SUPPORT PACK

FOR

PARENTS / CARERS

“Supporting your son / daughter to gain exam success and be the best they can”

List of Contents

Subject teachers / leader details

Dates of exams

Helping your child with planning for exams

The learning environment

Learning styles

How to draw a mind map...

Example of a mind map

Revision materials, classes and resources

Useful websites

Bedlingtonshire Community High Y11 Subject Teachers (present)

Heads of House

Mr J Bell

Mrs L Hind

Mr D Waddle

Subject Teachers:

Mrs A Jenkins

Mrs C Robson

Mr A Scott

Miss L Towers

Mrs V Whewell

Mrs L Wetherley

Mrs S Jones

Mr A Goodwin

Mr G Savage

Support Staff:

Ms L Nicholson (Attendance)

Mrs T Watson (Student Support)

Mrs S Cox (Behaviour Support)

If you have any questions, or concerns, please email: info@bchs.uk.net

Page 1

Dates For Exams The exam timetable for Summer 2016 can be found on the schools website: http://bchs.uk.net/pupils/exams/ Helping your child with planning for Exams Here are some suggestions from previous Y11 parents:

“Create an environment suitable for study without interruption.”

“Consider reward and recognition either verbally or materially”

“Always be ready to listen to them, about their day at school as well as the work they are doing.”

“Be patient, teenagers can be awkward, more so than usual, when they are under pressure.”

“One thing I think schools can do is give the students lots of past papers to practice on.

An exam paper each week is helping my son build up his confidence. Parents can help with this by taking the lead in asking how it went. You do not need to have spe-

cialist subject knowledge to help your child.”

“Make sure your child is properly equipped for the exam. Ask your child what they will need to take into the examination room; as exam requirements differ.”

“Help them draw up a revision time table in advance of exams.”

Helping your child with planning for Exams We asked previous Y11 students “How can parent’s help”. Here are some of their responses:

“Asking which subjects I’m revising and taking

time out to test me on a subject.”

“Setting deadlines and targets about how much I need to revise before allowing me to have free time.”

“Parents need to understand boundaries. Too much pressure and nagging doesn’t work; they need to know when to stay quiet

and when to leave us alone to get on with revision.”

“It’s better when they don’t know anything about the subject. If they try to teach me the way they were taught I just get confused.”

“Give me praise, praise me, praise me!”

“A conversation about what I’ve got to do and how I’m getting on is the best.”

“When parents understand the balance between too much pressure versus a total lack of interest, it’s perfect.”

“A reward after a long period of revision, please!”

Helping your child with planning for Exams Varying revision techniques are key as research shows us that: We remember...

10% of what we READ

20% of what we HEAR

30% of what we SEE

50% of what we HEAR and SEE

70% of what we SAY

90% of what we SAY and DO (Edgar Dales)

It can be seen that by using a variety of approaches that this can dramatically

increase your son or daughters ability to memorise materials

Learning Environment

The closer it gets to exams the harder it becomes to concentrate.

It is really important that you talk to your son / daughter about how they can create

an atmosphere in which they can relax and concentrate. How they feel impacts on

how they will perform. We are all affected both physically and mentally by our sur-

roundings. It is amazing how much positive energy we can generate by having the

right personal learning environment, as we all study differently!

Do remember to encourage you son or daughter to drink lots of water as the brain

needs this to function as well as it can!

Here are some suggested tips to discuss with your son or daughter so they get the

most out of their study time…

Start their study with a short relaxation

Make sure that they don't study for 3 or 4 hours at a time; as its

recommended that they need to take a break every 40 minutes or so

When they start their study, suggested they revise for a few minutes

on what came before

Get them to stick to having breaks as although they may understand

the work, if they continue without stopping they may not remember it

all

At the end of their study, they may need to take 3 deep breaths and

tell themselves “I will remember all of this”

POSITIVE THOUGHTS!

How could your child’s preferred learning style help them with revision? What kind of learner are they?

Revision methods for Auditory Learners

Make a recording of course notes Revise with another person asking each other questions Repeating information out loud Talk yourself or someone through difficult topics

Revision Methods for Visual Learners

Transfer information onto flash cards (summarise all you know of topic) Reduce course notes to one-side of A4 Prepare a mind/concept map with notes Watch relevant revision videos or surf revision sites on the internet

Revision Methods for Kinaesthetic Learner

Produce a mind map Incorporate regular breaks during revision to allow for physical move-

ment Put up learning poster around the walls, have plenty of space to spread

their work.

Auditory learners are Talkative, love discussions Give lengthy descriptions Talk to themselves whilst working Easily distracted by noise Learn by remembering what they

heard

Visual learners are Neat and orderly Appearance orientated Usually distracted by noise Doodle during conversations

Kinaesthetic learners Touch people to get their attention Move around Gesture a lot Cannot sit still for long periods of time

How to Draw a Mind Map

Turn the A4 paper to landscape view

Write your chosen subject in the centre of the page; this could be a

word or an picture

Add the main branches to represent the subject’s main theme using

key words or images

Next add sub-branches with more key words and images

Use colour to emphasis key words, phrases, or images

Print words clearly making sure you don’t over fill lines

Use arrows to connect the linking of ideas

REMEMBER there is no right or wrong way to compile a mind map as we all have our own techniques and methods of

recording information to support our learning

www.mindmapsunleashed.com/learn-to-create-a-mind-map-in-word https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOIPsHH5ymA

Revision materials, classes and resources

Exams are a stressful time for our young people therefore to support them through

this by talking to your son or daughter about how they are feeling…

Encourage them to plan their study and take advantage of what is on offer in the

way of revision support by talking to their teachers, Heads of department and sub-

ject leaders…

In KS4 students study set texts and most of these texts have revision guides

We cover in Y10:

Romeo and Juliet

A Christmas Carol

An Inspector Calls

Poetry Cluster (but students would need to check which one they study)

Current Y11:

Of Mice and Men

Poetry—Relationships

An Inspector Calls

There are also revision guides, produced by AQA

that prepare students for the examination

Useful Educational Websites

Search Engines: Exam Boards:

http://www.google.co.uk

http://www.yahoo.co.uk http://www.aqa.org.uk

http://www.lycos.co.uk http://www.edexcel.org.uk

http://www.ask.co.uk http://www.ocr.org.uk

http://www.bing.com

Website Address Comment Age Range

www.bbc.co.uk/schools/ All school subjects 4 —16+

www.bbc.co.uk/revision All school subjects KS1, KS2, KS3 & GCSE

www.teachit.co.uk/ English resources KS3, KS4, & A level

ngfl.northumberland.gov.uk Northumberland County Council resources

First, Primary & Secondary

www.englishbiz.co.uk/ English & English literature Skills focused help

GCSE

www.geoffbarton.co.uk/ English GCSE A level

www.s-cool.co.uk/ All subjects GCSE A level

www.getrevising.co.uk All subjects GCSE, A level &

www.creative-chemistry.org.uk Chemistry GCSE A level

www.webelements.com/ Chemistry KS3, GCSE & A level

Www.my-gcsescience.com Biology, Chemistry & Physics video tutorials

GCSE