GUMLEY HOUSE
Convent School FCJ
KS3 Revision Booklet
KS3 - HOW TO REVISE…
At Gumley House we want you to achieve your full potential. It is proven that the more
successful you are at KS3, the more likely you are to have success in your GCSEs.
In every subject in KS3 your teachers are helping you to lay the foundations for the
knowledge and skills you will need to acquire, as you step into the demands of KS4 courses.
Unfortunately, there is no easy way to pass tests, but we can give you many tips on how to
use your study time more effectively. This guide has been written to remind students about
how to revise and how to learn.
Revision means “to look at again”. You need to look at things again as part of learning as
well as in preparation for exams. But we need active ways to do this “looking again”.
Revision gives time for reflection and learning. You can start to see the big picture, you can
add in more details and examples. You may discover something you still don’t understand
and you can ask your teacher about it again.
The idea is to “revise” each major section of your work shortly after you have finished it.
For instance, you could draw a Mind Map of each major topic you cover. Keep the Mind
Maps because they will be very useful for revising before tests.
HOT TIP: Be active and change the way you think.
WHY?
1.
Revision helps learning.
2.
Revision increases your achievement in tests.
3.
Achievement in tests gives you wider choices later on.
4.
Achievement will make everyone proud of you!
5.
You will feel great!
It is important to be positive about yourself because people who think they can do well find
it easier to learn. Think of five things that you felt good about doing, for example, winning a
race or performing in front of a large audience, or being selected as Form Captain. Think
about how you felt when you did those things and get yourself into a positive frame of
mind.
HOT TIP: Develop a vision of success for yourself!
WHEN?
Make sure you know when your tests are. Teachers will revise with you and give you advice
about how much revision to do and what you should revise. Many will give you special
notes and/or exam revision packs to help you with revising.
Make yourself a revision timetable:
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Fill in leisure, relaxation and family commitments
Put in some sessions that you can devote to revision
Share out the available revision sessions between your subjects
Allow extra sessions if you know some subjects will take longer than
others
Vary the subjects – don’t do all your Maths revision on day one!
Here’s an example for one weekend:
Morning
Morning
Afternoon
Evening
Saturday
Football
Sunday
English
Science
Maths
Geography
Lunch at
gran’s
Science; RE
Video
Still at gran’s
French
History
The ideal length to revise one topic is 25 to 45 minutes.
Go through your exercise books and textbooks and revise subjects in
chunks, spending no more that 45 minutes on any one subject at one
time. Your brain needs a break too! Set yourself a reasonable
deadline for when you want to have revised and tested yourself on
one topic. Then move no to the next. You will remember more at
the beginnings and the ends of sessions, so create more beginnings
and ends by stopping for a brief break or doing a brain gym exercise.
•
•
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Revise in chunks.
You would not
eat a whole
elephant at once!
You would break
it up into chunks,
wouldn’t you?
•
•
•
HOT TIP: Stop and
• start
you. – create brief breaks.
WHERE?
The ideal study room is light, airy and quiet. It has shelves and a desk.
Some people are lucky enough to have this and enjoy working in it.
Don’t worry if you haven’t got this. You can still try to have some of
the elements.
Vary your revision place. It is a good idea to put up posters, lists and post-it notes in other
places in the house.
Some students find that they revise well with friends and it is a good
idea to do this sometimes as it provides variety and fun.
Ban the television! Television is too distracting, so make sure it is
turned off when you are working. Remember to keep a space in your
revision timetable for your favourite programmes.
WHAT?
What type of learner are you? How can you revise effectively? (VAK)
VISUAL
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Prefer to see how to do things.
29% of us prefer to learn by storing images in our brains.
Possible revision techniques:
• Use pictures, mind maps, computers, diagrams, flowcharts, key words, posters
and/or timelines.
• Videos.
• Use colour and highlighters to help the brain remember.
• Write information in bullet points or as key words on “post-its” (they come in
different colours).
• Careful lay out of notes.
AUDITORY
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Learn by listening and speaking.
34% of us prefer to learn by storing sounds in our brains.
Possible revision techniques
• Talk through the work with someone else.
• Record notes and play them back.
• Repeat your work out loud in funny voices.
• Make up rhymes or raps about the work.
• Get someone to ask you questions about the work.
KINESTHETIC
•
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Learn by doing.
37% of us prefer to learn by movement or touch.
Possible revision techniques
• Create key word cards.
