness .................................................................................................................................................. 10
Effective Revision Techniques............................................................................................................................................ 12
GCSE Pod .............................................................................................................................................................................. 13
E-Learning .............................................................................................................................................................................. 15
Effective Use of Revision Guides ....................................................................................................................................... 17
Exam Technique ................................................................................................................................................................. 178
Using Past Exam Papers as an Effective Revision Tool .................................................................................................. 20
Preparing for GCSE English ................................................................................................................................................. 24
Preparing for GCSE Mathematics ..................................................................................................................................... 24
Strategies for Coping – Advice from The Guardian ...................................................................................................... 25
Exams 2018 – Timetable for Year 11 ................................................................................................................................. 26
Key Stage 4 Intervention .................................................................................................................................................... 28
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Revision – Top Tips
1. Mind set – Want to do it!
2. Work Smarter
3. Understand content as you go
4. Focus on your weaknesses
5. Stay on top of workload
6. Use mark schemes and practice questions
7. Maximise controlled assessment
8. Look after yourself – mind and body
9. Aim, Believe, Achieve
These messages are the key to successful revision – use them as conversation tools with
your son / daughter when talking about revision. They were taken from a You Tube
blogger ‘unjaded Jade’ who was successful in achieving all A*s in her GCSEs in 2016.
Whilst not all students are aiming for all top grades the messages and top tips remain
relevant regardless of the target grade.
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Exam Tips: Advice for Parents
A dedicated quiet space with good
natural light or lighting is best for
studying, with no distractions. If you
have other children who are not
studying for exams, make sure that
they know the importance of revision
time.
Ensure that your son or daughter has
one evening a week away from their
studies. It’s also important that they
take regular breaks during the study
periods.
Be around as a 'feeding station' –
feed your child lots of healthy
food and proper meals –
not too many sugary
snacks and junk food.
Offer to help with testing or ask if
there is something that you can do
for them.
Reassure them you are concerned
about their welfare more than the
results.
Know your son or daughter's revision timetable. Encourage them to tell you about what
they are studying. If you know that they are not at their best first thing in the morning,
encourage them to rest then and work when they are livelier. They should choose their
weakest/sleepiest time of day to be sociable and go out, or watch TV at those times.
Make sure that your child is using the
internet to study and not as a
resource to give the appearance of
study!
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Know exactly the date, time and location for each exam and incorporate this into the
revision plan. Make sure that they have the correct equipment they need for the
exam (calculators, rulers etc). Know what they are not allowed to take in to the exam
(mobile phones).
If your son or daughter has a medical
condition, for example diabetes or
hayfever, make sure that the school
knows about it. There are special
considerations for some conditions.
If there is a family crisis, for example
divorce or bereavement, again
ensure that your son or daughter's
teacher knows about it, since the
additional stress can affect your
child's exam performance.
Remind them of the importance of revision.
These exams are the passport to their future!
Break revision time into small chunks
with short breaks at the end of each
session often work well.
Time your child's attempts at practice
papers.
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Preparing to Revise
Preparing to revise is almost as important as the act of revising it-self. It is important for students to
structure their revision appropriately, ensuring that all subjects are covered and that appropriate
rest periods are included.
It is also important to ensure the environment in which your son or daughter is revising in is
appropriate and distractions are removed.
The Process:
1. Rank subjects most difficult to least difficult.
2. Identify topics within subjects.
3. Identify the barriers and remove them.
4. Decide what time you plan to commit.
5. Block-out leisure, work and school time.
6. The most difficult should appear more regularly in your plan.
7. Mix in one evening subjects you enjoy most and least.
8. Revise in 30min bursts with short breaks.
Top tips:
1. It is tempting to spend more time on the subjects that you enjoy or find easy- give
more time to those you find more difficult.
2. Have a quiet, clean and tidy place to revise.
3. Get a balance between revision, homework, hobbies and rest.
4. Aim for 2 hours a night and more at weekends when fully into GCSE revision
5. 1 hour EFFECTIVE revision is better than 4 hours ‘revising’ with friends, distractions etc.
