INFORMATION & ADVICE FOR STUDENTS AND PARENTS

This is a crucial year for students sitting exams and we recognise that this can be a stressful time for all concerned. We want all our students to reach their full potential and want to offer as much support and advice to parents/carers as to know how best to help.

Mock exams will take place in school for all Y11 students and students in Y10 doing early entry GCSE.

The mock exam period is from Monday 16th November 2020 – Friday 27th November 2020.

Pre-final exams are planned to take place from Wednesday 24th February 2021 – Friday 12th March 2021.

HOW YOU CAN HELP

After school revision takes place in most subject areas – please encourage your child to attend as often as they can.

Nobody knows your child better than you do. Some need motivation and the promise of a reward, some need emotional support and others need help with their organisation.

Provide a quiet place for revision.

Encourage your child to be organised — Help them to devise a plan/timetable — AND STICK TO IT! This can reduce potential conflict and lower stress levels.

Give positive messages — Self-belief is important.

Remember stress is easier to prevent than cure. Make time for relaxation, exercise, and socialising and help maintain a healthy work/life balance.

Ensure your child eats well and drinks plenty of water. Sleep is also important  – 8.5 hours is recommended for 16 year olds.

Interactive revision is best e.g. practising exam questions or re-doing practice questions.

After a revision session, your child should be able to TEACH YOU WHAT THEY HAVE LEARNT.  If you can learn from them, you will  know they have revised effectively.

Do not underestimate how much difference your involvement can make in your child’s achievement.

You do not have to be an expert in every subject to have a major impact.

Keep a close watch on the amount of time spent on ‘social network’ sites.

Help them to keep their ‘eye on the prize’ – remind them that their hard work and effort will all be worth it.

EVERY BIT OF REVISION HELPS

Please do not hesitate to get in touch with school if you would like more help or advice about preparing your child for their GCSEs. The school number is 01709 767900 or Email info@saintpiusx.school

OTHER SOURCES OF SUPPORT

TEAMS is a good place to start. Your child can access TEAMS through their Office 365 account. Their teachers will use this platform to post useful revision materials and offer individual support and advice.

The exam board websites also contain useful information related to subjects being studied.

AQA — www. aqa.org.uk covers the following subject areas:

Art, Design and Technology, English Language, English  Literature, Food Preparation and Nutrition, French, Further Maths, Geography, History, Mathematics, Performing Arts, Physical Education, Polish, Science—Biology, Chemistry and Physics, and Spanish.

WJEC eduqas — www.wjec.co.uk covers Religious Education and Film Studies

OCR— www.ocr.org.uk covers Computer Science

All of these sites allow access to past papers, mark schemes and exam reports that give an insight into the whole examination process.

BBC BITESIZE has a range of materials to support students in most subject areas.www.bbc.co.uk/bitesize

SENECA LEARNING also has a range of activities across most GCSE subjects to support knowledge retrieval and understanding — www.senecalearning.com.

PiXL is an extremely useful website used in maths to support learning. All students have their own login.

Youtube has some excellent resources but filters need to be used when searching — www.youtube.com.

Don’t forget to access BOOKS—there are some very good revision guides but please ask for advice on which revision guides to purchase to ensure they cover the subject specification.

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT

HAVE A PLAN