The biggest anxiety facing Clarendon this week is whether complaining about the commercialisation of Valentine’s Day will wash as a strategy for not getting a present. We don’t want you to have to deal with any unnecessary anxieties either this week, so we have come up with some simple tips for what students can be doing this week to help with exam success in the Summer.
1. Rest
It’s a bleak time of year, there’s a long way to go to the exams, and most of the year 11 and 13 students we support are inundated with homework from their schools. The most useful thing your student can be doing this week is resting. That doesn’t mean sleeping until noon every day; it means going to bed early and keeping regular sleep hours; it means breaking their routine with excursions and time outside in the fresh air; it means no working late; it means screen detoxes before bed. A rested mind will yield the most improvement for the rest of the year.
2. Organise
The corollary between students whose files are all over the place and students who underperform in the Summer is striking. Make sure your student uses this half term to not only get their files in order, but to also make sure they are on top of their online filing and that that have broken down each syllabus into topics and sub-topics (this last one is a real indicator of a student who is headed for success).
3. Set targets
With every subject at GCSE, A level and IB, the distance between your current grade and your desired grade can be measured in time, the time put into learning and improving. If your student sets their targets this half term, they will know how much time they need to commit to each subject in the next four months to reach these goals.
4. Learn how to revise
Revision is not simply going through notes with a highlighter in hand. We split revision into three categories: securing knowledge, applying knowledge and, crucially, improving mistakes. Securing knowledge must be active: test yourself, write things down, record voice notes, stick up post it notes. Applying knowledge means doing past papers or past paper questions. Improving mistakes is where a top class Clarendon tutor can make all the difference, showing your student how to improve upon their mistakes and develop in their subject.