Supporting Year 10 to prepare for success at GCSE

Supporting Year 10 to prepare for success at GCSE

We are all in this together as a team and we all know that Together Everyone Achieves More!!

Concerns that students come to see me about: Exam pressure Time management and organisation Stress and anxiety Friendships / relationships Social media / online issues Competing and comparing themselves with others

In school: Form Tutors: Student Manager: Progress Manager: Careers Advisor: Mrs Stewart-Nash, Mr Oakland Mrs Towers, Mrs Woodward, Miss Bond, Dr Kendall, Mrs Horne Mrs D Smith Mrs Theobald / Mrs Horne Mrs Hix

New Grading for GCSE All subjects 9 1 (9 is the top grade)

What will the colleges require? 2019 Basics Maths 4/5 English 4/5 A level Courses GCSE Five Grade 6 or better. **colleges may differ in requirements

Careers Fair Autumn term date and time to be confirmed Assembly rooms Come and talk to many local providers of Post 16 courses eg: A Levels, and Apprenticeships.

Exams and Assessment In many subjects, controlled assessments are being phased out and replaced with a final exam. However, D&T, Food Preparation and Nutrition, PE will continue to have Non- Exam Assessments (NEA) and Art coursework as well as final exam because of the practical element.

Y10 Exams Week commencing Monday April 1st. Treated like the real exams: Formal exam timetables Assembly rooms/sports Hall Seating plans Invigilators

BBC - THE MIND SET. http://www.bbc.co.uk/guides/z3hpgdm This is the link to the BBC Mind Set website where there is lots of help and advice from students who have done their GCSEs.

Find a good place to study: Comfortable Well lit Free from distractions Get into the right frame of mind

Plan out a study timetable: Put in school commitments first Then add in any extra curricular clubs / jobs Use your homework timetable in your planner Leave room to increase study time later in year 10 Make sure you include down time

Reduce screen time A study by Cambridge university found that: An extra hour a day of television, internet or computer game time in Year 10 is linked to poorer grades at GCSE The average drop in the study was equivalent to two GCSE grades

Read Conversely, pupils who spent an extra hour a day doing homework or reading did better in their GCSEs; increasing their results by the equivalent of between 4 and 5 grades Read for pleasure Read news articles Read wider in chosen subjects Read ahead before the lesson

Get organised Write notes clearly in lessons Keep notes organised Different folders for different subjects Refer back to notes when doing homework Improve them if they are not good enough be a perfectionist Keep on top of deadlines Keep old exercise books

Intervention Programme (School support) All students are welcome to attend Intervention sessions Some students will be invited to attend Aimed at supporting work done in lessons A chance to develop key skills / knowledge Parents will be notified by letter

Study Skills Any type of studying will require the use of various skills. There is not one single factor that leads to success. Successful learning and passing exams can be based on the following FACT: Feel right about learning you should feel relaxed, awake, motivated and positive. Acquiring and absorbing information your preferred learning style will help you.find out your learning style by trying various approaches. Constructing meaning for YOURSELF by understanding and using the information you have. Transferring the information to long-term memory 80%of all new learned material will be lost unless regularly reviewed and revised. **At school, lessons are designed to help you achieve the first 3 of the above factors, but transferring the information to your long-term memory however, is something you have to do in your own time.

Information Information is retained and recalled effectively if: It is presented in short bursts It is reviewed regularly It is linked to other information It involves more than one sense It uses both left and right sides of the brain It is relevant to you It is remembered by using methods that work for you eg: mnemonics, chants or mind maps

Time Management Transferring information to long-term memory is as important as backing up information on a computer for future reference and use Studying is like exercising the body to make a difference it must be done consistently and on a regular basis. Once every now and then is not enough You will learn and remember more if you have regular study habits. It is much more effective to study for one hour a day than one day at the weekend Studying and revising take up a lot of time there is no way round this, and you have to make sacrifices but you have to just FIND, MAKE and USE more time for study.

FIND Look at what you do in a typical week the best way to do this is to make a timetable This will allow you to see where there are gaps that you can make into study time. An hour should be the minimum gap. Once daily is ideal Small, regular sessions are better than once a week, longer sessions It may mean giving up an hour of PS4 or X-Box If you are a committed sports-person, dancer or musician, you must give your study the same amount of commitment and time Exams are a fact of teenage life and they either open or close doors to you in the future TASK: fill out a blank timetable for the next week and identify gaps for study you may have to create those gaps!!

