HOW we revise at Waldegrave
Music for the mind- Mozart
How parents help- a film
Key points to cover this evening:
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The purpose of Revision
Effective Revision environments
getrevising.co.uk
Learning styles (VAK)
Revision Techniques
Transition to KS4/ PDC
Top 10 mistakes we make when revising
Knowledge
•Facts
•Figures
•Equations & Formulae
•Key quotes
•Key people
•Current Affairs
•Historic events
•List
Understanding
•Evaluation
•Compare & Contrast
•Synthesis
•Discuss
•Analyse
•Application
*Individual Learners
Learning Environments
Learning Environments
Create an effective revision space
• A clean, well equipped study environment helps revision.
It removes distractions and promotes an organised
approach to study...things you can include:
• Creating a tidy undisturbed place to work
• Having a comfortable chair, but not one you could fall
asleep in (so no sofas, couches or bed!)
• Using a table which gives enough room for books and to
spread out etc
• A bright lamp
• Pens, pencils, other equipment including scrap paper
• Warm (but not too warm that you get cozy and sleepy)
getrevising.co.uk
Waldegrave School has registered with the getrevising.co.uk website, which allows
girls to :
-Set up a personal profile
-Enter their exam boards and exams (this information was sent home to each
family)
-Enter their Controlled Assessments and modular assessments (this information
was also sent home to each family)
-Devise a revision timetable
-Investigate various learning/ revision help
-Join study groups
VAK- Visual, Auditory, Kinaesthetic
Use coloured highlighter pens to
mark your revision notes. You should
identify key words (these may be
names, dates, places, etc.) You could
even use different colours for different
types of information.
You might find it helpful to play
soothing music as you revise. Experts
suggest that some types of music
(particularly with a tempo of 58-60
beats per minute) can help you learn
more effectively. However, music at a
faster tempo or music with a strong
lyric can have a distracting effect.
In the margins of your subject notebook, draw sketches or cartoons that
relate to that particular topic or
paragraph. These will not only help
you to locate that particular section
but will also make it more memorable.
Record key points on an audio file and
play them over, especially just before
you sleep.
Identify key points and try to make
these into a rhyme, rap or song. This
will make it memorable.
Pay attention to the layout of your
revision notes. You might find it useful
to use flow-charts (in science, history,
English …to keep track of events) or
diagrams (in science, geography ,
Maths...)
Explain what you have learned to
someone else, perhaps to your
parents. (We tell them parents usually
go on about how important it is to
revise properly - so why shouldn't they
suffer as well!)
Stick keywords on post-it notes at
strategic points around your room. For
example: by the light switch - left hand
side of shelf - right hand side of shelf left-hand cupboard door… Now, walk
around the room, pausing in front of
each sticky-note in turn and reading
the key-word. If you do this a few
times, you will find it easy to recall
what is on each of the sticky-notes
without actually walking around the
room.
Have different colours for different
topics, or different rooms for different
Subjects.
Write on the mirror in the bathroom or
have mind-maps on the outside screen
of the shower.
We are different combinations of these 
…leading up to the exam- what
should we be advising?
MIX THE VAK
Brainsmart animation
• Languages: ITunes podcasts that are in
another language. E.g. French/ German or
Spanish to help practice listening skills
• Music: board games (research to make the
questions…i.e.: The Poo Game)
• PE: Articulate (cut up the keywords and then
play with PE keywords)
HISTORY
MATHS
SCIENCE
Philosophy 1 Unit 2
Monks & Nuns
Why do people fast?
Holy Spirit
Rudolf Otto
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What does Spirituality mean?
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Explain Otto’s idea of numinous and ‘Wholly other’.
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Ways in which people can express their spirituality?
Advantages and Disadvantages
Why is Private Worship
important for Christians?
Aides
Why is Private Worship
important for Christians?
Advantages and Disadvantages
Hymns
Handel: ‘Messiah’
Gloria in Excelsis
Mozart: Requiem
Why is Music
used in worship?
Music & Art
Public and
Private Worship
Harvest
Fish
Lent
Vegetarianism
Easter Eggs
-Why Christians use that particular food
-Why they fast and the significance
Food and Fasting
Religious and
Spiritual Experience
The Last Supper
Prayer and
Meditation
The Covenants
Church Buildings
What would you
find in a church?
How do Church building
show spirituality?
Egs. of Art in Christianity
Adv. and Disadv. of Art in Christianity
Puritians?
Keywords/ Terms
Belief
Spirituality
Numinous
Awe and wonder
Holy spirit
Pentecost
Baptism
Rosary Beads
Icons
Eucharist
Mass
Liturgy
Lords Supper Holy
Communion
1st Covenant
2nd Covenant
Adoration
Confession
Intercession
Petition
Thanksgiving
Symbolism
Difference b/w sign and symbol
Advantages and
Disadvantages
Jesus’ Teachings
Mark 11:15-17
Matthew 6:5-13
Does Prayer work:
Arguments for and Against
How has the image of Jesus
changed throughout history?
