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Secondary education

Connect with other parents whose children are starting secondary school on this forum.

Original poster

Revision advice year 8 exams

20 replies

lottiebear69 · 31/03/2017 16:22

Looking for advice to motivate ds13 on revising for end of year exams. School says start now but ds more interested in FIFA on Xbox ! Have had enough of constant nagging - bribery works to a point but he's so disorganised I don't think he really knows how to organise himself for revision. Tips on how to study would've greatly received - worth investing in CGP study guides? The exams have a bearing on sets

OP posts:
noblegiraffe · 31/03/2017 16:28

When are the exams?

Original poster
lottiebear69 · 31/03/2017 17:03

Week before half term so around 20 may I think, school suggests starting some revision during Easter hols only hour or so a day - they're no big deal but looking for any advice on styles of revision that work - really looking just to get organised this hol. Find online might be easier as they love computers if anyone can recommend anything especially for languages

OP posts:
Traalaa · 31/03/2017 17:07

I'd let him have an Easter Holiday, but get him to work out a timetable for how he's going to revise once he starts once he's back at school.

noblegiraffe · 31/03/2017 17:09

An hour a day school work during the Easter holidays? In Y8? Crikey, I'm a teacher and I'm thinking sod that.

Does he know what the exams are going to be on?

TheDonald · 31/03/2017 17:16

My advice is don't bother! By y8 kids understand the difference between exam that matter and exams that are pointless. I battled with dd through y8 &9 to revise for exams. The best she managed was to start revising from about a week before.

Suddenly in y10 it's clicked but not due to my influence. I would save your arguments for when it matters. I wish I had.

namechangingagainagain · 31/03/2017 17:17

I am super competitive and have been known to be a bit pushy..... however even I think "revising" over easter for year 8 end of term exams is a bit unnecessary. It may just be me but revision organisation and timetables always seemed like time wasting activities for me. If you are still keen for him to do something then maybe get him to do some past papers if you have access. If he has the results of any end of unit tests this year get him to have a quick look through and see where he misses marks or doesn't understand a concept and get him to look at that rather than hours of "revision".

I have a yr 8 DS . He works really hard during term time and holidays are for relaxing rather than more work. He might do a bit of online maths bits ( because he enjoys it) and he reads novels for fun anyway. but no revision as such.

hmcAsWas · 31/03/2017 17:19

They are just Y8 exams don't sweat it

Original poster
lottiebear69 · 31/03/2017 18:04

Thanks - I'm actually not competitive at all but find motivating him even to do homework tricky and believe me he only gets about 20 mins a day ! Will try to get him organised at least - he hates reading and although he's good at maths isn't motivated still agree - fight the battles you can win

OP posts:
SweepTheHalls · 31/03/2017 18:08

My school used to do lots year exams at this point and we all revised. I would suggest that he works out the topic list of all the topics he has studied this year in early hours subject then Red, Amber, Greens them so he knows which are his weakest ones to start on. Then use a revision guide or bbc bitesize to make a mind map of each one.

RedSkyAtNight · 31/03/2017 18:27

I have a Y8 child. Doing any revision quite this early sounds like total madness.

Original poster
lottiebear69 · 31/03/2017 18:30

Thanks sweepthehalls will try bite size

OP posts:
lottachocca · 31/03/2017 18:39

I think he should be spending the early years at secondary learning to organise himself and feeling the pain of failure from not working hard enough. Every year my dcs hone their revision skills...plan to start just a little bit earlier etc

LockedOutOfMN · 31/03/2017 22:37

I would say pick 2 or 3 subjects that he feels he really wants to do well in and focus on "revising" those. A good skill to build for the future is how to plan an effective study timetable and stick to it (even if it's quite mild, say 20 mins. revision per evening Monday to Thursday) and what to do when the timetable doesn't work e.g. he feels unwell / tired one day or gets a last minute invitation - developing the resilience to cope with these situations.

If you have the energy, OP, you could offer to do some study sessions with him like quizzes / flashcards. (He may well know interactive resources like Kahoot or Quizlet (online quizzes) and for foreign languages Languages Online or Conjuguemos already from using them at school).

He can also try out different types of study and start to see which ones work best for him.

Lastly, he could also practise exam. technique such as how to manage his time, what the instruction words mean, and how to interpret a rubric and also use common sense / apply what he's been taught when an exam. question seems unclear.

LockedOutOfMN · 31/03/2017 22:39

Oh, and take responsibility for preparing his own exam. pencil case (presume his school does small transparent case or sandwich / ziplock bag, and standard pens (many schools ban the erasable pens for exams. and some require black ink only), pencils, ruler, calculator, etc.)

GreenGinger2 · 01/04/2017 07:42

I prefer my DC to say do an hour a day in the hols than two hours after school when they're tired and have homework,have had a long day so my year 8s will be doing holiday revision.

I'm going to get them to focus on two key subjects so the load will be cut down substantially on their return. They'll do an hour a day and earn the equivalent in screen time. My Maths,Doddle,CPG study book or lesson slides.

Not onerous and needs to be done whenever they choose to do it,my DC will probably be done and dusted by 10 each day.

I hate last minute panic cramming.

GreenGinger2 · 01/04/2017 07:43

Think our exams start a couple of weeks before yours op.

Giraffesaretootall · 01/04/2017 12:54

Our yr8 hasn't been told anything about end of year exams, all is very low key at this stage.

Seems rather mad for people to be revising this early. Not being funny but the yr8 exams don't actually count for anything do they?

TeenAndTween · 01/04/2017 13:29

The exams don't count, but it's a bit of a balance I think.
If the DCs learn in y7-9 how to revise, what works for them etc, then when it does count in y10&y11 they can make their revision more effective.
If you only try hard for the final GCSEs, then you haven't learned what routine and methods work best for you and you may scupper yourself.

Original poster
lottiebear69 · 01/04/2017 13:54

I think it's different for each school - ours do go towards setting for maths and English and decide if you do triple or double science. We are at an independent school which might have a different slant on things. Thks for all your advice will plan only during hols and get to it when we're back

OP posts:
GreenGinger2 · 01/04/2017 14:19

Ours do count. Setting and triple science selection.

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