6. Avoid Facebook etc. and put your phone in another room.
REMEMBER…PROCRASTINATION IS THE THIEF OF TIME
Subjects- most difficult to least difficult Subjects- most enjoyment to least
enjoyment
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Revision Timetable Templates
Monday 22nd
January
Tuesday 23rd
January
Wednesday 24th
January
Thursday 25th
January
Friday 26th
January
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
Subject:
Topic:
Method of
Revision:
Duration:
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Revise areas of Weakness
It is all too easy for students to fall into the trap of spending most of their time revising subjects and
topics that they are already good at – it makes us feel like we are achieving something, when in
reality we have not improved our understanding at all.
In order for revision to be effective, first, it must be focussed on those areas that students are not
very confident with, lack understanding of or have performed badly in exams on. By utilising this
approach each revision session becomes effective as students develop their understanding,
further – ultimately gaining more marks in the exams.
Topic RAG Rating (Red, Amber, Green)
Multiplying and Dividing
Adding Fractions
Percentages
Surds
Angle Rules
Solving Equations
Pie Charts
Probability
Ratio
Simultaneous Equations
Trigonometry
If students are ensure as to what they need to learn – direct them to the contents page of their
revision guides as a starting point.
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Example of a completed algebra topic RAG for maths.
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Effective Revision Techniques
Revision techniques are a very personal choice – what works for one student might not
work for another. It is important that students know what revision techniques work for them
and are then used as part of a balanced revision programme.
Below are several effective revision techniques that students can use to prepare for
Mind Mapping / Spider Diagrams
Using Past Exam Papers
Condensing Course Notes
Reading content
Use of Revision Guides
Read – Cover – Recite
Flash Cards
Sketch Notes
Questioning by Parents
Displaying Post-it notes of key content in room
Creating Videos and Podcasts
You-Tube for instructional videos
Teaching Others
E-Learning
SAM Learning
Peer Revision
Highlighting or Underlining Key Content
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GCSE Pod
www.gcsepod.com
GCSE Pod is an online revision tool for use in order to prepare for GCSE
exams. Students have access to 1000s of short ‘pod’ video clips which
help students with knowledge acquisition.
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E-Learning
The use of technology, apps and software to support students’ revision is an ever popular method
for preparing for examinations. E-Learning should be used in addition to traditional methods of
revision, rather than as a substitute.
Below are some recommended websites and apps that can help support your son or daughters
revision.
Websites • BBC Bitesize – Revision notes and tests for many subjects
• GCSE Pod – Online videos, teachers can set questions for students
• You Tube – Great for instructional videos on topics students are unsure of
• GetRevising.co.uk – Plan revision timetable online and revision activities for many subjects
• Revision World.com – Condensed revision notes on many topics across range of subjects
Applications
• imindmap – mind mapping tool
• Revision App – quizzes and revision notes
• Pixl Maths App
• GCSE Pod App
• Remember the Milk - note taking app for condensing revision notes on the go
• Evernote – note taking app for condensing revision notes on the go
• Gojimo – revision quizzes
• Subject specific apps
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Effective Use of Revision Guides
• Contents Page is a list of what students need to know for that subject
• Each page contains condensed notes on each topic along with exam style questions to
practice
• Students have been given a revision guide for each subject they study where available
Subject Exam Board
Year 10
Art & Design AQA
Business Edexcel
Computing OCR
Drama WJEC
English AQA
French AQA
Geography Edexcel
History OCR
ICT Edexcel
Maths AQA
Physical Education VCERT
Psychology AQA
Religious Studies Edexcel
Resistant Materials AQA
Combined Science Edexcel
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Exam Technique
Key messages to give to your child
• Read and re-read the question – do you understand what it is asking you to do?
• Understand the command words – Identify, Describe, Explain, Analyse etc.
• Timing – Keep track of time, don’t rush, but don’t take for-ever over one question.
An exam of 90 minutes should take 90 minutes – not 20 minutes
• Marks – If a question is worth 4 marks you need to make 4 valid points or 4 steps to
your working out – not one sentence.
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Exam Technique Test
First read through this sheet and then answer all of the questions
1) Write your name at the top of this page and then draw a smiley face in each of the four
corners.
2) List the names of the seven dwarves in Snow White
3) What football team are currently top of the Premier League?
4) List 3 fruits beginning with the letter ‘L’
5) How many loaves are there in a bakers dozen?
6) What weighs the most; a tonne of coal or a tonne of feathers?
7) Draw a triangle in the box below with sides of 4cm, 3cm and 2cm.