Luke 18:9-14 The
Parable of the
Pharisee and the Tax
Collector
P.R.A.Y
Mind-mapping: A thinking tool…
For visual/ kinaesthetic
learners it is the easiest way to
‘put info in the brain’…
… and therefore it is the easiest
way to ‘take info out of the brain’
(recall)
6 steps:
1.
2.
3.
4.
Start with a central idea (theme)- try an image as they are easier to recall
Add the thick braches
Colour each thick branch a different colour for easy recall
Label the thick branches- try to use single words or terms as they are easier to
remember
5. Attach images where possible ‘a picture paints a 1000 words’- pictures have a
massive impact on the brain
6. Connections: 2nd/ 3rd/ 4th level branches… This means that the brain is working by
association, making the act of ‘remembering’ easier…
Lets try one now… work together to try build a quick mind-map on:
- Cars
- Raising a Teenager, or
- Food
EXPERT ON A TOPIC
You will be acting as a professor and an
expert on the topic you have been given.
TASK: You have 1
minute to explain and
share everything you
know on your area of
expertise.
Spaced Learning
• Spaced Learning is a learning method
in which the condensed learning content
is repeated three times, with two 10-min
breaks during which distracter activities
(such as physical activities) are
performed by the students.
• Experiments proved that its not constant stimulation of brain cells which
cause them to be switched on (and make a memory).
• To make memories, scientists found that stimulation had to separated by
gaps/spaces when the brain cell was not stimulated. (thus ‘spaced
learning)
Revise
10 min break
Revise
10 min break
Revise
REVISON in
the FAMILY
HOME
• Different rooms- different subjects
• Learn together
• Reinforces the purpose and importance of
learning and recall
• Demonstrates support
Breathing and Relaxation
IT sounds hippie, but for many of our girls, when they
are stressed prior to, or in an exam, they forget
their breathing.
It is important to calm nerves, settle thoughts; and
oxygenate the body allowing it to work to a
premium.
Waldegrave works on techniques throughout their
PDC lessons in years 10 & 11, where girls do Yoga
and breathing classes. The ILD also work further
with breathing techniques with our more vulnerable
pupils.
Transition to KS4/ PDC
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Tutor time activities
Coverage in the PDC curriculum
Individual subjects
Select students for academic mentoring
Our top 10 mistakes…
‘I’ll just do it…’
For the vast majority of you- you won’t. Get a revision timetable up and
running- make it realistic. Make it public.
‘ I need to clean my room/ I need to do this
now’… (putting it off)
Don’t procrastinate- Just do it!
‘I need my phone/ computer/ gagetty-thing to
help me’
You should unplug your computer or laptop, as it's simply too tempting to go off
roaming the wide, open spaces of Web-fordshire, instead of ploughing through
the causes of the agricultural revolution. It is also imperative to turn off your
mobile phone (one distraction too many).
‘I can revise anywhere… including my bed. I
revise well when I am comfortable.’
Establish a routine! Choose a place where you will do your revision. Seated
and where you won’t be distracted.
‘I can do it by myself… I don’t need their help.’
Make your family aware of the fact that you need some peace and quiet during
your revision periods, so they know not to disturb you.
‘I just need to read my notes… I just read.’
Revision is about using all your senses- mix up revision using the VAK styles.
‘I need a coke’
Believe in bananas! Take a leaf out of the Olympics and make use of this
potassium-rich performance- enhancer. Don’t fuel your body with sugary
rubbish- your body won’t revise very far on that!
‘It doesn’t matter, I can re-sit’
Fundamentally, it is harder to prepare for a resit- it is more time consuming
than getting it right the first time/ it is not you and your peers- it is just you/ you
will have moved on to another topic so will be ‘juggling’ more
‘I remember it all better the night before’
No. Learning is about retention of information, application of this knowledge
and building on this understanding. Don’t leave it all to the night before- you’ll
forget it within the week.
‘I have revised! Look, I made flash cards!’
The most effective way to approach a revision session is to focus on
understanding rather than memorising. Practice Qs!
Where to find help:
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School website (these resources)
School Fronter page
getrevising.co.uk
BBC bitesize (just check the correct exam board)
Call your daughter’s:
– Subject Teacher,
– Form Tutor,
– Deputy Head of House,
– Head of House, or
– Director
In summary…
• Encourage, discuss and support revisionpositively reinforce all efforts to revise
• Revise in chunks, not the last-minute attempt
• Personalised revision- not everyone learns
the same way
• Talk to Teachers/ Tutor/ Head of House- we
want to hear from you and help where we
can