Revision guide 1st years 2017 final by King Edward VI School

Revision Guide

[Document subtitle]

First Year

This guide is here to help you to revise for your examinations as effectively as possible. The guide contains several golden rules for improvement in preparation along with some useful tools that you and your supporting friends and family can make use of in planning for examinations. Before you turn the first page just remember…… “Nothing worth having was ever achieved without effort”. “The difference between mediocrity and excellence is often a matter of effort”.

These famous quotes need to echo in your ears for the next few weeks because they make your situation very clear. It doesn’t matter how good a revision strategy might be for you that in itself will not be enough. Success in these examinations is ultimately down to your effort and that means a consistent time commitment and other sacrifices. Don’t fear the challenge, embrace it and you’ll get the rewards.

Name:

Tutor Group:

The Golden Rules  Start Revision Early We don’t mean before sunrise, we mean that you need to start about 3-4 weeks ahead of the examinations. This avoids MASSED LEARNING (known to most of us as cramming).

1. Revise a topic for a maximum of 45 minutes (more than this and the ability of the brain to process information is significantly reduced). 2. Have lots of breaks. 3. Test yourself or get someone to test you and note your score/recall capability and what tripped you up. 4. Consider revising the same topic for 20-30 minutes the day after to check you remember it.

 Ensure a Social Media/Gadget Shut Down This will be tough for some of you but could be the make or break of your success in these examinations. 1. Switch off your mobile phone. Incoming calls, texts, tweets and other things that go ‘bing’ or ‘bong’ are just too tempting. 2. Turn off your computer and iPad too, unless you are visiting revision websites that have been recommended by your teachers or using resources you have made in class on your iPad. 3. Try to keep all devices off for the whole time you are working, then when you have a break you can turn them on again.

The Golden Rules 

Get help from friends and family

It’s often very useful and reassuring to get your parents, brothers and sisters or friends (study buddies) to be a part of your revision.

Ideas for involving others: 1. Get someone to test you on the topic you’ve just covered. They could ask you the questions you’ve been preparing for or listen while you try and remember the key terms. 2. Be the lecturer. Give a short lecture style presentation to someone. 3. Do a revision session with a study buddy? It can be really motivating to go through your revision journey with another student who is determined to make the most of their revision time like you. You can take notes together, complete past papers, test each other on key terms and play the revision games later in this booklet.



Get organised

The best way to start revision is to spend your first session for each subject getting organised. The next page has some tips to help with everything you need to be an effective and organised learner.

How to be an effective learner

1. Make sure you have a revision list for each subject; your teacher may give you this or you may create one yourself. 2. Make sure that you have all the revision notes, guides, text books and website links you’ll need for each subject. 3. Highlight the topics in each subject that you are less confident in. 4. Sort out your folders, pens, highlighters and plastic wallets and other revision stationery. 5. Organise your revision space. You can’t work effectively in clutter and mess. Spend 5 or 10 minutes each day making sure things are filed and neat in the right places, this will help you find things again when you next come to revise. 6. Stick your revision timetable in a prominent place on or near your revision space.

On the next few pages you’ll find some tools that will really help you to organise and prepare your revision.

Conduct for Internal Examinations These are our School rules for taking Examinations, donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t worry you will soon get used to them.

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 examinations as shown on the timetable.

Arrive at your examination room ten minutes before your examination is due to begin. Do not be late!

You must use a black pen/ink for all of your written answers.

Revision notes, private reading, books and any other paperwork are not allowed in the examination room unless authorised. All books and papers must be moved well away from the examination desks before the examination begins.

Mobile phones are NOT allowed in the examination room. Please leave your phone in your locker.

Seating for all examinations will be in alphabetical order.

Check beforehand if you are allowed to use calculators in your examinations.

You must stay in the examination room until the end of the time allowed for your paper. You will not be allowed to leave the examination room early.

Observe the SILENCE signs throughout the School at all times.

1st Year Lunches will be taken at the 1.10 pm sitting. Queue in the Crush Hall at 1.10pm. All incidents of malpractice will be reported to the HOY.

Preparing for examinations -In School Subject

English

Maths

Junior Science

Modern Language

History

Geography

R.S.

Latin

D&T

Topics to be covered in the examination.

What will the structure of the examination 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 and think about what subjects you might need to allow more time for than others.

Ask: •

Do you have any commitments in the week before the examinations?

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



Do you find any subject difficult, that you will have to spend more time on than others?

Revision Strategies

Strategy One – Reading and note making 1. Use highlighters to emphasise key points. 2. Use different coloured pens to make learning more memorable. 3. Use different coloured sheets for each subject. This helps for organisation. 4. Use plastic wallets to keep your sheets together and organised

Strategy Two – Condense your notes onto REVISION FLASH CARDS When you transfer more detailed revision notes to flash cards you are aiming to try and recall all of the knowledge you need for answering examination questions from abbreviated notes such as key terms, dates questions or equations. Flash cards are good for testing yourself on key terms or processes too. You can put the answers or diagrams on the back so that you can check you are on track.

