Study Schedules, Revision and Timetables

Key Stage Three

End of Year Examinations

Learning from past experience

• What sort of learner or reviser have you been?

• What worked well?

• What did not work?

• How do you know?

• How do you judge effectiveness?

Our Goal

• To ensure we:

– Make the best use of the rest of this term

– Prepare effectively for exams

– Review the Year’s learning

Achieve Predicted Grades

Know your Examinations

• Time

• Topics covered

• Types of Question

• Information needed

• Equipment needed

How to begin any programme of study or Revision

• Subject: Biology

– Topics: Red / Amber / Green

• Genetics Red – urgent - unclear

• Cells Green – surpassed target

• Homeostasis Amber – OK – but needs

• Photosynthesis Amber- Ok - some work!

Repeat for every subject!

Three Week PlanUse this schedule to plan your revision – do at least 1 subject per night and 2 or 3 at

weekends

Week M T W Th Fri Sat Sun

1

2

3

Create an Effective Revision Space

A clean, well-equipped environment helps revision,

You should create a tidy place to study,

Have a comfortable chair,

Use a table big enough for books,

A bright lamp,

Pens, pencils, other equipment including scrap paper & Revision Cards

Effective Revision

• Ensure you are actually working

• Clear all distractions, including mobile phones, from your study space!

• Don’t listen to music

• Switch your computer off!

Active Revision Techniques

Active Revision Methods : -

Summarising points on revision cards,

Using mnemonics,

Making mind maps/spider diagrams; sticking them on the wall,

Sam Learning: Should re-do activities until they get 100%, and do this

every week to check for retention, - but don’t overuse!

Explaining work to a friend/parent,

Learning Circle – work with friends

Getting someone to test your knowledge,

Work through past papers

Using Past Papers, Questions and Mark Schemes

• Annotate the questions

• Write the answer

• Check your answer – mark it

• Work out what you would have to add to gain full marks!

A good way to turn lesson notes into a form that is more manageable is to make a set of Revision Cards

A good card should contain all the KEY POINTS on a topic in a CLEAR and CONCISE way

By transferring information from your notes to the revision card you are re-learning what you covered in class

A revision card should just have the key points on. It should not have loads and loads of detail

You can also put Q’s on the back to test understanding

Revision cards

TIP FOR SUCCESS: Use arrows, icons or other visual aids to show links between different elements. Use just key words, or

wherever possible images.

MnemonicsHere’s an example designed to help remember the order of the planets that circle our

sun

1) The first thing to do is write them down in order:Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune, Pluto

2) Then take the first letter from each of the planet names:M V E M J S U N P

3) Then create a memorable sentence or phrase that uses each of the letters above in turn as the first letter of each word in the new sentence

My Very Early Morning Jam Sandwich Usually Nauseates People

Another way is to make a word if the order is not important :The Principle of Training is SPORT:

SpecificityProgressionsOverloadReversibilityType

Good Revision / Study Habits

Creating Revision Guides:

• Create an A3 or A4 sheet for each topic

– Use at least 3 sources:

• Text book

• Revision Guide

• Exercise book notes

What should be on a Revison Guide

• Key Words / Terms

• Quotes / Dates

• Diagrams

• Bullet points

• Mind Maps

• Definitions

From Revison Guide to Practice

• Having completed a topic revision guide….

• Wait for a day……..

• Test your knowledge by doing a practice question – then check and mark!

Exam Practice is the key to success

• Model answers

• Short questions

• Whole essays / longer answers

• Essay plans

• Also try deconstructing questions

Exam Technique

• Read the paper

• Annotate the paper / question

• Use plans

• Check work

• Work out timescales – do not run out of time!