For people who worked hard at school - what did you do?

[Hthwo]

I coasted in a major way, and underachieved. Basically all the way through to my final year at university.

DD1 is much more conscientious - does her homework for a start, and wants to be a good student. However she is still coasting a bit, doesn’t revise for tests etc. She is starting year 10 and says herself she doesn’t really know how to step it up for GCSEs. I don’t know how to help her - not sure if the school will spend much time on the topic.

Any advice?

And this

In fact, many helpful posts. Thank you 😊

DD said the single best thing she did was listen in lessons!
(It was a v selective independent school)
In revision lessons, she would answer questions and the other girls would ask her how she knew things. She said 'because I actually listen in lessons' and she used to get v pissed off when others chatting affecting her concentration

My Dd is exactly like this! Big on planning, bored with time wasting. Seems to automatically know how to make the system work for her.

Looking at our family tree, it seems to be a female gene. It's interesting to see this as I work back through the generations.

As a teacher, I would advise her to keep
making sure she is working hard and giving it her all in class, doing the homework, attending any extra revision sessions they put on, and speak to teachers about anything she doesn’t understand even if it mean she goes first thing after school if she doesn’t want to ask in front of everyone.

Honestly, I spent so much time trying to explain concepts in my subjects and the kids who asked questions and were proactive were the ones who progressed. The ones who really didn’t get it were often the least proactive and would never make any effort to speak to me or come to revision even though they needed it most.

Also, create a list of resources like websites and YouTube channels for each subject to revise from. Even things like documentaries around topics can help. Bringing in extra knowledge that has clearly been picked up outside of class is a marker of high ability and subject knowledge.

Buy the revision guides for year 11 and use them to read, make notes and test her on it! Ask her questions and see if she can answer spontaneously. Last minute cramming has its place but is not to be relied on alone. For those saying it’s too early no it isn’t. She’s beginning year 10 so she’s starting her GCSEs soon and the more she does now the less she’ll struggle. Assuming she wants good grades of course.

Wishing her luck!

Buy a book on study skills. I used Good Study Skills. Revising isn’t just reading - make notes. Distill everything down to bullet points on cards.
she needs to test herself by trying to answer an essay question and write. It’s easy to think ‘I know that’. Revise one subject for 40 mins and have a short break. Then do another topic.

No cramming, just steady effort through the year. Not even really about revising for tests/exams, more how to get into the mindset of seeing the benefit of putting the effort in with her homework day in day out.

I do get where you're coming from, I'm doing a course that requires a masters-level essay to be handed in on 1st September. I had to break mine into tiny manageable chunks over the months and it's finished now. A colleague has just messaged to say she's starting hers today. I was twitching for her 😆😆

But, for some people, the high adrenaline of cramming is extremely helpful and part of their learning style everybody works differently.

Buy revision guides, notebooks to make revision notes in and coloured biros to colour code notes. Also bought plain A3 paper.
DD2 learned best by making mind maps. So for English Lit, all the important characters would have a mind map on A3 paper and then all the important themes - including quotes etc.

Also, top tip for essay-based subjects, don't focus too much on knowing the facts, focus on using them well to answer a question.

A major downfall is learning facts thoroughly but then seeing a topic on a paper and regurgitating everything they know about that topic rather than considering what question has actually been asked.

This is a really good example of knowing and understanding what the different types of questions want from you in History anyway.

www.westfield-chorustrust.org/_site/data/files/documents/history/C48D5F701F0E8A8F077182D683D5ADF6.pdf

My Dd is exactly like this! Big on planning, bored with time wasting. Seems to automatically know how to make the system work for her.

@Beesandhoney123

I'm always observing doctors at work, they NEVER waste time. I wonder how the junior doctors fit in study and ongoing exams and work so hard and ever get any time for their own interests. Half hour to spare? They do a quick bit of study. Me - I look at the clock and see I have half an hour before I need to leave for work and I think oh well it's pointless, I'll only just have started xyz and I'll have to stop so I just have a cup of coffee and read a couple of articles on line or something. Definitely a mindset.

My daughter is a very hard worker. She's just earned A stars in all her A levels and EPQ. She is bright but cannot get away with little studying - she puts the hours in,
For GCSEs she worked hard and went to any extra sessions or work study or practise groups. She's a big fan of flash cards.
For A levels she really stepped it up. She filled several hundred flash cards for History. That means copious note taking in class and from books, then rereading and condensing things down. And rereading again. And again. And quizzing herself. Practice papers over and over. Plus she verbally explained things to me. This helps articulate thoughts and gets away from just memorising facts and leads to a deeper understanding. You think you know something and then try to explain it out loud snd suddenly you can see the gaps. She also wrote practice essays outside of those assigned and asked the teachers to look them over. Going to revision sessions (if available) is also good - they aren't just for those who need extra help, all the top achievers attended them at my daughters school.
The start of Y10 is a perfect time to get in to proper revision techniques.
However a caveat. There are many kids who may work as hard as my daughter did and their best achievement may be a B ( or for GCSE a 6), or lower. And that's absolutely fine. It is not a level playing field because children are not all the same.
The important thing is for her to recognise the time is now. There's no 'do over'. Yes she could resist exams, but who wants to? Recognising her goals will really help with motivation. Encourage and support. Get those revision guides. But SHE has to decide to put in the work. And if she doesn't (or does but does not achieve high grades), then she still goes on to A levels (or whatever) then uni or apprentice or work - there's a place and route for everyone.