• Put your notes on cards or “post-its” and sequence them (perhaps rank the cards in
order of importance or make them into sentences).
• Walk between notes or “post-its” that are on the floor or on the walls.
• Walk around while reading.
• Stand up – stretch or exercise – at least every 20 minutes.
• Draw pictures, mind maps – run a finger between the words on the map, saying each
one out loud.
HOW?
There are three easy steps to doing revision well:
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Change
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Challenge

Treats
The first step is to try change. By changing what is in our exercise books or textbooks into a
different form, we kick start our brains into action – we start thinking about new ways of
presenting and digesting the information and we start learning.
Ways to change things:
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Make diagrams
Create labelled drawings
Time-lines (for history)
Mind maps
Charts and flowcharts (for processes)
Audio tapes (great for languages)
Outline cards
Mnemonics
Use colours and
highlighters.
OUTLINE CARDS
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We work best when we are faced with a challenge.
Challenge yourself to really sort out a topic that you have
found difficult. Think about the following ideas/questions:
Will taking a new approach and turning it into a chart,
diagram or mind map help?
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Could I get someone else to test me after I have
learned something new?
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We learn extremely well when we have to teach
someone else – why not try teaching one of your
parents, a brother or sister, your grandparents or
even your friends? Get them to ask you questions
about what you have just taught them. Can you
answer their questions?
HOT TIP: Believe in yourself – you CAN do it!
Treats
Don’t forget to allow yourself some treats. Break up your
revision sessions and plan some treats to look forward to: fruit,
chocolate, a drink, ten minutes in the garden, glancing at a
magazine, going for a walk…whatever will motivate you.
Remember, breaking up your revision gives you more stops and starts and more stops and
starts will increase your learning.
Relaxation is also important to help you stop feeling the pressure of tests and getting
stressed. Find a simple technique that works for you and practise using it if you become
stressed or can’t sleep. You could try:
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A warm bath
Visualising yourself passing the test
Brain gym exercises
Meditating
Deep breathing
Going for a walk
Asking someone to give you a head massage
Yoga
Listening to music.
HOT TIP: Feed your brain! Fresh fruit, water, fish and vegetables
give you brain power!
STAY MOTIVATED! 
A big goal will require both a great deal of hard work and persistence. You need to keep
your energy and enthusiasm levels high, and this is within your own control. Gaining your
target levels or even exceeding your target levels is what you should aim for and at Gumley
House we recognise such excellence.
DON’T GET STRESSED!
Easier said than done when your revision starts to go off the rails! Talk to
your friends about what you have revised and let your parents know if
you are worried. Keeping calm will mean you keep your cool and achieve
the target levels that you want.
Prepare for your Assessment Week
Anxiety about your tests can ruin all your hard work just when it matters. However you can reduce
your anxiety greatly by taking control of the situation. At http://getrevising.co.uk/ you can prepare
by making all the timetables and revision cue cards that you need.
USEFUL WEBSITES TO HELP YOU
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SAM learning
BBC Bitesize
getrevising.co.uk
mymaths.co.uk
www.educationquizzes.com/ks3
Doddle Learn (Science)
Linguascope.com
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OTHER RESOURCES:
Subject revision guides, e.g. CCP
Revision packs
WHY NOT TRY THESE LEARNING/REVISION TECHNIQUES?
Map it
Mnemonic it
Index it
Create a mind map with the
key points. Stick it on the
wall.
Use the first letter of key words to
create a sentence.
Write the key points on index
cards. Use them to learn the
sequence too.
(e.g. Naughty Elephants Squirt
Water.)
Journey it
Timeline it
Record it
Remember lists of
information by creating
events and images at certain
points on a journey.
A great technique for dates or
sequences. Place them in order along a
line. Add colour and pictures.
Let your brain really hear your
work. Record yourself talking
about it – even play it as you fall
asleep.
1954
1976
1981
Sing it
Story it
Flip it
Set some of your work to
some familiar music or make
up your own tune. Use
rhythm, make the words
rhyme or even create a rap.
Create a bizarre and multi-sensory
story, using key points.
Write questions and answers and
flip them. (Give yourself the
answers and work out the
questions. Then check if you are
correct.)
Comic it
Post it
Click it
Create your own comic strip
using the main points.
Write key words onto post its and stick
them around your room.
Create a presentation about the
key points.
Create your own revision timetable
Week
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday