First year revision guide 2013 by King Edward VI School

A First Year Guide 2013

NAME:_____________________________________________

Preparing For Examinations  Make sure you are organised in advance of the time you need to start your revision. Plan ahead so that you know how much time you have to spend on revision.  It is not unusual to have started revising before half term in the summer term. Students should use their time wisely and they should be prepared to do a little more work than usual. However, students should be careful not to burn themselves out!  Over half term pupils should aim to spend about 10 – 15 hours in total revising. If you break this into small chunks this amounts to about an hour and a half each day. You should definitely not spend all of half term working – you need a break and a rest! However, doing a little bit each day can really help you feel that you are on top of your work.  After half term much of the homework set should be revision based and so this should be very helpful. You may also find that you have time in Group Period to do some revision.  Before you plan your revision you need to gather information from your teachers.  Use the sheet on the next page to gather some of the information that you will need.  At the same time you should answer the questions on the sheet headed ‘Preparing for Examinations: At Home’

 Once you have done this you can start to prepare your revision timetable. There is a timetable that you can use later in the booklet.  The booklet also contains further advice about preparing for exams, as well as important information such as the examination timetable and the conduct of examinations.

Preparing For Examinations: In School Over the next two weeks, you should find out about your end of year exam in each subject, so that you know how to start preparing for the exams. Use the table below to collect the information. Subject English

Maths

Junior Science

Modern Language

History

Geography

R.E.

Latin

D&T

Topics to be covered in the exam

What will the structure of the exam paper be like?

Revision that will be covered in lesson time

Preparing For Examinations: At Home To help you to plan your revision sensibly it is important that you find out about times when you will not be able to revise. For example, if you are going away for a few days at half term. Ask:  Do you have any commitments in the week before half term?

 Are you going away for any holidays or day trips over the half term break? What dates?

 Do you have any regular commitments in the evenings or at weekends (e.g. music lessons, sports etc.)?

FIRST YEAR INTERNAL EXAMINATIONS TIMETABLE

Summer 2013

1st (A)

Thu

Time 9.15– 10.45

Religious Studies

11.15 -12.45

Junior Science

2.15 – 3.45

Latin

129

Fri

9.15 – 10.45

Geography

129

14Jun

World Religions

incl 30 mins prior revision

129

English incl 30mins prior revision Comprehenson & Directed Writing

11.15 -12.45

2.15 – 3.45

MFL1 Spanish R & W

2.15 – 3.45

MFL1 German R & W

2.15 – 3.45

MFL1 French R & W

Mon AM 17Jun

9.15 – 10.45

Mathematics

129

11.15–12.45

Design & Technology

129

2.15 – 3.45

History

(B)

incl 30 mins prior revision

Form/Set Total Room

13Jun

(A)

Subject

129

I/1 20

I/2 22

I/3 23

I/4 22

I/5 21

I/6 21

CL5

I/1 20

I/2 22

I/3 23

I/4 22

I/5 21

I/6 21

CL5

I/1 20

I/2 22

I/3 23

I/4 22

I/5 21

I/6 21

CL5

I/1 20

I/2 22

I/3 23

I/4 22

I/5 21

I/6 21

CL5

I/1 20

I/2 22

I/3 23

I/4 22

I/5 21

I/6 21

CL5

I/1 SRP 20

I/2 ML 22

I/3 GSPL 23

E3 I/6 SLA 21

CL5

129

I/4 GSPL 22

I/5 JVJ 21

I/1 20

I/2 22

I/3 23

I/4 22

I/5 21

I/6 21

CL5

A1/HS 14

A2/DTB 17

A3/HS 17

A4/DTB 17

B1/DTB 15

CL5

B2/HS 16

B3AMLS 16

B4/HS 17

H10

CL7

I/1 21

I/2 22

I/3 23

I/4 22

I/5 21

I/6 21

CL5

Please Note:       

Wait quietly outside the examination room until instructed to enter the room and take your place. Mobile Phones are NOT allowed in Examination Rooms. Leave your phone in your locker before each exam. If revision or private reading has been authorised, all books and papers must be moved well away from your desk for the examination. Use black ink for all written answers. When your Examination has finished, please remember that External Examinations will still be taking place around the School. Please move around in silence as other pupils will be working under examination conditions. Observe the SILENCE signs throughout the School AT ALL TIMES. All incidents of malpractice or cheating, whether intended or not will be reported to your the Head of Year.

Conduct for Internal Examinations All School Rules, including Dress Regulations, are to be strictly obeyed during the examination period. Acquaint yourself with the dates, times and places of your exams as shown on the timetables.

Arrive at your examination room ten minutes before your exam is due to begin. Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t be late! Revision, private reading, books and papers will NOT will be allowed in the examination room unless authorised. Mobile phones are NOT allowed in the examination room. Please leave your phone in your locker Seating for all examinations will be alphabetical. Check beforehand if you are allowed calculators in your exam. You must use black ink for all your written answers. If you finish your exam early you will not be able to leave the examinations room. At the end of your exam paper, you will be asked to leave quickly & quietly. Move well away from the exam room before speaking.

Completing your revision timetable

It is best to break up your revision into small chunks â&#x20AC;&#x201C; there are more beginnings and endings and that is when you learn most effectively.

Remember that after about half an hour, your attention span flags and concentration drops off SO plan your study time in 30 â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 40 minute sessions.

Build sensible breaks into your revision plan.

Make sure you have nice things to look forward to e.g. if you are revising for the morning during half term make sure you have something interesting planned for the afternoon that has nothing to do with work!

Try to make sure you take exercise each day. Exercise is a good way to relax as well as helping you to feel more positive about things.

Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t just concentrate on your favourite subjects. It can be easy to put off the less appealing jobs so try to divide your time up fairly and stick to your plan.

REVISION TIMETABLE Mon 20 May

Tues 21 May

Wed 22 May

Thurs 23 May

Fri 24 May

Group Base

Evening

Sat 25 May

Sun 26 May

Morning

Afternoon

Evening

HALF TERM

Mon 27 May

Tues 28 May

Wed 29 May

Thurs 30 May

Fri 31 May

Morning

Afternoon

Evening

Sat 01 June

Sun 02 June

Morning

Afternoon

Evening

RETURN TO SCHOOL

Mon 03 June

Tues 04 June

Wed 05 June

Thurs 06 June

Fri 07 June

Group Base

Evening

Sat 08 June

Sun 09 June

Morning

Afternoon

Evening

Mon 10 June

Tues 11 June

Wed 12 June

Thurs 13 June

Fri 14 June

Group Base

Evening

Sat 15 June

Sun 16 June

Mon 17 June

Morning

Group Base

Afternoon

Evening

Using your time effectively Read about Dippy Dave’s day and Triffic Tim’s day. Dippy Dave’s Day: 10.00 a.m. 11.00 a.m. Noon 12.01 p.m. 12.30 p.m. 1.00 p.m. 1.30 p.m. 2.00 p.m. 3.00 p.m. 3.02 p.m. 3.04 p.m. 5.14 p.m. 6.00 p.m. 6.30 p.m. 9.00 p.m. 9.15 p.m. 10.00 p.m. 10.15 p.m. 11.00 p.m. 11.10 p.m. 1.30 a.m.

Got up. (I didn’t get to bed until 2 as I was distracted playing games on my playstation) Watched TV while I had breakfast – thought about doing some work Started History revision Nipped to the shops for some sweets Got home and had lunch Watched news Watched Australian Soap Went to my room to revise, listened to my new CD first. Began to revise History Remembered that I’d left the history book that I needed at John’s Went to John’s. Chatted and listened to the latest Red Hot Chilli Peppers CD. Then played Alley Fighter computer game and lost! Left John’s Dinner Football practice at sports centre Finished football and went to John’s to collect history book Played computer game again and this time I won! Got back home. In trouble with parents about being late and not doing any work for my exams Remembered that I had forgotten book Started to revise Geography. Too tired…. Watched a DVD Decided to go to sleep. Need to remember to collect the book tomorrow…..

Triffic Tim’s Day: 4.30 a.m. 4.32 a.m. 5.30 a.m. 6.30 a.m. 6.33 a.m. 7.33 a.m. 11.00 a.m. 11.05 a.m. 12.30 p.m. 12.45 p.m. 3.00 p.m. 3.05 p.m. 5.00 p.m. 6.00 p.m. 6.30 p.m. 9.00 p.m. 11.00 p.m. 12.00

Woke up. Quick shower Down to work! Revising History. Read history book from cover to cover Finished history book. Started French revision (Had to be quiet so as not to wake Mum and Dad). Read French book and looked through my notes Had cup of coffee Continued with French Read geography book Time for a coffee and a biscuit Read geography book again Lunch Read geography notes Took a break for a cup of tea Back to geography book Made some notes on geography Dinner Read science notes Learnt Latin vocab. Got ready for bed. Tested myself on the Latin vocab. Set alarm for 4.30 a.m. and went to sleep

Who is the ideal student? Think about this, jotting down some of your thoughts and then look on the next page to see if you agree with us.

Dippy Dave vs Triffic Tim? Neither Tim nor Dave is ideal. Why? Dave:

Gets up late Never gets down to work Is disorganised Is easily distracted Doesn’t plan his time Goes to bed late Doesn’t actually do any revision

Tim:

Doesn’t have enough sleep Works ALL the time – no time for exercise, relaxation, etc. Spends far too long working on one subject Doesn’t take enough breaks Hardly uses active learning techniques, he simply reads Doesn’t have breakfast (it is important to get fuel into the body) Doesn’t test himself on what he is reading – how does he know if he has learnt anything?

It is important to have a balanced view towards studying.

Have you thought about how you are going to revise? Revision boils down to personal preference. However, you may not have thought about HOW to revise before. Consider the questions below and fill in the boxes:

Your answer Where do you revise?

Is it noisy?

What about comfort factors?

Do you prefer to revise alone or with friends/both?

What is likely to distract you?

What time of day do you prefer to revise/study?

Ideal? Better toâ&#x20AC;Ś..?

Revision techniques We remember: 20% of what we read 30% of what we hear 40% of what we see 50% of what we do and 90% of what we see, hear, say and do. Therefore it is best if we take an active approach to learning, not just sit back. It is certainly not sensible to just sit and read your notes!

There are lots of different ways of trying to learn your work. You can:

Create visual images by drawing diagrams or pictures. Highlight or underline text. Try to make a mental picture.

Repeat work by reading aloud or explaining it to someone else Looking and copying can be helpful, such as making notes on index cards Linking new ideas to old knowledge by creating Brain Frames (also known as Mindmaps)

Use rhyme and rhythm to help you remember things. I am sure you can think of examples where you remember facts through rhyme or song.

There are many more ideas too. You must find out what works best for you and then try to use these methods in your revision. You do not have to stick to one way of revising. Mixing your techniques can be helpful as well as making it more interesting. On the next couple of pages you will find examples of different revision techniques being used.

 Distillation  Method of separating two or more substances using evaporation  When a solution has 2 substances with different boiling points, the lower boiling point can be evaporated off into another container  Condensing tube  Tube leading to final container  Surrounded by cold water that is constantly replaced  Distillate  Liquid you end up with  Solvent  Original liquid  Solute  What is left  Distillation = evaporation + condensation  Fractional Distillation  Method of separating 2 liquids with different boiling points in a solution  The liquid with the lowest boiling point evaporates first  It goes through the fractionating column which isolates it  It condenses in the condenser

Distillation is a method of separating two or more substances using evaporation. When a solution has two substances with different boiling points, the lower boiling point can be evaporated off into another container. The condensing tube leads to final container. It is surrounded by cold water that is constantly replaced. The original liquid is called the solvent; the distillate is the liquid you end up with. Whatever is left is the solute. Fractional Distillation is the method of separating 2 liquids with different boiling points in a solution. The liquid with the lowest boiling point evaporates first, going through the fractionating column, which isolates it, and condensing in the condenser.

Distillation = evaporation + condensation When a solution has 2 substances with different boiling points, the lower boiling point can be evaporated off into another container

Solvent: Original liquid

Distillate: liquid you end up with DISTILLATION Solute: What is left

D I S T I L L

ISTILATE IS WHAT YOU WANT TO MAKE T’S DONE WITH EVAPORATION OLVENT IS WHAT YOU START WITH WO SUBSTANCES TO SEPARATE NTO THE CONDENSING TUBE OWEST BOILING POINT FIRST EFT WITH SOLUTE

Condensing tube: Tube leading to final container Surrounded by cold water that is constantly replaced

Method of separating 2 (or more) substances using evaporation

Fractional Distillation

Liquid w/ lowest bp goes thru fractionating column which isolates it … … It condenses in the condenser

Here are examples of Brain Frames or Mind Maps You start by putting the topic in the middle, with main headings coming from it. You then add bullet points. Key facts are then added to the bullet points. Use diagrams, bright colours, headings, numbering, pictures etc. to make facts stand out. The diagram below is a mind map showing ideas of how to mind map

Below are some tips written for you by a King Edward VI Sixth Form student: Revision and Exam Tips When Revising  Write it, Read it, Say it, Hear it  Use colours, lists, notecards, acrostics or diagrams to help you remember  Set yourself certain times to revise and take short breaks every 20/30 minutes The Night Before  Glance over your notes one more time, but don’t stress; you remember things better when you are relaxed.  Get your things ready; make sure you have a sharp pencil, spare ink and any other equipment you might need.  Get a good night’s sleep; it will help more than any late revision. On The Day  Have a good breakfast, it will help you think  Take deep breaths before you go in  Make an effort to stay calm and focused In The Exam  Do all the questions you know first, but don’t forget to go back to the others.  If you have forgotten something, don’t know the answer or run out of time, it is best to guess. You have no chance of being right if you leave it blank!  Don’t worry about the exam afterwards - it’s too late to change anything.