Starting GCSEs in Year 9

[DuckDuckGoosieGander]

DS has just started in Y9 and they are starting their GCSE subjects after choosing them in Y8.

Does anyone have any tips please on how to organise himself and good routines. What things could he do as he goes along to be better prepared? He is quite disorganised in general and forgetful and needs lots of reminders day to day. I'd like to get him into good routines from the start if possible.

My main tip would be to consolidate and revise as you go along.

GCSE work normally splits into "topics" - generally of around 6 weeks' duration. At the end of the topic there is likely to be some type of test. This is your DC's cue to make sure all their notes are comprehensible, create revision material and revise the topic thoroughly. The idea is that they then might have an end of term test, and do the same thing again; then an end of year test and do the same thing again, then mocks and do the same thing again ...

Organisation depends a bit on your school. At DC's school all the text books and lesson notes are online, so organised for them, and it was just a question of having a folder for each subject at home for notes/test papers/loose bits of paper.

Get the revision guides. If notes are scrappy can revise from there, especially Science.

@redskydarknight @TeenToTwenties @TurtleGemSaturn0 thank you for your great ideas. I think the revision cards as he goes are a great idea and building them up each time he has a section test. @TurtleGemSaturn0 we will definitely sit down and look at the website.

I think DS is disorganised generally in life and very forgetful so anything we can glean is of help.

What subjects is he taking @DuckDuckGoosieGander - apart from the obvious compulsories? There may be subject specialists who can help with targeted ideas (my specialism is MFL and I have a tonne of tips but they won't be much help if he is not taking one )

My main tip in general is to revise as you go, especially if that can involve writing up notes on a specific topic, maybe pulling that back to a few key points on a flashcard for future revision.

It's vital to keep notes organised - a good tip I saw the other day on a MN thread was with random sheets of paper and handouts, to write the date on each one and try to keep them in order (then they will make more sense, rather than being a pile of paper at the end of the year). Also use different colours for each subject so they can be sorted more easily.

Different people revise best in different ways - so it might be a good chance now to have a try at different methods to see which one works.

For example:

• mind maps pr spider diagrams on a topic - maybe using different colours pens
• flashcards and you help him revise
• rewriting notes in a more and more concise form
• discussing the work with someone - you, a sibling, a friend - and trying to explain it to them (this is a great way and for unkeen writers, there is no writing to do! still a really good way to learn tho)
• walk and talk – get moving and quick fire questions as you go (you use a revision guide or past paper) - then keep a note of what he doesn't know to look up later
• audio - record some work (example is vocab for MFL but it could be anything) and listen on the bus or while walking to school. DD still recalls loads of science stuff that she learned a silly songs

HTH