Effective Revision Strategies for Students: A Guide to Making It Work

2. Revision - The who, what, when, where and how guide to making it work Parents – How many of you came to this session last year? How much of it can you remember?

3. Does this sound familiar? The over worker: • Spends hours working every night • Always works on weekends • Takes no breaks • Believes that they will fail if they are not constantly working • Socialises less than previously because they ‘need to work’

4. Does this sound familiar? The procrastinator: • Has good intentions, but struggles with following through • Wants to improve and knows they need to work but just can’t get themselves started • Will find anything else to do to avoid starting what seems like a daunting task • Always has the tidiest bedroom when a deadline is looming

5. Does this sound familiar? The ostrich: • Acts like exams and the end of school aren’t happening • Avoids talking about them or working on them at all costs • Sticks their head in the sand and hopes that it’ll all be ok on its own • Realises far too late that this strategy doesn’t work and they should have been doing something different all along

6. Does this sound familiar? The blinkered horse: • Focuses on the subject that they like/are good at, but put off the challenging things • Gets tunnel vision about what they need to work on, and so do more and more work in their strongest area • The more they avoid their weaker areas the more they panic and focus on their favourites

7. Does this sound familiar? The hamster-wheeler: • Revises constantly, but inefficiently • Goes round in circles looking at the same thing • Believes that time put in = automatic improvement • The student that rereads notes rather than varying or attempting different strategies

8. Does this sound familiar? The passive reviser: • Flicking through books and folders but not doing anything useful or productive • TV or music on in background • Checking phone every few minutes • Spends an hour sat in front of their work but doesn’t accomplish anything

9. Does this sound familiar? The frequent-flyer: • Revision session reliant – attends all sessions but believes that is all they need to do • Completes little to no revision at home or independently • In order to try and avoid this, students should be approaching teachers to find out what they can do to improve in areas that they are struggling in. 1:1 conversations with teachers will guide their work and independent revision if they are feeling lost or unsure about how to start.

10. You havealready started – what have you done? What can you remember about the work you did throughout year 10? - how detailed are your notes? - how organised are your books/folders? If the honest answer is ‘good’, great, you’re half way there! If the honest answer is ‘bad’, you need to up your game. • Spend a couple of hours figuring out the material you will need to know for each exam and map out a revision timetable. • Make sure it’s clear and precise.

11. Class work – what should you expect to see? Student’s original draft in black Teacher’s feedback/ DIRT task Student’s improvement in green

12. Approach to DIRT work • Dedicated Independent Reflection Time – learning from mistakes • Parents and carers should look for green pen for student response to teacher feedback (red pen) • Greenshould usually outweigh red not the case? 2 possibilities  1) lack of effort / 2) lack of understanding.  impetus back on student in either case. • Effective DIRT = better first attempts, better understanding, higher levels of confidence in ability and ultimately higher grades.

13. Hear from the experts… • What do you think made you successful in your GCSEs? • How did your parents/carers support you throughout your GCSEs? Is there anything you wish they’d have done/hadn’t done? • What personal changes would you have made to your time studying your GCSEs? • How did you adapt with the transition between KS3 and KS4 and then Y10 to Y11? • Is there any other advice you would offer to current GCSE students?

14. What have you already tried? • Where do you know works best for you? Library? Bedroom floor? Living room table? • How has revision been going so far? Have you started yet? • How were your trial exams in Year 10? • Do you need to look at making any changes to routines, strategies, where you work? • What use of school can you make? Library? ELC? D7?

16. Workspaces at DHFS • Learning Resource Centre (Library) • Lunch time catch up clubs (departmental) • After school homework club - D1 • Y11 after school work space – A7 (See Mrs Davies for a planner sticker) • Desks • Computers • Resources All available: • Before • During • After school

17. Workspaces in the Community Local Libraries • Wificonnection • Literature/wider reading • Printing facilities • Quiet working environment

18. Out of class • Organisation - folders/books/notes • Routines – Regular, timed & realistic • Write to-do / question lists – what do you need help with?

19. Structured Revision Planner

20. HW PE MA HW Library – science revision A7 – maths revision HW HW SC HI EN A7 – maths revision HW SP Library – history revision HW HW HI EN A7 – English revision HW HW PE SC SP SP PE EN EN SC HI MA MA

21. DHFS revision strategies • There is not a ‘right’ way to revise. • Different strategies may work for different subjects. • Do what works, not what is easiest or most enjoyable. • Revising is not a substitute for the work done in lessons.

22. The Zeigarnik effect On average, 75% of students consider themselves to be procrastinators. Low levels of self-belief and lack of self-regulation can result in students delaying the start of their work. Sitting down and starting the task is half the battle. The Zeigarnik effect was first observed in a café in Berlin, where a waiter was able to remember multiple orders without writing anything down, but once they had finished their meal he was unable to recall what they had asked for.

23. The Zeigarnik effect • This prompted years of research that found that once a task has been started – but not completed – an inner tension helps the person keep it in mind. • If we can encourage students to just start the task, even if for only 10 minutes, then the Zeigarnik effect may take over, increasing their motivation and likelihood of seeing the task through to completion. Get started!!!