8) What is the capital city of Italy?
9) Who had the number one single in the UK charts at Christmas 2017?
10) Disregard all of the questions above apart from number one.
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Using Past Exam Papers as an Effective Revision Tool
The use of past exam papers is vital to practice whether any revision that has been done has been
successful. Use the web links below to access the exam board site for past papers. From here exam papers
and mark schemes can be downloaded and used. It is recommended that students attempt a series of
questions then check against the mark scheme to see how they have done.
Subject
YEAR 10
Exam Board
Specification Title /
Number
(Use this on website when
searching)
Art & Design AQA 8201
Business Edexcel N/A
Computing OCR J275
Drama WJEC N/A
English AQA 8700 (Lang) 8702 (Lit) French AQA 8658
Geography Edexcel Geography B
History OCR History B
ICT Edexcel N/A
Maths AQA 8300F or H
Physical
Education VCERT -
Psychology AQA 4180
Religious Studies Edexcel Religious Studies B 1RB0
Resistant
Materials AQA 4560
Combined
Science Edexcel 1SC0
Edexcel
http://qualifications.pearson.com/en/support/support-topics/exams/past-papers.html
OCR
http://www.ocr.org.uk/i-want-to/download-past-papers/
AQA
http://www.aqa.org.uk/exams-administration/exams-guidance/find-past-papers-and-mark-
schemes
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Using Past Papers – GCSE Maths Example
Use the Mark Scheme at the bottom of the page to mark the GCSE Maths Exam Question below.
1 Mark for the correct answer
1 Mark for seeing £60 - £56.75
1 Mark for correctly adding all
items
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Using Past Papers – GCSE English Example
Use the Mark Scheme on the next page to mark the GCSE English Exam Question below.
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The content that students might have included in
their answer – you don t get marks for simply having
this content in the answer
Award Marks based on the Quality of the response. English marking is
subjective rather than right or wrong.
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Preparing for GCSE English English revision should be straightforward – after all, English is easy, isn’t it? - We all speak it.
Unfortunately, the examiner is looking for quite specific skills in the exams.
The new specifications for English Language and English Literature mean that your child will sit 4
GCSE exams, a total of nearly eight hours of exams. There is no Controlled Assessment or
Coursework anymore.
So, they must continue to read and revise the set texts for Literature. Please buy them the study
guides to help with this. They should also be reading generally- newspapers, magazines, web
articles. These texts will help them in their exams where they will be faced with previously unseen
texts of various sorts which they must analyse and compare.
They should be reading generally anyway, as this will help to cement in their minds correct
grammatical structures and syntax which will help with their own writing in Section B of the
Language exams. This is where you can really help, by making certain that in their revision
timetable they have at least 15 minutes set aside every day for reading, in addition to their
revision.
For English specific revision, they have revision guides and workbooks and should, by now, be
quite a way through those. They should carry on working through those as they really focus on the
skills that the examiner is looking for.
GCSE English Language Exam Dates Tuesday 5th June & Friday 8th June
Preparing for GCSE Mathematics • Revision Guides & Workbooks
• Personalised Learning Checklist
• PiXL Maths App https://mathsapp.pixl.org.uk/ - FREE
Available from:
Apple App Store
Google Play Store
Amazon App Store
Or through your internet browser
• GCSE Pod
GCSE Mathematics Exam Dates: 24th May, 7th June & 12th June
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Strategies for Coping – Advice from The Guardian With the examination season in full swing, more young people are finding it hard to cope with the
pressure. "Cracking up", is much more common than many parents realise and, once it has
happened, is difficult to treat.
For parents, there is a difficult line to tread between setting expectations and encouraging a child
to work towards challenging goals, as opposed to placing children in situations where they
cannot cope or putting them under unreasonable pressure at home.
The reasons why examination stress is becoming a much more common complaint are complex.
At one level, society now recognises stress – the advice used to be simply to "pull oneself together"
– but also schools are changing. As they are set more demanding targets by government, many
are encouraging competition among pupils and fostering an ethos that does not tolerate failure.
Another factor in creating stress is the inability to structure study. Study patterns are set very early
in a child's school career but are usually not taught in schools. It is almost impossible to revise for
an exam without notes you have made yourself, but it is common to find students wading through
textbooks or searching hopefully on the Internet in the days leading up to their first papers.
