This presentation was used at an S4 parents' evening aiming to share strategies and approaches to enable parents/carers to support pupils in the run up to the S.Q.A. exams.
2. TO EXPLORE SOME WAYS IN WHICH YOU
CAN SUPPORT YOUR CHILD AS HE/SHE
PREPARES FOR THE NATIONAL EXAMS.
We hope by the end of our discussion you will be aware of a variety of
practical tips you can use at home to support your child to study
effectively.
5. Coping with anxiety
Stress is the body’s normal response to a
challenge, threat or excitement.
IT IS NORMAL TO FEEL ANXIOUS!
6.
7. Joe as student before his exam- distressed, worried , negative, feeling of failure
Joe an athlete before a competition- imagining success, motivating, believing, psyching
himself up.
Self Talk
Adrenaline increases your heart rate, elevates your blood pressure and boosts energy supplies.
Cortisol, the primary stress hormone, increases sugars (glucose) in the bloodstream,
enhances your brain's use of glucose
8. Communication is the key
Reassure.
Normalise and help your child reframe.
Contain their anxiety- do not feed it
Message-With preparation you will still feel
nervous on the day but you will be able to
channel it to help you perform well.
9. Why have you not started?
I don’t think you have done enough.
Why are you having a break now?
How much work have you done?
THE POWER OF LANGUAGE
10. What are you planning to do tonight?
Do you want me to shout up when you’ve
worked for an hour, so you can have a
break?
Are you happy with what you have
covered tonight?
Do you want me to let you know when its
8.30 so you can get started again?
12. TO BE SUCCESSFUL YOUR CHILD
NEEDS TO
Get organised.
Study effectively.
Be prepared for the day.
13. GET ORGANISED
Know when the exams are- have a copy somewhere accessible.
Be aware of start times- personalised timetables issued
Draw up a realistic study plan- ensure all subjects are covered.
Build in “down time”.
Organise notes by topic- identify gaps in notes as early as
possible
Have exam questions, revision guides etc. available
Highlighter pens, felts, coloured post-its, postcards
etc. are all potentially useful
Agree where your child will study. It should be warm
and well lit.
Encourage use of Masterclasses.
14. Memory is fundamentally linked to critical
thinking skills
Memory is the residual of thought- the more
we think about something, the more we will
remember it
We understand new things in the context of
what we know
Proficiency requires practice
THINKING ABOUT MEMORY AND
LEARNING
16. We don’t control what is stored - wanting to remember doesn’t
have much bearing on whether you will remember it.
Retrieval is dependent on the quality of cues - cues are the
starting point for retrieval.
People tend to think their learning is more complete than it is.
18. REVIEW, REMEMBER/RECALL
Review- hardest, most crucial part.
Active process of breaking down
information.
Effective note-taking, key words,
diagrams, summaries, visual prompts.
19.
20.
21. REVIEW, REMEMBER/RECALL
Create Memory prompts to help to
remember/recall
supported by regularly revisiting material to
review, and
quizing, testing.
22.
23. USE EXAM QUESTIONS
Knowing or recalling material is not enough-
higher level thinking skills-
understand,
apply,
analyse,
evaluate,
create.
24. HOW TO STUDY EFFECTIVELY
Have a dialogue about how your
child intends to study
Ensure all subjects are studied
Focus on areas of weakness
Encourage your child to ask for help
Use a range of study techniques
Identify study sites- discuss how your child will use these.
Ensure down time
27. Englishman, Howard Carter, was convinced that there was
at least one undiscovered pharaoh’s tomb in Egypt, that of
the almost unknown King Tut, and for more than five years
he searched for it. It cost a good deal of money to search
for all that time, and Carter had a wealthy Englishman, Lord
Carnarvon, backing him, and providing the funds. But in
1922, Lord Carnarvon called Carter back to England to tell
him he was no longer going to fund the search. Carter
managed to persuade him to pay for one more season.
Just as well he did, because in November, 1922, Carter
found a series of steps cut into a rock face and, at the
bottom of them, an unopened stone doorway. On the door
was one name Tutankhamen. Lord Carnarvon was
summoned to Egypt for the opening.
28. Searching for King Tut
Howard Carter (Eng)
undscvrd tomb
Egypt
5 yrs looking
Lord Carnavon pd
1922 LC going to stop
HC given extra
season
Englishman, Howard
Carter, was convinced that
there was at least one
undiscovered pharaoh’s
tomb in Egypt, that of the
almost unknown King Tut,
and for more than five
years he searched for it. It
cost a good deal of money
to search for all that time,
and Carter had a wealthy
Englishman, Lord
Carnarvon, backing him,
and providing the funds.
But in 1922, Lord Carnarvon
called Carter back to
England to tell him he was
no longer going to fund
the search. Carter
managed to persuade him
to pay for one more
season.
33. IT IS IMPORTANT TO CREATE MEMORY PROMPTS
– SO CONDENSE YOUR NOTES
A4-A5-postcards/index card
Front- key word, back-definition or key linked facts
Write all the key words from
your subject onto the notes.
Then stick them all over your
house. As you walk around
and see the words,
challenge yourself to be
able to say what they
mean.
Links
Portability
36. QUESTIONS ARE AN ESSENTIAL TOOL
Ensure your child is familiar with the types of
questions, layout of sections, marks awarded and
time allocated- teachers will be doing this
Offer to time your child as he/she completes
questions
Discuss marking scheme and results
Best way to learn is to teach- encourage your
child to explain concepts/content
to you.
37.
38.
39. BE PREPARED FOR THE DAY
Know when the exam is
Agree what time you will make an alarm call
Encourage your son/daughter to pack bag the night before
Do a verbal check list with him/her- calculator etc
Take snack and water
Make sure breakfast (or lunch) is available
Think about issues that cause stress in the mornings and try to
minimise these
40. AFTER THE EXAM
Encourage dialogue about it but help your child
avoid ruminating on perceived difficulties move
on to next exam.
Help him/her to keep things in perspective.
Positive thinking is a very effective tool and if your
child is feeling negative, try to help reframe
his/her thinking by using positive language and by
reaffirming that you recognise his/her efforts.
Avoid criticism.
41. .
Accept that no matter what
you say- it will probably be
the wrong thing!