24. Now you’re ready to go… • What strategies can you use?

25. 1) Information based revision resources • Create mind maps, posters, flash cards, mnemonics, stories, diagrams, quiz questions etc. about each topic. • Creating revision resources helps you process information and gives you summarised notes to use for future revision • Clarity and quality are key for triggering memory later on – use colours, borders, images etc. Making them silly or funny can also help recall.

27. 1) Information based revision resources – why do this? • Streamlining the information and content needed for the examsso you can focus on the most important points. • Helps you identify areas of strength and weakness. • Works best if you do it from memory first, then use notes, revision guides, resources to fill in gaps in your knowledge.

28. 1) Information based revision resources Once you have created revision resources, the next step is to use them. Go back over them. Test yourself. See what you can remember. Work out which areas you are confident you understand and which you need to go back to.

29. 2) Collaborative Learning A lot of students revise by reading their notes. If they have the right ‘study buddy’ to discuss work with, they are likely to retain a lot more of the information. Family members can help. Ask them questions and get them to teach you about a topic.

30. 3) Spacing – Little and often • ‘Spacing’ - revising the same information two or three times across a few days improves the likelihood of retaining information in the long term memory (Nuttall, 1999). • Doing something little and often beats doing it all at once. Revising for eight hours in one day is not as effective as doing one hour of revision for eight days. • This is because the time in between allows you to forget and re-learn the information, strengthening those neural pathways, which cements it in your long-term memory. • In some studies, using spacing instead of cramming has resulted in a difference of up to 30% in final test results.

31. 4) Testing memory • Testing yourself on the material you have revised is a really robust way of cementing your learning. • Testing your memory can be as simple as a conversation with a family member. • Exams can often be stressful for students, and stress can impair memory. The testing effect can be especially helpful here. • Testing yourself recreates the exam conditions in a more manageable format, getting your brain slowly used to the tension of recall in an exam.

32. 5) Worked Examples • This type of revision is very basic in nature but essential for grasping key exam style points and getting used to questions. • Focuses on past exemplars to develop own thoughts and work. HOW? • Past papers • Mark schemes • Grade Boundaries • Examination reports

33. Mark schemes

34. Examiners’ reports

35. Stick Post-it notes everywhere. Literally everywhere. Just being surrounded by your revision notes will mean that something will have to sink in. • Record yourself reciting key information and listen to it while doing other things • Find a friend who is on a different course to you and teach each other about your courses. The act of having to explain things to help someone else understand something will help to highlight what you yourself have learned. • Wear a particular perfume or aftershave or eat a particular kind of mint or sweet while studying different subjects and then wear the same one on the day of the exam.  • Read things out loud in different accents or voices. Then when you are trying to recall the facts, you’ll remember the accent and then hopefully the fact too.

36. How can parents support? • Help to create a working area where you are confident your child can focus. • Remove the electronic devices. • Take interest in your child’s work – ask to see examples. • Ensure your child has a balanced work and social timetable. • Test your child, or get them to teach you about a topic. • Ensure verbal responses support writing.

37. Other things for families to consider: • Diet and exercise • Sleep and relaxation time • Breathe/Mind apps for relaxation • No matter how you dress it up, revision isn’t the most enjoyable of pastimes and there will always be something you would rather be doing.

39. Control distractions…

40. SIMS Parent App • Track: • Attendance • Achievement • Behaviour • Progress • Timetable • Please speak to your child’s HPL if you require access details.

41. Sixth Form – 2018/19 entry requirements • Entry Requirements – DHFS Sixth Form • A-Level 5xGCSE 5+ (including English and maths) + subject specific requirements • BTEC Business 5xGCSE 4+ (including English and maths) • Other factors: • Progress against targets • Attitude to learning & homework • Attendance • Achievement and behaviour points • References • Y11 reports are key to obtaining places

42. House Progress Leaders • dsanderson@dronfield.derbyshire.sch.uk • ejeffcock@dronfield.derbyshire.sch.uk • lkendall@dronfield.derbyshire.sch.uk • bswales@dronfield.derbyshire.sch.uk • lwatkin@dronfield.derbyshire.sch.uk • ahibbert@dronfield.derbyshire.sch.uk

43. Resources available to purchase this evening or in school in the LRC. Revision Workbooks Exam question and answers Revision Guides Revision notes on every part of the exam, uses colour pictures and exam questions to support revision.

44. To order: Order and pay for the resources you require this evening. OR Your child can order and pay for the resources at the LRC before school/break/lunch/afterschool. (payment must be made when ordering) Resources available to purchase this evening or in school in the LRC. REVISION PACK Contains the essential items to support revision, includes: • Post it notes • Flashcards • High lighters • Key stationary • Notepads EXAM PACK Contains essential items for exams includes: • Clear pencil case • Pens/pencils/ruler • Mathsspecific equipment

45. Evaluation Questionnaire • We will be sending an evaluation questionnaire by email after this session.