We Achieve Together

Making a difference
Helping your daughter or son prepare
for their GCSEs

Advice for parents and guardians
 

Exam timetable

There are no exams during the week of the bank holiday when schools are normally on half term break.

Taking a little time off over the bank holiday is a good idea but your son/daughter will need to do quite a bit of revision in that week. Please make sure they have plenty of time for it and that you have not planned to be on holiday the full week.
 

During the Spring Term

Get your son/daughter to check that they have all the notes and texts they need for revision. Get them to talk to their teacher if they are missing any.

Check they have a revision timetable which includes the dates and times of the examinations in May and June. Also include any other important dates (such as birthdays) when you would want them to take time off from revision.

The school can supply a blank revision timetable or you can download one from the following website www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/keystage3.
Make sure that coursework deadlines are also included on the revision timetable. Your son/daughter will not be able to do much revision when they are working hard to complete coursework.

The timetable should be used to plan revision sessions. These should be spread out evenly so that your son/daughter is not planning to do too much all at once.

Having the timetable displayed in their room is a good idea which helps them stick to the plan.

Check how they are doing by letting them explain something they have just learned. It’s a good rule of thumb that if you can follow their explanation then they will be able to produce a good answer to an exam question on that topic.

Encourage your son/daughter to ask for help at school on any parts of their work they don’t understand.

Encourage your son/daughter to persevere and to work hard in the run up to the exams.

Useful revision tips

You can support your son/daughter by helping them to follow these tips:
• Plan for half-hour sessions or an hour at most.
Any longer and it’s likely that nothing more will sink in.
Take a short break in between sessions and have a glass of water or something similar to drink.
• In the evenings after school, plan to revise one or two subjects only.
Leave some time for relaxation.
• Plan to revise specific topics in each subject, not everything at once.
• Ensure each session starts by tackling the most difficult bits.
• Plan to cover each subject several times and revisit each one near to the exams.
• Revising with the TV or radio on with loud music is not a good idea. Having their favourite music in the background can be helpful.
• Reading is not enough. Making brief notes in either words or pictures helps them to remember.
• Have all the books they need to hand so they don’t have to go off looking for information.
• Working with a friend can be useful because it allows them to test each other and talk about the work.

During the exam period
 

Try to ensure that:
• Your son/daughter gets a good nights sleep before exams
• They have all the equipment they need:
- Couple of pens and sharp pencils
- A rubber and ruler
- A watch
Sometimes you may also need:
- A calculator
- A protractor

• They know the start times for every exam that day.
• You wish them well, tell them they have worked hard enough and that they can only do their best.
• You look forward to seeing them at the end of the day.

 

And when it’s all over
 

Tell your son/daughter to relax and forget about studying for a while. Perhaps you can celebrate by cooking them their favourite meal.

School Contacts
 

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with the school if you would like more help or advice to prepare for your son/daughter for their GCSEs.

Examinations officer - Pauline Sharp

The schools telephone number is
01482 879967
 

Other materials
 

Look at useful websites. The school and libraries have access to the internet.

Try BBC ‘Bitesize’:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schools/revision

Have a look at the materials in bookshops – there are some useful revision guides on sale.

What you can do to help
 

You can help by:
• recognising how important these exams are and how much time your son/daughter will need if they are to do as well as they can;
• Not asking them to do too many chores or look after younger brothers or sisters;
• encourage the rest of the family to help by not disturbing revision
• securing a quiet place for study, where their work can be safely kept
• encourage relaxation time (too much study is not helpful)
• praising hard work
• emphasising the need for plenty of sleep;
• helping them to forget about each exam as it is finished;
• reminding them that it will soon be over!