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YOUR REVISION TIMETABLE
Monday
Tuesday
Wednesday
Thursday
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
Registration
activity
Period 1
Period 2
Period 3
Lunch
Lunch
activity
“The future is not a result of choices
among alternative paths offered by
the present, but a place that is
created. Created first in the mind and
will, created next in activity. The
future is not some place we are going
to, but one we are creating. The
paths are not to be found, but made,
and the activity of making them,
changes both the maker and the
destination.”
John Schaar
Period 4
Period 5
Study
session 1,
30 minutes.
Free time,
30 minutes.
Study
session 2,
30 minutes.
Break. 15
minutes.
Study
session 3,
30 minutes.
Break. 15
minutes.
Study
session 4,
30 minutes.
Your revision guide –
unlock your potential!
Hi, welcome to your revision
guide.
“Patience is a key element
of success!”
Bill Gates
Keep working hard, and believe
in yourself!
Dronfield Henry
Fanshawe School
8
We hope that this guide will
support you in your exam
preparation by offering practical
advice and guidance on common
pre-examination issues. Use it
together with your family, friends
and
teachers
to
prepare
thoroughly for your examinations.
Good luck!
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Sitting the exams
TYPES OF REVISION
The best revision involves being active – so get going…
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On the run up to the exams
Active revision is where we learn and remember by using our eyes, ears,
hands and minds in a variety of ways. This is the best way of understanding
the material, and remembering it.
Use a variety of ‘active’ methods. These include revision notes, study
groups, peer testing, iPod revision notes, practice papers, the VLE, top
revision websites such as Bitesize, Conquer Math’s, SAM Learning, and
S-Cool.
Link with your teachers via revision sessions and the VLE!
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Start revising early.
Learn the syllabus; revise what you need to revise.
Have your equipment bag ready.
Use the VLE and all of the useful revision websites.
Complete the past papers
What not to do!
The night before
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Being passive and flicking through your notes is not generally
effective. Avoid sitting reading through your books until you get
bored, this will only build resentment and a lack of motivation.
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Revise with the exam in mind
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Know the syllabus inside out – knowing what you need to know is the first
step to ensuring that you know it!
Get hold of as many past papers as you can, these are the best way to find
out what you may be asked and how you will be asked to answer the
questions. Many of these are on the VLE.
Complete the past papers and ask your teachers to mark them, this allows
you to check out your answering technique as well as your knowledge.
Do practice questions and a full practice exam under timed examination
conditions. This way you will get used to working quickly.
Use the trial exams as a very important part of your preparation. Respect
them as part of the whole examination process, NOT, a practice where
success “does not matter”.
Make your own revision notes. These could be the main points from your
target topics to learn. Use cards, IPOD recorded comments or cut out
examination questions.
Structure your revision – revise paper 1 before paper 3, but keep all papers
in mind.
BUY the exam board revision books – they are well worth the investment
as they are written by the examination board to support you through that
specific examination.
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In hac
habit
Only attempt light revision, do not attempt to learn anything
new.
Get an early night and eat and drink plenty of water.
Have everything ready that you need to take with you.
On the day of the exam
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Get up in plenty of time and have a good breakfast.
Be at the exam room at least fifteen minutes before the
exam starts; do not stress yourself by having to rush!
Drink plenty of water and take some into the exam with you.
Compose yourself – make sure that you do yourself justice.
In the exam, do not rush, but be aware of the time and
budget time for each question.
READ the instructions carefully and FOLLOW them.
Pick out the key words in each question, reading each
question at least twice before you start your answer.
Make the examiners life easy – make it easy for them to give
you the marks by answering in sufficient depth and in the
way that they want you too.
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Why have a revision plan?
The last page of this booklet holds a template for a revision plan. Use it to
create your own, but remember to build in the correct mix of study, brain
rest time, leisure time and rest time.
DON’T FOOL YOURSELF! Stick to it, it’s the only way that any revision will
work.
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START EARLY!
Be flexible, change the plan if any topic areas come up in class that
you are unsure of.
Change it weekly to prevent boring repetition.
Share revision time between EVERY subject, and also use common
sense, some subjects may demand more of your time than others.
Be realistic, you have to manage
all of your workload but remain
focused.
A revision plan should be designed
to eliminate those “tip of my tongue”
moments in the exam, so concentrate
on your challenges.
Review your learning needs regularly,
and adjust the timetable to match.
Keep your timetables to look back on. Have you covered
everything?
Revision Cards
Using your notes
Revision cards are usually
postcard size. You can make
your own, but they are cheap to
buy in a variety of colours,
making it easy to structure your
notes into topics.
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Get into the practice of using
titles, highlighters, and different
sizes of writing to
highlight key
points.
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Many
people
carry them with
them so that they
can add to them when a point is
discussed in class.
Patterned notes
Look at them as much as
possible! Think about all of
the five-minute slots in the
day that are lost doing
nothing!
After you read a card
remember to test yourself.
Use the cards in study
groups with friends. They
are great at focusing
your discussions.
• Use your notes with all
of the other revision
techniques. Together
they will support each
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Memory boosting
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Many people revise better from
patterned notes.
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Get the basics right!
1. Eat, sleep and drink sufficiently – these are brain food!
2. Have a quiet place to work.
3. Avoid distractions – remove the PlayStation (its only for a while,
and fit it into your leisure time).
4. Listen to music by all means, but choose it carefully and turn the
volume down
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These could also include diagrams,
mind-maps, spider diagrams and
timelines.
Use a variety of colours to
highlight different key points.
This is also a good way of
identifying your revision topic list.
Understand the concept
first. This will aid your
memory process, as it will
make sense.
Use memory hooks that
are funny, whacky and
yours! These help lots of
people to remember
sequences e.g. Never Eat
Soggy Wheat (for the
North, East, South, West
rotation) and
SOH-CAH-TOA in math’s.
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Take full advantage of revision sessions at school, often
these allow you to ask for help in specific areas that you find
challenging.
Get your friends to attend revision sessions with you. This is
really useful so that you can become ‘revision buddies’.
Organise quizzes with friends. Focus on mutual topic areas
from your revision lists.
Vary your revision methods, this prevents boring repetition.
Ask family and friends to monitor you and keep you on your
‘revision plan’. A critical friend need not be negative or
confrontational.
Post it! Sticky reminder notes are a great invention. Write
key points on them and stick them everywhere (but do not
upset others!)
tOP
TIPS
Terrific technology
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You are lucky that the Internet is alive. There are so many
sources of information to choose from, it is difficult to know
where to start.
Begin with the websites recommended by the school and on
the VLE, then branch out if you
need further help.
Some websites allow you to
download MP3 revision guides onto
your iPod – cool if you like to revise
this way!
You can also buy CD-ROM revision packs to supplement the
books sold in the library. They are also a useful source of
information.
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