Tell me what is wrong with this GCSE revision timetable....

Dd is in Y9, they have started their GCSE courses and they are already expected to revise...

I am hoping that a little light reviewing of subjects as she goes along will help her not get stressed later. We are certainly not doing lots of work in holidays for another couple of years!

She is my first, it is all new to us. We were told nothing about revising.

, with regard to testing on flashcards and so on. My parents never tested me or anything like that and I think it's unlikely to be something my child is interested in doing with me

I can't see that either - so seneca, tassomai, quizlet, you tube subject sites - the getrevising site pp linked to - seem useful to getting little and often done early before past paper and more intense revision is needed.

Have you worked on it with your DC? Also it depends how they learn. I revise better if organised, this is going back a fair few years, but I would sticky note the start of key topics (ie have them poking out of the exercise book) and label them, so that when it came to revising it was super quick to locate what was needed, and I would note any references to textbooks eg page 68-101 for x. At the end of a topic I would make flash cards, fairly brief, but it meant that when it came to revising they were already made. If things are on computers more now then files would work in the same way, 1 a subject and split into topics to keep reference material etc. It took time in the evenings, but honestly, it meant that when everyone else was scrambling around making revision tools etc I was already done- and I am convinced that it saved a fair amount of time in the long run.

The problem with it? Your dc needs to want to do the revision themselves not you.

Sit down with your dc*. Ask them what they think they need to do. Ask them how many sections to divide their subjects in to according to their syllabus. Ask them how many minutes they can concentrate. Then write down their timetable as they^ think of it for themselves. They will learn far more and far more happily if they feel they have chosen to do it.

You can lead a student to a revision guide but you can't make them think.

I was under the impression that piccolos post referred to normal term time, not the holidays.

Oh and doing past papers and then marking himself will mean he learns what the markers are looking for with answers, they're easy to find on the exam board websites and his teachers can show him too

You need to break up the time, so 30 minutes of revision, a cup of tea and maybe a snack, another 30 minutes, then half an hour of something else, then half an hour again of revision.
Five hours in one chunk means nothing will ever go in, 2.5 hours each day of the weekend is more achievable, less daunting, and means more productivity because they think they have less time to cover whatever they've chosen to cover. Subjects need to be chosen to revise each session, for example photosynthesis, Shakespeare, and Pythagorus theory in those half an hour slots. Writing out revision cards to use in the future counts as revision too, and is a good way of getting the information to stick.
Also I was expected to be doing an hour or two of homework on top of my two hours of revision each night (I didn't, I went to study groups at lunchtime because studying at home was hard) but putting revision and homework together actually removes the time for revision.
Make sure all revision is done by hand, as typing or reading doesn't really make the information stick as well - when I was revising for my french speaking I would write out a line at a time over and over until it filled a a4 whiteboard, then rub it al out and try to write it from memory. Then repeat with the next line, then put the two lines together and write those out to fill the whiteboard. I also ended up writing about thirty revision cards for the same thing, just changing the wording, and doing shorthand notes of my class notes then trying to translate them into full again. It was long and at times I'd realise I'd been sat there for nearly an hour and nothing was going in anymore so I'd get up and go for a wander, then get back to it.
On holidays I'd keep it to 4 hours max each day, and split those hours up too so an hour in the morning then a day out then an hour before tea then two hours after tea then chill out for an hour before bed.
Be prepared for revision notes stuck to cereal boxes, the bathroom door, the shower, the top of the tv, and everywhere else 😂
Also make sure no music or background noise is present when trying to revise, people have sat there and written out lyrics to the song they were listening to rather than actual information! Revision songs such as the physics wave one are good for retaining the information though as they're so catchy, three years later I still remember bits of it! Here it is: and there's others in the suggested bit.
Also revision needs to start before new year, as you pointed out, some stuff will have been done a year ago already and it isn't revisited that often once it's been done.