MAKE If you cannot find more study time, you have to make more study time. Self-discipline and sacrifices will be necessary Sleep: Getting up an hour earlier or going to bed an hour later will create more time in your day. Are you a morning person or a night-owl? Decide when you are most effective Lifestyle: Spend less time socialising or doing hobbies you don t have to stop altogether! Study for an hour before you go out then see that as a treat for studying. Study with friends as a group Television: The average person spends 25 hours per week watching TV that s 3 ½ hours per day that you could use to study. Watch only programmes you really want to watch NEVER study with the TV on Family: It can be hard to find time and a place to study if you have a large family. Explain to them that you need quiet study time and ask them for their support. Tell your friends you may see less of them because you are studying and not because of them. They should be studying too!!!

Use time more efficiently! Keep your school books, files and notes in order Use coloured dividers and write on tags to identify each topic. Time spent searching for notes is time wasted!! Make your own verbal notes on your phone voice recorder e.g. walking to school when you don t have access to pen and paper or your computer ALWAYS have your notes or a book with you you can study from them whilst on the bus, during lunchtime. Even short bursts of study can be really useful. Find ways to grab every spare minute for study and learn to make small sacrifices it will be so worth it!! Identify your top ten distractions and work at each one of them in turn

Sacrifices All of these sacrifices may seem difficult, even impossible and unfair, but with practice it gets easier and you will be able to study for longer periods without getting bored or tired. You will start to see the benefits as you feel more in control and calmer because you are improving your memory and study skills.

Concentration Lack of concentration can happen in lessons or whilst trying to study at home. Concentration skills are easy to develop if you practise. Start by studying in short bursts, have a quick break and then begin again straight away. You can then begin to make the study periods longer. A quick break could be a cuppa, have a good stretch, listen to a favourite song or get some fresh air for 5 minutes. Break difficult subjects into short, manageable sections. Avoid stress!! Don t avoid study! If your attention starts to wander, switch to a different task. Don t make excuses!! Sometimes you just have to force yourself some tasks and topics will be harder than others.

Study Conditions You must be free from distractions Study alone Turn the TV and your phone off!! Put your phone away in a drawer/cupboard! If you need music, make sure it is not the radio or music you like to sing along with Make sure you are comfortable preferably at a desk or table and that you have everything to hand Good lighting is essential If you don t have a desk, keep all your books and folders in a box

At school, in lessons Tune in to the teacher and keep eye contact as if having a conversation Sit at the front of the classroom if you can and avoid turning round at other students who distract Drink cold water to keep hydrated and awake (if the teacher allows this) Make notes during the lesson this will make you a more active listener Use your own words in your notes as this will make information easier to remember Make notes on hand-outs keep it neat and clear! Read ahead of the lesson so you feel prepared and less stressed If you are worried about anything in the lesson, or don t understand something, make a note of it so that you can speak to the teacher after the lesson if you are not confident enough to speak up during the lesson this helps you worry less and really works! Talk to friends about how they make notes and organise their work share ideas

Revision Techniques Planning: Revision should be done throughout the course, not just in preparation for exams or tests Find out which topics you will be studying each term and draw up a timetable to fit in revision as part of homework Try to revise one topic at a time The earlier you begin, the more in control and confident you will feel

Revision Techniques Time of day: If you get tired, get some fresh air or drink a glass of cold water Revising when you are tired is a waste of time Work out when your best time of day is and plan your study around that Avoid late at night Treat yourself after each revision session Small bursts of regular revision are best - even 10 minutes used to go over a list or a calculation can be very valuable It is better to do one small thing well, than several things badly

Methods of revision Condense your notes, using A4 paper Use colour and highlighters Mind maps, flow charts, spider diagrams and post-it notes Design your own learning posters with all information on them Summary grids or tables Prompt cards with brief notes Diagrams and drawings Mnemonics / Acrostics Self-testing Get someone else to test you Teach a family member a topic Rap or sing it

Useful support online: www.healthforteens.co.uk www.youngminds.org.uk www.kooth.com http://mathsanxietytrust.com/