I can only work with the last minute adrenalin rush. It’s a very stressful way to be! It must be possible to develop a more sensible approach, especially now when DD will be forming habits and routines.

Thanks. A couple of people have mentioned verbally explaining stuff, that’s a good point, and a way I can directly support her too so even better 🙂

At school I did short and frequent amounts of revision, including at the weekends. I could never sit there for 4 hours straight, for example, revising. For me the best way to learn was visually by rewriting notes and seeing it on the page. I had a spark notes study guide for the book we were studying in English literature which was a life saver.

In college and uni I basically learnt study skills and how to effectively to write an essay/long answer to a written question. That and constantly rewriting notes.

I think for me a lot of my ego and self image was bound up in doing well at school. Because I had been “academic” from an early age. So if I got a poor mark on a piece of homework I was a bit embarrassed. And that’s what motivated me to make an effort. I’m not sure how you inculcate that though.

Year 10 is not too soon. Students in the independent sector will all have done entrance exams at 11 or 13 and many sit at least one GCSE a year early. You should start year 10 writing revision notes as you go, as it saves time later. She will have mocks this year.

At school I was a very hard worker and wanted to do well. I am bright but not gifted, my success in exams came down to work and knowing how to do well in exams.

I was extremely organised and after a topic finished at school I would write up the notes, highlight, add bullet points etc, then keep all this in a folder. I also always did any extra work and would never do the bare minimum.

When it came to the exams themselves, I had a timetable which I stuck to. To cram in all the info my main tricks were:

1. Read through my notes and write dozens of questions to myself to test myself on afterwards. Literally a question for everything.
2. flashcards of main key points to remember
3. Practice exam questions over and over and check the answers against the rubric. This also helps as you can see themes in the questions.
4. Practice creating “exam plans” so if a question was on (eg) Shakespeares use of imagery in Lady Macbeth’s scene, I would write a careful plan of how I would answer that question. I had dozens of these plans as well for all my subjects. This meant that in exams, similar things would come up (there’s only so much they can ask) and I would feel relaxed that I knew what I would write about.
5. Look at the rubric carefully and see what gets the extra marks.

And that’s it really. I used these techniques through gcse, a level, university and law school and beyond and it’s never failed me!

Best thing she can do is nit just focus on the current topics, obviously do current homework and revision but also review past topics. Self quizzing is a good way to revise as is making and using flashcards. If she does all of this now she'll have much less to worry about at the end of y11. Websites like seneca are good for little quizzes as they self mark too. She could ask her teachers for knowledge organiser's for each topic and use those to help her make some flashcards

The other thing is, don’t be afraid to ask teachers for assistance on how to do well. I had this idea at school that it was kind of teachers trying to catch me out and they aren’t, they’re there to help and actually do want you to do well.

When I was at school there were optional revision drop ins, usually at lunchtime or after school. Worth taking up.

Y10 is definitely not too soon; if anything it is a bit late to be learning revision techniques. Our school enters them for two GCSEs in Y10, so they need to hit the ground running. It also starts teaching their Science GCSEs in Y9, so they should already be making notes.

Ask the school if there are any websites/tools/apps that they recommend. Definitely buy all the revision guides, and use them in parallel with the lessons. Make regular summaries. Do ALL the past papers, and ask the teacher for feedback.

Reading/listening around the subject can be useful, but they need to be careful that the sources are reliable.

My son remembered facts better when walking around. My daughter struggled with learning vocab in foreign languages until we tried associating words with actions, or singing them.

I only remember things when I have written them down. I could never use mind maps for revision, but liked bullet points.

So basically, try all the techniques, and see what works. But start that now.

I went to a private school for part of my teenage years (3.5) and we had coasters there, or they seemed not to study/revise hard for the end of term exams and then did very well. We had prep sessions though which helped.

I was lucky as I was a natural student and didn’t get distracted much.

A good schedule is good ensuring an understanding of what you’re learning. If eg languages if possible try to maybe go to the country. Revision guides and ensuring you practice either with parents or preys to ensure you understand the topic. I was useless at maths as I found it boring but if it’d have been linked eg to interest rates for mortgages etc I’d have been more engaged and interested.

What I didn’t have back then was things like yoga which I think would’ve really helped me relax or exercise. I walked a lot but apart from swimming and ice skating (both social and non competitive) I didn’t do much exercise as I associated it with sport at school so disliked it.

I also think a hobby which has nothing to do with school helps.

I used to rewrite everything out. That was the only way it would go in, reading alone didn’t work. My hand uses to feel like it was about to fall off. Then when I’d covered everything, past papers.

All A’s at GCSE, A-levels and Uni

Another point. At the end of the first year (third year) in private school we had end of term exams. I had no idea what they were so went into them very relaxed and came top in a lot of subjects which surprised everyone teachers and pupils alike. I think if I’d known the pressure I wouldn’t have done as well.

Practice papers are a great way to figure out knowledge gaps.

One way to avoid that is to write condensed revision notes, then memorise the data and repeat it verbally. I insisted I repeated each section correctly 10 times in a row, if I made a made a mistake on time 5, I would have to do it another 10 times correctly.

Then I would write it out to check I had it all down.