That assumes he needs to revise equally for all subjects and he probably doesn’t. Regular revision is more important than time spent - even 10 mins spent everyday reviewing work from class at home before doing homework might be enough to get top marks for some GCSE subjects. While 2 hours might not be enough for others.

You need to review his existing marks, talk to his teacher, and then work with him to draw out a realistic revision plan (with additional tutition in any subjects as required).

I don’t know if this is useful but I was never shown how to revise and my revision was much a waste of time. The best support I can imagine is with exam technique, use of mocks and the syllabus, and understanding what I will need to know for the exam. I used to just rewrite notes and read them and it was useless

The most useful thing my DD did was making flash cards.This meant we revised together so she didn't feel isolated in her room.
She covered subjects and did a set for thing she got wrong in tests etc.
I never want to see another flash card again.
We are also rural but I did rearrange work to get her to as many revision classes as she wanted.
It's a tough year for all involved.

DD likes Seneca too, although she's only using the free version at the moment.
The new version Bitesize quizzes seem good, too.

Ds's school also held a parent/child revision evening with handouts on revision techniques, how to make a timetable, how to recognise your learning styles etc.

My ds (who is autistic) loves Senecca. He can't revise in the normal way that dd did by reading notes and summarising etc. Senecca sort of does the organisation for him. I know it's not optimum and he should be using a variety of methods but at the moment it is working for him.

I agree, comefromaway, it smacks of the school absolving themselves of responsibility by putting the onus on the pupils - " we've told you what you need to do, so if you don't do it, it's your problem".

No input about how to revise, how to organise revision etc.
Needless to say, DD is just chipping away at it, day by day - that's all she can do.

Sorry, I realise that's been no help to the OP. I must have needed to offload more than I thought .

Dd1 started after most recent half term. She is doing 2 topics a night - no time limit, just for as long as it takes. She has ASC and tbh if I said 'revise this for one hour' she would spend half of that lining up pens and digging out every single worksheet ever. So we just say e.g. 'atomic structure and act 1 of Macbeth tonight' and that's what she does.

No idea if it'll work for her though. She's been struggling quite seriously since about halfway through year 8 (after breezing through primary) and gets no help as 'not autistic enough' apparently.

That's quite frankly ridiculous piccolo. It's a sure fire way to burn out. Both of my two dance/do music/perform to a high level so that was never going to happen anyway.

DD has mocks in January and her school has stated that her year should be doing 2.5 hours a night, with 6 hours a day at weekends. They actually told them that from the start of year 10 and reiterated it for half term ( 6 hours a day, either 3x2 hours or 2x3 hours, 5/6 days a week over the fortnight holiday).

DD has ADHD, so everything takes her much longer to learn, but, conversely, she can't concentrate for that amount of time in one go.
She can't organise herself, so I am having to micromanage her revision - what/when/how.
I've bought her revision guides, flash cards, she's using online resources, past papers etc.

Dd did her GCSE’s 18 months ago. She did very well.

She started her revision over the Christmas holidays ready for January mocks. She generally did a couple of hours a day 5 days a week.

After the mocks she was doing around an hour a night and a couple of hours at the weekend up until the exams.

Ds has started his revision earlier (over Oct half term) but his mocks are 1st week of Dec. He’s doing 2 x 20 minute sessions a night plus the same o a Saturday.

It isn't about how much time is spent doing revision it is about whether they are revising effectively. Ds1 is now in year 12, they had November and February mocks so he was doing homework for the current topics and revising for the November mocks covering previous topics.

I think your school are using it to open up a discussion about revision. Ds did his own timetable but often found he covered a topic quicker than he thought so couldn't stick to this rigid X number of minutes of this or that.

The ones he felt had the most content were History and English Lit in terms of remembering facts and figures. Ds had made flash cards which enabled me to test him.

Some children need a parent/teacher breathing down their neck to revise, others just get on with it. Some know how to revise effectively (ie Ds hated mind-maps and preferred flash cards) some fanny around for 3 hours without actually revising or retaining the knowledge. One size does not fit all.