Strategy Three – Add some ART to make things vivid Adding your own pictures to some of your notes can be really helpful for knowledge recall. We are not talking awesome art, stick men will do! An image is often easier to remember than text.

Revision Strategies Strategy Four: Voice Recordings Can Help For some making a voice recording of your revision notes can really help to embed the knowledge in your long-term memory. This method saves you having to read the information again and again and instead you hear it. You can use your iPad or your phone. You can then plug in your earphones and listen to your revision at any suitable time.

Strategy Five – The Revision Dice Game This one is for the final stages of your revision journey. When you’ve made revision sheets and flash cards, try something different and play a game. Rules First choose which subject and topic you are playing with… Then if you throw a 1. Write down 5 key terms associated with the topic. 2. Draw a picture of a key process, theory or event to do with topic and label it accordingly. 3. Write a description or definition of the topic or a key term within it. 4. Invent an appropriate question about the topic which may be asked in the examination, write it down and answer it. 5. Do 2 minutes of flash card revision on the area that you find most difficult to remember. 6. Give a 2 minute mini-lecture on a key aspect of the topic.

Revision Timetables Making a revision timetable can be useful to plan your time. Use the template later in this booklet or use your own if you prefer. Remember: 1. It is important that you have regular breaks in your revision. 2. REWARD YOURSELF. Make sure you have lots of things to look forward to during your revision programme. 3. Be Realistic – it is unlikely that you will be able to revise for long periods of time. Set yourself realistic targets. 4. You will concentrate better and learn more effectively if you are in a quiet comfortable environment. Think about where you are going to revise. 5. Rotate your sessions between your ‘best’ subjects and your least favourite subjects. 6. In each subject, make a list of those topics you don’t know quite so well and revise those first.

Mon 8 May

Tues 9 May

Wed 10 May

Thurs 11 May

Fri 12 May

Group Base Assembly

Group Base No Assembly

Group Base

Group Base No Assembly

Group Base

Evening

Sat 13 May

Sun 14 May

Morning

Afternoon

Evening

Mon 15 May

Tues 16 May

Wed 17 May

Thurs 18 May

Fri 19 May

Assembly

Group Base No Assembly

Group Base

Group Base No Assembly

Group Base

Evening

Sat 20 May

Sun 21 May

Morning

Afternoon

Evening

Mon 22 May

Tues 23 May

Wed 24 May

Group Base No Assembly

Group Base

Evening

Evening Examinations are over â&#x20AC;&#x201C; enjoy an evening off!

1st Year Summer 2017 Internal Examinations Timetable

1st

Subject

Form/Set

Room

Timetabled lesson

Normal timetabled classroom

Timetabled lesson

Normal timetabled classroom

Revision

Normal timetabled classrooms

English Comprehension &

Revision Session

Junior Science

Revision Session

Religious Studies

Revision Session

Mathematics I

GAMES

Revision Session

Normal timetabled classrooms

Tue

History

1/1 H14

23 May

Revision Session

Normal timetabled classrooms

Latin

1/1 CL5

Revision Session

Normal timetabled classrooms

Design & Technology

1/1 Mu2

Revision Session

Normal timetabled classrooms

Geography

1/1 M7

Revision Session

Normal timetabled classrooms

MF Language

1/1

Revision Session

Normal timetabled classrooms

Mathematics II

1/1

(B)

Fri

19 May

(A)

Mon

22 May

(A)

(A)Wed

24 May

Directed Writing

FR SP GE : Reading & Writing

1/1

1/2 CL3

1/3 M9

1/4

1/5 M5

1/6 Mu3

1/1 H14

1/2

1/3

1/4

1/5

1/6 H12

1/1 H14

1/2 J1

1/3

1/4

1/5

1/6 H12

1/6 M5

Normal timetabled classrooms 1/1

1/2

1/3 Mu3

1/4

1/5

Normal timetabled classrooms 1/1

1/2

1/2 Mu3

1/2

1/2 M10

1/2

1/3

1/3 E9

1/3 M9

1/3

1/3 L12

1/4 CL5

1/5 H10

1/6

1/4

1/5

1/6 H12

1/4 L12

1/5 Mu3

1/6

1/4 M6

1/5 H12

1/6

1/4 H12

1/5 M5

1/6 Mu3

1/4 M6

1/5 H12

1/6 CL7

1/4

1/5 CL3

1/6

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 examination. All books, revision notes and papers must be moved well away from your desk before the examination begins. Use black ink for all written answers. All incidents of malpractice or cheating, whether intended or not, will be reported to your the Head of Year. If you qualify for Special Examination Arrangements, you will be notified by separate correspondence.

Good Luck

For more information, ideas and guidance please visit the study skills page of the school website.