The best way to combat stress is to recognise and deal with it. It is perfectly normal to feel stress
over examinations – it is a matter of finding the best strategies to reduce it. Stress becomes a
problem when parents and children handle it by denying its presence or by doing things to
reinforce it. For parents, making a family joke of a child's anxieties or imposing a revision schedule
are sure ways of increasing the stress burden. For students, going to a party and getting drunk has
the same effect!
Parents
Don't go on about it. Being asked how you feel often makes things worse. Try to be a listener rather than
to give advice. It is normal to say that each examination paper was a total disaster, so don't join the
inquest!
Be encouraging. Even if your child has been lazy over the past few months, now is not the time to bring
it up. Don't organise family visits and days out as entertaining distractions, either.
Talk to teachers if you're worried. An apparently stressed child at home may be coping well at school
and vice versa.
Avoid the doctor. Slamming doors, arguing pointlessly and crying are simple safety valves and not a
cause for worry. However, watch out for the child who is having real difficulty sleeping or is very quiet
and withdrawn, or the one who is apparently "studying" diligently but really doing nothing – copying out
the text book, for example. Watch out for side-effects.
Students
Relax for an hour a day at least – listen to music, watch television or take exercise.
Revise hard in slots of an hour or less – write rather than read – and take a 10-minute break (time
yourself) in-between.
Get regular sleep and avoid too much junk food and caffeine (coffee, Coke and tea). The best revision
is done in the morning.
Don't wind yourself and your friends up with frenzied hyperactivity. Stop planning your after-exams
parties and holiday
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Exams 2018 – Timetable for Year 11
Date Start Subject
Mon 14 May AM ICT
Mon 14 May AM Computing
Mon 14 May PM RE
Tue 15 May AM French
Tue 15 May PM Biology
Wed 16 May PM RE
Thu 17 May AM Chemistry
Thu 17 May PM Computing
Fri 18 May PM Drama
Tue 22 May AM English Literature
Tue 22 May PM Geography
Wed 23 May AM Business Studies
Wed 23 May AM Psychology
Wed 23 May PM Physics
Thu 24 May AM Mathematics
Fri 25 May AM English Literature
HALF TERM
Mon 04 Jun AM History
Mon 04 Jun PM Psychology
Tue 05 Jun AM English Language
Tue 05 Jun PM Geography
Wed 06 Jun PM Business Studies
Thu 07 Jun AM Mathematics
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Fri 08 Jun AM English Language
Fri 08 Jun PM History
Mon 11 Jun AM Biology
Mon 11 Jun PM Geography
Tue 12 Jun AM Mathematics
Tue 12 Jun PM History
Wed 13 Jun AM Chemistry
Thu 14 Jun PM D & T: Resistant Materials
Fri 15 Jun AM Physics
Tue 19 Jun AM Further Maths
Thu 21 Jun PM Further Maths
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Key Stage 4 Intervention
Timetable for Spring Term 2018
Day:
Lunchtime Activities: 1.20 – 1.40pm
Unless otherwise stated.
After School Activities: 3-4pm
Unless otherwise stated.
Monday
Science- KS4 ICT/Computing- book to attend
Geography, Rm6, 1.30-1.55pm, LFo
N/a- meetings
Tuesday
Design Technology- Targeted students ICT/Computing- book to attend
History/EPR (Invite only), Rm5, SPi EPR (Exam skills), Rm8, LCl
Maths- targeted intervention
Science Design Technology
Computing French
Wednesday
Design Technology- Targeted students ICT/Computing- book to attend
History (Content), Rm7, CDo PE, Rm8, BWi
B. Studies, invite only, JMo (To 7th Feb)
From 21st February Wk1: B. Studies (Content), Rm6, JMo
Wk2: B. Studies (Exam skills), Rm6, JMo
Science Art (Photography)
Mathematics drop-in- Max. 12
Thursday
ICT/Computing- book to attend Targeted maths intervention (WCu)
Psychology, N1 (ATi)
Music (Performing Arts) Further Maths
English ICT
Friday
Science- KS4 Science Club
ICT/Computing- book to attend
Art PE
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Notes
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IES Breckland
Crown Street
Brandon
Suffolk
IP27 0NJ
Tel: 01842 819501
Email: office@breckland.iesschools.co.uk
Web: www.breckland.iesschools.co.uk