Revision-or lack of it

[OnthePiste]

DS has end of year 10 exams starting next week. He is really struggling with revision as he just doesn't really know how to do it effectively. Poo poos any suggestion of flash cards, mind maps as suggested by the school. He is bright, recent reports grade him between 6 and 8 in all subjects but like a lot of teenage boys, a bit lazy and easily distracted.

He really wants to do well in his exams, any tips I can give him to get him motivated? I'm trying to get him to do 45 minute blocks of revision with breaks in between but it is so frustrating trying to get him going each day!

I always hated flash cards and mind maps! Different things work for different people. Can you get him going on answering some targeted questions in timed conditions? My DD’s GCSE textbooks have a bank of questions at the end of each topic section. The time pressure will keep him focused, and practice in answering questions should help identify gaps in his knowledge.

Online providers such as Seneca are another source of test questions.

Work out what does work for him. I have one DC that loves mind maps and flash cards, and another that finds them pointless. The one that finds them pointless likes interactive learning like Seneca and is quite happy to do lots of exam questions. Also, 45 minutes of revision in one stretch might seem too overwhelming. Try 25 minutes and then 5 minutes break.

As I said, the trick is to work out what works.

Also, with a reluctant reviser, removing things to slow them down can help. DS will sit and do practice questions if I print them out and put them in front of him, or he can spend ages looking for the "perfect" questions and not doing any.
DD gets annoyed if I do this :) Every child is different!

(I would also say if he's happily getting between 6 and 8 in every subject, then what he is already doing seems be working - maybe stop pushing so much!)

Does he not have access to pass papers online via the school that he can do and then it allows his teacher to see his results and help to advise him with any issues they see that he may need a bit of extra help with? My daughter could access lots of pass papers and tests etc via glow/teams.

I'd really recommend the CGP books.

BBC Bitesize is really good. It has explanations and quizzes and it’s a bit more user friendly for these techie kids of ours

I was also going to recommend revision books and bbc bite size

Thank you all for the helpful suggestion. We have made a revision timetable now which he is happy with and he feels a little less overwhelmed. He is going to do 30 minutes at a time then a short break. He has access to Seneca and he has revision books with timed questions. I'll tell him to take a look at BBC bitesize as well.

Have a goal for each session, so not 'Chemistry' but 'properties of metals'.

Another vote for Seneca. Ds (year 11) only started revising for exams this year and has ADHD, so organisation’s not a strong point and his books are a mess! Seneca can be done on his phone, anywhere and you don’t have to think about what to revise, you just work through it. Ds often does really short chunks - 10 mins on a car journey- but it seems to go in.

It’s too late to do anything. Y10 grades won’t affect anything, unless your DS is applying anywhere in Y10.
Reason being, if he does with Y10 EOY exams the great, if he doesn’t then it’s a kick up the arse wake up call, which may spur him on for Y10 mocks. Better he has these issues in Y10 rather than Y12.

Sorry, should proof read - typos corrected in block capitals:

It’s too late to do anything. Y10 grades won’t affect anything, unless your DS is applying anywhere in Y11.
Reason being, if he does WELL with Y10 EOY exams THEN great, if he doesn’t then it’s a kick up the arse wake up call, which may spur him on for Y11 mocks. Better he has these issues in Y10 rather than Y12.

I'm going to this online talk to hear about some revision strategies and tips... might be worth checking out
www.trybooking.co.uk/CEZL